Absit Omen RPG

To the Editor of the Daily Prophet:

Headlines have been made of late concerning the recent meeting of the Board of Governors for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  At this meeting, or so the Daily Prophet reports, the School Governors raised the question of the continuing necessity, or lack thereof, for a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts course at Hogwarts.

The logic behind such an idea is plain, and insidiously alluring.  Lord Voldemort, greatest of the Dark wizards, has been dead for nearly ten years to the day, taking several of his Death Eaters with him.  Those that survived are firmly contained in Azkaban, and following the Azkaban Uprising of 2004, their security has been perfected and the chance of their escape is negligible.  The Auror Corps has been reduced in the last decade, and duly so, for the need for a legion of Dark wizard hunters has mercifully evaporated.  What, then, a fool might ask, is the use of practical defensive magic?

What indeed.

When Voldemort emerged onto the scene in the 1960s, he struck the wizarding world with the force of a Blasting Curse.  No one had expected such a nightmare, and certainly none were prepared for it.  From the late 90s until 1981, Voldemort and his minions wreaked devastation on our world the likes of which was never seen in Britain before, and was topped only by his conquest of the Ministry from 1997 to 1998.  Had it not been for Albus Dumbledore and the corps of Aurors, what worse might have befallen us!

Those who would be foolish enough to suggest that Voldemort was an isolated event, a lone man who, despite his following, was at the core only a single Dark wizard, would do well to look only a body of water away at the mainland of Europe.  Following the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, I traveled on assignment to Eastern Europe.  The scars of the Dark wizard Grindelwald’s reign, ended for half a century at that point, linger still.  The very name “Grindelwald” can not be spoken by a German wizard or a Durmstrang student without condescension and hatred, the collective psyche of an entire people for generations permanently marred by the man’s actions.

What is the point, detractors of practical defensive magic will ask?  Why dwell needlessly on the crimes of monsters long dead and best forgotten?  Because it is not best to forget.  We can never afford to forget how suddenly, with how little warning these nightmarish murderers appeared in our world and threatened everything we held dear.  The deepest, most vile aspect of the Dark Arts is precisely this, its ability to strike without warning.

If the name of Voldemort can still cause those of us who lived through his reign of terror to shudder, then surely that of Cornelius Fudge curls our lips with disdain.  Arguably the worst Minister for Magic of modern times (perhaps of all time), Cornelius Fudge is best remembered as the Minister who refused to acknowledge Voldemort’s return and turned a blind eye to the increasingly overwhelming evidence of Death Eater activity, bowing to the truth only when it was quite literally staring him in the face.

And what was the consequence of Fudge’s blindness, and the resulting unpreparedness of the wizarding world for the looming war?  When he was finally revealed, Voldemort hit us like a thunderbolt, killing, torturing, and mind-controlling his way to dominance over the Ministry of Magic.  Several of the best witches and wizards of the day, among them Albus Dumbledore, Rufus Scrimgeour, Amelia Bones, and dozens of Aurors, were lost in the battle, and countless families were broken or destroyed at the wands of the Death Eaters.

Could things have been different with another year to prepare, especially before the Azkaban Breakout of 1995?  Probably.  Would witches and wizards have stood a better chance with a firm grounding in defensive magic?  Almost certainly.

It hardly needs to be added that Voldemort’s other servants, the Dementors, linger on, unkillable and eternal.  Drawn by misery or despair, feasting upon the unhappiness of wizards and stealing away their souls, these abominations can never be destroyed, only driven off by the Patronus Charm.  Having learned it myself and trained other Aurors to use it, I can assure readers that understanding the theory is insufficient.  One must practice this spell, and constantly, to master it; attempting it for the first time when faced with a Dementor is a sure path to soullessness.

Given the speed with which calm can turn to crisis, who can possibly say that learning a Disillusionment Charm is unnecessary?  When the flick of a wand can end a life, what could possibly inspire us to consider Shield Charms antiquated and irrelevant?  When a Dementor can draw the soul from the body and condemn a wizard to a fate worse than death, who can doubt the wisdom of learning the Patronus Charm?

A former colleague of mine – and another casualty of the war with Voldemort – Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody was fond of saying, “Constant vigilance!”  Drilling this into his Auror trainees like a mantra, he embedded in us deeply the notion that one must either be prepared, or a victim.  We would do our children a great disservice by stripping them of their defenses against any enemies that, unforeseen now, might set upon them in the future.

We are blessed to live now in happier times than many of us once knew, but to think that such blessings insulate us from danger forever is a mistake of the most egregious nature.  To think that because we are safe now, we shall be always, is to follow the thinking of Cornelius Fudge, to step into the deceptively comforting arms of the Siren, complacency.

Complacency kills.

Jason D. MacDonell

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The author, Jason MacDonell, is a retired veteran of twenty-five years of the Auror Office, and a participant in the First and Second Wizarding Wars, including the Battle of Hogwarts and the Azkaban Uprising.  He currently sits as a junior member of the Wizengamot, and is the author of several pieces in Defeating the Dark Arts, as well as the 2007 duelling manual, Duelling for the Dedicated Duellist.  Mr. MacDonell lives in Scotland with his wife, Aurora, and two children.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

 I find it strange that given our proximity to Remembering Day that this is the time of all times when some would question the relevance of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Our society has endured not one but two major conflicts caused by dark wizards in my adult lifetime alone and mainland Europe still remembers the terrors of Gellert Grindalwald.

 That we are currently in a time of tranquillity is something to be treasured however it should never be forgotten that the peace is only maintained by the constant vigilance of our esteemed aurors and hitwizards. It may be that our ‘Most Watched Rabblerouser’ is currently a journalist however, assuming that this is true, this only reflects troublemakers that are known and those which the Ministry has seen fit to make public. Voldemort was an unusually powerful dark wizard however it is naive to view him as an aberration. He was one of a succession of dark wizards that have plagued our society from time immemorial and unfortunately one of a foul fraternity that will continue to mar our world until the time of judgement.  The sins of man are no less prevalent today that they were in the time of our forebears and as long as pride, lust, envy, wrath and greed exist there will be those who will be tempted to use magic to fulfil their dark ends. Moreover it should not be forgotten that Voldemort’s rise to power was sustained by prejudices within our community, which are still present, despite their reduction (which the Ministry deserves full credit for given her sterling efforts in this regard), and which could be fanned by malign influences to once again ferment trouble.

 To restrict or prohibit the teaching of Defence Against the Dark Arts would be to emasculate our society and to invite attack by future ambitious dark wizards. It should not be forgotten that the Battle of Hogwarts was won, not by trained soldiers, but by ordinary witches and wizards who rose up to stand against the darkness that had engulfed our world. If those good citizens had had no training in combating the dark arts would the result of the war have been the same? Even if so, what would the death toll have been?

 A further reason for the maintenance of this, in my eyes, most vital of subjects concerns the needs of those professions on whose efforts our security most resolves. The Auror Office, the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and the Werewolf Capture Unit, among others, all depend on their members having the sound fundamentals of practical defensive magic before they start work. It could be argued that they could be trained on the job however, speaking as one with experience in the field, I would strongly recommend against such an outlook. All careers in Magical Law Enforcement are dangerous and those of us who embark on such responsibilities accept a certain risk of death when we sign up for such professions. The very thought of sending rookies who have not achieved NEWT standard Defence Against the Dark Arts into the field though, is a frightening one and one that could only lead to increased fatalities, not to mention a massive increase in the time and expense of training necessary to undertake such roles.

 Finally I should point out that while some intellectuals in their ivory towers have criticised the value of practical defensive magic this is not a view that is shared by students and parents. Defence Against the Dark Arts remains one of the most popular subjects at Hogwarts. Over seventy-five per cent of our senior students are taking defensive magic to NEWT level. Given that there are those who would elect to do so but did not meet the required grades this is an impressive figure and evidence enough of the value placed in defensive magic by our people. Our sons and daughters and nephews and nieces clearly believe that they should have the opportunity to learn defensive magic in order to protect themselves and society from potential threats. Should we really be the ones who prevent them from taking such sensible precautions?

 Your most humble servant,

                                         Theobald Mainwaring,
            Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts