20 February 2010

One of the Ministry of Magic's Most Wanted - a witch guilty of murder,assault, kidnapping, sabotage, fraud, and forgery - has been brought to justice after nearly two years.  Theodora Kingstreet (60) has been sentenced to 99 years in Azkaban Prison with no option of parole.



"We learned our lesson," said Elder Harriet Bengzton. "She won't slip out this time."[1]

But Kingstreet was not the only one to face conviction this week.  Devlin Matthews (19), who once used the criminal alias Jack Spade, aided and abetted Kingstreet in the Remembering Day Murders as well as the attempted framing of Moira Randall in December 2008.  Upon being captured in 2008, Matthews began his role that would ultimately lead to his freedom and Kingstreet's incarceration. 

"Matthews has been sentenced to six months in Azkaban Prison.  Even though his crimes were great, his service to the Ministry of Magic was greater.  That, and the defense was able to prove that his involvement in deaths of Timmons and Carter was... unwitting,[2]" said Elder Bengzton.

But not all see the verdict for young Matthews as fair.  For one, his father controversial Wizengamot Elder and former Hogwarts Headmaster Knox Greyfriar: 

"It was my privilege to vote in favor of Kingstreet's return to Azkaban.  Her insidious need to dominate has been the ruin of many lives.  Dashed the potential of - oh shod it!  This is a farce.  My boy has paid for his transgressions many times over and he's being treated like a criminal."

Former Minister of Magic, and personal victim to both Kingstreet and Matthews, Marcus Annwyl was keen to weigh in as well.  "Theodora was a bright woman who used her gifts to make people suffer. We used to say that the Dementors would starve with her in Azkaban. Now we'll find out, won't we? As for the Matthews boy, I have my own opinions with how the Ministry decided to handle his particular situation. Would I have done it differently? Who knows."

A spokesperson from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement provided more details of last month's capture and apprehension. 

"Matthews prompted to continue his work for Kingstreet these last few months.  Kingstreet had been pressuring Matthews to do so, including kidnapping his young sister via the assissin Marc Donnelly who we now believe to have been the major actor in the Remembering Day Murders.

"By the time Lucy Matthews was recovered in January 2010, Matthews had been able to provide us with enough information for us to pin point Kingstreet's location."

Auror Zora Roh and her partner Auror Edward Pratt lead a team of Aurors and Hitwizards to make the arrest.

"It was poetic really.  We stopped post to her building for a week," says Auror Roh.  "We knew that would draw her out.  We caught her in the act - leaving the owl master's residence in disguise after having delivered a paper-wrapped parcel containing an enchanted staple remover."

1.	In a chain of events the public now knows to have been illegal, Kingstreet managed to secure an early release from a long sentence in 2008.
2.	Auror Benjamin Timmons and Wizengamot Elder Leon Carter