13 April 2010

Early this morning, the Ministry of Magic deployed members of the Deparments of Magical Law Enforcement, Accidents and Catastrophes, and the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to the town of Winkleigh in Devon where multiple Dementors were sighted by hikers in Hollywell Copse.  These interdepartmental teams have become standard response for what seem to be increasing Dementor incidents across Britain.

Three Dementors were tentatively held at bay by Patroni, but in the grey early morning hours, were not retreating.   At one point, Ministry officials were observed attempting to use some kind of magical net to capture the wraiths.  It's effectiveness was brief and the Dementors broke free. 

In the hubbub, a group of civilian numbering 32 witches and wizards from Winkleigh town arrived and cast Patroni.  The Ministry personnel, for whom it's usually policy to send civilians packing, quietly accepted the assistance and in short order the Dementors fled pursued by a small band of agents from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

"We're not going to turn away help if it means the difference between life and death," said a Ministry staffer on the scene.

According to Ministry personnel on the scene, driving Dementors out to sea has become the most viable option as efforts to capture and destroy Dementors have been so far fruitless. 

"They'll keep them at high altitude.  That high and that far from land, we're finding that they get too far from people to find their way back quickly."

Despite Ministry expertise, it was the involvement of local witches and wizards that turned the tide to rid Hollywell Copse of the blight.  According to Deshaun Middlebrook, Winkleigh resident among those who came to the rescue, it was Winkleigh residents who reported the Dementors and then went back to town to gather a force to defend their home.

Among the two dozen locals were Christobol Haberdasher (20) whose Patronus is a bloodhound, and sisters Veronica (29) and Lisa Bennison (32) who had pony Patroni.  The citizens ranged in age from 19 to 67, nearly all of them able to sustain corporal Patroni. 

"We've been practicing! Who wouldn't with this crisis? And they're telling us to use Cheering Charms? I think not. No, I think we'll brush up on Expecto Patronum and protect our home," said Winkleigh resident Ty Garney-Vidler (45).

"It is still very much policy that civilians leave Dementors to us!" emphasized Ministry Spokeswitch Eva Stowbridge.  "Dementors are dangerous and the average witch or wizard is much safer if they keep a smile on their face and their wands at the ready.  But please - leave this to us!"

As for that net, no one on the scene would comment on its origins.  Chances are the Department of Mysteries is grasping at straws...