Forevermore

A new era 

Mr. Xenophilus lovegood, editor of Quibbler

Dear patrons,

In the last year, you will have heard all around you - we won the war. We defeated the Dark Lord; He Who Must Not be Named. We were victorious. Good won over evil. The world was cleansed like the proverbial slate.

 Almost a year later, let me ask you - what have we won? Yes the Dark Lord - Voldemort was defeated. But what have we won? 

Have we managed to take steps to integrate muggle-borns better into our society?

Are we proposing and passing laws for the same? 

Has the ministry tried to provide any kind of orientation to the muggle-borns into our world?

Have we as a society tried to uplift those around us? 

Are people of lesser magic being protected? 

Any laws in the works for their well-being? 

No? 

Well maybe it’s because these things take time, yes? We can’t just uproot the world of its prejudiced thinking overnight. After all, why should we make it easy for an ‘outsider’ to take advantage of the community we have preserved through the ages? 

Fair enough. I think it’s all codswallop but just for argument's sake, I’ll let you have this one for now. 

How about general safety? Are all the children of the war now safe? And when I say children of the war I mean to include everyone - those who had to fight, those who had to endure, and those who had to willingly/unwillingly participate. 

Have they been given enough space and time to heal? Have they been given enough love to look beyond? Have they been provided with enough support to rehabilitate themselves if they wished? 

Why should they even be treated as children? The war must have matured them enough.

No? 

Imagine having to run for your life because Voldemort was hunting you down, or having to live with his death eaters at your school not knowing where the next curse would hit you from, or having to live with Voldemor,t under his rule, constantly in fear of your and your family’s life. But let’s say it’s not a priority - because children will heal, they have their whole lives to get over it. We adults are the ones who had it the worst.

So tell me you very responsible adults - Have we managed to rope in all of Voldemort’s supporters? If you weren’t a death eater but were a sympathizer of the Dark Lord’s regime are you now magically absolved of your role in his rise? Or if you had the luxury to whisk your family away from the fight, to weather the storm, are you the best person to be commenting on those who did stay?

If the world is so black and white - where everyone for Voldemort was black and everyone against was white - what are the following instances pray tell?

Children who had to endure the tyranny of Voldemort are being emotionally manipulated by our ministry to make the officials look good in the press. These children are now defenseless because they’ve been given a bad name that will stick with them wherever they go. Their lives are now being dissected to weave a new two-dimensional story of their lives, where they are portrayed as evil. Not misguided, not desperate, not intimidated or even influenced. These children have been labelled as pure evil. So anyone can target them, mentally or physically and it's all justified in the name of their narrative. 

Or 

Children who fought so hard and rose against Voldemort, without any support from the ministry whatsoever, are now not allowed to live their life in peace and take a breath to recover. Their life choices, their personal relationships, their mundane daily lives must be splayed over our news pages; sensationalized and dramatized to worship them as heroes or watch their downfall from their pedestals, mortality be forgotten. 

Or 

Children, adults, animals, all magical beings that were used in the war, that were weaponized or brainwashed or tortured, they are all being silenced by omission. Their stories are not being told, their pain is not being shared, their trials are not being discussed. 

Have you found a colour to sort them into yet? I have - it’s a bleak, dark grey. 

We may have defeated the enemy, but now we have to change from within. It’s time to hold our ministry accountable. It's time to shed our old skins and donn new ones on - kinder, more accepting ones. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to really build a new world. Don’t squander it chasing petty gossip.

Having said all this, we at the Quibbler will be launching a new column called Recreation, which will be updated  by our anonymous writers Prongs, Vega, Redtail and Rover - providing actual details of the work being done by the ministry, or the lack thereof, in reforming our wizarding world. 

Our magazine is building itself up on the shoulders of the youth. It’s time for you to do the same.

An enraged father, a disappointed citizen,

XL

Recreation - Quibbler Dec, issue I

Hello to all our readers, 

We welcome you to our space called recreation. The idea behind our column is simple - we want to write and post that which is relevant to our world today. So, expect constant updates on the death-eaters and other Voldemort supporters, discussions on ministry policies and laws, and investigations into the lesser known aspects of Voldemort’s reign. But also, dear reader, we want you to share your stories. The war was much more multifaceted than we can imagine. It’s time to share our pain. We promise to protect your details if that is what you wish. Let us all come together in kindness, and find our strength.

 Today, we share the story of Quibbler’s very own - Luna Lovegood, in her own words.

We will be out with our first update in the next issue.

Prongs, Vega, Redtail and Rover.

Hello readers,

My name is Luna. I was in my sixth year at Hogwarts, when Voldemort’s death eaters took over the school. I have had the fortune of having loving and supporting friends in my life, who gave me enough courage to stand up for my beliefs. While those of us who were here already know, I have been told that the outside world doesn’t actually know what happened in this school last year.  Most of our faculty was replaced by or threatened by Death eaters. The whole experience was … I’m not really sure if I can do it justice. You see, we would wake up and go for our ‘lessons’, but instead we would just be used as a scapegoat for the death eaters to hex us or torture us. They mostly targeted muggle-borns and Gryffindors, but because I helped fight against their reign I was at the receiving end of a few of their ‘punishments’. I was later kidnapped as well, to stop my father from printing the truth, but maybe we can keep that story for some other day.  Right, so coming back to what was Hogwarts like? Some days when too many students rebelled there would be no food for the entire day. The elves would try to sneak some food into our common rooms, but they had to be careful because there were spies everywhere, and if they found out, the elves were tortured or killed. We had to meet secretly and plan how to protect the little ones. The first and second years, they were just so terrified. It didn’t matter what house they were in. I mean can you imagine being twelve and being asked to hex someone or use an unforgivable? Of Course they couldn’t, even if they had wanted to they couldn’t, they were too small, they just didn't know enough magic. And you can imagine when they couldn’t perform what was demanded of them. They were always punished. And though I had my own share of troubles, I was relieved I at least wasn’t favoured by the death eaters. I saw the faces of all those who had to teach the younger ones a lesson - they always cracked. They always tried to find a way around it, but most of the time they weren’t too lucky. Sometimes, in the beginning, a few of them refused, and they were tortured in front of the whole school, for hours. Our teachers did their best to protect us, but it was a two-edged sword. If the death eaters felt you were being given too much attention by a teacher they would throw us in isolation. Our dorms were the only safe space, because the teachers had managed to cast a protective charm which allowed only those who belonged in the rooms to enter, but we couldn’t stay hidden in the dorms for too long, otherwise they would just trap another student and hurt them till you came out. I mean there were so many things you know. I just mean to say that last year was really traumatic, and I am so inspired by all the younger children who managed to return this year. It is because of them I volunteered to speak first. I want them to know we care. I have been trying to gather some students in school as well, so we can all help each other. But, if you are reading this, I hope you are managing to cope. And if not, please come meet me. I am here for you, as are others I know. We are not here to judge. 

Sending every single one of you some love,

Luna