Post by ODM on Feb 4, 2009 9:59:20 GMT -6
January 22, 2026
[/color]DOUBLE TRAGEDY STRIKES MINISTRY[/b][/color]
LONDON - ON THE MORNING OF JANUARY 21, 2026 TWO
TOP-RANKING MINISTRY OFFICIALS WERE FOUND DEAD
IN THEIR HOMES. BOTH MINISTER OF MAGIC KINGSLEY
SHACKLEBOLT AND HEAD AUROR HARRY POTTER APPEAR
TO HAVE DIED IN THEIR SLEEP. INVESTIGATIONS ARE
STILL UNDERWAY, BUT MINISTRY OFFICIALS FEAR THE
WORST: MURDER. THIS WAS NOT A COINCIDENCE. TWO
HEALTHY MEN DO NOT MYSTERIOUSLY PASS AWAY IN
THEIR SLEEP ON THE SAME NIGHT. YET NEITHER HOUSE
SHOWED ANY SIGNS OF FORCED ENTRY, AND BOTH MEN
WERE HEAVILY PROTECTED, COULD SOMEONE WITHIN
THE MINISTRY HAVE BEEN INVOLVED? THAT POSSIBILITY
HAS NOT BEEN RULED OUT. NO SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR
HAS BEEN REPORTED ON EITHER PREMISE. THOSE WITH
INFORMATION REGARDING THESE HEARTLESS CRIMES
ARE ENCOURAGED TO STEP FORTH IMMEDIATELY.
KINSLEY SHACKLEBOLT WAS A VETRAN OF THE SECOND
WAR AND SERVED AS MINISTER OF MAGIC FOR TWENTY-
EIGHT YEARS. HIS ADMINISTRATION WAS APPLAUDED
FOR CUTTING DOWN ON CORRUPTION WITHIN THE
MINISTRY. HIS APPROVAL RATINGS HAVE REACHED AS
HIGH AS 90% IN RECENT YEARS. UNDER SHACKLEBOLT,
THE WIZARDING COMMUNITY HAS REACHED LEVELS OF
PROSPERITY ANDPEACE THAT MANY NEVER BELIEVED
WERE POSSIBLE. HE IS SURVIVED BY WIFE HESTIA AND
DAUGHTER EMMELINE. THE ENTIRE WIZARDING WORLD
WILL MOURN THE LOSS OF SO GREAT A LEADER.
HARRY POTTER WAS FAMOUS WORLD-WIDE FOR HIS
DEFEAT OF HE-WHO-MUST-STILL-NOT-BE-NAMED IN 1998.
HE HAS BEEN WIDELY REGARDED AS THE LEADING OF HIS
GENERATION IN DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS. ALONG
WITH CHILDHOOD FRIEND RONALD WEASLEY, POTTER
REVOLUTIONIZED THE AUROR FIELD. DURING POTTER'S
TIME AS HEAD AUROR, VIOLENT CRIMES IN WIZARDING
LONDON HAVE BEEN REDUCED OVER 75%. IT IS A TRAGEDY
OF THE HIGHEST KIND FOR THE WORLD TO LEARN THAT
THE BOY-WHO-LIVED HAS FINALLY BEEN DEFEATED. HE
IS SURVIVED BY WIFE GINNY, SONS JAMES AND ALBUS,
DAUGHTER LILY, GODSON THEODORE LUPIN, AND COUNT-
LESS OTHER NIECES AND NEPHEWS. IT GOES WITHOUT
SAYING THAT HE WILL BE MISSED BY ALL.
THE WIZENGAMOT CONVENED YESTERDAY MORNING TO
BEGIN DELIBERATING WHO WILL REPLACE SHACKLEBOLT
AS MINISTER OF MAGIC. THEY ARE EXPECTED TO COME TO
A DECISION BY NEXT WEEK. EARLY SPECULATION POINTS
TO SOLINUS LESTRANGE, CHIEF UNDERSECRETARY TO THE
MINISTER, AS A FRONT-RUNNER FOR THE POSITION. IF
SELECTED, LESTRANGE WOULD BECOME THE YOUNGEST
MINISTER OF MAGIC IN HISTORY... CONTINUED | A2
----------------------------------------------------------
Judas Cyrus Lestrange folded up the copy of the Daily Prophet he'd been reading, a wicked smile curving his lips. The Greyback twins had performed admirably. Shacklebolt and Potter were both dead. There were no suspects in their murders, and there never would be because there was no evidence. Magical Law Enforcement could run in circles until they were blue in the face, but Judas knew he and his accomplices were safe. It had been the perfect crime. While the rest of the wizarding world read their newspapers with dismay, mourning the loss of two of their favorite heros, Judas Lestrange felt no sadness. Instead, his heart was beating rapidly with excitement. This was it - the moment he'd been planning for so long. His cousin, Solinus Lestrange, was about to be named Minister of Magic. After all these long years of grooming Solinus into a suave, charismatic, well-polished politician, Judas was about to reap his reward. His little marionette doll would be placed in complete control of the ministry, and thus Judas would have unlimited power at his disposal. With Shacklebolt and Potter dead, it seemed as though nothing stood in his way.
Once Solinus took power, Judas planned on telling Solinus the truth he'd been hiding from him all these years - the truth about Solinus's parentage. Solinus was not, as was believed, the son of Rodolphous Lestrange. He was the son of Lord Voldemort, the new Heir of Slytherin. For eleven years Judas had kept this secret from Solinus, watching in dismay has Solinus betrayed the very blood in his veins by befriending the likes of Theodore Lupin and his family of blood traitors. But once Solinus knew who his father was, he would have no choice but to accept his destiny and become the leader of the Second Insurgence. Judas would, of course, remain Solinus's most trusted advisor - advisor to the new Dark Lord. That was Judas's goal. For he had no aspirations to assume power himself. Being figurehead was too risky - too dangerous. He preferred to work behind the scenes, making decisions and pulling the strings while the public's eye remained focused on his cousin. Leaning back his armchair, Judas marveled at his own genius. He ran through a mental this of names - people he could count on for support. The Greybacks had already pledged their allegiance and proven their loyalty by carrying out the murders of Shacklebolt and Potter. All of the old pureblood families would soon pledge their support, Judas was sure. They, like him, would be eager to have their names restored to prominence. They too longed to see the glory of the pureblood family names restored. The new Dark Lord Solinus Lestrange would grow even more powerful than the first, and no one would ever realize that Judas was the real mastermind behind it all. For now, there was nothing to do but wait. Revolution was at hand, and nobody even realized it. People went about their lives as though nothing was wrong, oblivious to the fact that their world was about to be turned upside down. No one seemed to recognize that they only had...
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