#canonreqs

[jackalau]

FIND YOUR POTIONS LACKING THAT CREAMINESS YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR?

look no further! THE CHEESE CAULDRON is here to solve all your potion-brewing needs! made with the finest english cheddar and stilton, the cheese cauldron will transform your potions from dull and dry to tasty and creamy! from pepper-up to polyjuice, brewings both simple and complex, the cheese cauldron will create potions like you’ve never tasted before!

inspired by the dairy farms of his native devon, the innovative humphrey belcher tried many iterations before finding the perfect combination of cheeses, guaranteed to turn your brews from bland to delicious! the cheese cauldron an experience everyone can (and will) enjoy!

the cheese cauldron can be found exclusively at potage’s cauldron shop on diagon alley. your satisfaction is guaranteed!

we recommend using the cheese cauldron for 12-15 brews before disintegration occurs. please avoid using the cheese cauldron to brew potions that require long simmering, as this may decrease the longevity and effectiveness of the cheese cauldron. no refunds will be issued for cauldrons that have been melted.

[jackalau]

ARAMINTA BLACK PETITIONS THE MINISTRY AGAIN!

a daily prophet exclusive

for the third time in as many years, araminta meliflua black, age 32, has climbed those marble steps to submit a petition. it is a brave thing for any woman to do, let alone unaccompanied, but the cause was not as noble as some would assume. this petition was not to do with the war in europe or the state of squib rights, but instead was requesting legal permission to hunt muggles! perhaps granted this large amount of free time by her status as an unmarried woman, araminta has worked tirelessly toward her goal over the last five years, using black family money and influence to try to sway those wizengamot members whose stomachs are turned at the thought. “there is no room for the squeamish in today’s society,” said miss black, on her way out of the ministry. she refused to answer questions.

it is this reporter’s opinion that, given the speed in which she completed her appointment, she did not have much luck- stomach of steel or not.

[jackalau]

MYSTERY THICKENS OVER TAP DANCE DISAPPEARANCE!

critics hail 'best show of all time' after rastrick vanishes

the department for magical law enforcement is calling for calm after one of xavier rastrick's dance partners sensationally claimed he was abducted by grindelwald.

rastrick, who has not been seen in public since vanishing into a puff of white smoke at the end of a solo critics are hailing as 'the most accomplished performance of all time', has stumped investigators with his disappearance. 

aurors stress that there is no evidence gellert grindelwald has been spotted in britain. a source, who asked not to be named for this article, said: "what would be the point of abducting a tap dancer anyway?"

speculatation has run rife since the performer's most recent stunt, with everything from gambling debts to his upcoming marriage being blamed.

the only thing that's sure - when he finally taps his way back into town, he will be playing to a full audience!

[jackalau]

02. IMPERIUM IN IMPERIO

leonard spencer-moon, minister from 1948, guided the ministry and helped navigate the seas of two different wars. while renowned by some for his working relationship with muggle prime minister winston churchill, others viewed this as a radical pro-muggle stance, and meddling in a muggle war. nonetheless, it was a shock to all to pick up the daily prophet and read:

LEONARD SPENCER-MOON, FOUND DEAD.

whispers began. had he been sick? or were darker forces at work here? grindelwald lingers on the lips of some. and, most importantly--who would take over as minister?

wilhelmina tuft was elected. cheerily--some might say too cheerily--bypassing her opponents, she worked quickly to enact laws to prohibit further wizarding interference in the muggle wars. a puppet, some say, of purist views.

it causes a tide of change in the ministry of magic. suddenly, those with names who can be found on the sacred twenty-eight are rising fast, and without precedent. anti-muggle views are being disseminated throughout the ministry’s corridors. to some, this marks a well-needed change. to others, it’s a sign of dark magic spreading.

those with the proper last name rejoice; they are finally getting their opportunity to bring the ministry and the wizarding world back to the old ways. meanwhile, the friends and allies of albus dumbledore who still find themselves employed are trying to hold the cracking pieces of their society together.

beneath the cut, you’ll find involved parties. remember that all faceclaims pictured are flexible!

wilhelmina tuft - minister of magic

elected primarily by winning the middle ground of voters, by neither condemning spencer-moon’s involvement in the muggle war, or applauding it, wilhelmina is newly ensconced as minister for magic. while she’s determined to keep a grip on the ministry and the wizarding world, with hopes to steer both in the right direction, the pressure is mounting from influential pureblood families to pass policies protecting their “sacred” bloodlines. as their influence grows, her power shrinks - and she’ll do what is necessary to stay on everyone’s good side. after all, look at what happened to poor leonard... pictured: anna chancellor

amelia bones - wizengamot

a respected wizarding family, the bones family was snubbed by their exclusion from the sacred twenty-eight. there are many rumors why, one of the most prevalent being the family’s tolerance of muggleborns - though these claims are unsubstantiated. boasting a long line of members of the wizengamot, amelia is the latest bones to take a seat on the council. she is faced with increasing pressure to uphold the family name, and reestablish their place in society. pictured: tessa thompson

bartemius crouch - department of magical law enforcement

widely considered to be a rising star in the department of magical law enforcement, bartemius is the latest in the long pureblood line of crouch’s at the ministry. while his policies may seem staunchly neutral, his family’s name appears on the recently published list of the sacred twenty-eight. this has both sides clamoring for his support, either to help protect his fellow purebloods, or to make a show that not all of the pureblood families are anti-muggle. pictured: aidan turner

cornelius fudge - department of magical accidents and catastrophes

never one to rock the boat, young mr. fudge has high ambitions in the ministry. he sees his way forward is to follow the tide, and be a voice for the popular vote. at the moment, that means anti-muggle legislation, and he will make himself a worthy advocate. pictured: alden ehrenreich

alastor moody - auror

the son of two prominent aurors, the latest moody to enter the auror’s office did so with heavy expectations on his shoulders. luckily, he seems up to the challenge. young, talented, and fiercely devoted to the letter of the law, he’s already making waves in the auror’s office. he’s determined to make his rise based on merit, not his family name, unlike others in the ministry. pictured: george mackay

robert ogden - magical law enforcement squad

once hailed for his role in the arrests in morfin and marvolo gaunt, bob ogden made a name for himself early. while some revered his stopping of dark wizards, others still frowned upon him interfering in a pureblood household. to some, his opinions mean a great deal, as a respected member of the ministry. as for the rest? he still has a target on his back, and is viewed as an enemy of the purist movement. pictured: matthew mcfayden

tiberius ogden - wizengamot

a longtime staple of the wizengamot, tiberius has been at the ministry long enough to make connections in every corner. he’s also well poised to notice the sudden surge in nepotism, and purported pureblood names that are beginning to line the halls. he’s been around long enough to know that many of these supposedly pure families are hiding squibs and halfbloods in their lines, and is deeply suspicious of those who are suddenly on the rise. pictured: bryan cranston

dolores umbridge - improper use of magic office

ambitious and single-minded, dolores is rapidly making waves at the ministry of magic. lauded for her ability to enact such tight leadership with such a sweet smile, she can be deceptively cruel, and holds strong opinions on who has the right to magic. pictured: romola garai

sacred 28 ministry personnel - various

thanks to caractacus nott and the publication of the sacred twenty-eight, these families are enjoying a surge in popularity and uncommon good fortune (not that they were ever lacking in it before). the young wizards and witches fortunate enough to belong to the proper bloodlines are finding themselves, for better or for worse, rising without precedent to high-level positions within the ministry.

[jackalau]

01. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR

the 1942  opening of the chamber of secrets created widespread panic at hogwarts. perhaps most concerning was that headmaster dippet, reluctant even to name the threat aloud, could not possibly have been trusted to protect the students within hogwarts’ walls. with the death of myrtle warren, a muggleborn girl who would soon thereafter become a ghost, tensions finally came to a head. parents were pulling children from the school in record numbers as the ministry threatened to shut the doors of hogwarts forever.

it was only this threat that finally stopped the threats; a bumbling armando told tom riddle, then a student, that there would be no hogwarts to come back to if the culprit was not found. the headmaster didn’t think to question it when, soon after, a culprit surfaced- as well as a creature that didn’t quite make sense. most people were more than happy to let rubeus hagrid, peculiar halfbreed, take the blame and be expelled from hogwarts-

most people.

the terrible blow of losing a student under their care was too much for more than one professor. a rash of retirements left hogwarts needing more professors at once than had occurred in recent memory- and it is with eager eyes and suspicious minds that minerva mcgonagall, pomona sprout, and tom riddle re-enter hogwarts’ halls.

beneath the cut, you’ll find involved parties. remember that all faceclaims pictured are flexible!

armando dippet, headmaster

advanced in age and not much wiser for it, armando is a friendly and lovable man who isn’t much help in a murder mystery. he’s happy to let sleeping dogs lie, and the chamber of secrets is a closed book as far as he’s concerned. his guidelines for the professors are lax, and he is eagerly looking forward to his retirement. pictured: philippe dumas

minerva mcgonagall, transfiguration

 brought in under the wing of albus dumbledore, minerva is a precocious student turned strict professor. his sudden absence following a battle with grindelwald thrust her into the lead role, and she is busier than ever this term. she takes no nonsense in the classroom- and she takes no nonsense as explanation. the chamber of secrets opened during her hogwarts years, and she is eager to understand the many holes in armando dippet’s explanation. this is in no small part owed to the fact that she was much harsher with myrtle warren than she’d have liked to have been. pictured: maisie williams

silvanus kettleburn, care of magical creatures  

well beloved by students and involved in supervising many extracurriculars, he was perhaps the only professor who paid myrtle warren much mind. her death was a particular blow to him, but he is unwilling to leave the school before he sees some real justice done. he keeps his opinions on the event to himself for the sake of the students, but it is obvious from stony silences or rolled eyes that he has nearly had it with the headmaster’s incompetence. pictured: kristofer hivju

herbert beery, herbology (head) 

not brought in for his skills in dealing with students, herbert is best known for his radio show: sow & so. he is brusque and harsh in grading, and does not often offer chances for revision. his chiefmost concern this term is getting his pantomime off the ground; he’s been campaigning for one since he began at hogwarts many years ago, and is reluctant to let recent events get in the way of that.  pictured: eric cutherford

pomona sprout, herbology (assistant)

with herbert’s impending retirement, she is learning to take over his courseload and already teaching the younger years. she is a highly skilled herbologist, and much friendlier than her head teacher. she has been close friends with minerva since school and, while her support is a given, she probably thinks her friend has gone a little over the deep end with this whole myrtle warren thing. this is her first year as a teacher. pictured: aiyana lewis

tom riddle, defense against the dark arts

now in his second year of teaching defence against the dark arts, tom is aware of minerva’s hostility, if not suspicions, and unaffected by it. he is known for his charm, and for his diligent attention to detail when it comes to teaching - he has even set up a rather exclusive homework club for those students who seem like they might benefit from more advanced study. pictured: otto lotz

[jackalau]

A PREDILECTION AND A PREDICTION

witch weekly has acquired this saucy letter, addressed to our favourite WAYWARD seer...

my darling cassandra trelawney,

i am writing to confess that my ardent admiration of you has only increased since we were last together.

for many of your last readings, i have sat in the back of the audience, waiting for your attention, and felt my heart flutter with every dark glance of your all-seeing eyes.

last time we were together, we shared only a moment, but i know there was something there. you drew the lovers and death, and that is when i knew i must divorce my wife for us to be together. let us cast off the shackles of our places in society and bury ourselves in prophecy forever!

please meet me soon. i ache for your embrace once more.

yours in eternity,

your hierophant

now just who could this recently-divorced gentleman be? send your suggestions in to our letters section!

[jackalau]

03. PURE & NOBLE

tom riddle has always had a way with words. as a student at hogwarts, it was those words that began to build him an army. the knights of walpurgis are his proto-death eaters, a small gang of old names he has flattered and cajoled into following him, with everything from open affection, to petty displays of power, to promises of violence when he finally takes his rightful place in society.

now those five original boys are grown and graduated, and their nepotistic fingers taking root across wixen society, it is time for tom to expand his influence. with no albus dumbledore to oppose his appointment as professor of defence against the dark arts, he has already picked up two years worth of promising young graduates, inviting ever-more-connected families into his inner circle.

the young, promising recruits and old friends seep out into a world already tense. as the first wizarding war rages on with no sign of stopping, tom quietly instructs his followers on how to take advantage of the situation. as time marches on, the old knights are given different remits on how to disrupt the world around them, while the new vy for the attention of their benevolent leader.

muggle attacks, grindelwald scares, and charity balls, cries the daily prophet.  

it cannot end well.

beneath the cut, you’ll find involved parties. remember that all faceclaims pictured are flexible!

tom riddle - cult leader

riddle needs no introduction. the charming leader of his own personal cult, tom wiles away his time planning nothing less than the takeover of the ministry, downfall of grindelwald, and his own ascension to living as a god. his concentration is on recruitment, while he delegates much of the destabilising work to the original five knights of walpurgis who make up his current inner circle. pictured: otto lotz

lestrange - ministry infiltrator

the lestrange family are one whose purist links and superiority are the most impeccable of credentials. lestrange’s family are not desperately known for their ministerial careers, but lestrange himself is charming and handsome enough to be rising quickly through the ranks - and stacking important administrative positions with younger knights. he is also keen to evangelise to ministry officials - that is, other pureblood names - who he thinks might be interested in tom’s cause.

pictured: adrien sahores

rosier - false flag operations 

heir to his family’s fortune, rosier is a thug. interested in tom for the violent delights he promises, but intelligent and driven, rosier is the brutal arm who puts tom’s plans for disruption into terrible action. rosier stages ‘muggle attacks’ with the use of the imperius curse, memory charms, and whatever else he feels he can get away with.

pictured: kyle pacholok

mulciber - general tasks 

deeply affected by the recent shift in his family’s status, mulciber clutches at whatever chances he has to prove his worth in a society that is rapidly beginning to leave him off wedding invitations. with his prospects for nepotism, marriage and wealth dimming, he has moved of late from being a typically affluenza-type interested in riddle for the power he wields, to being in desperate need of his master’s favour. he does whatever he is asked, and is grateful for it.

pictured: tuur sikkink

nott - grindelwald spy 

nott is a sickly man who has no place on the frontline. nonetheless, a gift for languages and a vested interest in the stratagems of war has him helping by keeping abreast of grindelwald’s movements, and he spends much of the time out of the country, sending valuable information back to his fellows. he is the grandson of caractacus nott, the ‘anonymous’ author of the document that has recently caused so much disruption in the wixen world.

pictured: dylan roques

avery - secret stealer 

working in the archives of the ministry, translating and copying ancient and all-but-forgotten tomes, avery is who tom turns to for private information about hidden dark magics and artefacts to add to his collection. although known for sudden fits of temper as a boy, he has grown into a quiet and peculiar man whose most charming feature is the gold and prestige behind the avery name. more importantly to the knights, he is also inventive- particularly when it comes to dark magic; even so,  it is only tom’s interest in him that would have the otherwise unpalatable avery in anyone’s ‘inner circle’.

pictured: caleb landry jones