Lily - The tale of a Phoenix

Chapter three : The sorting of 71'

August 31st, 1971

It was a warm Tuesday morning, and the main hall of the Ministry of Magic was sweltering with wizarding folk awaiting a statement from Minister Eugenia Jenkins. She was a slight woman with a contrastingly booming voice, which some called the 'voice of a modern magical nation'. Others called it a desperate attempt to shout so loud that nobody could hear her failures over the sound of her personal praise. However, she was a step up from the previous Minister Nobby Leach and nobody would argue that. Yet there was one issue that she still had been neglecting to properly deal with. An issue that had recaptured the nation after a recent review of the events that took place in 1969.

That was why that morning, the day before students in the United Kingdom returned to Hogwarts, she was set to make a statement. Cameras flashed against the tiled walls, and the statues perched on the water fountain seemed to turn their eyes to watch as letters and quills fluttered around. Workers peered from their offices as house elves brought around trays of pumpkin tea and owls in cages hooted to each other before being dragged away. She stepped up on her wobbly heels, waving to cheers and ignoring a good few 'boos'. Once stood in front of the microphone her weathered face appeared on two long banners hanging from the ceiling. She glanced back at them pridefully for a moment, before clearing her throat.

"Good morning", she stated, "Today I stand here before you to address some current concerns regarding what can only be stated as 'recent discoveries ' made over the course of the last two years that have fallen into the public eye. Since the incident at the Squib rights march in 69,' it can be confirmed now that there were more disappearances than initially recorded. However, no families have come forward for these excess missing persons, and due to no formal list of attendees at the march no further comment can be made on that...fault- however I am sure that my honourable friend and head of the Aurors department Mr Scrimgeour will have more to say on that issue in a forthcoming report. Furthermore, there has been no development in finding the three persons of suspect from the event, including Miss Allison McNaire of the opposition, Miss Evelyn Pennyworth, leader of the Squib rights movement, and Mr John Silas".

An uproar of questions came from the crowd. Jenkins decided to acknowledge them. One man brought his wand to his throat and boomed: "Minister Jenkins- you have not made comment on the attackers at the event. Very little has been said about those who instigated the brutal attack and murder of some members of the march. Do they remain to freely roam around, or are you looking into them too?".

"No comment", returned Minister Jenkins, "I cannot comment, for the identity of those persons is still in question". Scrimgeour seemed to shift about uncomfortably. Beside him, three Aurors began to whisper frustratedly between each other, silenced by the elder of the trio.

"What about our children- are they safe to return to Hogwarts?!".

"As no danger has been posed to any children since the...harrowing event I can safely say that the best place all of your children can be is within the walls of Hogwarts and under the care of the finest Headmaster seen at the school since 1771". The uproar continued. The papers were going to gobble it up, that was for sure. Scrimgeour didn't like the look of it. "...Also...there is a trend in those, such as Miss Pennyworth...who did dissapear-and that trend is that they are generally of ages seventeen and above...and that they are...". She cleared her throat again. "...Squib-born or muggle-born...". This second statement was digested worse than the first. "But allow me to re-iterate what my main statement for today was going to be. This issue is not the precipice of another war, as stated by some papers that have made very kind opinions on the matter. It is not, also, a representation of personal failures. That is why I am here, in person, to tell you with the utmost confidence that we are not facing war, or great danger of any kind, for any magical person- and the investigation into the event in 69' will remain open until sufficient evidence is found to close it. I will not be the Minister that plummets this country into another war like Minister Hector Fawley before me- I will uplift it like Minister Lufkin, as I have been since coming into office".