[016] Thursday 01 October 2022.
CHARMED PRIVATE TO SELF.
Twenty-five years ago, my father was seventeen -- just like I am right now -- and should have been at school -- again, just like I am right now -- but instead, he'd spent the last month wandering about the countryside on his own before finally getting caught, tried, and thrown into Azkaban.
That was twenty-five years ago and every year since then, including this year without fail, he apparently gets completely pissed off his arse right about now and has to take his 'annual holiday to St Mary's' because he drank too much. Mummy sent an owl to Lizzy and me a few days ago -- and this was after Daddy had been writing me almost every day during the last week wanting to know if I was all right and still at school even though we've been writing to him every Friday to let him know that just as he'd asked before term started -- telling us that he was in hospital and that he's ill, but after reading Daddy's book, I know what that really means now. Lizzy still doesn't, I think. But then again, Mummy's never brought her over as a child to Daddy when he was upset to try and cheer him up. This was one of those few times of the year where I could never do anything to make him feel better and I didn't understand why.
Anyway, Lizzy and I can't go to London to see him right now, but we've owled cards and letters home for Mummy to take to him, and I hope it helps lift his spirits a little. He's taking the week off from 'work' too, of course -- partly because of his health and partly because he doesn't want to be at the Ministry right now. Bad memories right about now and all that, even if he'll never go anywhere near the court-rooms unless he absolutely has to. I know Daddy must feel awful about taking time off even though he shouldn't -- he thinks it's unfair that he gets 'special treatment' like this even though Mummy and I have told him that it's more than fair, given what he went through then and now. That, and he always feels like he's not doing enough when he has to take a holiday like this. He's such a Hufflepuff and I'll never understand that or anything else, really.
I feel like I should read that part of Daddy's book again tonight, but I'm sort of dreading it. And that's stupid, since it's not even like I went through that myself in the first place and --
I just hope Daddy's going to be all right in the end. Relatively and temporarily, I mean. Can't really set expectations too high for this sort of thing now that I know better.
/ PRIVATE
Well, I say -- you know, I was going to write about Ellsworth's splendid idea of a kissing booth to raise crispies for WAMM and how when I told Daddy about it, he whinged that Muggle-borns nowadays don't seem to think about anything important even though I know he'd give up all the fantastic work he's done over the years to improve wizarding-Muggle relations and help other Muggle-borns in a heartbeat if it meant his greatest worry could be the next shooting party in Scotland with his chums again -- and how a certain someone very generously set my schoolbooks on fire thank God I'd kept Daddy's book elsewhere --, but that spiffing article in the Daily Prophet today had me thinking that perhaps we ought to discuss the implications of opening up wizarding-Muggle relations. This journal assignment is, after all, for Muggle Studies, yes?
Anyway, it does seem like everyone has their own and entirely valid opinions about all this, but perhaps as a good exercise, we all ought to come up with both pros and cons for getting rid of the International Statute of Secrecy. Why, I'll even go first with a few arguments of my own to set a good example!
IN SUPPORT OF REPEALING THE STATUTE
- The lack of such a statue would make it much easier for the Muggle government and civil service to go about their business with more honesty where magic is involved. Daddy's father, who 'worked' at the Home Office while they still oversaw the justice system, used to tell me that it was just beastly trying to explain away all of the anti-Muggle crimes that had happened as a result of the war, since they could never give an honest answer about what had really transpired.
- The Ministry of Magic wouldn't have to use Obliviators modify the memories of Muggles who had accidentally witnessed magic. It's already such a grey area as to whether anyone's really got the right to tamper with someone's memory like that, especially when too many memory charms are known to have a permanent effect on the mind. And no, I'm not convinced by the 'they're just Muggles anyway, so who cares?' dismissal -- I thought we all ought to be beyond ghastly attitudes like that now.
- Increased understanding between the two worlds. I don't doubt for a moment that a good deal of why both worlds have had conflicts with each other in the past is because of a lack of understanding -- good Lord, if Muggles knew more about what wizards and witches were really like, then perhaps they would have tried burning them (I mean, with freezing charms and the like, they really just ended up burning more of their own, didn't they?), and if wizards had known more about Muggles and how they aren't a bumbling and foolish sort (funny how this view always seems to go along with the one where they're a mindless violent mob with the capacity to destroy the magical world), then we wouldn't have had those ridiculous wars over it.
- Both worlds could also benefit from a more open exchange between the two -- Muggle medical care could be improved if they had access to Healers (and we're all human, so shouldn't we all get the best health care we can get?) and I'm sure you chaps reading this wouldn't mind razors that won't cut your member off if you don't give it exact instructions!
- Wouldn't it be super if Daddy got appointed to one of the few hereditary spots left in the Lords for his expertise about the magical world? It would probably be much easier for Muggle-borns and their families and friends if they didn't have to be so secretive about their lives after the age of eleven. This would have helped my father so much.
AGAINST REPEALING THE STATUTE
- We can't predict how Muggle will react to finding out about the existence of a magical world, although we can't assume that they will all react in the same way. With all of this class warfare nonsense, I can imagine that people wouldn't like finding out that a family like mine can do magic and may have been using it to keep our -- There could be violence of a ghastly sort, and as powerful as magic is, we can't deny that Muggle outnumber wizards and witches and that however little credit some in the magical world give to them, they do have technology that can rival our magical abilities -- just ask Mummy, who was in the army!
- Muggle will want the magical world to solve their problems, although to be honest, why is this a bad thing? It could be that my parents raised me a certain proper way, but if we've all been lucky enough to be given a gift like magic, do we not have a responsibility to give back to society by using our abilities to help others for the greater good? Is it really so dreadful that a Muggle who's given themselves alcohol poisoning -- got into a life-threatening accident might live if they had access to a Healer, for example?
Well, I could come up with more, I'm sure, but I wouldn't want to steal anyone's thunder, so to speak -- I want to know what you all think too! And of course Daddy's all for getting rid of the statute, but he's spoken about that so often that I'm sure everyone knows already anyway.
Oh, and isn't it just splendid that there might be a new Muggle Relations head soon? I know Daddy's pleased about it, what with Wexler's waffling and all that that. I know he won't get it though because of his unreliability due to his health, and he doesn't want it anyway, which I don't understand at all -- He wishes that Madam Quince could take over if she weren't already head of another department and doing a spiffing job there. She's really something, isn't she? I'd love to work in any Ministry department under her leadership. And I will once I find a way to meet her -- perhaps I'll ask Daddy.