2099

The economy booming and the world’s image of the British Ministry of Magic on the rise, it was beginning to feel like there was just no striking out for Minister for Magic, Charles Hollingberry, and his department head team. The Ministry got the ball rolling with its annual orientation event held at the Shrunken Head Bowling Alley. There were no dragon shaped fireworks this go around (all threats against Senior Undersecretary January Bones had ceased and the case was now a cold one) and the only things knocked over were pins as team ‘10 Pins to Gryffindor!’ took home the night’s top prize - though it was rumored that a few of the shrunken heads were a bit more unruly than usual.

Work back in session, things seemed mostly uneventful save for the influx of reports regarding identity theft and missing passports that the Department of International Magical Cooperation was fielding at the Ministry. But as March began waning, curious things began occurring. First was the case of a few missing rock shaped pillows (still to be recovered) from the Department of Mysteries’ Decompression Chamber, which left several Unspeakables unsettled in light of the sudden appearance of a rock golem last year. Meanwhile in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement a magical deadzone inexplicably occurred in in their exercise room, while the cooling charms in the Department of Magical Games and Sports malfunctioned (at some point it even began to snow), and the interdepartmental memos in the Minister’s Office suddenly lost their ability to fly. This was followed by another magical deadzone manifesting itself in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and the Fountain of Magical Brethren going haywire and attempting to take out the Minister. The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes was contacted after each incident and, upon inspection, the maintenance team seemingly rectified each of the magical mishaps - although some instances surprisingly sorted themselves out. Surely, these mishaps were nothing more than a small hiccup in outdated charmswork...right?

Meanwhile, Minister Hollingberry received alarming news from Hogwarts Headmaster Malachi Trent, regarding the disappearance of two students and the appearance of an ominous and fear inducing mist that had overtaken the school grounds and trapped Hogwarts’ faculty and students inside the castle. Assuming the cause to be an unnatural weather phenomenon, a team from the Department of Environmental Regulation and Protection (DERP) was deployed to investigate and bring back samples for further analysis. However, upon arrival it soon became apparent that DERP was in over their heads. Led by department head Olly Emmons-Clarke, the entire team (consisting of Archer Burton, Lucille Pembrooke, Caroline Norton, Alexander Pappadeaux, Katrina Belrose, Q. Alvey, Mariana Medina, Elizabeth Wright, Alberta Bowman, and Laleh Kiani) administered Bubblehead Charms to themselves in hopes of counteracting the effects of the mist. A defensive measure that would prove fruitless the moment they stepped through the Hogwarts entrance gates. Frozen from fright, Botany Division Head Archer Burton was nearly snatched away by unknown shapes in the mist, but was fortunately saved by some sharp wandwork from his colleagues Alvey, Bowman, and Medina. Emmons-Clarke herself was nearly taken as well and the entire team escaped by the skin of their teeth, thanks to the emergency portkeys provided by the Department of Magical Transportation. The field team all made it back in one piece but only time will tell if the outing will leave any lasting marks.

DERP’s investigation findings were inconclusive as to the source of the mist, although the collected samples did provide the evidence necessary to entirely rule out any sort of environmental issue - magical or otherwise. Several months later, the situation at Hogwarts turned more dire as the school was evacuated and come September a second investigation team, combining the efforts of the Departments of Magical Law Enforcement, Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, and the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures, was sent in. Led by department heads Alexa Cambridge, Eliora Dodderidge, and James Draper, immediate observations were that the mist had receded somewhat and granted the team easier command of Hogwarts’ grounds. The air still thick with uncertainty, YATI Ronan Carter eventually discovered the body of Kamryn Keighley (one of the missing Hogwarts students) blanketed by Hogwarts foliage, while Hit Wizard Jake Upstead found the body of Thadius Potter in the same earthy blanket just a few yards off.

Cautioned to leave them at rest where they lay (although the students’ remains would be retrieved and returned to their families immediately afterwards), the team proceeded forward and eventually divided up into two units. Led by Dodderidge, one unit consisting of DMAC employees Bambi Ackerly, Ursula Agan, Megan Baines, Derek Meriwether, and Grayson Whitlock, remained outside to collect further samples from the vegetation and inspected the area for curses and other forms of magical malpractice. The results here would likewise prove inconclusive, leading most to assume creature involvement. The other unit, led by Cambridge and Draper and made up of MLE employees Simon Bennett, Emilia Espinosa, Bryony Keighley, Matthew Meriwether, Benzi Rider, Evangeline Shacklebolt, Amrita Sandhu, and Jake Upstead & DMC employees Bryson Addams, Darej Patterson, Albert Morgenstern, and Caleb Queen, proceeded inside Hogwarts. Once inside the Entrance Hall, mist began billowing in from the dark corners and down the stairwell. In the fearful fray that followed, it was revealed that the true culprit behind the mist was a massive boggart infestation, the size of which the wizarding world had never seen. Though able to fend off and even capture a few, the boggarts' numbers were too vast and a retreat was ordered by Cambridge.

With the mystery of the mist solved, it was beginning to look promising that the Minister would be able to fully resolve the situation once a boggart removal plan was solidified back at the Ministry.

However, another pressing issue soon arose. Sightings of various magical creatures who had fled from Hogwarts amidst the boggwart infestation appeared all over Diagon Alley and Muggle London. While a herd of unicorns found themselves craving ice cream, a group of centaurs ended up rampaging through the Leaky Cauldron. The Ministry was further alerted by owl (literally) to the presence of a small herd of acromantula in the Diagon Alley playground. Magical Transportation department head Kendra Jordan-Durand and French diplomat Valentin Roux responded to a distressed Owl Post owl in the Atrium and arrived on the scene just as Michael Cambridge was bringing two children (Emmerson Cambridge and Ezra Upstead) to safety by way of disapparation. Still at the scene were Owl Post shopkeeper Zachaël Lufkin, local artisan Helena Smithfield, and freelance extraordinaire Vitaliy Sedaka who assisted Ministry personnel in the successful containment of the beasts. With more of the Forbidden Forest creatures elsewhere and Muggles alerted by the appearance of thestrals at Trafalgar Square as well as bowtruckles in St. James's Park, however, the Ministry now had its hands full with a nationwide containment effort.