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BREAKING NEWS: The Storm of the Century
by Brutus Trimble

HOGSMEADE VILLAGE -
The storm of the century has returned—literally. Earlier today, the Prophet received word from Hogsmeade Village of large storm clouds that rolled into the area. Eye witnesses report that at around 9:30 am, the clouds had entirely engulfed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in similar fashion to a not so long ago incident with a rogue group of boggarts.

The students were scheduled to arrive that very morning for their train ride back to King’s Cross Station. Bob Ykes, a worker at the station, shared his concern when he saw the clouds of many shades of red. At the time of the interview with Ykes, the students had still not arrived. “When they didn’ com’ dow’ by 11, me an’ me mate decided t’ walk up to th’ castle t’see if they was needin’ help gettin’ dow’ t’ th’ village. Whe’ we go’ there, we couldn’ see nothin’! Th’ groun’s was empty! Reckon i’ looks more like i’ did befor’ them founders firs’ set th’ place up.”

The phenomenon, known among the historical and meteorological community as “the Rehticus Vortex”, is the ultimate manifestation of magic. The storm occurs roughly every century and in the United Kingdom, it’s closely monitored by the Department of Mysteries over at the Ministry of Magic. Signs had begun surfacing sometime back in early October, indicating the location the storm was most likely to hit. According to sources, Headmaster at Hogwarts, Malachi Trent, had been awaiting an update from the DoM but it never came. It can only be assumed they thought it was safe to continue the school year.

The Prophet was allowed an interview with head of the DoM to see if some sort of explanation could be given for this gross oversight.

"With the Ministry's communications compromised it is very likely that such paperwork got lost somewhere in the shuffle," Airey Flamsteed, department head for the Department of Mysteries, informed reporters somewhat dismissively. "The phenomenon is not innately dangerous, but I will ensure that every spare Evolutionist and Astronomer is assigned to monitoring the situation and researching a solution."

The Rheticus Vortex, sometimes referred to as the “storm of the century”, occurs when the magic in the atmosphere has sufficiently built up and needs to be released. The mechanism can be likened to a normal storm cloud in which water vapor collects and once saturated, clouds “burst” open causing rain. Over time, the magic around the world builds and when it hits its cap, a vortex of a storm is created. Data suggests the vortex never strikes in the same place twice and was first truly studied by astronomer George von Rheticus, a survivor of the phenomenon. Rheticus himself was never sure how he’d escaped but the man soon became obsessed and dedicated his life to what he called “the vanishing”. After his death, the name was changed in his honour for providing vital information about the nature of the storm.

The previous location of the Rheticus Vortex was the middle of the Sahara Dessert back in 2002. It was an easy clean up job for the Algerian Ministry of Magic (the country closest to the vortex). According to their reports, no one had been trapped inside and no muggles had reported any strange occurrences.

The U.K has not been so lucky. The storm of the century has hit arguably the most important building for many of us; the place we send our children to learn. As of yet, a solution hasn’t been offered but in the past, the storm has tended to dissipate on its own. There is nothing anyone can do but hope that as Rheticus found his way out, our children and those set to care for them will also find their wait out.