Days after she reportedly vanished from the home of her aunt, Mrs. Laverna Flint, Miss Annabelle Scrimgeour's family have finally reported her to the Department of Investigation as a missing person. Gossip began spreading days ago about Miss Scrimgeour's absence, with tabloids even feeling the need to speculate on her whereabouts. It is assumed that these rumors, which were accompanied with public pressure from friends and the rest of the public, led the Scrimgeours to finally report their daughter missing.

Mr. Scrimgeour declined to comment when reporters questioned him on his knowledge of her whereabouts, but Mrs. Scrimgeour was much more inclined to give an explanation for their decision to hold off on reporting their child missing.

"Even since her Hogwarts days, Bella has been inclined to spent afternoons, evenings, and even nights with friends. Rather than choosing to spark a media firestorm by reporting her missing, we instead chose to privately seek her out by visiting the homes of her friends with the hope that we might find her there. The moment we realized our efforts were not working, we turned the investigation over to law enforcement," she told Daily Prophet reporters.

It's curious that the family chose to follow such a path; as a former auror, Mr. Scrimgeour should understand how important it is to report a disappearance promptly so the auror department and investigative team can begin searching and questioning potential suspects, which greatly increases the chances of a missing person being found safely.

With the investigation just beginning, the Department of Investigation's has not given much comment. They have commented that due to the nature of the disappearance and the individuals being investigation, Mr. Julius Scrimgeour, Miss Scrimgeour's brother and a Ministry investigator himself, will not be one of the investigators handling the case.

Miss Scrimgeour's coworkers have informed us that her position at St. Mungo's has been terminated until further notice, leading to more speculation that her absence is not simply a case of "running off" — but a crime.

Apparition classes will now be more readily available to those in need thanks to an initiative by the Department of Magical Transportation. While classes have always been available to Hogwarts students over the age of seventeen, members of society who have been unable to complete their schooling have found themselves unable to pay the Apparition Test Centre's fee for adult apparition classes.

Much like need-based scholarships at Hogwarts, citizens demonstrating great financial need can be granted a fee waiver through a short application process. Starting at the beginning of May, The Daily Prophet and the Department of Magical Transportation will be partnering to assure applications can be found in the hands of all working citizens. Applications will be included alongside the classifieds section, which can then be mailed to the secretary of the Department of Magical Transportation for reviewing.

We were able to speak with Mr. Benjamin Ross, head of the Department of Magical Transportation, about the initiative. "It's of great importance that the Ministry respond when the community voices their needs. We hope that with our new initiative, citizens will find now apparition — arguably the most convenient method of transportation — to be within their reaches."