Welcome to Charming, where swirling petticoats, the language of flowers, and old-fashioned duels are only the beginning of what is lying underneath…
After a magical attempt on her life in 1877, Queen Victoria launched a crusade against magic that, while tidied up by the Ministry of Magic, saw the Wizarding community exiled to Hogsmeade, previously little more than a crossroad near the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the years that have passed since, Hogsmeade has suffered plagues, fires, and Victorian hypocrisy but is still standing firm.
Thethe year is now 1894. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.
By this point in the campaign Oz had an internal hierarchy of issues people raised to him when he was out and about. There were some that were easy to talk about, in which he was confident both in his opinion on the matter and that his opinion would be reasonably popular with voters. There were some he didn't want to touch with a ten-foot pole, if it could be avoided (women's suffrage had been in that category, but alas). There were some that weren't necessarily controversial, but were complex enough that he didn't relish being asked about them; discussions were full of little pitfalls where he might accidentally phrase something the wrong way and look ignorant on the subject, and even if only a handful of people were better informed and cared whether or not he was, it still wouldn't do to be seen as ignorant on any matter someone asked him about on the campaign trail.
Then there were issues like this: controversial, but not (in Oz's estimation) worth having any sort of debate about. "It's strange to me that we spend so much time talking about werewolves in the first place," he said, rather than answering the question he had been asked about his policies on lycanthropy were he elected. "They're only a credible threat to anyone for eighteen hours a month, give or take."
Aleksei felt stunningly out of place. They were attending these political things because they had the ability to vote and they wanted to use it rightly. Even so, Alekseis brain was full of paints, clays, butterflies, ribbons and dresses more than it was on who ran the country they resided in.
The man who seemed to like the sound of his own voice was doing a lot of talking. As expected, Aleksei supposed since this was Dempseys event and he was trying to win votes. "That is very true but do you have any ideas about doing more towards helping them when you are in office?" Alekseis shy voice spoke up, immediately wishing they had not spoken at all.
Oz rather thought the first and most important step in 'helping' anyone inflicted with lycanthropy was talking about them a good deal less. He couldn't claim to know how the average werewolf felt about most things, since he had never met one personally (at least as far as he knew) but he imagined that keeping their face off the front page of the Daily Prophet was probably at the top of their list of priorities. That being said, he could hardly state that as his policy. Dempsey on werewolves: just ignore them and hope they go away, the headline of the politics section might read.
"We can't exactly do anything to help them when the majority are unregistered," he pointed out. This might perhaps be a controversial statement with the hardcore supporters of werewolf rights (which this lad might be among, based on the phrasing of his question — it was hard to tell), but it seemed self-evident to Oz that any policies designed to actually help a group of people would necessitate first knowing who that group of people was. "So incentivizing the registry would be the first step."
Aleksei listened as the older man spoke. Seeing the merits in what he was saying. Still, Aleksei doubted most werewolves would want to be registered. Not with all the stigma against them which Aleksei felt was also an issue worth being looked into by a potential Minister of Magic.
"And how would you personally go about doing that if you were Minister?"
aleksei is non-binary. in ooc narrative, aleksei goes by they/them, IC people would percive them as he/him
Merlin, did people expect the Minister to personally do everything? How much time did they think the man had? (An amusing thought: the Ministry was the official keeper of all the country's time-turners, which were then leased out for various purposes, so perhaps a Minister actually had more time than anyone. Maybe that was why the job always seemed to age them so dramatically — they crammed two or three years into each one they were in office).
The question was probably less what actions he would personally be taking, though, and more what his personal opinions were about what ought to be done, and Oz had never been short of opinions. "It's simple arithmetic," he said (and wondered briefly if this was the wrong way to explain it — not everyone had a reason to think about mathematics after they left Hogwarts and no longer had homework assignments due. If the youth's eyes glazed over he could vary the metaphor). "Benefits on one side, detriments to the other. There's — maybe two benefits, depending on how you divide them up; security for themselves and security for others. Knowing they won't hurt anyone, and that they won't be hurt by wizards acting in self defense or the werewolf capture unit. But you compare that with the detriments: losing their job, most likely, losing their place in society, being ostracized by friends and family, being recognized everywhere they go as a werewolf, et cetera. The equation is almost always valued in the negative. We can't add much to the benefit side." (Or, at least, there was no real appetite to give werewolves any benefits whatsoever, at least that Oz had been privy to). "So we need to see about removing some of the detractors. And the root of most of them is publicity. A private registry would be the first step, in my opinion."
Aleksei listened attentively as the older man spoke. He seemed very knowledgeable about what he was talking about so that was something at least. They nodded along to the parts that they agreed with. Which was everything so far. So clearly they were on the same page about benefits and detriments.
"I am quite in agreement, Mister Dempsey," Aleksei said, in approval despite knowing the man probably gave a crups ass about Alekseis personal approval. "It would also need to be a very protected registry to protect against leaks of anyones name." As it was, Dempseys esteem in Alekseis eyes had risen though they were still personally uncertain of where their vote might end up.
aleksei is non-binary. in ooc narrative, aleksei goes by they/them, IC people would percive them as he/him
"Ah, that's easily solved," Oz said with a wave of his hand. "If anyone cared to solve it, anyway." He held up a finger as if to say allow me to demonstrate. "What do you know about the daily happenings of the Department of Mysteries?" He paused for a moment, though he was not so much waiting for an answer as he was allowing time for dramatic effect. No one knew what went on at the Department of Mysteries, which was the whole point. The place was locked down tighter than an octogenarian's panty drawer. It had at least a dozen employees, a dozen people who knew precisely what was going on, and no one else had the faintest idea. That was a frankly impressive amount of discretion — and if they could manage it there, they could manage it elsewhere.
"The capacity for keeping things out of the eye of the public isn't novel," he continued. "It's just that there's never been an appetite to keep it out of the public eye before." Though he didn't know why not; it seemed the most common sense solution to him. He wouldn't speculate, because he hadn't done his research on the subject and would be loathe to be proven wrong by someone else at the event who knew better than he did, but Oz would have been willing to bet that the state of the registry as it currently stood could be traced back to two wealthy, landed gentlemen trying to cut each other's throats. One of them being outed as a werewolf would have been a rather convenient excuse for the other to swoop in and snap up all their assets. On the surface of things, it was surprising how much of their modern society had its roots in individual disputes between two lords or kings or whatnot who were long since dead. On a deeper level, once one understood how these things went, it wasn't surprising in the slightest.
Aleksei did personally think quite a few people cared to solve it - they just were not in a position of power to safely do so. Society thought so deeply on reputations to the point that Aleksei thought it detrimental to those in society in need of help.
"Nothing at all," Aleksei answered. The lack of information was by design, they had always thought. Though truth be told, Aleksei did not actually know much about most departments of the Ministry. "I admire you for having these solutions on your mind and thank you for answering my questions." It was thanks to this that Ozymandias Dempsey was now more of a viable candidate for where Aleksei would personally be placing their vote.
aleksei is non-binary. in ooc narrative, aleksei goes by they/them, IC people would percive them as he/him
