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Below are the 10 most recent journal entries recorded in magical_media's InsaneJournal:

    Monday, August 31st, 2009
    11:24 am
    Op-Ed section, The Daily Prophet
    An Educational Failure Laid at the Ministry's Feet
    by Harry J. Potter, MP, Diagon Alley

    A wise man once taught me to trust in myself. I hated him at the time for that lesson. I thought him harsh. Cruel. I was certain he loathed me.

    That lesson, so difficult to learn, kept me alive during a war I had no choice but to fight. It gave me the strength to defeat a Dark Lord. And then to do it again ten years later.

    Professor Severus Snape is one of the bravest, strongest, most moral men I know, and he will hate seeing those words in print when he picks up this newspaper. Not because he disagrees with them, but because he feels his past should deny him their comfort.

    That's a doubt I know all too well myself.

    We are not our past choices. We are our future choices--as Professor Snape has proved time and time over.

    And now he's being persecuted for his choices. For ones in his past he regrets, and for ones in his present that are no one's business but his and those who care for him.

    The Board of Governors of Hogwarts School would have you believe that his moral failings--his marriage, his children, his relationship with me--makes him unfit to serve as Hogwarts Headmaster. That, as anyone with two brain cells to rub together can see, is ridiculous. How can being a father, a husband, a lover, a friend be morally deficient in any way? If that's the case, then what one of us can claim any sort of moral superiority?

    They've chosen to replace him with a woman under whom I had the extreme misfortune of spending my fifth year at Hogwarts. Dolores Umbridge is an outrageous headmistress. Her idea of discipline involves a charm in which lines that students write are carved into their skin. This is not hearsay; this is fact. I still have the scars on the back of my hand. I will not tell lies.

    She terrorised the school for an entire year. She tormented students, bullied professors, and devastated the curricula. We learned nothing that year after she tied the hands of our professors, dictating what they could and could not include in their lectures. Her teaching abilities as Defence of Dark Arts professor were so pathetically feeble that I had no choice but to take tutoring other students on myself after hours in an attempt to make certain we knew what was necessary for us to know in order to face Voldemort himself.

    I was fifteen years old, and I was a better professor than she.

    Shame on Rufus Scrimgeour and his cronies. Shame on them for putting this woman in charge of our children's education. Shame on the Ministry for allowing it. As a father, I cannot condone this. While my children are not yet Hogwarts age, should Umbridge remain in her position when my daughter and my son receive their school letters, I cannot in good conscience allow them to attend. I would rather them be educated overseas then forced to endure what was done to me.

    The Board of Governors have failed. They have failed Severus Snape.They have failed Hogwarts. And they have, without any doubt, failed the children of wizarding Britain.

    Bring Severus Snape back.
    11:22 am
    Op-Ed section, The Daily Prophet
    New Administration to Bring Educational Reform
    by Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic-elect

    I do not think I exaggerate when I say education is one of the most important issues the wizarding world faces today. As our society ages, it is imperative that we in Britain have outstanding witches and wizards in the younger generations in place, ready to step into positions of responsibility and authority wherewith to lead our great nation into its glorious place within the annals of wizarding history.

    The recent election of Harry Potter, our beloved hero, as our representative to the Muggle Parliament is a fine example of what greatness Hogwarts School can produce under a strong and dedicated Headmaster. Mr Potter is an exemplary product of Albus Dumbedore's tutelage, a true testament to the principles of his House and his school.

    There have been questions posed to the Board of Governors in recent days as to why Professor Severus Snape was dismissed from his position. Such details are, of course, confidential, but as former chair of the Board, I can authoritatively say that, despite the Headmaster's exemplary record in providing a sound educational foundation for Hogwarts students, there were deep concerns regarding his ability to provide the proper moral and social education so needed to keep our students from the dangers and pitfalls that so many fell into while under the spell of the Dark Lord not too many years past.

    I have great faith in our new Headmistress, Dolores Umbridge, who has previously proven herself most capable in this position. The Ministerial Education Committee, along with the Board of Governors of Hogwarts School stand entirely behind Professor Umbridge as she strives to bring our school and our students into the twenty-first century with grace and dignity.

    In addition, I am most pleased to support the new chair of the Board of Governors, Edwin Hibbit-Turril. He has served the school as board member with great humility and loyalty for fifteen years, and I am proud to name him my successor. Mr Hibbit-Turril will begin the process of replacing my position on the Board of Governors shortly.

    A new era has begun, my friends. May it bring prosperity and success to our children and our children's children.
    Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
    7:44 pm
    From the Tillingsworth and Crankwell Hour
    ...and that was from the recent press conference on Monday given by the various candidates for the upcoming general election to be held at the end of the month. So tell me, Patricia, who do you think are the front-runners?
    Friday, March 13th, 2009
    7:00 am
    HARRY STORMS OUT!
    An investigative report by Orla Quirke.

    Harry Potter stormed out on a distraught Draco Malfoy after tensions over their recent custody battle exploded yet again. Surrounded by bewildered and embarrassed diners in a noted Diagon restaurant, Draco broke down in tears and insiders fear that any hope of a reconciliation between the star-crossed lovers is finally doomed. Draco was forced to gather the children Harry had left behind amidst complaints about his foul public language and hurry away himself.

    ( Read more... )

    Will Harry Potter never find any peace? What good can come of this situation? With pleas to end the madness coming from family and friends in all directions we can only hope that Harry finds the courage we all know he has and does the decent thing and the best thing for two small motherless children.
    Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
    8:50 pm
    Minerva McGonagall Determined Not Dead
    By Niobe McGonagall

    The casualty count of the latest war against You-Knew-Who was lowered by one earlier this week, when the Ministry of Magic officially reversed the death of Minerva McGonagall, Unspeakable. "The proof of death offered by one Sophia Grayson after the date in question was found to be false," said Earnest Scrie, a clerk in the Ministry's Department of Records. "Professor McGonagall is still very much alive."

    The many students taught by McGonagall in her years as Transfiguration professor and head of Gryffindor house at Hogwarts are all, no doubt, thrilled to hear of her return. "She's a wonderful teacher- strict, but fair," said Susan Bones, a Hufflepuff. "I was sad to hear she had passed and overjoyed to hear she hadn't."

    McGonagall hasn't yet decided whether she'll continue as an Unspeakable or go back to teaching.
    Monday, October 27th, 2008
    5:04 pm
    A small, tasteful classified advertisement with a thin black border
    *appearing regularly in the Difficult and Dangerous Services section of the advertising pages*

    Bleddyn Private Security Co.: Highest calibre training, discretion guaranteed. No situation too difficult or dangerous. Let us protect your interests. Inquiries to DP perch#602.

    Current Mood: working
    Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
    9:46 am
    Ad appearing in the Prophet
    Needed Immediately: One skilled financial adviser. Initial duties include sorting out the departmental budget, organizing a backlog of receipts and tracking expenditures. Easy hours, fun work environment. Contact Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
    Wednesday, December 26th, 2007
    11:43 am
    BREAKING NEWS REPORT
    This is Banni D'Souza for the BBC reporting from North London where the peaceful atmosphere of Boxing Day has been shattered by a bomb blast at a popular neighborhood eatery. Three people are dead, 8 injured and one missing in this terrible tragedy at the Café des Beaux-Arts, with fire fighters and paramedics still on scene and the final toll still unknown.

    While it's too early yet for official conclusions, an anonymous source with the police has said that terrorist activity is suspected. Several witnesses report seeing strange light effects and fireworks over the café, including reports of a skull or a snake's head seen through the smoke. According to our unnamed source, those people were subsequently taken to local hospitals, treated for smoke inhalation and released. At present, no demand or manifesto has been received by police or the press, and noone has come forward to take responsibility for the blast, but police say that the arson investigation and witness interviews are sure to provide leads.

    We'll keep you abreast of the latest developments in this story. This is Banni D'Souza for the BBC.
    Monday, October 22nd, 2007
    12:06 am
    from the Gossip Column, Daily Prophet Sunday edition
    ... and what hero of the wizarding world was at the center of an embarrassing domestic dispute this weekend? Both Aurors and Mediwizards had to be called to the scene late at night, sources say. One well-known Auror and a high-ranking member of the Hogwarts faculty also appear to have been involved, and one of the three men - not the one dressed only in a bloodied towel when the Aurors arrived - was taken off to St. Mungo's, reportedly to the Incurable Cases ward, while screaming words not fit for a family newspaper.
    Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
    1:47 pm
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