[Story][Season2] Mage War Blues

[Ace Dreamer]

Mage War Blues - 05/Oct/2012
Early March, 2014, Hogsmeade.
Cynthia Luckwold sat back in her chair.  Yes, the Minister of Magic (IMC) had a nice office.  Yes, she got to work as many hours as she wanted to (most of her subordinates said 'too many').  But, she would chuck it all over in a moment, to be just a simple Sociology lecturer again.
The Wizards had taken a terrible beating in the Boskone War.  They'd had Auror teams, even Hit Wizards, on twenty-four hour stand by, for weeks at a time in the worst periods.  All the support they could beg from the other factions. They'd still lost so many people.
In the beginning it was just the odd adult, in isolated areas.  Bad enough, but you could warn people to be careful.  She'd met some of the ones who'd been rescued.  The haunted look in their eyes, the cringing.  Almost all of them had become catgirls, there was the odd wolfman or other combat shapes.  Arguably worst were the thionite addicts, almost all of those still surviving hospitalised, for their own protection.
Later whole groups had been grabbed, and the focus seemed to shift to late teen-aged children.  The stories suggested they'd got systems in place to 'process' the kidnapped; transformation and conditioning, hints of even nastier things towards the end.
Cynthia had been a Minister from the beginning, rotated through various of the positions.  Several times she'd tried to hand over to others, but been persuaded she was still best for the job.  She kept being pushed to be Chairman.  When the war was at its worst, that man, Albreth Durer, nearly took over.  Claimed she wasn't taking a hard enough line.  If The Quibbler hadn't found out and revealed he was being financed by the Death Eaters she'd have been out of a job. Funny...
She knew her history.  The Wizarding World'd want to replace her.  Leader in a war, not victorious, but with terrible losses.  They'd want a 'new broom'.  The catgirls who'd tried to return.  Everyone was nice to their faces.  But, they were so lost, almost none of them managed to fit in.  The werewolves were heroes compared to those reminders of what'd happened.
Her once partner, before the job of Minister ate all her time.  Jason Nelly, Auror.  Now Nelly the Catgirl.  He, she, couldn't face her.  Said she'd 'failed'.  One of the ones rescued from Earth, 'Terra' she was supposed to call it these days.  Hadn't even got scars to remember what happened, they healed too quickly.
Cynthia'd insisted.  They'd got a Catgirling Machine, two in fact.  Their best researchers were studying them, at the Department of Mysteries.  And, there were volunteers, returned catgirls, some ex-thionite addicts, a few who'd threatened suicide if they weren't allowed to help.  Somehow they'd make things better.
Meanwhile, she'd got begging letters to write, to those she knew in the other factions.  Or, in some cases, just to sign, if they weren't to people she was familiar with.  They needed to re-build.  And, she'd got applications to refuse. To people who wanted to create Dementors to guard Azkaban.  She shuddered.  You'd hope people would know better.
Here were some applications she could agree to, though she wanted to keep an eye on them.  Really 'Magical Creatures' should be doing it, but it had been pushed over to her for a final decision.  Someone had managed to make viable dragon eggs, and wanted to raise them to maturity.  The magical botanists had plants that were twice as efficient at renewing air, and processing sewage into pure water - the seed pods tasted just as bad though, like that Dole Yeast.
And, the centaurs were sending healers to work in the hospitals, something no one had been happy with before.  They had some new herbal mixes, that were supposed to be very effective in helping people get over mental trauma.  Just what they needed.
Cynthia wondered if they worked on politicians...
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[Ace Dreamer]

META: "Mage War Blues"

A "Wizards" story, though not a very nice one. The sort of war story political historians deliver. Still, it seemed to want to get itself written.

I think this is compatible with the wiki stuff on the Wizards, I tweaked a few bits of story to fit better. Please tell me if I've missed something important.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[Dartz]

It might skirt the line a little bit.

Then again I've skirted the line myself and gotten way with it a few times. There's hope for the future, at least.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Ace Dreamer]

I don't like writing stuff with a dark tinge, it gives me indigestion. [grin]

However, this seemed to fit in with the way the Wizards had ended up after the Boskone War, according to the wiki, various stories, and discussions here on the Forum. In some respects I wish the war had been handled in a more positive way, but, I guess war is a nasty business, and claiming war is 'heroic' or 'glorious' is a disservice to those involved.

I'd suggest that Cynthia Luckwold in fact be wrong, and that she hangs-on as a Minister, after the war. This is a bit utopian, but I'd like to think it is rational to not get rid of someone who is arguably your best politician, and that while her popularity drops badly, clearer heads push her to stay in office. I'd expect that at least three of the other ministerial posts change hands, and that, due to the lack of a solid civil service to provide continuity, the Wizarding World is 'King Log', not 'King Stork', for several years.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[robkelk]

I have no problem with Ms. Luckwold staying on as leader - many elections in various parts of Canada have shown that somebody who is disliked by the voters can remain in power because his or her opponents are disliked even more.

And Fenspace has at least one story arc about somebody climbing out of the mental abyss. (waves to A.C. Peters) Why not have an arc about somebody pulling an entire faction out of the abyss?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[HRogge]

Hope I still can keep this story...

http://fenspace.net/index..._things_can_be_important

The first few parts mention some things going on at the Wizards...

[robkelk]

Existing stories trump nifty ideas - that's part of Rule #0.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[HRogge]

Existing stories trump nifty ideas - that's part of Rule #0.

I suggest we let SOME wizards go into "dark" mental places, but as a whole group they manage to come out pretty intact out of the war...

They care A LOT about their children (catgirls or not ^^), so quite a few Wizards might use this to keep themselves from sliding into madness or self-doubts.

[Rakhasa]

Also, in this shot Cynthia herself is not in the best mental place -she probably is in a weak moment and feeling unusually pesimist.

[Ace Dreamer]

Hope I still can keep this story...

http://fenspace.net/index..._things_can_be_important

The first few parts mention some things going on at the Wizards...

All sounds pretty workable to me...
You story was done first, so I think it takes precedent, anyhow.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[HRogge]

Hope I still can keep this story...

http://fenspace.net/index..._things_can_be_important

The first few parts mention some things going on at the Wizards...

All sounds pretty workable to me...
You story was done first, so I think it takes precedent, anyhow.

My story also happens in early 2016... so there is some "in between" time between the war and the story which could be used for some limited crisis for the wizards. What do you think?

[Ace Dreamer]

Hope I still can keep this story...

http://fenspace.net/index..._things_can_be_important

The first few parts mention some things going on at the Wizards...

All sounds pretty workable to me...
You story was done first, so I think it takes precedent, anyhow.

My story also happens in early 2016... so there is some "in between" time between the war and the story which could be used for some limited crisis for the wizards. What do you think?

You've got a shattered culture.  Things like quidditch and prank wars might give people something to look forward to, to be enthusiastic about.  Maybe there'd be serious attempts to build more of the infrastructure of HP - forbidding forests, crystal caves, lost caverns, feuding joke shops. [grin]
Trying to make (the unintelligent) magical creatures and plants might suit some people.  Trying to make a HP theme park would be... tacky, and I'd hope they'd avoid that.
I think there'd be a major effort to make a place for catgirls in the Wizarding World.  How people tried to fit it into the HP paradigm...  As a Death Eater curse?  As Polyjuice gone wrong?  As a new sort of flawed animagus?
I don't know, and I'd be interested in suggestions.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[HRogge]

You've got a shattered culture. Things like quidditch and prank wars might give people something to look forward to, to be enthusiastic about. Maybe there'd be serious attempts to build more of the infrastructure of HP - forbidding forests, crystal caves, lost caverns, feuding joke shops. [grin]

Trying to make (the unintelligent) magical creatures and plants might suit some people. Trying to make a HP theme park would be... tacky, and I'd hope they'd avoid that.

Maybe we can build a bit more "flavor" into the Wizards by giving them multiple different ways how they deal with the chaos of the war.

There might be a "Law and Order" faction that want to tighten the rules in their government, increase Auror spending and "make sure everyone is secure and well".

(I still have a story planned where a group of Exocomp riders from Jenga tries to enter the Quiddich League, but is unable to do so because they do not use brooms... at least thats the start of the story.)

Another one maybe just tries to repress the whole war and wants to go back to "business as usual", but doesn't know how to adapt to the new situation.

There is also the question how many of the wizards try to isolate themselves from the rest of Fenspace.

Most likely the discovery of real Magic will shake up all of this quite heavily again, a large part of the Wizards will be looking forward to magic ("What, just techno-magic? Oh come on, there must be some real spells somewhere!") so they will be quite happy and busy in mid/late 2020s.

Still, if only a minute part of the Wizards will be able to do real magic ("wandless magic" ?), working on "Wands" to help the rest of them with magic will become a MAJOR goal of the Wizards.

I think there'd be a major effort to make a place for catgirls in the Wizarding World. How people tried to fit it into the HP paradigm... As a Death Eater curse? As Polyjuice gone wrong? As a new sort of flawed animagus? I don't know, and I'd be interested in suggestions.

"Polyjuice gone wrong" sounds like one good approach... its part of their "Source Material" and there is no easy way to revert it without some special magic. Criminals stealing people and using bad polyjuice on them would at least fit the Wizards world view.

Hmm...

All catgirls have a very similar (the same?) biomod... will this give them an advantage or disadvantage in terms of learning magic?

[Ace Dreamer]

Maybe some of the responses might get (mostly) named after a HP character?

• Moody - "Constant Vigilance!" - Law & Order, combat training for everyone
  
• Weasley Senior - "Muggle Artifacts" - non-Wizard technomagic for everyone
  
• Dumbledore - "Traditional Values" - return to the Harry Potter root values (including magical beasts)
  
• Weasley Junior - "Wheezes & Quidditch" - emphasise the more light-hearted side of Wizardry
  
• Granger - "Magic for All" - life-long education, research magic, and spread magic to all Fendom (help and protect catgirls)
  

More minor groups:

• Hagrid - "Magical Beasts" - which include catgirls (associated with Dumbledore)
  
• Snape - "More Cunning" - add a Wizarding external intelligence service, and an alliance with the Ninjas
  
• Fudge - "Business as Usual" - don't change for change's sake (not very popular)
  
• Shippers - "Love Everyone" - love will somehow solve all problems (small but fanatic following)

I'm sure there are others

Edit: re-formatted to add 'minor groups', and 'Fudge'.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[Ace Dreamer]

So, catgirls become the "Polyjuiced"? And, it's thought rude in the Wizarding World to say that to their faces?

I'd say (CGM and non-CGM) catgirls have a more flexible biomod than is generally realised.

The definition of a catgirl is at least having the cat ears - some might have human ears as well. All the minimally modded need is a hat to look human (for CGM ones only if you don't look too closely at the finger nails). Then there is whether have a tail (are tail-less catgirls called 'Manx'?), whiskers, just a furry face, hands and feet, a full fur coat, retractable claws, digigrade legs and feet, multiple rows of breasts, an effective four-limbed movement mode as well as bipedal...

For simplicity I'd say catgirls follow the 5/90/5 rule (AKA the '1 in 20' rule) for magical talent. Or, if you wanted to, you could say the further away from a human appearance, the more chance of magical talent, 95/5/0 for the most extreme?
Edit: Added 'retractable claws'.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[Ace Dreamer]

There is also the question how many of the wizards try to isolate themselves from the rest of Fenspace.

Wizards in caves (on isolated asteroids) doing secret research to "save all Wizardry"?
That could never go wrong. [grin]
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

[HRogge]

Just lets not make up too many Wizard groups... but we can always add another one if we need one for a story.

Hmm...

"Mad Wizard in his remote tower asteroid?"

[Rakhasa]

The Wizards are a nation, even if a small one. They are allowed to have more than one way to deal (or not deal as the case may be) with pain...
I think I have just been inspired, I am going to post something in the Defining the Wizards thread...

[robkelk]

Maybe some of the responses might get (mostly) named after a HP character?

Unofficially and from the outside, perhaps (much like the "Mals" and "Rivers" of the Browncoats).

For simplicity I'd say catgirls follow the 5/90/5 rule (AKA the '1 in 20' rule) for magical talent. Or, if you wanted to, you could say the further away from a human appearance, the more chance of magical talent, 95/5/0 for the most extreme?

I don't know why we need a rule at all...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[HRogge]

For simplicity I'd say catgirls follow the 5/90/5 rule (AKA the '1 in 20' rule) for magical talent. Or, if you wanted to, you could say the further away from a human appearance, the more chance of magical talent, 95/5/0 for the most extreme?

I don't know why we need a rule at all...

It would help us as a "rule of thumb" to see how many "magical awakenings" will be happening...

[Bob Schroeck]

There might be a "Law and Order" faction

And now I'm envisioning Chris Noth and the late Jerry Orbach in aurors' robes while some 'wavium device periodically goes "chunk-chunk" around them...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[ECSNorway]

Randomly envisioning bits and pieces of (was it Camwyn?) the Ghostbusters/HP crossover. With a team of aurors in boiler suits with wands and proton packs debating just which station qualifies as 'Space Station Three' so they can track down Carmen Miranda...
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Rakhasa]

Randomly envisioning bits and pieces of (was it Camwyn?) the Ghostbusters/HP crossover. With a team of aurors in boiler suits with wands and proton packs debating just which station qualifies as 'Space Station Three' so they can track down Carmen Miranda...

 But... has Carmen actually broken any laws?  
Of course, they may be tracking down to hire her.

[ECSNorway]

Randomly envisioning bits and pieces of (was it Camwyn?) the Ghostbusters/HP crossover. With a team of aurors in boiler suits with wands and proton packs debating just which station qualifies as 'Space Station Three' so they can track down Carmen Miranda...

 But... has Carmen actually broken any laws?  
Of course, they may be tracking down to hire her.

Or they may just be curious.

Remember the Goals from their RPG character sheets:
Ray Stantz: Money
Peter Venkman: Women
Egon Spengler: Soulless Science
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.