The Marriage Decree

Chapter 124: He's Off His Rocker

DEATH EATER ESCALATION LEADS TO BREAKDOWN IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE

14th February 2001: Pomponia Fletcher

A year ago, today, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was attacked by a small group of DEATH EATERS claiming to have organised under a NEW DARK LORD. Since this date, the new Death Eaters have terrorised our country, partaking in mayhem and murder. As a result, many international governments are withdrawing from our trade markets as the time for renewal of contracts draws near on the 1st May 2001.

The Ministry of Magic's Minister of International Trade, ANGELA WEST, speaking at a press conference claimed, "We are working tirelessly with many international trade departments, with whom we have enjoyed a longstanding relationship, to ensure the contracts are renewed at the beginning of the next tax year in May."

UK REFUSE TO ADMIT CIVIL WAR OUTBREAK

February 14th 2001: Chester Wyatt

Frequent readers of the Congress Times will be aware that Secretary of State, Tiffany Tyler, and Secretary of Defense, Richard Barber, have recently been in talks with their British counterparts over international trade market contracts.

This morning, Secretary Tyler spoke off the record to an intern and confirmed our fears to be correct, "The UK is a year into a civil war they refuse to believe they are fighting. The Ministry of Magic thinks they have those Death Eaters under control while they rage rampant throughout the country. That Angela West in the Trade's Department has been trying to reassure us for months that the country's trade markets are as strong as they ever have been and have not been affected by the 'little uprisings here and there'." Secretary Tyler scoffed. "They're delusional. It's as though they think we've forgotten about their last civil war back that only ended in 1998. We only returned to their trade markets two years ago, perhaps too hastily. You can put this on the record, 'Once we're out, this time, I'll ensure we're out for good,'."

The public was rightly apprehensive and shocked in May 2000 when Congress decided to return to the British markets, especially after the British Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, announced the 'Marriage Decree' in January 2000, which resulted in protests outside the Woolworth Building in downtown New York, with calls to end all ties to our longstanding friends across the pond. The public will be relieved to hear from our Secretary of State, Tiffany Tyler, that we shall be leaving the British markets for good.

INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF WIZARDS CALLS FOR UK MINISTER SHACKLEBOLT TO DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY

Across the channel, the Ministry of Magic is being urged by the ICW to declare a state of emergency due to the civil unrest and conflict within their own borders. The rise of Death Eaters activity has risen exponentially in recent months, and the effects are being felt throughout the wizarding world. International governments are withdrawing from the British trade markets, which may prove to be in our favour as the Bureau du Commerce International are currently in the process of negotiating with foreign governments for increased trading contracts with the Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France.

Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt heavily sighs, resting his head in his hands. The Ministry of Magic's handling of the new Death Eater movement was front-page news on every international newspaper as the new tax year inched closer. Angela West, the Minister for International Trade, and Gideon Johnston, the Minister for Foreign Policy, had worked days and nights for the entirety of April 2000 to reassure all of their relationships with international governments were on strong and steady grounds as the wizarding world went into the new tax year.

He stands up, pacing back and forth behind his desk. He needed to speak to Angela West about what the MACUSA's Secretary of State had privately said about her, as it hadn't been all that positive. He would also need to speak to Gideon, who's job it was to ensure relations with foreign countries. Megan Goyle, the British/America liaison officer, had written a weekly report on relations between the two countries. It had been due to the positivity of her accounts that he had agreed to her returning to the UK. He would need to speak to her too.