Pinned somewhere on the noticeboard of the Atrium, is a rectangular piece of off-white, handmade paper, scrawled with several lines of small, neatly inked letters. A pale, whiter watermark of the Black crest is faintly visible on the lower right corner. Identical copies of the paper are fastened with Permanent Sticking Charms to the main door of every Department in the Ministry, including the door of the cabin of Minister of Magic.
To The Ministry Of Magic,
This missive is addressed to all those involved in matters of governance in the Ministry, and the general wizarding public. I am writing it. I know that a letter through the Daily Prophet would have been more appropriate. But I didn't want the people to think that these are empty words.
I am twenty-three years old. I am male. Accordingly, I have been sent a letter by the Ministry to comply with Article 203. I am eligible for the Marriage Law.
According to Article 203, the Ministry is going to decide my future for me. I never thought of marriage, before, except as a joke. I would make a horrible father. But the Ministry says I am to marry. They care more about the number of children, than the way they are brought up. They're asking children in Hogwarts to reproduce too. But it is the law. So I must marry.
I do not want to do it. I know many others do not, either. But they will keep silent, and not say a thing.
I did not want to initially write this letter either. I wanted to stay free, unassailed by law, and so contribute to change; to help British society barely wobbling on its knees and make a difference. But I didn't want people to think that I spoke empty words.
I am writing now, to inform the Ministry of Magic that I will be unable to follow their law. I refuse to. And I apologise for it, because I was raised to respect regulations and those who enforced them. But I am the citizen of a free nation, and I have rights to freedom, which are being violated. So I refuse to comply with the Marriage Law, and accordingly am liable to being punished by being sentenced to Azkaban. I accept it. My assigned partner has no part to play in this decision, and so no part of blame goes to her. I am the only one to be convicted.
I will arrive in the Atrium at 9 a.m. sharp tomorrow, to hand myself over to the Ministry. If anyone has an objection against the Law, they are free to join me, and hence sign below this paper.
I know no one will.
It is not my intention to disrupt, interfere or create problems in the government in these already strife-laden times. But I cannot submit to a legislation which I cannot in good conscience follow. I have no other choice.
Thanking you,
Yours in all sincerity,
Albus Severus Potter
by Albus S Potter Fri Dec 13, 2013 5:32 pm
