(1938-10-13) Restricted Magic Use
Details for Restricted Magic Use
Summary: A Daily Prophet article.
Date: October 13, 1938
Location:
Related: To Catch A Thief
Characters
AstoriaPhil

Curious Questions in Glinch Case
by Astoria Bletchley
with Philomena Rowle

On Friday, October 11, the British Ministry of Magic’s Central Department confirmed the spell used by Darnell Glinch on his victims was intended to only be used by certain ministry employees, and, as of yet, there is no explanation of how Mr. Glinch learned the spell.

It is widely known that certain spells, potions, artifacts and more obscure pieces of magic are withheld from public use by the Ministry of Magic. Many of the restrictions are results of improper, public use originating after the passing of the Statute of Secrecy in 1692. Complicated legislation and bureaucracy were swiftly attached to a few powerful charms, culminating in their eventual, and highly protested, restriction. Restriction soon lead to spell obscurity, which lead to censorship, which lead to, finally, near-ignorance on the use of a few charms, hexes, jinxes, and curses.

In the twentieth century, learning a spell that has been labeled restricted by the ministry ranges from extremely difficult to nigh-impossible. However, at least one man, Mr. Glinch, has succeeded. The method for how Glinch learned the spell remains unknown.

In the past, breaches in ministry intelligence have usually been the result of traitors. Before now, there have been few instances of such overt uses of restricted magic, and none with greater, or even comparable, frequency. The very possibility that Mr. Glinch acquired the spell from an employee who had access to such a powerful charm, or once held such a position within the ministry himself, seems absurd. Yet, it is the most plausible explanation given the information that has been revealed concerning Mr. Glinch.

The Daily Prophet has a great interest in this story, and will publish more information as it is released by the Ministry of Magic. The prophet will also cover Mr. Glinch’s trial, where it is hoped more information will be revealed.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License