The Dark Hunters
by W. Ich Idest, Wizard’s Press News for the Morning Oracle
Three months have passed and the fallout from the attack on Secretary of Magic elect Polonius Aberfoyle is still being felt.
Mere moments after he had won arguably the most controversial election in wizarding history, Polonius Aberfoyle was assaulted by a mystery assailant and has been hospitalized since. While the Auror’s offices were on hand to quickly secure the crime scene, the fact that Aberfoyle’s attacker was not captured or even identified has brought the efficiency of the Auror’s office into question. There have also been cries of outrage that the group known as the Dark Hunters (Avistrum professors Clark Dowling and Kraven Bloodthorne, and their associate Scorpio Douglas) were barred from entering the crime scene and assisting in the protection of their colleague, placing further scrutiny on the Auror’s office. While the independent efforts of this trio have been successful in the past, namely in the recovery of former Secretary of Magic Greywolf, there is also a growing contingent that feels the Dark Hunters are doing more harm than good by working outside of the system instead of alongside of it.
In our first article of Point/Counterpoint I pose this question: Should the Dark Hunters be given authority to investigate crimes in the wizarding world, or should those duties be left to the Aurors office? We reached out to a pair of very different individuals: Griff Scallyon, lead singer of the wizard rock group The Boils, and wizarding historian Sydney Wilson Webber.
Point (Griff Scallyon): Should the Dark Hunters have the authority to investigate crimes? Absolutely. I remember very clearly what happened when the Dark Arts were threatening to overrun our nation and now it’s happening across the pond. The Aurors did everything in their power to stop He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named from taking power but in the end it was a group of renegades who shut him down. I see the situation in America being very similar. The threat there is very real and it doesn’t just affect the wizarding community. This man Simon Drake holds a position of power in the Muggle government so they have just as much to lose if he succeeds as the wizards do. I would fully endorse anyone who opposes Simon Drake to step up and take action, Auror or not. Also, you have to love the Dark Hunters. They’re basically the rock stars of the wizarding world: they may not follow all of the rules but they do their jobs very well, and more importantly, they put a very public face to the fight against evil. I think it is terribly important for them to keep doing what they are doing because it shows people that you don’t need to be afraid, that you can stand up and fight for what you believe in. Look at it this way: if you’re watching a football match there’s usually a group or an individual you want to get behind and cheer on. I believe that the Dark Hunters are that group.
Counterpoint (Sydney Wilson Webber): While I support the endeavor of anyone to oppose Simon Drake, I also support the desire of the Auror’s office to maintain some semblance of order in how they perform their duties. Simon Drake has thrown the wizarding world into chaos and the need for stability in our communities has never been greater. Sadly, while I side with the Dark Hunters fundamentally, I cannot support them ethically or philosophically. Ignoring the fact that all three of them have committed crimes and one of them has actually served time in Alcatraz, their brand of fugitive justice has thrown additional fuel on the fires of dissent that Simon Drake has ignited through the wizarding world. The most visible example of this is the vilification of Kraven Bloodthorne and his colleagues by the parents of the Timmernak children. Despite a pardon given to the Dark Hunters by former Secretary of Magic Greywolf there are still parents, rightfully so, who demand justice for the disaster that robbed them of their children. Where these parents condemn the Dark Hunters for dodging what they believe is their just punishment, there are others that have joined the Avistrum faculty in praising the Dark Hunters for their heroic, if not questionable, actions. This is only one, but certainly the clearest, example of how the Dark Hunters have divided the wizarding community just as Simon Drake has. I don’t intend to lump the Dark Hunters and Simon Drake into the same brand of lawlessness but it is evident that the existence of the Dark Hunters creates a lack of unity in a time when it is needed most. My response to the question, Should the Dark Hunters be allowed to indulge their brand of justice, is a hesitant no. Yes, this is a time when heroes are needed but that is why the Auror’s office exists, to protect our way of life from threats such as Simon Drake. As a former Auror, I would expect Clark Dowling to show his former colleagues that respect.