#periculumhqs:plot

Diagon Alley was unsurprisingly busy that particular Monday morning. If you hadn’t seen the mysterious flyers hanging all around the city, then clearly you haven’t been paying attention. A blood equality rally certainly sounded intriguing to all who stopped to grab a flyer for themselves. Those in favor of tolerance for muggles believed it sounded like a great idea, and that it was finally time for something like this to be happening. It almost sounded to good to even be true.

A few members of Tom Marvolo Riddle’s inner circle took some flyers in order to show their leader what was about to be going on in London. People rallying for blood equality was the exact opposite of the mission they were trying to accomplish. Certainly Riddle had sent a number of his Knights of Walpurgis to survey the event and make sure the blood equalists didn’t get too optimistic.

The line of people wrapped around all the way down the alley and at the beginning of it, intrigued attendees filed through a narrow door that led into an arena type of venue. Rows of seats that seemingly touched the sky all pointed towards a small platform in the middle of the arena. Order of the Phoenix members unknowingly sat next to Knights of Walpurgis who also obliviously sat beside curious muggles. For who knew how long, they’d all put aside their differences and let their intrigue over this new player hold the majority of their attention. 

There were signs hung all over the arena that advocated BLOOD EQUALITY FOR ALL!! The man of the hour had yet to make his grand entrance, which just left his antsy crowd to grow anxious with anticipation...

He hated the city. He always had. London was full of smog and, worse, people, and there was no way he was going to be touching any of those sticky tube railings—

Take a deep breath. 

He took a breath and let it out before reaching a hand out to hold onto the pole on the train, making his way through the winding subway tunnels until he made it to the muggle side of the Leaky Cauldron. 

Of course, no one around him knew that was what it was, not that he could tell. Even the word “muggle” would be foreign to all of them, and that was something he found himself feeling smug about. All the storms, all the fighting and unrest, he knew what that was. It wasn’t just “a sign of the times,” it was magic. 

He hated it. Blasted magic, always getting in the way of what he desired, always getting in the way of what everyone deserved: equality. If he couldn’t have magic, then no one should have it. 

When he got to the secret room at the back of the Leaky Cauldron, instead of taking out a wand, he took out a small device, pressed it against each of the bricks that would normally be tapped in turn, and the wall opened up to allow him into a darkened Diagon Alley. It was the wee hours of the morning. No one was up yet. 

That was perfect for him as he took the stack of fliers in his hand and started to post them up, in every single shop window, every doorway, every bench, all the places he could think of. Later that morning, when the Alley got busy again, it would be impossible for anyone to miss them. 

MONDAY, 10AM, DIAGON ALLEY: RALLY FOR BLOOD EQUALITY