I made a change in Chapter 8 of "no longer human" and I tought it would be interesting to discuss it.
The original passage is part of Theo Nott's inner monologue about the reason why Voldemort would recruit purebloods above all else when I've established in the fic that his political goal is more complex than pureblood supremacy, which serves as a hook for recruitment but is not actually what interests Voldemort. His concern is magic: industrialisation poisons magical land, which results in the endangerment of its ecosystem.
The story used to say this:
His pureblood followers were his priority, but that was out of sheer practicality. They are the main keepers of the knowledge that was made illegal by the Ministry, of the cultural history that is put at risk in the name of assimilation.
I disliked the last part especially because it came in contradiction with what I established the Notts, who are positioned as opposite to the Malfoys in that they kept faith with the original covenant of the Knights of Walpurgis and understand that Voldemort manipulated the purebloods to gain a following, believe. They are not against "assimilation" because they acknowledge that it is not a real issue, it is a pretext used to ban everything that is not convenient.
His pureblood followers were his priority, but that was out of sheer practicality. They are the main keepers of the knowledge that was made illegal by the Ministry, of the cultural history that is put at risk due to its politics of magical standardisation.
I did not make this change to make the Notts more palatable. I made it because I want this story to touch on a very important point regarding the Ministry, which is that they are somewhat aligned with the canon understanding of Death Eaters on the matter of blood supremacy but not on the question of the legalisation of dark magic. Dark magic AND defensive magic as a whole is only allowed as a tool for state control, it is not something they want their citizens to have access to. Fudge made it clear by forcing Umbridge onto the position of DADA professor that the Ministry interest is to have a population that cannot defend itself. As for blood supremacy, the statue in the atrium proves they consider wizards to be superior to other creatures, the upper echelons generally show dismissiveness towards muggle-borns and departments like Arthur's which are dedicated to protecting muggles instead of gaslighting them are devalued.
And that is why Lucius Malfoy was makng headway in the Ministry but Fudge still kept a close relationship with Dumbledore: beyond the fact that the headmaster is an esteemed figure in the wizarding world, Hogwarts is where standardisation happens. All students are taught the same spells, and some of them are restricted, needing a professor's permission and a good justification to access them. The OWLs and NEWTs are regulated by the Ministry. The students who demonstrate knowledge of unapproved spells are all Slytherins: Severus creating his own, Draco's Serpensortia, Vincent Crabbe's Fienfyre. The others content themselves with the curriculum, with the exception of Harry, who is later punished for it by the Ministry. Hermione's forays outside of the curriculum also happen gradually, within the context of her assistance of Harry - starting with things she finds in "approved" books ike the bluebell flame and the spell she uses to repair his glasses and descending into things like the polyjuice potion in second year or the bottomless bag when they are on the run.
Even then, when the DA is stablished, they practice curriculum spells because the goal is not yet to fight in war, it is to pass their OWLs. But it has the unintended effect of aligning them with the Ministry. This happens at the same time as Harry's decision to become an Auror, and culminates in Harry joining the Ministry as an adult, aligning himself with its interests of protecting the status quo but in a "nicer" way: the discrimination is hopefully more frowned upon, though there is no indication it is gone.
In "no longer human," the factions are more multi-faceted than what is pre-established. The Death Eaters are split in ideology, and whether the original goal of Voldemort will be kept depends on the state of his sanity. Mind, I've used the tag " Eco-Fascism" on the fic for a reason. Even the most benevolent takeover will forcefully restructure muggle society for the benefit of the magical world by stopping technological advancement altogether, the good and the bad. Voldemort's actions demonstrate a more progressive (though inconsistent) stance on creatures than you'd expect from a supremacist and I'm fully planning on utilising that.
Dumbledore heads a paternalistic pro-muggleborn movement which opposes dark magic. Muggles are harmless and should be learnt from but from a distance because the separation of the two societies is not questioned. Muggle-borns are equal to purebloods, but while magical creatures should be treated respectfully, no effort is made to grant them more rights.
The Fudge administration benefits tremendously from the Statute of Secrecy. It keeps the wizarding population confined and easier to control, so it is to their advantage to maintain it. Similarly, keeping dark magic outlawed makes the wizarding public less capable of fighting back against Aurors.
Lucius Malfoy and friends want the Court of Albion to have supremacy, but he's been very comfortable ruling behind the scene by manipulating Fudge. He does not particularly like dark magic though it is one of the useful tools at his disposal just like his money.
So yes, the issue is standardisation. Blood magic and dark rituals are not outlawed because they scare muggle-borns, but because the Ministry agenda is to have a population of docile wizards.
I'll stop there because I need to think about this some more, but that was the thought process behind the change.
