I'm back, my darlings. I got distracted with Yuri on Ice and Banana Fish, both which I watched far too quickly and now I regret not savouring it. Does anyone have a anime or film around the same style that I would be able to watch? It was great. I felt 14 again.

Anyways, I have something important to say based a few comments that were made and later on erased (by the person themselves, not me). My political views ARE important to the story, indeed, and if they shine through I'm sorry that you don't like them, but I'm against fake news and, since it bothers you so much that it became a present-day discussion, I wrote a whole chapter about fake news and mass manipulation, for that was how Nazis got their following and how many political figures nowadays try to win elections - men will always be men, they change the regime; the greed never stops.

As always: LEAVE COMMENTS!

Barty tried his best not to move and call attention to himself in the unused classroom in the dungeons, but it was in vain. It didn't matter that he didn't move; he was fresh meat, his mere presence was enough to get attention enough to make him feel like his skin was too tight on his bones, smothering him slowly as he focused on breathing and on what Dorian Burke was saying.

"...I know that this has been a really long meeting," he said, finishing the meeting and smiling at the Carrow twins. "And you must be almost late for your detention, Miss Carrow, so do run along before I have to give you another detention as a Prefect."

The Carrow girl smiled and said something under her breath before running out of the classroom. It didn't take long before her brother quickly followed her, leaving Barty alone with Evan, Severus and Dorian.

Dorian turned to Barty sitting in silence behind the desk he had chosen and put his hands behind his back.

"Seeing new faces always excites me, it's very encouraging. It means more of us are waking up the reality we are facing right now," Dorian said.

Evan, sitting beside him, brushed his hand against his in a small show of support. Barty looked up at Dorian, raising his chin and pushing his nerves away.

The Burkes were not that well-liked in the pureblood community as people, but as powers, they were known for being ruthless and persuasive – the sort of family that one wanted on their side, not against them in any manner. His family was infamous in their bad dealings, Dorian himself was no stranger to rumours of his own cruelty, but in that room, he was something a lot bigger than that; he was a spokesperson for a cause that was to save people like him and all his friends.

"I almost didn't come," Barty admitted.

Evan looked away.

"As purebloods, we are guardians of the real wizarding world and its legacy," Dorian continued. "It's our responsibility – nay, our duty – to preserve the purity and strength of magic. As I said today, magic can be watered down through blood; while some muggleborns and half-bloods are strong now, in some generations magic might just disappear. You're a smart boy, Crouch, you know that many years ago, magic was so much bigger than it is now, but the muggles killed us and mated with us, watering down our magic, making us weak and hidden like we are now. And yet, we still face an existential threat, and everybody seems to be hiding it from us – the Ministry, the newspapers, Dumbledore!"

"My father works in the Ministry. He made no mention of it," Barty said, crossing his arms.

"So does my source. And he's not happy with how the censure seems to be working," Dorian said, frowning and shaking his head, deep in thought.

Barty glanced to Evan beside him, but he didn't look back. Evan watched Dorian with interest, hanging onto his every word.

"What sort of threat?" Barty asked to Evan.

He trusted Evan to tell him the truth.

"Dorian will tell you, Barty. It's worse than I thought at first," Evan said with a single firm nod.

Dorian turned to Severus, nodding at him and watching as Severus went through his bag, pulling something from there and showing back near Barty's desk with a book of collages of newspaper articles. Barty frowned, pulling it closer to him to notice how real all the headlines and articles looked, though none of them seemed familiar, even though the newspaper names were popular. The Daily Prophet, The Wizarding Times.

"Muggle-Born Population Rises by 73% in the Last Decade," Barty read out loud. "Pureblood Families and Birthing Decline: Is This the End of the Wizarding World We Know?" He frowned, pulling it even closer to turn the page. "Muggleborns Occupy Key Ministry Positions – Are They Pushing Purebloods Out of Power?"

Barty's mouth was dry as Burke nodded.

"Those headlines and articles that the mainstream publications could not publish. They were hidden from the public; they were manipulated and censored. The common wizarding population continues to be blissfully unaware of what's truly happening," Severus said. "We're not faking this, Barty. Abraxas Malfoy sent those to us! The Lestrange brothers found it and they insisted on sending it to us, so Abraxas said he would find a way to smuggle it in for us."

"My brother tried to send some more to us, but it was stopped by Dumbledore before. He said that he was spreading misinformation, the old sod!" Burke said, rolling his eyes.

Barty's stomach churned. Regulus always said that Dumbledore was a manipulative bastard, but he didn't expect that he would get so far into it that he would censure what the students were allowed to read. But could this be true? Could the Ministry really be hiding this information from them? – if so, why hadn't his father done anything? He always trusted his father was doing something for the better, after all there had to be a reason for him to choose to be away from home so often, leaving him and his mother alone and isolated for so many days without as much as a hello or a meal together. Was their relationship strained for nothing? Would he really leave his own son in the dark about something so important?

The headlines... real headlines with real newspaper names... with real seals.

"The numbers are real, Barty," Evan insisted, turning to him and pointing at the book. "Muggle-borns are infiltrating every aspect of our society, purebloods are dwindling. We are overrun by them, they are pushing for reforms that will strip us of our heritage, of our birthright. They are going to make us slaves to their wills and whims with their laws."

He knew that Evan wouldn't lie to him, especially about something so serious. But perhaps he was wrong? – still, Barty was never really good at speaking against his friends, so he pressed his lips together in distaste at his own doubts.

Severus Snape had been standing off to the side, but nodded at Evan's words, stepping forward with black eyes gleaming. Barty looks down, uncomfortable with how eager he looked to speak out.

"This is why we're here, Barty, to protect what's rightfully ours," Severus said. "My mother was a pureblood and because of her husband, I was forbidden from my rights. I'm not a Prince because he forced himself onto a pureblood woman and, to save her dignity, she was married off to him. And people look at me and see half of me as filth, but these people here are willing to accept me and understand that the sin was not mine. I'm not about to allow the others to control what's left of my heritage after my father controlled my mother's for so long. I'm done with it."

Barty knew that the story that Severus had to go through was a terrible, but seeing him talking about it made him beyond sad, it made him angry that a child had to go through that at all. It was horrifying that people in the Ministry had done nothing....but if they had done nothing, it would be no surprise that they were doing nothing to stop what could be happening in those articles.

He turned to Evan again, seeing that the mischievous and happy boy that he knew outside of those classroom walls was nowhere to be seen. He was a man filled with conviction and his anger was clear.

"Do you believe this?" Barty asked, voice shaking.

Evan reached forward and, for a moment, Barty wondered if he was going to hold his hand, but he held onto his wrist tightly. "I don't have to doubt it, Barty, they are articles – they are facts. Look at what they're showing us. These numbers are real."

Barty swallowed, looking down at the headlines again that looked so real. Statistics, quotes from high-ranking Ministry officials, ominous warnings of the disappearing future of the wizarding world. It was all so clearly laid out, black in white – ink in paper. It was so convincing, and those people spoke with such conviction and authority. How was he to argue with them when they so clearly knew what they were saying so much better than Barty himself?

"This hatred –" Barty started.

"We don't want hatred," Severus said. "I'm done with hatred; it killed my mother." Barty looked at him, surprised. "I just want awareness. We are trying to ensure that the real way of wizarding life doesn't get erased because of their hatred. They don't understand our world completely, and they need to learn, but they never will because they want to change it, not fit in. And yet, they are somehow placed in positions of power, given control over policies that affect us without even knowing our ways. It dilutes our magic, it weakens us."

Barty's head was starting to spin. It was the second time they spoke of weaking magic. Perhaps the third? There was so much information at once, he didn't even know where to look or who to listen to. Was everything that his father had taught him a lie? The books, the flyers...

A voice whispered in his head: 'The story always gets told by the winning side'.

"Your presence here matters, Barty," Severus said. "You are one of the most respected people in this school, your grades are the highest in your year – third in the whole school, behind myself! We need people like you to stand with us."

Evan nodded. His hand slipped a bit, he held Barty's hand in front of the other boys with his earnest expression.

"This is our future, Barty. Our survival. Things will change when we are in power again," Evan said. It sounded like a promise that made Barty's heart skip a beat. "I'm proud you were willing to listen. I'm glad you came at all."

Barty's heart raced. Was Evan implying that, perhaps, they would find a way of staying together in the future, like changing laws as Regulus had spoken of before? He wanted Evan's approval and acceptance, of course, but that would mean going against his morals and values... but if Evan believed it – Merlin, if Severus believed it...

Burke sighed, gaze settled on Barty.

"We're not asking for blind loyalty. We like questions and we like interest – talking about it already raises awareness. The truth is out there, Barty, you just need to search for it well enough," Burke said. "Behind lies and manipulation, there's truth. Here it is, in the book in your hand, you hold everything that I have been defending for years, and now finally I can prove it."

For a moment, the room was silent and heavy with thick tension.

"May I... keep the book with me for a night or two? I want to study it, I want to read it all and ask questions," Barty said.

Burke nodded, giving him a quieter smile, almost gentle. "Thank you for coming. Your presence already shows that you care about our world and our future – that's all we ask," he said.

And, that night, his mind didn't seem to stop working even after everybody had gone to sleep and Ash had gone to the bathroom to pee for the third time (he always did that when he drank a beer too much). Every time that he would close his eyes, the headlines of the book hidden under his pillow would jump to attack him behind his eyelids, forcing him to stay awake a bit more.

Muggleborn Influence in the Ministry Skyrockets (45% of the departments were now run by non-purebloods, which was the largest internal shift in two centuries; one of the departments was the Culture Department, which was concerning. Over 50% of employees were muggleborns). Muggleborn Crime Wave: Incidents of Magical Mishaps Triple in Muggle Neighbourhoods (almost 300% was too much, and most of them were not by small children, but by teenagers and adults, and nobody was doing anything! 65% of all crimes were by muggleborns). Is Blood Purity at Risk? Muggleborn Families Outnumber Pureblood Households for the First Time in Wizarding History (they were outnumbering pureblood families by a ratio of 4 to 1, that was far too many, far too fast; the economy wasn't ready for that, they were going to break!).

How could Barty sleep when it was us against them?

As he finally fell asleep, he wondered if that was what a purpose felt like.

Once again, Regulus was left without his friends, but he didn't complain, because he had brought Luna along with him to lie near the Black Lake. That left him in peace with Luna's head resting of his arms as they lied under the tree's shadow.

"They have been isolating themselves from me more and more," Regulus was complaining, frowning.

"Regulus, for all we know, they might be snogging or shagging at some empty classroom of the school," Luna dismissed quickly, looking up at him and raising her chin to see him better when he sighed and looked down to her. "Really, they are allowed some privacy as much as we're allowed it. I mean, there's a reason Pandora's is always leaving school in the weekends, but they don't need to do that to have each other, they just need to get away from you for a bit. They are still being friendly to you, right?"

"They're being normal," he agreed.

"See? They are just... together," Luna said, caressing his chest, trying to smooth his feelings as well as his shirt.

"It's just that I've been worried since Evan has been talking about the Knights of Walpurgis to Barty, because they never mentioned again even when they don't know I can overhear their conversations," Regulus explained. "Do you think Evan gave up on trying to recruit Barty?"

...or it had worked, Regulus' mind completed, but he didn't say anything out loud, not wanting to worry Luna too much without proof of if being necessary.

"I would imagine so. Barty's far too smart to fall on Burke's little chit-chat," Luna said, closing her eyes and snuggling closer to him. "You would need the fucking Pope telling Barty that not joining is a sin to get him along with it, or threaten his mother."

"What's a Pope?" Regulus asked, frowning.

Luna looked up in surprise, but nodded to herself, after all it made sense that Regulus – atheist as he was – didn't know what and who the Pope was.

"Nobody, leave it," she dismissed with a movement of her hand. "But really, you would need a lot to get Barty to join something so silly."

But Luna didn't know Barty like they did, and that concerned Regulus. It didn't take much to convince Barty to go along with an idea and it didn't take long to make him lie through his teeth to save his friends from the consequence of their own actions – Barty would do anything for his friends, even betray himself to not betray their safety. If Evan tried hard enough, Barty would bend at his will, and Regulus – unfortunately – knew that Evan was more than capable of using it to his advantage at its fullest.

"You're right," he lied, looking at the sun coming between the branches of the tree.

Luna was warm against him even through the autumn air, legs intertwined with his and so close that she was almost lying on top of him. He was using her knitted scarf as a pillow since she was draped over him so comfortably. It wasn't a windy day, which left them to enjoy the bright, but heatless sun in peace.

Regulus leaned down, nose brushing the top of Luna's head, happy to feel the plaits making a crown around her head.

"You changed your shampoo," he mused.

Luna looked up, blushing.

"I did. Do you not like it?" she asked.

Regulus' lips twitched at her insecurity, leaning down even more to kiss her forehead.

"I love it," he said without looking away from her eyes. "You smell like... rosemary and something else."

"Chamomile," she answered, eyes gleaming at his correct guess. "You got a good nose!"

Regulus raised his head slightly, about to say something or tease her, but something made him stop: a laugh. Someone nearby was laughing, but trying to muffle it. So, without understanding the reason for the laughter, Regulus raised his head higher, looking around with attentive eyes, only to find someone that made his stomach drop.

Dorian Burke was smirking nearby, talking to a Hufflepuff boy from the same year as him and glancing at the couple whenever possible, but looking away as soon as he realised that Regulus was watching him back.

Slowly, Regulus got his arm from under Luna's head and sat up.

"May I help you?" he asked, voice dropping a bit in anger.

Luna sat up, pulling her legs closer to herself and eyes jumping from between her boyfriend and the older boy.

"No, mate. I just thought it was funny to see you all soft and shit," Dorian said, turning to look at Regulus.

"Don't call me 'mate'. I'm not your fucking 'mate'," he said, frowning.

Taking the moment of Dorian being turned to the side, Regulus managed to see the face of the Hufflepuff boy and frowned. The boy was pale and uncomfortable, clearly being sitting near the lake out of duty – Dorian had been taking to him about something that made him terrified, and Regulus had an idea of what it was about.

"Aren't you a smug little prat?" Dorian said, narrowing his eyes at him.

Luna reached over, touching Regulus' arm in concern.

"Perhaps it's best we go –" she started.

Regulus pulled his arm away from her, getting on his knees without completely getting up.

"I'm a smug little prat, but you are foolish prick if you think that you can talk to me like that," Regulus said.

Dorian jumped up, standing up in a second and rolling his shoulders.

"You think that you're big shit because of your surname, Black? Soon enough, you'll see that we'll be on the same side, and you'll know that this fucking situation is useless. Grow the fuck up!" Dorian said, frowning and pointing his finger between Luna and Regulus, clearly disgusted by their relationship.

Regulus got up as well, lifting his chin as if to make sure Dorian could see his whole face and understand that he was looking down on him for Dorian was at least a few inches shorter than him.

"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?" Regulus asked in disbelief.

"You don't even realise how terribly you're messing your family's honour by fucking that wh—" started Dorian.

He never finished.

The wand in Regulus pocket was in his hand in the split of a second, slashing the air and throwing Dorian up in the air before making him twirl and fall unceremoniously in the space between grass and pebbles near the lake. Luna gave a little yelp, jumping to her feet at the same time the Hufflepuff boy (who quickly ran back towards the castle).

"Regulus!" Luna screamed, standing in place, unsure of what to do.

He ignored her.

Regulus walked closer to Dorian, was scrambling to his feet, eyes wide and surprised.

"Do you want to try this fucking conversation again?" Regulus asked.

"You're barking mad, mate!" Dorian exclaimed.

Near enough for that, Regulus pushed with both his hands on Dorian's chest, shoving the boy completely on the pebbles on the edge of the lake.

"I already told you to not call me 'mate', we're not friends," Regulus said. "And you haven't seen how mad I can be just yet."

Dorian huffed, shoving Regulus back, resulting at the younger boy stumbling back. Regulus scoffed as he fixed his posture after stumbling, rolling his shoulders back and watching as Dorian threw himself towards him, fists raised and ready for a punch.

Luna screamed when Dorian's fist found Regulus' jaw, but didn't expect Regulus to react the way he did. He didn't retreat and start preparing for a counterstrike, he just took the hit with a half step back and let the sting settle before his lips curved into a bitter, dangerous grin.

"Really?" Regulus taunted, voice low but sharp.

Dorian opened his mouth, but Regulus didn't wait for his response. Instead, Regulus lunged forward, aiming not for the face, but for the stomach, making Dorian gasp and gag as soon as the fist found its target. Dorian folded forward, holding his stomach as he coughed, kneeling on the stones. With loud grunts, he tried to get up, but he gagged again.

Regulus didn't wait for another opportunity, with his sole of his shoes, he pushed Dorian back, sending him sprawling back onto the pebbles, kicking in vain to get away from Regulus and his violence.

"Regulus, stop! Please, stop!" Luna screamed. She wasn't stupid enough to jump into the fight to grab him away from Dorian, nor was she dumb enough to get a professor.

Regulus grabbed the boy by the collar, dragging him up, but not letting him plant his feet on the ground.

"Do you think you can talk to me like that, Burke? Who the fuck do you think you are? One word from me and you'll never amount to anything in your life," he said, tightening his grip. "You don't know how far I'm willing to go."

"To do what?" Dorian spat.

"Keep her safe," Regulus explained.

Dorian scoffed again, which was a mistake, and he realised it as soon as it was out of his mouth by the way that he started thrashing. Regulus could feel the tension and panic growing in the boy's body as he tried to apologise, but stuttered through it – he didn't care, he just dragged the boy closer to the dark water.

Dorian should learn to never miscalculate his moves as seriously as he had done that day, thinking it was an easy fight to pick, forgetting that Regulus was beyond common honour-bound duels and rules of engagements. If Regulus was going into a fight and engaging, he was going because he knew he could win.

"Black, please – stop it, please, this is too much!" Dorian said.

Regulus pulled him down near the lake, face inches away from the dark, cold water.

"Do you know who you're dealing with?" Regulus asked.

"I know. I'm sorry! I'm sorry."

"Burke, your little friend ran away, and I can assure you that it wasn't to get help," Regulus said. "Nobody knows you're here. If I want to, I can put you underwater and walk away without a regret because you made an annoying comment, so dare you think of what else I could do to you if you cross the line with me or her? Think it through. You're not even bleeding yet, and I do love blood."

"I learned my lesson, please," Dorian sobbed.

"REGULUS, PLEASE. You made your point, please, let's go away," Luna said.

Regulus hesitated for just a moment, looking down at the pale, wide-eyed Dorian no longer defiant, just fearful.

The result was clear. Regulus had won, and he hadn't even had to use the sharp pebbles near the lake, just the threat of the cold water going up Dorian's nose had been enough and throwing him a few metres up the air had hurt him enough. He wasn't a strong enemy, but he was an important one – he would share this situation outside of the school, certainly. Still, Luna's plea mollified him, tugging at his conscience.

He released Dorian at once, making him fall face first into the dirty water. The boy groaned, jumping away from Regulus and raising his head to watch Regulus stand up.

"Get up, you piece of shit," Regulus ordered.

Dorian stood up. His bravado had been shattered and he was grateful there was nobody watching as he muttered under his breath. He was smart enough to know he had lost, so he looked down, unmoving.

"Don't forget who you're dealing with. And warn that if anybody as much as looks at Luna, they're dealing with me," Regulus warned.

The older boy grumbled, but didn't answer out loud, limping away and glaring at Regulus without another word. He didn't dare looking at Luna, which was exactly was Regulus wanted from this whole situation. And Regulus watched as Dorian limped away, refusing to look away from him for a single moment, fearing that he would attack when he wasn't looking, especially when Dorian reached for his wand behind his back, though he only used it to fix his shoelaces without bending down.

Luna let out a trembling breath.

Regulus turned to her, jaw stinging from the punch he received, especially now that his anger was fading and his adrenaline was lowering. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it away from his face as he blinked at her, hesitant about her reaction. He knew that she had seen him fighting a few times (the most recent event against Sirius, though there had been a fight after that in the Slytherin Common Room).

Her scared and concerned face was not what he had meant to achieve with the whole situation, so he frowned, walking nearer to her.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, voice soft. "I didn't want to, but I couldn't walk away. He would not leave you alone otherwise."

Luna hesitated before reaching a hand forward. For a moment, Regulus though she would touch his shoulder, but her fingers brushed to the aching spot on his jaw, frowning deeply at the sore skin.

"I know," she mumbled.

"I didn't want you to see it," Regulus admitted.

"I've seen it before," she dismissed.

"But you didn't like that part of me, you said it before," Regulus said.

"I don't like unfair fights. One against one seemed fair enough, even if Dorian Burke was the other person, and that counts as half a person because he has half a brain," she said, glancing up at his eyes to see his reaction at her joke. "Don't worry. I understand, but, please, be careful next time. Don't... cross the line. Don't... go on threatening to drown people in the lake. It's scary to see you like that."

"Do you think I'm scary?" Regulus asked, frowning, reaching for her hand and pulling it away from his jaw.

She didn't look away from his eyes when she squeezed around the fingers of the hand holding hers.

"Sometimes," she admitted.

"Do you think you're unsafe with me?" he asked.

"Never."

I hope you all liked it. 

Now here's my rambling:

The manipulations of masses are usually done by fear conditioning and to achive that the people in power use fake information to back their views in pseudoscience, hence why the anti-vaxx movement is gaining such a following. It pathetically easy to manipulate a population if they're scared, hungry and poor; but it's not hard to manipulate them with the lying promise of protecting them for the 'hungry and poor' people, making them the enemy. 

This might be a big theme in Harry Potter and it might be studied in the Second World War, but we can also see it how the differently the world is treating the Palestianian War. A poorer and less powerful group of people being attacked by another population, which affirms that they are 'protecting themselves' and 'their ways'. Doesn't it sound familiar?

May Palestine be free.

Still, I won't allow anti-semitism or racism in the comments and they shall be deleted. Please, be mindful of your words.