Grim Truth: 98/12/6

[alt_sirius]

Greetings, British Citizens of Albion, and others!

Over the last four weeks, every person in this country has experienced great change. Most of us are still mourning losses - of material things, homes, possessions, jobs or livelihoods, of friends and loved ones, sisters, brothers, parents, daughters and sons. It's no surprise that many of you are clinging to the system and leaders you know, or you think you know, rather than take a chance on something new.

There are some things that haven't changed, however. The Ministry and the Council who brought about and supported Voldemort's tyranny lied to you when he was alive, and they are still lying to you now. If you think you'll be safe from oppression under their rule, you are mistaken. If you've heard reports of atrocities committed by Albion's Aurors or members of the Order of the Phoenix, such as the murder of families who declined to join us, they are untrue.

Some of the people we are attempting to capture are guilty of heinous crimes. They will be held accountable. If they turn themselves in, they will be given a fair trial and treated humanely while in our custody. If they give us no choice, we will kill them fairly in combat, but we will make the attempt to bring them in peaceably unless there is no alternative.

As for specific questions about me or about the Provisional Government of Albion, the Order of the Phoenix, or any topic related to the difference between our policies and those of the Death Eaters, I hereby invite them. When I began my essays, seven years ago, people used to write to me with questions they had about the Protectorate. Oh, there was a fair amount of hateful commentary, as well, but there never failed to be one or two with earnest queries. As well as some who simply had stories of their own that they wanted heard.

Well, today, I am opening the floodgates. Ask me anything. I reserve the right to tell you that I can't answer your question for the security of our ongoing conflict with the remnants of the Protectorate, but if I can, I'll provide as honest a reply as possible.


Let's start off with something simple. These are sure to be questions many of you have, so I'll just get them out of the way:

-Are you a traitor, Sirius Black?
No, but that depends on how you look at it. Am I a traitor to the Protectorate? The Protectorate was never my government. I was never on Voldemort's side and never will be. I was loyal to Britain and I am still loyal to the Provisional Government of Albion, and the Order of the Phoenix.

-But are you a murderer?
No. I've had to kill enemies in the heat of battle, in self-defence. I've been responsible for the deaths of others. In some cases, that's because the Order decided they needed to be executed after being found guilty of terrible crimes, including murder. Other times I've been unable to keep people from being killed. People who ought to have lived. I carry those failures, and will regret their loss, always. But no, I'm not a murderer.

I certainly wouldn't kill an entire family just because they decide not to side with Albion (though we have reason to believe they were contemplating joining us, and that's why the Council had them killed).

What else do you want to know? Public, private - ask your questions, and I'll tell only Grim Truths.

Comments

Private Message to Remus, Alice, Radhika and Ellen

[alt_sirius]

Well, there goes nothing. Radhika, Ellen, I hope this works.

[alt_wagstaff]

Aright, mate. I'll take yer bait.

D'yeh really expect us average folk to believe you? First you come after us with Inferi, killin people all over the Midlands and Cumbria. Then you slaughter every man, woman and child within two miles of Dover so you could take the port and tunnel. Then you attack the school and kill our kids, and from what I hear, you let yer werewolves loose on them.

But, listen. If yer plan is frightening and starving us til we obey you, you'll need to have another think.

Who're you plannin to kill next? Pardon. Execute.

[alt_sirius]

Well, first, let's get the facts straight, before we go on. My name is Sirius Black, not Barty Crouch. The tactics you're ascribing to me and mine are more suited to his sort, Death Eaters and other contemptible types who insinuated themselves into a corrupt Ministry and a particularly cruel Department of MLE. The Inferi, the werewolves - these were Protectorate's forces, not the Order's. We killed no one at Dover. And the attack on Hogwarts was to save the students, whom Voldemort ordered killed. Devastating as the losses were, if we hadn't acted, the casualties could have been much worse.

For those who are starving, we have supply lines that are available to those in need. Unfortunately, we currently can't deliver to New London or several other regions of the country. Our intelligence indicates that most people have the necessities, though, and it's only a few luxury items which have to be imported that they lack.

As to executions, I'm not in charge of those decisions. Probably a good thing no one person gets to decide that. I don't believe we 'plan' to execute anyone. That's not to say that there aren't people who have made it clear we'll need to stop them, one way or another, before we can call Albion victorious.

I can tell you that our Most Wanted list includes Bellatrix Lestrange, Barty Crouch, Antonin Dolohov, Thorfinn Rowle, Ptolemy Baddock, Ari Baddock, Nicholas Broome, Virgil Crispin, Rodolphus Lestrange, Cadmus Mulciber - you know, the lot of the Death Eaters and many of the senior members of the current Protectorate Ministry. As I said, if they turn themselves over peacefully, we will subject them to a fair tribunal and they'll be given an opportunity to speak in their defence with the benefit of counsel. It would be naïve to think most of them will surrender, however. In fact, some of them have sworn they never will.

Why should you believe me? Perhaps you're lucky enough to never have had any sort of contact with MLE, a Death Eater, or any of the works they have perpetrated over the last fifteen years. Go to any of my Grim Truths and pick out a claim I made in them - the Frost Faire, or Rookwood's Paralysis, just to name two examples - and look at what's come to light since I wrote them. Ask yourselves if the story MLE told you was more believable, or the truth that I told. Then decide who you believe.

[alt_wagstaff]

Hard to tell who to believe, then. You say believe us. They say yer traitors.

So you've not got werewolves? I've heard you do.

And that's an interesting list you wrote. Did you forget Councilwizard Malfoy or are you putting him on trial? Heard you took him out of Azkaban. Couldn't help noticing he's been writing in his journal again lately, so that leaves me wondering.

[alt_sirius]

There are werewolves who are members of our faction, or allied to us. We don't 'set them loose' on anyone, though. Our werewolf citizens don't go about trying to bite people even when they're not transformed, either. Using them as weapons is not a method we employ.

I'm not at liberty to speak to Lucius Malfoy's current situation. Consider though, that he was imprisoned in Azkaban by Voldemort himself, and his son is a member of the Order of the Phoenix in high standing.

[alt_wagstaff]

So yer sayin Malfoy's one of you, then?

Interesting, that.

[alt_sirius]

No, that's not what I'm saying.

Lucius Malfoy willingly and knowingly contributed to the success of the Death Eaters, committed numbers of atrocities in the name of Voldemort, and is the sort of pureblood we can do without.

I don't want anyone to think that acts he might have performed in the service of the Protectorate had anything to do with the Order.

However, I can't comment on his current status. What I can tell you is that if Voldemort treated one of his most trusted advisers and servants by throwing him into Azkaban, think about what that says for everyone else who still thinks the Protectorate is the right path.

[alt_pansy]

It's funny to think back to the days when I started writing you, and how far things have come since then. Just asking too many questions was such a dangerous thing -- and writing someone like you directly was unheard of unless you wanted to get into trouble. Let alone disagreeing with anyone in charge. It was almost like a form of madness, really, having people tell me things were so very different from reality all the time.

The funny thing about questions is they don't go away if you aren't allowed to ask them.

And the funny thing about memories is that they exist even if people try very hard to insist things happened differently. Anyone who wants to take a look at mine can feel free. We do have a Pensieve after all.

And I remember quite a lot.

For the record, just in case anyone's curious, Sirius Black has always told me the truth.

[alt_sirius]

It's been a long, strange trip and no mistake.

[alt_pansy]

That is a rather massive understatement.