Wizarding World under Voldemort?
Sep. 28th, 2012 01:01 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslockSunnyskywalker's last post inspired me to do a bit of thinking about our dear Voldie and to play with what-ifs. So let me put the question out there: what do you think would have happened had Voldie been a competent Dark Lord? How would the war(s) have been different - what would Voldemort and the DEs done differently? And, let's say he won or at least managed to hang onto power for a substantial length of time (perhaps Harry vanished mysteriously? Or died somehow?), so what would the WW have been like under a competent Dark Lord?
Some ideas:
- perhaps Voldemort would have made much greater use of the Dementors during the war. (Given Jodel's theory that his fear of death and psychopathy were caused by Dementor-haunting during his infancy, it could be very interesting to posit a connection between him and the Dementors, or their using each other - the Dementors maybe wanting a better bargain that what they've currently got....) This might have had particular consequences for Harry and his role in things.
- Voldemort might have softpedaled the Muggleborn angle where necessary, and/or brought up other issues that were of concern to a greater segment of the populace - perhaps the savage ridiculousness of condemning people to insanity-inducing torment for small crimes? (There is apparently only the one prison, after all.) Economic issues? - They have to pay for Hogwarts and the Ministry somehow, so that means taxes. Also possible restrictions on what can be done with cheaper mundane goods. Annoyances over restrictions on kinds of magic/objects allowed (ex. dark in the 'non-crude' sense Xenophilius mentions)? Concerns with other magical populations, human and not? And so on.
- Together with the above, more public rallies/demonstrations/leaflets/articles in the Prophet designed to gain sympathy from the public?
- After victory, how would he gain the loyalty of the public? One thing I suggested in comments to the earlier article was some sort of bread-and-circuses deal like the Nazi Strength Through Joy program. Trips, sporting events, medals to earn, useful goods?
- How would daily life have changed, including been curtailed? Censorship of the Prophet and other publications is an easy one - though perhaps putting out a rival and *better* publication might be another thing the DE government could do. (And Voldie would employ a competent and non-terrifying staff for the 'front desk' jobs.)
- How would the staff of Hogwarts, St Mungo's, etc. change?
- Did Voldie really want to break Secrecy? If not, how would that impact the WW? If so, how does he manage the other international governments bound by it, and how does the actual announcement go? What does the world look like then?
Anyway, some questions to play with!
Some ideas:
- perhaps Voldemort would have made much greater use of the Dementors during the war. (Given Jodel's theory that his fear of death and psychopathy were caused by Dementor-haunting during his infancy, it could be very interesting to posit a connection between him and the Dementors, or their using each other - the Dementors maybe wanting a better bargain that what they've currently got....) This might have had particular consequences for Harry and his role in things.
- Voldemort might have softpedaled the Muggleborn angle where necessary, and/or brought up other issues that were of concern to a greater segment of the populace - perhaps the savage ridiculousness of condemning people to insanity-inducing torment for small crimes? (There is apparently only the one prison, after all.) Economic issues? - They have to pay for Hogwarts and the Ministry somehow, so that means taxes. Also possible restrictions on what can be done with cheaper mundane goods. Annoyances over restrictions on kinds of magic/objects allowed (ex. dark in the 'non-crude' sense Xenophilius mentions)? Concerns with other magical populations, human and not? And so on.
- Together with the above, more public rallies/demonstrations/leaflets/articles in the Prophet designed to gain sympathy from the public?
- After victory, how would he gain the loyalty of the public? One thing I suggested in comments to the earlier article was some sort of bread-and-circuses deal like the Nazi Strength Through Joy program. Trips, sporting events, medals to earn, useful goods?
- How would daily life have changed, including been curtailed? Censorship of the Prophet and other publications is an easy one - though perhaps putting out a rival and *better* publication might be another thing the DE government could do. (And Voldie would employ a competent and non-terrifying staff for the 'front desk' jobs.)
- How would the staff of Hogwarts, St Mungo's, etc. change?
- Did Voldie really want to break Secrecy? If not, how would that impact the WW? If so, how does he manage the other international governments bound by it, and how does the actual announcement go? What does the world look like then?
Anyway, some questions to play with!
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Date: 2012-10-03 05:27 pm (UTC)By this point, the purebloods are probably really in trouble with all their inbreeding, and they're now terrified enough of the teeming Muggle hordes and their pollution and WMDs for Voldemort to unveil the next phase: killing enough Muggles that they'll be easy to rule once wizards come out of hiding and make themselves lords of the earth. (Voldemort probably wouldn't want to have to hide from anyone forever.) They'll start cautiously, because they don't want anyone thinking there's a war and setting off any inconvenient nukes. But surely wizards could devise a Muggle-specific plague? And assassinate a lot of key political figures in ways that look like accidents or heart attacks to weaken the Muggles' response to the crisis? This might be a good time to loose the Dementors on the Muggle world, too.
What happens next depends on what he really wants, I guess. Does he enjoy the challenge of ruling magical people who might occasionally produce a rival? Does he have some sort of vision for the idea society he'd like to live in and rule? Then probably he'd try for some sort of status quo after conquering the Muggles. Maybe once there were actual Muggles in play, he could switch rhetoric and make halfbloods and Muggleborns acceptable again, to stabilize the magical population. Though shifting magicals around across international borders might also provide enough genetic diversity to keep them going for a while. Or does he just want absolute control and the chance to terrify and kill a lot of people for kicks? Then, once his wizarding followers have done the heavy lifting, maybe he'd do what Jodel suggested once and turn them over to the Dementors, leaving him the unchallenged only wizard ruling a much-reduced population of terrified Muggles. He'd give the Dementors free reign and have fun.