MoM Elections: Getting to Know Bianca Blishwick
Barnabella Cuffe here, and I’m beaming and bashful after a brilliant interview with Minister of Magic candidate Bianca Blishwick!
She graciously agreed to meet up with me after a little campaigning in Hogsmeade Village; we chatted over tea at the delightful Madam Puddifoot’s. I was seated in a table right smack in the middle of the restaurant; Blishwick showed up about ten minutes later in sleek navy robes and a smart black hat with an Occamy feather. She told me,
I haven’t been to Hogsmeade in years. This makes me feel like I’m back at Hogwarts, giggling with my other Ravenclaw girlfriends about which boys might show up to ask one of us for a drink. We never went; we always laughed and hexed them.
After a few moments of reminiscing on our Hogwarts days, we got right into discussing her background. Although she doesn’t have any political experience, she’s spent a great deal of time working with the Ministry on its dealings with Muggles and has been asked to share her opinion on Muggle-borns more than once. Some voters may be hesitant to give Blishwick their votes due to her pure-blood family background, but she assured me there’s no reason to fret:
I will openly admit the tree I came from is famous for putting out rotten apples, but I’m not cut from the same stuff as my parents. I’m the first Ravenclaw in the family! That’s got to count for something, right? [laughs] Even so, my family isn’t spewing the same pure-blood nonsense they used to. These aren’t the days of the Muggle-born Registration Commission. Personally, I’m simply wary of Muggles. History shows they have a tendency to violently end the lives of the people they’re afraid of, and I believe it’s the Minister’s duty to protect the wizarding population from such violence.
We then went on to discuss her career. She graduated at the top of her class at Hogwarts and was one of twelve people in the school’s history to receive an O on her History of Magic NEWT. Disappointed that there wasn’t a place to continue researching magical history outside of Hogwarts, she founded the Research Committee to Prevent History from Repeating Itself. Today, the Committee boasts over 120 members throughout western Europe; members conduct research on wizarding history and publish their reports in an annual journal that is distributed to the government of each member’s country.
“Education is clearly important to you,” I said, taking a large gulp of tea and scalding the tip of my tongue. Blishwick was eager to reply,
A witch or wizard’s education is the most important part of their young magical life. It determines how they’re going to function in the wizarding world, and the government must actively participate in helping children flourish during their time being educated. We’ve seen multiple generations of students at Hogwarts traumatized, attacked, and even killed because of conflict created by anti-Muggle sentiment. As a student of history, I understand why many people believe sending their children to school with Muggle-borns isn’t safe. Whether or not it’s likely, I believe that even the slightest possibility that someone could come into the school with the intent to purport violence against witches and wizards is cause for concern. On the other hand, anti-Muggle proponents also have a known history of inciting violence against Muggle-borns. If I am elected as Minister of Magic, I plan to create a separate school for Muggle-borns to keep all wizarding students safe from harm.
Our tea was beginning to get cold at that point, and the Hogwarts students slowly trickled out to be replaced by villagers. I thanked Blishwick for speaking with me and offered to meet her again for a slice of coffee cake a bit closer to the election.
Oh, thank you, but I’d much rather come back here. I’m not especially fond of coffee cake; I don’t particularly like any Muggle foods actually, especially Twinkies. Uck.
This has been Barnabella Cuffe! Tune in tomorrow to get the election scoop on our final candidate, Reggie Stump!
