For those of you who saw my post in the Plot Bunny thread, basically, I'm writing a fic that takes inspiration from James Bond.

Basically, this is still relevant:

So the point of this thread is to hash out Wizarding Geopolitics.

Hoo boy.

Basically, what's confirmed for the story without heavy spoilers, and so comments can be made:

Some time in the thirties, Dumbledore receives the call to fight for the Allies, however the world can be spun at the moment is probably irrelevant.

Dumbledore holds off until some date, at which point, he reveals, in a blaze of glory and magical power, that he is the most powerful living wizard.

Over the course of the next half century, the world relies on Albus Dumbledore to fight their battles against budding Dark Lords, crime syndicates, and anything their aurors can't really handle.

When Dumbledore dies, it becomes the prerogative of already existing secret organizations and large groups of criminals who have managed to escape justice to come out of the woodwork, showing the world that they'd always been a part of it - since there's no Dumbledore to be scared of anymore.

What I want right now:

1. Some sort of detailed conjecture of what it might mean for certain countries, especially countries which might have governments only held in check by the ICW due to Dumbledore's power.

2. Credible villains and their activities.

3. How a bunch of talented wizards might have trouble fighting these villains.

I won't promise that your idea will be used, but you better believe that I'll give each and every plot/world bunny from the most vague to the most specific, a huge amount of consideration (probably in the form of a long post).

At the moment, we've (me and CrackedMind) plotted out the debut work, which probably follows the spirit of Casino Royale the best out of the various possible Bond works.

 

I am posting here, but not revealing any beta knowledge. I got your back, Lungs.

 

Does the magical countries have the same borders as the muggle ones or do they have their own?

If you're looking for points of conflict just look at Central Europe, half of countries there have some kind of grudge with the other and want to kick shit out of each other. Example - Poland and Sweden. Sweden has still not returned the archives and pieces of art they have stollen during the Deluge in the XVII century, as they have promised in Treaty of Oliva from 1660. So, after Dumbledores death, some bright Polish magical politician decides it's right time to enforce the Treaty of Oliva - by invading Sweden and burning down Stockholm. Or just sending in "speciall forces" to kill, burn and steal back their shit.

If you're asking why Polish wizards did not go and steal their shit back - there was an ongoing war with Tsardom of Russia, then wars with the Ottomans, Tatars and uprisings. In XVIII century Poland was week and in no condition to fight, and then Partitions of Poland happened.

 

It's often said that Hitler had a kind of obsession with the occult, is it not? He was also under the influence of newly developed methamphetamines. That might be a good place to locate the influence of Grindelwald over the Muggle conflicts of WWII.

 

Regarding Wizarding Nations, I'm convinced that the political map of the wizarding world is based roughly on the year the Statute of Secrecy went into effect. Now, why would I think that? Well because I'm tired of hearing about magical soviets and I want a goddamn wizarding Poland.

So basically this thing below, this is the 1700 map, but it's close enough.

 

Germany is a good place to start. Since the muggle and wizarding worlds separated before the German states became a single country I’ve always imagined wizarding Germany as being comprised of a bunch of different states that were briefly united under Grindelwald. Following his defeat Dumbledore and the ICW disbanded the central ministry.

When Dumbledore dies you could have a unification party that’s been lying low out of fear of Dumbledore emerge in Germany, perhaps spearheaded by some of Grindelwald’s old followers, with the intention of uniting the states once more and returning Germany to its WW2 glory. This could have all kinds of worldwide repercussions. The party – or maybe a fanatical subgroup within it – could break Grindelwald out of prison to lead them or maybe France, remembering the devastation it suffered last time the German states unified, invades Germany to stop the unification. Perhaps both events happen – Grindelwald’s escape could be the flashpoint for the invasion or the French invasion could be the flashpoint for the jailbreak.

Then you could present Grindelwald as your new villain in direct competition to Voldemort – Voldemort wants to rule muggle-borns while Grindelwald doesn’t appear to care about your blood status so long as you’re magical, setting up the possibility that muggle-borns would flock to Grindelwald. Then you have two dark lord revolutionaries with semi-opposing ideologies gearing up for their separate attempts at carving out an empire for themselves. I imagine that Voldemort having Dumbledore killed might be a point of contention between them as well. Maybe the French turn to Voldemort for help when a newly released Grindelwald slaughters their invasion force and starts gathering his Dark Army to return the favour.

Into this mix you might throw war profiteers, smugglers, mercenaries – the general scum who tend to gravitate towards warzones in search of a quick buck or the chance to kill people and not be prosecuted.

Goblins – who are generally oppressed in Europe and divided into several different nations of their own (Gringotts is not the only goblin nation, just one of the most powerful) – see that the wizards are divided and let them kill each other for a time before rising up, no longer threatened by the Albus Dumbledore, the man who drove them back into confinement after they were ‘let off the leash’ during WW2.

I think you should do away with villains in the traditional sense and replace them with opportunistic rulers and fearful or greedy nations. As to point three I think that’s pretty obvious – sure your side has talented wizards but so does the other side. I think that’s why you need Grindelwald, to serve as a check against Voldemort who’s basically the new Dumbledore in terms of power.

Somewhere in this mix you’ve got Harry Potter, a potentially talented but untrained wizard with no head for politics, few allies, who has one dark lord who wants him dead and another who wants what he has in his head (how really Dumbledore died, what Dumbledore told him about Voldemort etc) and isn’t picky about how he gets it. Frankly, I’m not really sure how he’d fit into this world. Maybe a devil’s alliance with Grindelwald against Voldemort, sort of like what I suggested between Voldemort and France.

I’m not sure if this is what you wanted – you seem to be focusing more on criminal groups than nations but it’s what I’ve got. Hope it’s been some help.

 

First off, keep in mind that Dumbledore died in 1997. That's the same year the British Empire technically ended.

Coincidence? Hmm...

So anyway, Dumbledore died.

That means Grindelwald's old guard can finally come out of hiding. They'd be about in their 80's or so by that point, so they're ripe and wizened and, most of all, powerful. Magically, politically. Chanting For the Greater Good, they seek to free their illustrious leader and continue their righteous work. But wait. Before they can free him, Lord Voldemort tortures and kills him.

Oh shit, Voldemort. You dun goofed.

Thr-thr-thr-three way!

See, the problem with Grindelwald's forces is that their ideology is fundamentally sound. To an extent, of course, but still. The muggles oppressed us, so let's subjugate them and free ourselves. Our work is for the good of wizards everywhere.

There's nothing quite as challenging to overcome as people who think they're right.

Over the next few months, there's an unusual influx of tourists from South America as unassuming old barmen, elderly teachers and librarians, and stuffy grandpa's from down the street decide Europe's climate is perfect this time of year. Besides, who would notice an old Bavarian ghost town suddenly disappearing from all maps.

They've learned from their mistakes. They sneak in the shadows, instead of marching under the sun. They cover their tracks well. Perhaps a metamorphmagus could infiltrate their organization. Or perhaps the promise of a warm bed with a warm body could reveal some much needed information. Brute force does nothing against a shadow, and punching the wall it's cast upon only hurts yourself.

And that's just the beginning.

Voldemort, himself, remains an ongoing problem. The Ministry is slowly but surely being taken over, muggle settlements are being terrorized, and magic is on the brink of being exposed. This madman and his cult must be stopped, but how?

Cut off the snake's head and deal with the body afterward? Or work up through the ranks, eliminating threats as you go? It's a grab-bag of enemies here, with terrorists and beasts in the fore and corrupt businessmen and politicians in the rear. The overt threats must be held in check while covert threats are dealt with quietly. No sense in making more enemies while you're killing your enemies.

Meanwhile, The ICW is in chaos. Even during his forced yet short-lived retirement, Dumbledore was the unopposed Supreme Mugwup. With him gone, though, the race for the title begins. Secret alliances form, malcontents only get louder, and potential candidates suspiciously turn up dead. Tension between international communities mounts as fingers are pointed and wands are drawn.

It's almost as if someone is trying to pit these nations against each other. Some people, after all, would burn the world if they could rule the ashes.

Someone looking to investigate would need quite a bit of political capital to make the delegates more cooperative. Some blackmail material certainly couldn't hurt in that regard. There's no end of grunt-work to be done, running around the globe profiling every delegate. And where resistance crops up, so too do answers.

The proper application of a Bombarda to a hired merc's legs might do the job. There are so many of them, after all. Though, a strong mind and a secured Imperio could do the job with less mess.

It is to this mess Harry Potter awakens to one morning, a year after his mentor's passing. And next to his bed, in a swirl of light, an unmarked envelope appears.







Too dramatic?

edit: BTW, sup Lungs?

 

Madagascar is a hugely economically powerful nation, in the Wizarding World, due to the high concentration of endemic species (nearly 400 real ones, easily expandable with magical ones), which are useful for potions ingredients. Southern and Eastern Africa have mostly bowed down to this, and all exports from that part of the globe pour through the Madagascan Merina family. Office and position in the empire are hereditary, passing down through the the first-born (unless disinherited); meaning that backroom dealings, treachery, and convoluted laws and business policy are common, confusing the hell out of any non-natives. A worker will only tend to retire when they believe their offspring is capable of performing their job, and supporting them through retirement.

Due to economic losses incurred by the Muggle French government's invasion of Madagascar, hatred runs deep, and you will not find any magical French further south than Khartoum, in Sudan. The Merina had, 350 years previously, managed to con their way into being crowned the Muggle Royalty, and had to give this up. They blame French wizards for this, as they did not "curtail the dangerous activities their muggles were getting up to".

The magical African drug trade mainly exports three items, although two come together. Firstly, ground Diricrawl, or Dodo, is often sold to "restore what he's lost". Whilst extremely effective, it also makes the user partially invisible. This works on muggles, but the SoS and prohibitive cost prevent common usage amongst all but the most wealthy parents of Muggleborns.
Secondly, a combination of recorded Fwooper song, and diluted Nundu breath. This drives the user to the edge of Death's door, and temporarily insane. Completely insensate to their environment, the wizards who take this combination to experience full-body hallucinations, that last for many months on the inside, but only half an hour to a viewer. It has been described as "a cross between the most powerful LSD trip of your life, and being beaten about the soul by a hippogriff".

The drug trade does not seem to be sanctioned by King-President Ralambo Merina, although the meteoric rise to power of Fenyang Van de Merwe, whose family were merely town Managers up until he took the reins after his father retired very early, looks mildly suspicious to some, especially when compared to the growing numbers of teenage wizards found in Semuta comas.



Basic premise is that southern African is all under the control of a single business, much like the Syndicate Worlds in The Lost Fleet. Everyone living under King-President (reflecting both his status as royalty, and as controller of the Merina Family Trading Company) Ralambo's reign is employed by the MFTC, and can take-over their parent's job when the parent decides the child is ready. At this point, the parent often steps down into the child's job, because they still need to work to be granted housing rights.

It costs the equivalent of G500 to buy ownership of your body, which increases social standing, and allows a stronger sense of job security. This covers the average cost of healthcare and basic education through childhood, and further education cannot be bought before this is paid.

Non-workers are not allowed to own property, and are afforded very little legal protection unless they have already paid for their birth.

Muggleborn taken from parents at birth, and are put through low level training, with the promising students often adopted/sponsored to further the adoptee's position. Less promising ones are either used in dangerous grunt-work, or traded away. The current Pharoah of Egypt, Rameses 7, takes large amounts of these children in, and the magical population of Egypt is currently one of the fastest growing worldwide. The body-trade is ignored by large amounts of the magical world, as most of the bodies are muggleborn.

Taken (but edited) from a scrap-file of ideas I'm never going to end up working on any further. I probably have more stuff on this, but it's currently all handwritten and loose somewhere.

 

How about the Incas trying to expand their territory due to creative drugs and its trade. Aztecs could sell long life to rich wizards which can afford it by sacrificing a lot of muggles in rituals only they know. Could be linked to the rising drug war death count and vicious murders in Mexico.

 

Expanding on idea by Xandrel - differences between countries on Muggle and magical side may lead to weird situation with Muggleborn where even language is different between the two societies.

 

Nicolas Flamel was a talented French Alchemist, a premier Wizard who has been subtly guiding Magical France's progress for the past few centuries, to help him with his lofty goals, he shared his Elixer of Life with a select few people; the talented, the knowledgeable, anyone he felt would benefit France with extra life.

The group that Flamel founded slowly expanded as the years passed, carefully expanding its influence until it controlled the majority of France's industries. Using its massive resources, this group slowly steered the nation along the paths they desire, hampered only by the incredible influence of Albus Dumbledore, and his ironclad leadership of the ICW.

Content to out-live Dumbledore before improving France's standings in a way others may deem threatening, the group patiently gathered various resources, until the fateful time that Nicolas Flamel sought to visit with his old student and longstanding friend, a trip from which he did not return.

With the death of their leader, and the dissappearance of the Philosopher's Stone, the group was thrown into dissaray, the progress on all their plots and schemes grinding to a halt as they tried to figure out how best to proceed with a probably-ageless-Dumbledore.

With Albus Dumbledore's unexpected death, the group sprung into action in order to ascertain the truth of what happened 5 years ago and to find the Philospher's Stone, at any cost.


Basically, Flamel and Dumbledore both assumed that without the Elixer of Life, Nicolas would resume aging and eventually pass away in a few years. In actuality, Nicolas' advanced age rapidly caught up with him and he died long before he thought to inform anyone of the Stone's Destruction.

The group could either discreetly infiltrate England, or use their connections to force France to declare War upon England, or they could use a War to cover their own infiltration, or do something else entirely.

Some possible conclusions they can draw would be:
- Dumbledore murdered Flamel for the Stone, and then Potter did the same to Dumbledore.
- Dumbledore stole the Stone, and then faked his own death to avoid the inevitable suspicion that would fall on him as he stopped aging.
- Death Eater's somehow got a hold of the stone, possibly with Dumbledore's aid (Since he associates with "Reformed" Death Eater, Severus Snape), and uses a Necromatic Ritual to ressurect Voldemort.

 

It does make one wonder about Durmstrang, it's location and main source of students.

 

It's often said, but it's not really true. Most of the Nazi incursions into the occult were done at the behest of Heinrich Himmler. Hitler put up with it because he valued Himmler but he thought it was stupid.

 

Oh my god I love all of you. Why am I out of thumbs?

 

Probably my fault. It's all the gold (GOLD).

 

You know, if you just used a 1700 map for your wizarding political map, then you wouldn't have:

1. Transylvania: Explicitly mentioned as having its own Quidditch team in GOF, and you wouldn't want to pass up all those vampires, at any rate.

2. Luxembourg: Ditto the first objection.

3. Uganda: First objection again.

4. Bulgaria: Duh.

5. Wallachia: Gotta make some reference to Vlad Tepes, right?

6. Greece: Duh, again.

7. Serbia: Gets overshadowed by Poland and Belgium, but the Serbs suffered horribly in both World Wars. If you want to draw connections between Grindelwald and Hitler, then this would be one of those countries that would be terrified by the idea of a successor Dark Wizard on the loose.

I wouldn't just pick a map from some time period and roll with that, I'd put real thought into what countries you'd want to see and for what reasons.

 

Lets talk some historical politics, based off Xandrel's map.

We need to take into account events such as Colonial Europe, Napoleonic france, The world wars and the fall of the British Empire, and how they would affect borders and relationships between wizarding societies.

Colonial Europe: This will undoubtedly cause friction between Europe and the rest of the world (not Asia.) Alternatively depending on how AU you want to make it there could be a couple of wizarding societies that are still colonial powers. As we all know wizards like to live in the 1800s, maybe Australia and Canada are still British, maybe Spain still controls parts of South America. It would make sense since families play a more prominent role for wizards than muggles, so a Black or a Malfoy who moved to Australia during the colonisation is much less likely to rebel or even break away from the motherland and their own family.

Napoleonic France: While Napoleon is busy Roflstomping three quarters of Europe and crushing 5 Coalitions, the French wizarding nation gets the bright idea of emulating that success, caught up in patriotism and victory euphoria they try to extend their reach over Spain, Italy and other countries. However being outnumbered and due to a severe lack of a tactical genius on their side, they are crushed. This leads to a sort of 'post-WW1 Germany' France, utterly broken. Being the dicks that wizards are, they place sanctions on the French to keep them that weak for as long as possible, in retaliation for Napoleon owning them all. This uber weak France makes a nice base of operations for all these shady people coming out of the wood work.

The world wars: World War 1 never reached the Wizarding world because of their utter apathy to a muggle being assassinated. However let's assume that World War 2 coincides with Grindelwald's rise to power. But he's not in league with Hitler like in countless fics because that's crap. Instead, being the genius he is, Grindelwald uses Hitler and the unease he has created in the wizarding world to convince even more people that muggles should not be in power. Support comes easy from Poland and other countries near Germany, but not from Britain. With Germany being the only significant nation in continental Europe (France has been neutralised) this grants him an autonomy over the continent. With the only resistance being from small resistance cells and Britain. Even after he is defeated, bonds between wizarding nations remain strong. Hitler's reign makes continental Europe more prejudiced against muggles and muggle borns than the archaic British system.

Meanwhile in Asia, Japan's war crimes catches a couple of Chinese and Korean wizards. I light of a common enemy and due to strong relations an alliance is made. The Japanese wizarding nation is subjugated by the Chinese-Korean alliance. Forming a de-facto Asian power bloc.

The British Empire. Now this is an interesting one. You can go anywhere with it, but for the sake of world building I shall talk about my personal version.

While Canada, Australia and NZ make deals with the British to form their own government, the magical side of the story is different. Magical Australia, Canada and NZ are extensions of magical Britain. With instant travel and important family relations a culture difference never occurs and the magical societies opt to stay in the magical British empire. You can even take it as far as saying that the British magical society answers directly to the crown and Canada, Australia etc are still technically run by the crown.

However it's not so easy in India and other countries that rebelled. While in the muggle world the rebels won( due to a bankrupt empire, distance from London etc...) the Magical society is much better prepared to fight. Instantaneous travel and superior fire-power (education) means the rebells are crushed, and the magical societies still remain sovereign nations of Britain. This can apply to the US if you wanted it too. Though let it be said, if magical US also gains independence, they will not be as strong or influential as their muggles counter-parts. America becomes powerful due to it's economy and technology. Neither applies to a wizarding society.

This all brings me to my favourite part: Power blocs and international politics. So we have three or four power blocs: Sino-Korean(including Japan), The Magical British Empire, Continental Europe and maybe Russia or Spain. Dumbledore was the only man capable of keeping all these guys in peace and away from each other's throat. This is why the ICW is in chaos, something that these shady people can take advantage of, especially if they are Grindelwalds minions like Sin said. Wouldn't the Europeans be happy to see them back.

Now poor Harry has to deal with international incidents too.

PS: This took me 8 hours to write... -_-

 

The enforcement of International Statute of Secrecy was an event that once again changed the balance of power in Central-Eastern Europe. Russian wizards for a long time have used their connection to tsar Peter the Great, to have him and his muggle army support their actions against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Without the support of the tsar and his armies, and being teared apart from the inside by leadership crisis, Russian wizards where a ripe target for the Polish-Lithuanian Wizarding Commonwealth. The wizards of the Commonwealth, used the infighting and launched a decisive and successful campaign to reclame lands lost in the Truce of Andrusovo.

With their main goal of reclaiming their lost territories achieved, Polish wizards concentrated their efforts on keeping Russia destabilized. And in ironic turn of events, when the muggle Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth descended into chaos, anarchy and finally dissolution, its wizarding counterpart thrived unmolested and continued to accumulate wealth through its old ways - by selling crops to anyone who wanted and could pay for it.

--- --- ---

Too much "Fuck Yeah!"? Yes, I suppose so, but Xandrel wanted wizarding Poland so here's a start. And this gives an excuse why there are no Magical Soviets - Polish wizards supported them against Russian wizards, whom they portrayed as supporters of Tsar and aristocracy. And helped them get past all that pesky 'anti-muggle repeling charms'.

 

A thought. I'm currently reading Worm, so world-ending is kind of on my mind.

Mad villains are a possibility. As are stupidly over the top reactions.

In 1944, in response to the continued attacks from Grindelwald's forces, often risking disturbing the SoS, Germany was cursed. People who did not support Grindelwald could apparate away, or cast invisibility spells, and so the only people left were those who believed he was right. Or maybe the world was scared, and lashed out. Either way, Germany was cursed, and there are no legitimate records as to who did so.

There is no magic in Germany. There have been no muggleborns born there. Wizards who go in, lose their power, and weaken until they die. Unicorns and dragons die as soon as they cross the country's borders.

And whilst any possible mission that might have been done to do to such a thing would definitely be a black op, there are very few people who could have possibly pulled it off. And all rumours point to Dumbledore.

Can you imagine the war-crimes you can commit with magic?

Hy-Brasil was a real island. Until they raided the wrong Irish village.
The fiendfyre still burns to this day, if you dive down deep enough. Estimates are that in fourteen more years, the fire will reach the bottom of the sea, and nobody knows what will happen.

Ever heard of Leviatha?
That's because every border to the country had the fidelius curse placed on it, before space compressing charms shrunk it down so far that it's possible to hop over it. Herpo the Foul was merely Herpo before this.

 

What would be the opinion of the wizarding world towards the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII and just nuclear weaponry's evolution in general? How comparable would a massive casting of fiendfyre in a city be?