Thursday 18 September 2014
Hello!
This blog post is directed at all our new auror trainees who will be guards here at Azkaban for this rotation of their training.
Myself, in conjunction with the Azkaban trainers, and Michael Pendragon, have created a short audio clip that will be useful for newbies. It goes over a few key points about Dementors, and Michael (the wizarding world's leading expert in Dementors and Dementor culture) answers a few of the more common questions. Most of the training module cannot be recorded or made accessible online because of the classification of the information. This audio file is a simple introduction and will be built upon in proper training.
Please don't hesistate to contact me for more information, and of course you will be able to hold in-depth discussion with the Dementor guards if you feel comfortable doing so. Please leave any oter comments below, in the comments section for this blog post.
The backing music was compiled in conjunction with Dementor guards, and accurately represents the traditional music that is heard in Dementor culture.
The backing music track is "Gypsy Shoegazer" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licenced under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Friday 15 August 2014
How to apply to see prisoner records held at Azkaban
As we have had a "changing of the guard" and new Auror trainees have begun their six month rotations of guard duty here at the prison. A short presentation was given at the orientation, detailing the various steps that are taken in order for prisoner records to be accessed. As these records are usually sealed and guarded, a very good reason must be had in order to view them. The slides below will illustrate the steps that are necessary, and help guide you through the process.
Please be aware that there are strict and dangerous magics that protect the prisoner records, and the proper process is the only way to access the records. Failure to follow the process may result in loss of limb, and termination of Auror status.
If there are any pertinent questions, new Aurors are encouraged to comment below this blog post, or to pop into the library and talk to Millie in person.
Saturday 9 August 2014
Severus Snape's textbook added to our collection!
Today we have some very exciting news for our small library.
A brand new textbook has been added to our collection, and is available for wizarding and Dementor guards. We have been gifted a copy, even before Flourish & Blotts is allowed to start selling it! This librarian is humbled by the generosity of the author, and particularly with a terse personal note included in the front of the text for this librarian.
Potions Master Severus Snape (formerly Potions Professor and Headmaster of Hogwarts) has newly published his newest scholarly work, the great tome entitled Innocuous Potions Ingredients, and their Catastrophic Effects when Combined with Dark Intentions. Potions Master Snape is most well-known for his spectacular resurrection after his presumed death at the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998, and his role as a spy prior to that. It was through clever long-term use of anti-venom, and various health-restoring potions that his life was saved, and this allowed him to continue with his scholarly efforts in the years since the end of the Wizarding War.
This new textbook discusses various potions ingredients, and provides an overview of the reactions of each ingredient in various potions, when varied 'dark 'or 'light' purposes are used. Simple things like dittany, ginger or lavender are dissected and studied in various potions and with varying intentions of the brewer, and reactions are recorded and analysed. Some new potions are included as a part of this text, which makes it unique as no new potions have been recorded in nearly fifty years. Ars Potianica has declared this textbook "a much needed innovation in the Potions sector," and there has been great anticipation of its publication in the Potions community. However, it has been declared too esoteric for the general population, with great potential danger if found in untrained hands, and select qualifications (verified of course) will be needed in order to purchase a copy. Luckily this librarian has completed a Potions mastery, and is qualified to control access to this text.
This new book is of particular interest to our Dementor guards, as several of the potions ingredients discussed in the book directly relate to them. Lost and forgotten potions are discussed, all of which utilise Demetor breath, Dementor fingernails, or snippets of Dementor robes. Professor Snape has discussed these ingredients, as well as their spectacularly inhumane collection methods in the textbook.
This book will be held at the librarian's desk, and will be for library only use. As it is classified as a 'dangerous artifact' (even prior to general publication and release), it will require supervision by this librarian to be accessed. The Minister of Magic has opposed the publication of this text - both because of the subject matter, and the author's personal history - for ten years now, and it is a historic event in education that we have received our own copy. Only 50 copies have been printed in total, so we are especially honoured to have received a copy from Professor Snape personally.
Looking forward to an influx of visitors to view this rare text. You may just learn something interesting down here in our dingy little library!
A brand new textbook has been added to our collection, and is available for wizarding and Dementor guards. We have been gifted a copy, even before Flourish & Blotts is allowed to start selling it! This librarian is humbled by the generosity of the author, and particularly with a terse personal note included in the front of the text for this librarian.
Potions Master Severus Snape (formerly Potions Professor and Headmaster of Hogwarts) has newly published his newest scholarly work, the great tome entitled Innocuous Potions Ingredients, and their Catastrophic Effects when Combined with Dark Intentions. Potions Master Snape is most well-known for his spectacular resurrection after his presumed death at the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998, and his role as a spy prior to that. It was through clever long-term use of anti-venom, and various health-restoring potions that his life was saved, and this allowed him to continue with his scholarly efforts in the years since the end of the Wizarding War.
This new textbook discusses various potions ingredients, and provides an overview of the reactions of each ingredient in various potions, when varied 'dark 'or 'light' purposes are used. Simple things like dittany, ginger or lavender are dissected and studied in various potions and with varying intentions of the brewer, and reactions are recorded and analysed. Some new potions are included as a part of this text, which makes it unique as no new potions have been recorded in nearly fifty years. Ars Potianica has declared this textbook "a much needed innovation in the Potions sector," and there has been great anticipation of its publication in the Potions community. However, it has been declared too esoteric for the general population, with great potential danger if found in untrained hands, and select qualifications (verified of course) will be needed in order to purchase a copy. Luckily this librarian has completed a Potions mastery, and is qualified to control access to this text.
 |
| Image from Propnomicon (http://propnomicon.blogspot.co.nz/2011/05/black-book.html) |
This book will be held at the librarian's desk, and will be for library only use. As it is classified as a 'dangerous artifact' (even prior to general publication and release), it will require supervision by this librarian to be accessed. The Minister of Magic has opposed the publication of this text - both because of the subject matter, and the author's personal history - for ten years now, and it is a historic event in education that we have received our own copy. Only 50 copies have been printed in total, so we are especially honoured to have received a copy from Professor Snape personally.
Looking forward to an influx of visitors to view this rare text. You may just learn something interesting down here in our dingy little library!
Thursday 7 August 2014
Introduction to 'The Absence of Hope Library'
Welcome to the new blog that showcases some of the material we have in our library collection.
The Absence of Hope Library was first started in 1717 as a Ministry of Magic initiative to help the Dementors become better educated about the wizarding world. In 1717 it legally became a sentence of life imprisonment in our dear prison of Azkaban for using one of the three Unforgivable Curses. There was a lack of knowledge in Dementor society at the time as to the effects and uses of many magical spells, curses, and charms. The Ministry decided that a library within the confines of Azkaban would be useful in helping educate the Dementors about various details of the wizarding world. It would also provide a small means of entertainment, and keep the off-duty Dementors from ravaging the innocent wizards and muggles that lived on nearby islands at that time. Now of course, there are no living beings within a fairly large radius, and use of the library has dropped off.
Since the end of the Wizarding War in 1998 against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (or Voldemort for those brave souls who prefer to use his name), the prison has once again been fully operational. We utilise a combined guard of powerful wizards (usually Aurors during their training) and Dementors. The library is open to any guards, wizard or Dementor, and will happily provide reading materials for education or entertainment. These resources are forbidden to the prisoners however, and any guard found passing our books to prisoners will have his or her membership revoked.
We provide many resources that will help guards to begin, further, or complete their education, particularly if they were not able to attend a certified European magic school (Hogwarts, Beauxbaxtons, or Durmstrang). Education provides guards with an opportunity to learn new skills, and to perform better as guards of the prison in the event of an emergency.
Another facet of this facility is that we curate the inmate records. All inmate records - including prisoner personal information, arrest reports, trial transcripts, and Azkaban only records (cell block, behaviour, other pertinent information) - are securely held in this library. Duplicate copies of the personal information, arrest reports and trial documents are held in the Ministry of Magic. Special applications and thorough vetting is required if any requests are made to see the Azkaban specific information, particularly when related to our most infamous inmates. The most recently infamous are Sirius Black, Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, and Mafalda Weasley.
This blog is made possible by the dedicated and diligent work of Ms Hermione Granger. Her hard work in creating shielding spells for muggle technology allows the use of computers, and the internet in a magic-saturated environment. For this we thank her, and offer her an associate membership to our small library, should she ever need to use it. Although it is possible to use some technology, pictures of photographs of any part of Azkaban are prohibited and carry a severe sentence.
This blog will be featuring some of the books we have as a part of our small collection. It mainly consisted of magical texts but since 1998 we have been adding muggle books to the collection. The Ministry allocates a small amount of funding for the upkeep and expansion of our collection, and we would like to spark more interest in the newest books we have bought, as well as some of the older textbooks that have been a part of the collection for a longer time.
The first featured books are from a muggle author: H. P. Lovecraft. Both of the books featured below have many of the short stories written by Lovecraft (1890-1937), and are usually denoted to be horror stories. Lovecraft was an American, who was only recognised for his talent post-posthumously.
Although Lovecraft's work was largely unrecognised by the muggles during his own lifetime, he was greatly celebrated in the wizarding community. Although Lovecraft, a muggle himself, was unaware of the magical roots of many of his horrific creatures, he was able to create tales which centred around magical beings and instilled great fear in muggles. For this reason his stories, books, and anthologies are renowned by American wizards, who encouraged their publication and distribution in order to dissuade muggles from investigating the wizarding world in the USA. In England, these books are appreciated by both wizards and muggles alike, although there are different versions available in each world.
Guards are encouraged to read these horrific tales, which can be compared to those of the great literary wizards Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King. Lovecraft is the lesser known author because of his muggle heritage, but should not be ignored because of this fact. His series of stories about the being he names 'Cthulu' will be of particular interest to Dementor guards. They should be read in conjunction with Bathilda Bagshot's The Origins of the Cthulu Myth in Dementor Culture, as readers will be particularly interested in the connections Bagshot makes.
So come on down to the 17th floor under sub-basement 6, and visit our small library. We have plenty of deliciously depressing resources, so take a break from guarding prisoners and destroying their souls, and spend some time with us.
 |
| Image from VivalaVida (http://www.deviantart.com/art/Azkaban-32223907) |
The Absence of Hope Library was first started in 1717 as a Ministry of Magic initiative to help the Dementors become better educated about the wizarding world. In 1717 it legally became a sentence of life imprisonment in our dear prison of Azkaban for using one of the three Unforgivable Curses. There was a lack of knowledge in Dementor society at the time as to the effects and uses of many magical spells, curses, and charms. The Ministry decided that a library within the confines of Azkaban would be useful in helping educate the Dementors about various details of the wizarding world. It would also provide a small means of entertainment, and keep the off-duty Dementors from ravaging the innocent wizards and muggles that lived on nearby islands at that time. Now of course, there are no living beings within a fairly large radius, and use of the library has dropped off.
Since the end of the Wizarding War in 1998 against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (or Voldemort for those brave souls who prefer to use his name), the prison has once again been fully operational. We utilise a combined guard of powerful wizards (usually Aurors during their training) and Dementors. The library is open to any guards, wizard or Dementor, and will happily provide reading materials for education or entertainment. These resources are forbidden to the prisoners however, and any guard found passing our books to prisoners will have his or her membership revoked.
We provide many resources that will help guards to begin, further, or complete their education, particularly if they were not able to attend a certified European magic school (Hogwarts, Beauxbaxtons, or Durmstrang). Education provides guards with an opportunity to learn new skills, and to perform better as guards of the prison in the event of an emergency.
Another facet of this facility is that we curate the inmate records. All inmate records - including prisoner personal information, arrest reports, trial transcripts, and Azkaban only records (cell block, behaviour, other pertinent information) - are securely held in this library. Duplicate copies of the personal information, arrest reports and trial documents are held in the Ministry of Magic. Special applications and thorough vetting is required if any requests are made to see the Azkaban specific information, particularly when related to our most infamous inmates. The most recently infamous are Sirius Black, Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, and Mafalda Weasley.
This blog is made possible by the dedicated and diligent work of Ms Hermione Granger. Her hard work in creating shielding spells for muggle technology allows the use of computers, and the internet in a magic-saturated environment. For this we thank her, and offer her an associate membership to our small library, should she ever need to use it. Although it is possible to use some technology, pictures of photographs of any part of Azkaban are prohibited and carry a severe sentence.
This blog will be featuring some of the books we have as a part of our small collection. It mainly consisted of magical texts but since 1998 we have been adding muggle books to the collection. The Ministry allocates a small amount of funding for the upkeep and expansion of our collection, and we would like to spark more interest in the newest books we have bought, as well as some of the older textbooks that have been a part of the collection for a longer time.
The first featured books are from a muggle author: H. P. Lovecraft. Both of the books featured below have many of the short stories written by Lovecraft (1890-1937), and are usually denoted to be horror stories. Lovecraft was an American, who was only recognised for his talent post-posthumously.
 |
| Necronomicon - H.P Lovecraft |
Guards are encouraged to read these horrific tales, which can be compared to those of the great literary wizards Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King. Lovecraft is the lesser known author because of his muggle heritage, but should not be ignored because of this fact. His series of stories about the being he names 'Cthulu' will be of particular interest to Dementor guards. They should be read in conjunction with Bathilda Bagshot's The Origins of the Cthulu Myth in Dementor Culture, as readers will be particularly interested in the connections Bagshot makes.
 |
| The Horror in the Museum - H.P. Lovecraft |
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