Introduction to 'The Absence of Hope Library'

Welcome to the new blog that showcases some of the material we have in our library collection.

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 

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.

The Horror in the Museum - H.P. Lovecraft 

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.