#Security and Defence

[fannedandflawless]

Hogwarts Security Issues: The Safest Place? Really?

"Hogwarts is the safest place there is."—Allegedly.

✔ This quote (or a close version of it) comes from Hagrid, who says:

“Hogwarts is the safest place in the world for something like the Philosopher’s Stone, apart from Gringotts.”

📌 Dumbledore indirectly supports this claim, as he is the one who allows the Stone to be kept there under school protection.

But oh, darling. The irony. The Golden Trio? They lived through all of this—year after year, chaos after chaos—and still got homework assigned like none of it ever happened.

🧱 YEAR 1: PHILOSOPHER'S STONE & TROLLS

A fully grown mountain troll breaks into the dungeons during a feast. No alarms. Just vibes.

Three eleven-year-olds sneak past every enchantment protecting the Philosopher’s Stone.

Quirrell, possessed by Voldemort, was teaching all year. No one noticed the face on the back of his head.

Hogwarts’ response? "Ten points to Gryffindor."

🐍 YEAR 2: THE BASILISK IN THE DRAINS

A basilisk has been slithering through the plumbing.

Several students are petrified, and still no evacuation plan is activated.

Myrtle was killed decades ago, and no one thought to check the bathrooms?

Oh, and the Heir of Slytherin was allegedly back—but no adult investigated seriously.

Hogwarts security: "Let’s ask the cat."

🐺 YEAR 3: WEREWOLF PROFESSOR & DEMENTORS

Remus Lupin, a werewolf, is hired as DADA professor—without telling a single student.

The only safeguard? Wolfsbane Potion, brewed exclusively by Severus Snape. One missed dose? Chaos.

When Lupin transforms unexpectedly, it is Severus who steps between the children and danger:

"Get behind me, Potter."

And yet, he’s branded the bitter one.

Meanwhile, Dementors—soul-sucking wraiths—hover freely around the school.

Sirius Black, an escaped convict, sneaks into the castle multiple times. Once even into the dormitories.

🌳 The WHOMPING WILLOW Issue

Planted specifically for Remus Lupin to access the Shrieking Shack during full moons.

The tree is sentient and violent—can literally kill a child in passing.

There is no protective barrier around it.

Only a secret knot can calm it—and yet students are never taught this.

It’s framed as a quirky landmark, when in truth it’s a hazardous liability.

🧪 SEVERUS SNAPE: The Unsung Safety Net

Brewed Wolfsbane every month—flawlessly.

Protected students even when he despised some of them.

Risked his life to shield the Trio from a raging werewolf. He literally puts himself between the children and a charging werewolf, even though: ‣ He hates Harry. ‣ He despises Sirius. ‣ And has massive trauma from being nearly killed by Lupin once during a "prank."

And yet. He still protects them. Dumbledore: “Severus, please be civil.” Severus: “CIVIL? I JUST FOUGHT A WEREWOLF FOR YOUR CHOSEN CHILD.” (🪧 Me in the background holding a sign that says: “Give the man a raise or a new spine, he’s carrying the whole plot.” You can hold the backup sign. It says: “I just watched him fight a werewolf in pressed robes—PAY HIM.” 😤)

Knew the truth about the Marauders’ past, the Map, Lupin’s condition—and still kept silent.

Endured mockery and suspicion, but always acted when it mattered.

Hogwarts would have collapsed into a heap of magical malpractice without him.

🐉 YEAR 4: THE TRIWIZARD DISASTER

Harry is forced into a lethal tournament through magical coercion.

Students have died in this contest historically, yet it's brought back for funsies.

Children fight dragons, swim with grindylows, and nearly die in a hedge maze.

Ends with Voldemort's return and the murder of Cedric Diggory. No reparations offered.

🧠 YEAR 5: TORTURE IN THE CLASSROOM

The Ministry places Dolores Umbridge at Hogwarts—who literally tortures children with quills that carve words into skin.

Teachers are aware. Nothing is done.

Dumbledore ghosts Harry for an entire year to “protect him emotionally.”

Ministry interference, student trauma, and no adult protection. Gold star for Gryffindor trauma.

💔 YEAR 6: DRACO'S CLOSET OF DOOM

Draco secretly repairs a Vanishing Cabinet to let Death Eaters into the school.

Katie Bell is cursed by a necklace. Ron is poisoned. Multiple near-deaths.

The grand finale? Dumbledore dies on the Astronomy Tower. Iconic, but preventable.

💥 YEAR 7: DEATH EATER BOARDING SCHOOL

Hogwarts becomes a military regime.

Carrows torture students in class.

Neville leads a resistance movement from within the school.

Snape, as Headmaster, walks a tightrope of silent resistance, but it's still a war zone.

"Hogwarts is safe"—If you're the Chosen One. Maybe. 😂

—

Before we venture further into Hogwarts' ever-growing list of structural curiosities and magical oversights, my next post will take a detour into one particularly absurd contradiction: how Sirius Black managed to infiltrate Hogwarts with ease, while several powerful ex-students turned Death Eaters couldn’t do the same.

✨ Stay tuned for: Sirius Black Vs The Wards: Why Death Eaters Weren’t Invited To Tea

[roses-and-revolutions]

DP x DC Prompt

This, but it's because their flight home was canceled due to Gotham's airport being destroyed. And they didn't want to drive all the way back.

The reason it all started was because Tucker was really bored and was getting a bit frustrated when he couldn't get past one of WE's many firewalls. He had already skimmed through everything else and concluded that Gotham's Brucie Wayne was a literal angel sent from heaven to one the worst cities in the world because he committed a crime so horrific that not even God could look him in his pretty little face anymore and that firewall proved it!

So to cool his head off, he decided to hack into a bank. Banks were pretty easy, right? Almost anyone could do it with just enough knowledge and the proper equipment. What he DIDN'T expect was just how EASY it was to do so. Laughably so, to the point it made him cry.

Did Gotham's rouges or Gothamites in general not like money? Not even the small-time rouges? Because he KNEW those operations that they try to pull off cost money. Shit tons!

So when his laughter became so disturbing that his friends and even his frenemies got concerned, all he had to do was show them what he found out. Which sent them spiraling into laughter as well. Like, c'mon, even Amity Park's bank was more secure than that and they only had fucking GHOST CRIME!

As the tears began to dry, and the laughter turned to giggles, one of the girls suggested something.

Star: Why don't we, like, rob it or something?

The hotel room went silent and Star started to fidget. Then she started to ramble.

Star: I mean like, we don't have to. It was kind of a joke anyway, since their security's so bad ya know, and I'm pretty sure we're gonna be here for a while and-

Dani: Star, baby, sweetie, honey. Why are you justifying yourself when we were all probably thinking the same thing, right?

Nod and hums of agreement filled the girl with relief.

Wes: Besides it's not a class trip unless we cause some trouble right?

They all then pilled into the bed and around Tucker as his finger flew across the keyboard.

Tucker: So, where are we hitting up first?

[themorningnewsinformer]

NATO Summit 2025: Rutte Pushes 5% Defense Spending Amid Global Tensions

Introduction The NATO summit 2025t in The Hague has opened with a powerful declaration from newly appointed Secretary General Mark Rutte, who is urging all 32 member states to commit to spending 5% of their GDP on defense. Amid rising global instability, Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, and a more unpredictable US presence under President Donald Trump, the alliance faces unprecedented pressure to…

[shadyquark]

Whose turn is it on the European Defence Rota?

You know, that thing where a European leader stands at a podium, gravely announces that 'Europe must stand united' and 'strengthen its defensive capabilities', receives thunderous applause, and then proceeds to do absolutely bugger all about it?

I've rather lost track after Munich. One would think that having American politicians openly saying they'll abandon NATO allies might have spurred some actual action, but no. We're still firmly in the 'making strongly worded statements' phase.

Current status:

- Speeches about European unity: ✓

- Concerned nodding: ✓

- Actually implementing a coherent defence strategy: LOL

- Doing anything beyond looking worried at press conferences: pending

- Real action: see you when Russian tanks roll into Berlin

At this rate, we'll have another 47 conferences about 'the urgent need to act' before anyone actually... you know... acts

History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme rather loudly when nobody seems to be listening.

[boomalope-pope]

God I fucking hate my father so much and yet I don't feel financially secure enough to just tell him to fuck off. I don't want to go spend Christmas with my parents

[trendynewsnow]

G7 Defence Ministers Unite in Response to Global Security Challenges

G7 Defence Ministers Reaffirm Unity Amid Escalating Global Conflicts The Defence Ministers of the G7 nations convened on Saturday in Naples, Italy, to reaffirm their solidarity in response to the deepening conflicts in the Middle East and the ongoing war in Ukraine, as stated in their joint declaration. The defence chiefs, representing Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom,…

[limelocked]

RUSSIA STRAIGHT UP CALLING OUT THE STATES FOR PARALYZING THE SECURITY COUNCIL

[fannedandflawless]

Sirius Black Vs The Wards: Why Death Eaters Weren’t Invited To Tea

We’ve all heard it: “Hogwarts is the safest place in the wizarding world.” But who actually set those protections? How do they work? And more importantly—why do they fail in such spectacular fashion when a certain Animagus wants to drop in for a visit? Let’s take a look at the foundations of these fabled defences—and why they might be more aesthetic than foolproof?

🏰 Who Set the Wards on Hogwarts?

✔️ Hogwarts is protected by centuries-old enchantments laid by the Founders and reinforced by successive Headmasters—currently, Dumbledore.

These wards include:

Anti-Apparition barriers

Muggle-repelling charms

Detection wards for dark magic

Protective enchantments layered into the very stone

Sounds airtight? Hold that thought.

🐺 So How Did Sirius Black Break In?

✔️ He was an unregistered Animagus. The wards don’t detect animals the same way they detect humans. ✔️ He had intimate knowledge of the school grounds from his time as a Marauder. ✔️ He had access to:

The Marauder’s Map (the blueprint of Hogwarts mischief)

Secret passageways hidden even from the staff

Decades of experience evading authority

📌 The Ministry’s Dementors were stationed around Hogwarts—but they couldn’t detect him in his Animagus form. And if they did? They still needed direct proximity.

Sirius snuck in multiple times. Into the castle. Into the Gryffindor dormitories. And what was the school’s response?

“Board up the Fat Lady’s portrait. That’ll fix it.”

🐍 Meanwhile… THE DEATH EATERS

Here’s where the logic falls apart spectacularly:

Death Eaters—many of them former students—can’t get in.

We’re talking Bellatrix, Lucius, Narcissa, Travers, Rookwood, Yaxley, Dolohov, and other former Slytherin alumni—even Voldemort himself. These were witches and wizards with significant magical ability and extensive history at Hogwarts. And yet... not one of them could find a way in without relying on a teenager and a piece of broken furniture? Suspiciously neglected. Strategically nonsensical.

They knew the castle. They lived there. Yet none of them could break in?

So what does Voldemort do?

Assigns Draco Malfoy, a sixteen-year-old schoolboy, the impossible mission of assassinating Dumbledore—as punishment for Lucius' failure at the Ministry.

Under immense pressure and with no adult help, Draco devises his own plan: fix a broken Vanishing Cabinet—which had been rotting in a corner like a half-assembled IKEA wardrobe—to sneak Death Eaters into the castle.

A dusty, half-forgotten wardrobe becomes the cornerstone of a death squad invasion—like someone planned a high-risk coup using magical flat-pack furniture and crossed their fingers it wouldn't collapse mid-assembly.

Let that sink in:

Full-grown Death Eaters couldn’t manage what a teenage fugitive dog animagus did three times over.

And here’s the kicker—Peter Pettigrew, the very Death Eater who faked his own death and lived as a rat for over a decade, knew about the secret tunnel between the Shrieking Shack and Hogwarts via the Whomping Willow. He had used it himself. So why didn’t he lead the Death Eaters through it?

Even if it was partially sealed or risky, surely it could’ve been reinforced faster than restoring a Vanishing Cabinet. Was Voldemort unaware of it? Or did he not trust a path once tied to the Marauders?

If speed and surprise were the goal, the Whomping Willow route seems a baffling omission. Dubious, darling. Deeply dubious.

🤯 THE IMPLICATIONS:

🔥 Sirius Black > Death Eaters in Hogwarts Infiltration

Sirius had deeper magical intuition, resourcefulness, and a working knowledge of the school’s blind spots.

The Marauders, collectively, understood Hogwarts better than most of the staff.

The Death Eaters, despite their power, relied on brute force and bypassing rather than subtlety.

And let’s not forget—his Animagus form was a dog. While it's never explicitly stated how the wards classify Animagi, it’s reasonable to assume that Sirius’ form allowed him to bypass the usual detection spells. Perhaps Hogwarts is accidentally pet-friendly—but not evil-detection efficient. Just ask Rita Skeeter, who snuck into places as a beetle without setting off a single alarm. So maybe the rule is: if you don’t look magical, you’re fine. You can sneak in if you look like a lovable stray—or an unremarkable insect. Good luck if you’re in full Death Eater robes, though.

🤨 Or… The Wards Are Dubiously Selective

Hogwarts’ security flexes depending on plot demands.

If Voldemort needed in, there’s always some reason he couldn’t—until Dumbledore was dead.

Are the wards magically intelligent? Or just wildly inconsistent?

Hogwarts: “No evil may enter—unless it’s disguised as a dog.”

🪞 Lingering Reflections:

This raises a serious (Sirius) question:

Was Sirius Black secretly one of the most magically competent characters in the series?

If so—why didn’t the Order use him better? Why wasn’t he teaching stealth? Why wasn’t he training students?

And perhaps more pressingly—why didn’t Dumbledore clear his name?

He knew Sirius was innocent. He had strong reason to believe the truth about Peter Pettigrew—ever since the events in the Shrieking Shack. Though he claimed he lacked proof after Pettigrew escaped, one must wonder why a wizard of Dumbledore’s stature couldn’t sway the Ministry or rally support. Instead, he let Sirius remain a fugitive, locked in Grimmauld Place, haunted and hunted.

Was it fear of public backlash? Political games? Or simply another case of Dumbledore trusting that “the greater good” would work itself out?

Or was it simply another oversight by the narrative so focused on the Chosen One that they forgot the Black sheep genius in the corner?

⸻

Previously: Hogwarts Security Issues: The Safest Place? Really?

[songsofhome]

…

[lizzy-frizzle]

The s3 map challenges are rough this time around

I haven't touched emergency mode but it should go better than the challenges went...I hope

[imranjalna]

SpiceJet Employees Attack: स्पाइसजेट स्टाफ से भिड़े सेना अधिकारी, रीढ़ की हड्डी टूटी, जबड़ा टूटा—हंगामे से दहला श्रीनगर एयरपोर्ट

SpiceJet Employees Attack: श्रीनगर एयरपोर्ट पर एक चौंकाने वाली घटना सामने आई है, जहां एक वरिष्ठ सेना अधिकारी ने फ्लाइट में चढ़ने से पहले अतिरिक्त वजन वाले बैग का शुल्क देने से इनकार कर दिया। यह विवाद इतना बढ़ गया कि अधिकारी ने गुस्से में आकर स्पाइसजेट के चार कर्मचारियों की बेरहमी से पिटाई कर दी। इस हमले में एक कर्मचारी की रीढ़ की हड्डी में फ्रैक्चर हो गया, जबकि दूसरे की जबड़ा टूट गया। घटना 26…

[thoughtlessarse]

Languages: Français | Spanish

…sidelines. The United Kingdom is eager for its defence giants to snag a share of Europe's rearmament spending splurge, but figuring out a deal is easier pledged than delivered. Despite optimistic signals this spring, negotiations have yet to start with London over it joining the EU's €150 billion Security Action for Europe (SAFE) lending scheme amid Brussels’ summer slowdown and political wrangling. With EU capitals racing to submit spending plans by November, time is running out to strike a deal that ensures British firms aren’t left watching from the sidelines. A deal allowing UK contractors to join SAFE could be struck within weeks, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said optimistically in May. By the end of July, however, it was clear that the UK would not receive a formal proposal for at least another month – narrowing the window for London to negotiate favourable terms for its companies. The clock is ticking. EU member states must submit their procurement wish lists by 30 November. If London wants British firms to be considered, it must align with that timeline. But that's without accounting for haggling among EU capitals over what kind of deal to offer London. The stumbling block: the agreement must strike a "fair balance", according to the legal text of SAFE, between the UK's contribution – both financial and industrial – to SAFE and what it stands to gain from the programme. What that balance means in practice has been left open to interpretation by both the European Commission and member states, three EU diplomats told Euractiv.

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[talonlegal]

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[aeolianblues]

I have learned of the existence of a China in Maine. There is also a South China region. And a lake/river of the same name, wow. When I started reading the first post, I was like 'damn these guys are a long way from Canada. How does their car plan to cross international waters'

do you guys know about the internet roadtrip? right now somewhere between 500 and 900 people are collectively 'driving' a car on google street view trying to make it to canada. it's fun i recommend it