That evening found Moody and Dumbledore sharing dinner at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. They had known each other for years and met often. It was the auror's frank personality and disregard for money, wealth, and fame that Dumbledore admired in him. They usually had dinner together at least once every other week, just to keep in touch and to exchange news on their respective fronts.
Ever since the rise of Grindelwald, Dumbledore liked to keep an eye on what was happening in law enforcement, and Moody heard - and saw - much more than the average auror. How he did that, even Dumbledore didn't know. Generally, their conversation involved light topics, though, as of late, they had been speaking of progressively more serious matters.
"I hear there was another heated debate in the Wizengamot," Moody commented, sipping his ale. "What are those old crooks arguing about this time?"
"The same," Dumbledore sighed in resignation. "The influx of Muggleborn witches and wizards into our society isn't sitting well with certain people. They believe that magic should belong to the purebloods, that anyone who is descended from Muggles is somehow inferior to them."
"It doesn't help that our laws were written by idiots," Moody snorted.
"They are antiquated," the headmaster admitted. "But reform is slow in coming, and even if there were anyone willing to start it, traditionalists still hold much of the power in the council. I don't think any reforms would pass right now."
"Figures."
Dumbledore nodded in agreement. "It's been getting steadily worse for years now; I think it's because of the realization that a lot of Grindelwald's supporters were Muggleborn."
"No surprise there, considering how much freedom he promised them, and how much the purebloods did to suppress their entry into our world." Moody frowned. "It's pretty stupid."
"I won't argue with you there," Dumbledore acknowledged, "but there are many who believe that it is our birthright to wield magic, and that it should reside solely with the old families."
"And they're the ones spewing all that propaganda against Muggleborns."
"Right. They're playing on everyone's fears… we're slowly dying out, simply because the families are getting smaller. The old families are suffering from inbreeding, and with each year, there are more Muggleborn. People are afraid that eventually, they are going to be supplanted."
"That didn't work too well thirty years ago, now, did it?" Moody growled.
"They went to a lot of extremes thirty years ago, passing laws that shouldn't have been passed. They rushed the process, causing a lot of hurt among the Muggleborn at the time," Dumbledore explained, "now… they're proceeding much more cautiously, but their goal is the same."
"Get rid of all the Muggleborn in our society." Moody chortled with mild amusement. "Like that is going to happen."
"I agree; it'd be very detrimental if we suddenly closed our world to all Muggleborn. They are now a significant portion of the wizarding population, and some of our brightest minds are Muggleborn."
"That can't sit too well with them purebloods."
Dumbledore nodded. "It doesn't. They still argue that Muggleborn are unsuited to be taught magic."
"Let me guess," the auror snorted in disgust, "they're still going with the blood superiority spiel?"
"To some extent. I think by now that's mostly become secondary, their real argument now is that opening our doors to Muggleborn is a risk to our society. Since they live in both worlds, they could very easily reveal our existence to the rest of the Muggle world. Or take what we teach them and leave. Some believe we shouldn't waste time and resources on training those who, in the end, will abandon our world."
"That's stupid."
"Not entirely unfounded, though. A lot of Muggleborn have chosen to return to their old life."
Moody shrugged. "That's entirely the wizarding world's fault. If they treat them like crap, what do they expect? I mean, that restriction on Muggleborn to Ministry jobs is a crock."
Dumbledore smiled briefly, amused at the auror's colorful language. "I quite agree. Unfortunately, the majority of the Wizengamot feels that Muggleborn are not yet ready to take over positions that are so vital to our government, our safekeeping, and our economy."
"Then there's the idiots saying that the Muggleborn are stealing our jobs," Moody smirked. "Now those are a bunch of idiots if I ever saw them. Arrested a lot of them today."
"I heard about the incident near Knockturn Alley. Was anyone hurt?"
"A few," Moody replied, unbothered by that fact. "Nothing too bad, at least nothing that needed St. Mungos for treatment. A dozen or so ruffians decided to torch old Belby's shop. Coincidentally, Belby had his own set of goons on hand to fight back. I'm thinking he may have been planning something similar, they just hit him before he could."
"So what's going to happen to them?"
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