1942? Original editions of Bathilda Bagshot’s Hogwarts: A History containing information about the semicentennial ‘Chamber of Secrets’ ritual are removed from circulation.
AUGUST 1982. G. Lockhart joins the Department of Mysteries as a Junior Unspeakable and is sent to perform a covert mission in South America, his first in a decade-long series of international placements under the cover of a popular adventure writer.
1983?-1991. Unregistered Albanian wizard Ded Shtrigë establishes Kalorësit e Kulshedrës (Knights of Kulshedra, KEK), an integrated magical/non-magical occult group centred around the Shtrigë Holt, a forest grove outside the town of Theth in Shköder County, Albania, believed to contain a malevolent spirit known as a kukudh. The KEK grows over time but is gradually overtaken by covert Ministry intelligence groups.
1985-86. A. Gage takes up residence in Shköder County, Albania and initiates alleged DoM communication with the KEK.
3.6.88. The DMLE initiates Operation Black Eagle; a team of aurors led by A. Moody infiltrates the KEK with intent to gather intelligence re: alleged dark activity.
OCTOBER 1990. Q. Quirrell arrives in Shköder County to conduct research on alleged occult activity surrounding the Shtrigë Holt. Though initially academic, Quirrell’s interest in the KEK turns increasingly personal, alerting the attention of the DMLE.
25 APRIL 1991. Q. Quirrell sends his last correspondence to A. Dumbledore regarding occult activity in Shköder County.
JUNE 1991
10.6.91. A. Dumbledore writes to Q. Quirrell re: his return to Hogwarts for the 1991-92 school year after a year-long sabbatical in Albania.
15.6.91. Undercover DMLE agents in Shköder County, led by A. Moody under Operation Black Eagle, move to establish cause for Q. Quirrell’s arrest.
23.6.91. H.J. Potter, age 10, inadvertently uses immature magic to release a boa constrictor at the Tilgate Nature Centre, West Sussex. The DoM monitors the situation and notes that Potter is a likely Parselmouth despite no known heredity links.
28.6.91. Unspeakable G. Greengrass arrives in Shköder County, Albania and meets A. Gage.
JULY 1991
1.7.91. G. Greengrass begins covert investigation of the KEK for the DoM in Shköder County.
9.7.91. A. Dumbledore is informed by a contact at the Auror Office that a DMLE scheme to entrap Q. Quirrell for the possession/transportation of class-B untradeable goods has been relocated to Hogwarts.
9?.9.91. DMLE leadership informs A. Moody that Operation Black Eagle will be terminated immanently. Q. Quirrell is to be transferred to Scotland, where a new team will continuing establishing cause for his arrest.
11.7.91. A. Dumbledore meets with B. Bode to devise a plan to redirect Q. Quirrell’s impending arrest so as not to interfere with other goings-on at Hogwarts.
12.7.91. A. Dumbledore writes to A. Gage regarding the transfer of the Philosopher’s Stone from Nicholas Flamel’s apartment to Hogwarts for the purpose of safekeeping and study.
19.7.91. A. Dumbledore discusses a developing operation involving DMLE presence at Hogwarts with DoM Director J. Crane.
22.7.91. DMLE Operation ‘Black Eagle’ is officially terminated.
24.7.91. Muggle child protection services are called on the adoptive family of H.J. Potter in response to an anonymous report of child endangerment; the DoM intervenes and obliviates the responding social worker.
25.7.91. A. Dumbledore leaves a memo for M. McGonagall regarding, among other things, preparations for H.J. Potter’s impending matriculation and the arrival of the Philosopher’s Stone. With S. Snape, Dumbledore discusses a secure dungeon-level chamber to house the Stone, as well as the creation of a somewhat-less-secure entrance to the chamber in the Hogwarts ‘third-floor’ corridor.
26.7.91. Dumbledore receives a letter from Q. Quirrell announcing his impending arrival.
27.7.91. Dumbledore departs Hogwarts on ‘Ministry business’ after assuring B. Bode that ‘all is in place’.
31.7.91. Dumbledore (allegedly) delivers an address to DoM staff regarding H.J Potter and the future of the Department on the eve of the release of the NeXTSTEP WorldWideWeb browser. R. Hagrid delivers H.J. Potter’s Hogwarts acceptance letter, causing severe spell damage to Potter’s non-magical cousin in the process. Q. Quirrell arrives in Britain. R. Hagrid brings H.J. Potter to Diagon Alley to purchase school supplies under close DoM observation; Potter encounters future classmate D. Malfoy (son of L. and N. Malfoy) and witnesses the removal of a decoy ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ from a DoM-owned vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
AUGUST 1991
1.8.91. The NexTSTEP WorldWideWeb browser is released to the general public. The DoM orchestrates an attempted break-in at Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
8.8.91. Dumbledore requests changes to an upcoming Daily Prophet profile on H.J. Potter and his impending matriculations.
14.8.91. The DoM and Hogwarts School deny DMLE security clearance requests for the 1991-92 school year.
25.8.91. The Daily Prophet publishes J. Grinlow’s profile on H.J. Potter, amended to include Dumbledore’s requested revisions; the profile introduces several key components of the Potter mythos to the wizarding public, including his ‘lightning bolt’ scar.
28.8.91. Hogwarts School requests removal of DMLE and wizarding press from King’s Cross and Hogsmeade Stations on 1.9.91.
31.8.91. The DMLE subpoenas Gringotts Wizarding Bank after an investigation uncovers the 1.8.91 break-in. The DoM promptly seizes all submitted evidence and orders the investigation closed.
SEPTEMBER 1991
1.9.91. H.J. Potter travels to Hogwarts via King’s Cross Station under DoM observation. Potter is sorted into Gryffindor House. B. Bode discovers (and informs Dumbledore) that another Unspeakable has opened the ‘Cassius’ file.
19.9.91. M. McGonagall drafts H.J. Potter for the Gryffindor Quidditch, despite a total lack of flying experience.
20.9.91. The Hogwarts poltergeist, ‘Peeves’, leads H.J. Potter and several peers into the Third Floor Corridor, where they discover a cerberus guarding a trapdoor (installed by S. Snape and caretaker A. Filch) that leads to the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’.
OCTOBER 1991
15.10.91. M. McGonagall submits an unfavourable report on the first-year Gryffindor cohort to Dumbledore.
31.10.91. A mountain troll, imported to protect the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, escapes the Hogwarts dungeons during the Hallowe’en Feast. M. McGonagall, S. Snape, and Q. Quirrell stun the troll before it causes any serious harm to students.
NOVEMBER 1991
2.11.91. G. Greengrass, investigating A. Gage’s activities in Albania, sends a report to Director J. Crane regarding ‘suspicious imports’. B. Bode, catching wind of the report, relays the information to Dumbledore.
4.11.91. R. Hagrid discovers the body of a unicorn, killed by unnatural causes and blood drained, in the Forbidden Forest. Hogwarts files a report to the DRCMC.
5.11.91. Dumbledore, concerned that H.J. Potter is not uncovering information regarding the Philosopher’s Stone at an adequate speed, requests the incorporation of information about Nicholas Flamel into all first-year courses. Some students, mostly Ravenclaws, notice.
13.11.91. The DMLE intercepts three litres of unicorn blood in Hogsmeade Village, en route via owl post to a classified location.
DECEMBER 1991
12.12.91. R. Hagrid discovers a second dead unicorn on Hogwarts grounds; on Dumbledore’s instruction, he conceals the body and does not file a report. Hagrid and Dumbledore discuss the deaths, as well as potential Christmas presents for H.J. Potter.
25.12.91. R. Hagrid gifts Potter a flute enchanted with a sleeping charm for Christmas.
27.12.91. Dumbledore and J. Crane discuss the operation so far, the state of cybernetic technology, and the coming year.
JANUARY 1992
17.1.92. B. Bode discovers that G. Greengrass has accessed the DoM ‘horcrux’ file.
29.1.92. Dumbledore writes to A. Gage regarding an alchemical query.
FEBRUARY 1992
12.2.92. Concerned about high costs, J. Crane requests a meeting with Dumbledore and B. Bode regarding the Philosopher’s Stone operation.
13.2.92. J. Crane, B. Bode, and Dumbledore outline the final stages of the Philosopher’s Stone operation.
22.2.92. On Dumbledore’s orders, S. Snape interrogates Q. Quirrell in front of H.J. Potter in order to reveal crucial information about the Philosopher’s Stone.
MARCH 1992
9.3.92. ViolaWWW, an improvement on the NeXTSTEP WorldWideWeb browser, is released to the public.
APRIL 1992
15.4.92. Erwise, the first web browser with a graphical user interface, is released to the public.
MAY 1992
2.5.92. Apogee Software releases Wolfenstein 3D, attracting the attention of the DoM Artefacts Room.
9.5.92. H.J. Potter and H. Granger pass an illicit infant Norwegian Ridgeback, hatched under the care of R. Hagrid, to Romanian class-XXXXX-beast smugglers.
21.5.92. The DMLE requests permission to conduct an operation on Hogwarts grounds on 4.6.92; Hogwarts administrations authorize the operation with limited caveats.
25.5.92. The Daily Prophet requests press access to Hogwarts grounds on 4.6.92; Hogwarts administration approves with limited caveats.
26.5.92. R. Hagrid leads H.J. Potter, H. Granger, D. Malfoy, and N. Longbottom on a detention into the Forbidden Forest, where they find a third unicorn corpse. Hagrid reports the incident to Dumbledore.
JUNE 1992
1.6.92. A DMLE team, under the leadership of K. Shacklebolt, are informed of the specifications for the 4.6.92 Hogwarts operation.
3.6.92. B. Bode intercepts a report from G. Greengrass to J. Crane detailing A. Gage’s operations in Shköder County. Bode reports his findings to Dumbledore.
4-5.6.92. Covertly guided by a joint operation involving the DMLE, the DoM, and Hogwarts staff, Q. Quirrell enters a Hogwarts underground chamber and attempts to steal the (decoy) Philosopher’s Stone. H.J. Potter, H. Granger, and R. Weasley, similarly guided by the joint operation, follow him in an attempt to prevent the theft. In the process, Weasley sustains a head injury, Potter undergoes torture, and Quirrell is unintentionally assassinated by a concealed DMLE auror. Quirrell’s body is transfigured and concealed, the incident is buried under alibi, and Potter’s memory is altered to include an apparition of Lord Voldemort. The DMLE and the Daily Prophet sever all ties with the operation.
5.6.92. G. Greengrass reports his findings in Albania to J. Crane. Crane promotes Greengrass to head of operations in Albania and passes him the file for OPERATION ISCARIOT.
7.6.92. Hogwarts administration sends a letter to families informing them of the 4 June incident.
15.6.92. A. Gage is assassinated in his Shköder County villa.
16.6.92. G. Greengrass takes full DoM control of the Albanian component of Operation ‘Iscariot’.
17.6.92. J. Crane and A. Dumbledore meet in London to discuss the future of Operation Iscariot.
19.6.92. With J. Crane’s endorsement, G. Lockhart submits his application for the Defence Against the Dark Arts professorship at Hogwarts School.
21.6.92. B. Bode is demoted to DoM archives after the failure of the Hogwarts component of Operation Iscariot, phase I.
23.6.92. G. Lockhart is removed from duty in Burkina Faso and re-assigned to Scotland to participate in Operation Iscariot, phase 2. J. Crane sends notice to G. Greengrass.
24.6.92. Department of Mysteries Artefacts Room releases report on advances in non-magical computer science re: artificial intelligence and machine learning.
JULY 1992
13.7.92. Minister for Magic C. Fudge’s office announces proposed Amendment IV to the 1947 Polity Statute, increasing law enforcement autonomy to several British wizarding polities, including Hogwarts/Hogsmeade.
15.7.92. A. Dumbledore and S. Snape discuss potential ‘mischief’ surrounding the 50-year anniversary of the 1942 opening of the so-called ‘Chamber of Secrets’.
19.7.92. Interest in the ‘internet’ continues to spread and expand. The first image, a digital photograph of a group of women labelled ‘Les Horribles Cernettes’, is transmitted over the internet and recorded by the Department of Mysteries.
20.7.92. G. Lockhart returns to England. He is briefed by DoM Director of Operations POLLOX regarding his mission: to infiltrate Hogwarts School as a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor (serving under his true name, G. Lockhart) in order to direct information about A. Dumbledore to the Department and to test out innovations in weapons technology.
AUGUST 1992
3.8.92. G. Lockhart meets for the first time with A. Dumbledore to discuss plans for the coming school year.
9.8.92. G. Lockhart and A. Dumbledore discuss the potential opening of the Chamber of Secrets and H.J. Potter’s possible involvement in the event.
11.8.92. The Wizengamot approves Amendment IV to the 1947 Magical Polity Statute, granting law-enforcement autonomy to several polities under the dominion of the British Ministry of Magic, including Hogsmeade Village and Hogwarts.
13.8.92. The DoM Artefacts Room, in collaboration with G. Lockhart, begins work on the ‘Filofax’ prototype, a text-based portable memory storage system akin to the Pensieve.
14.8.92. M. McGonagall and A. Dumbledore discuss potential disruptions to the 1992-93 school year in light of Amendment IV and the hiring of G. Lockhart.
THE PENSIEVE PAPERS 