After weeks of deliberation...

[novelling]

[ Notes copied meticulously into Ariadne's journal, in a steady handwriting that is much easier to read than her usual scrawl. ]

The Unknown Brotherhood was a cabal of dark wizards who found their footing in the strong anti no-maj sentiment of the early 19th century. There were many such organizations in North America at that time, and most were hunted down by the Federal Auror Bureau. The last dozen members of the Unknown Brotherhood met their end in Northeastern Utah, where the aurors chased them into the woods near a mountain range. The winter that year was particularly harsh, and the dark wizards were never seen or heard from again.

The name of the organization is sometimes recorded as the Unknowables*.

Quill, Boniface. Good vs Evil in Wizarding America. Sleepy Hollow, NY. Aleatory Press, 1963.

— Ari & Zach

Comments

[bubblewrapped]

For the other years, it's pertinent to mention that Director Grimshaw is from "the Department of Unknowables." Not sure how much that has gotten around.

[novelling]

That's relevant. I'd forgotten it was warded.

[bubblewrapped]

It seems unlikely that MACUSA would have an entire department dedicated to a supposedly obscure group of dark wizards, doesn't it? I'd figured "Department of Unknowables" was our version of [...] what's that they have in the UK? The Unspeakables. Or something.

[......] You know, it might be worth it to look into that logo that was on Grimshaw's card.

[novelling]

Yes. Unspeakables. They work for the Department of Mysteries. [...] Unspeakables aren't aurors, though. These people are.

Right. It's an eye, with two concentric circles as the iris and pupil, and five radial lines above it, for everyone else's reference.

[bubblewrapped]

Someone should tell Director Grimshaw that naming your division of aurors after a dark arts cabal is in poor taste. Wonder how that'd go over.

[odder]

Unless he meant to.

[bubblewrapped]

Do you think Director Grimshaw is a Boniface Quill fan? Or is this a Hail Hydra thing?

[odder]

Or he’s hoping no one else is.

[bubblewrapped]

Foiled by teenagers that read. [...] This is ridiculous, right? There's [...] got to be a simpler explanation. I know I Someone just didn't do a thorough check of the Cool Evil Cult Registry before naming a department after one.

[odder]

[...] Right.No. They wouldn’t be this obvious.
Maybe the next thing to try to figure out is what his department actually does. We could put in prospective employee inquiries, or something.

[bubblewrapped]

Still it's [...] Something to keep in mind. If our crackpot theory turns out to be true, we can claim we knew all along.
Plenty of us want to be aurors. So, it'd be pretty convincing? [...] Hey, maybe Ophelia's dad knows some stuff. Has she asked him?

[novelling]

I told her to write him. I don't know if she did.

[bubblewrapped]

Time to harass her for info.

[longcons]

For good reason.

[novelling]

However are we going to solve this mystery without sophomore input?