My Lords, my comrades, my friends, spare me a few moments of that most precious gift, Time, which of late it would seem we run short of. As we stand here today on this field of battle, which the gracious Victory hath granted us, I must remind you once more of the reason you stand here with me on this day. As you well know, the conflict which must inevitably present itself between that of the common folk and our most noble families, which God has found seemly to grant this great gift of Magic, hath finally come to its conclusion on this field of battle on which we now stand. For this Magic, while being the cause of our nobility (being that which separates us from those without), is also the cause of our greatest distress. The common folk, in the name of the same God we all pledged ourselves to, would find us guilty of that greatest sin of consorting with the Devil, for they mistake the good which we would seek to cause with our Magic for the evil caused by the enemy of all that is good. They would seek to purge the community of this evil by destroying what they find to be the cause, that is, us, my most noble lords. I do not need to remind you of the countless indignities we have suffered over the past decades, which hath lately changed from mere emnity to a hatred and fear deeper than the deepest ocean and vaster than the black reaches of space.
Although for many years we have been all to well aware of the distrust the common people place in us, equating us with the darkest of dark sorcerers, it hath been only recently that this bitter emnity hath risen to the level it currently assumes. For not only do the people hate us, but they have begun to threaten us, our kinfolk, and indeed our very livelihoods. Many of our folk hath already sought shelter in far pagan lands to the South and East; are we too to take that route? It would seem not, for you hath all pledged your swords and Magic to the protection of our people, no matter how many lives must be spent or how much blood spilt to gain victory. Today, we hath fought those people who would seek to exterminate our kind, as one would smoke rats out of a great hall, and we have had the victory. But it hath come at a greater cost than any here today could have reckoned. We hath lost many that fought bravely, and their names will never be forgotten. This day, the 31st of October, in the Year of Our Lord 1276, shall be remembered as a day when the blood of our people flowed as an antidote to the poison now choking our country. In this time of turmoil, of wars and bloody conquests, we shall not forget this day as one amongst the many. This day, was the day on which the spirit of Britain was reclaimed.
From far beyond the memories of even those counted most ancient among us, who live long, from beyond the memory of our dear King Arthur, now long gone, from before the coming of the Romans, who brought us civilization long ago, we were a people of Magic. Long ago, Magic flowed freely in the blood of the people. Long ago, the forests and the fields were alive with it, and it sang in the waters and earth of this land. Long ago, God had granted this land a gift far beyond anything we can now comprehend. But those days are gone. Now the blood of the people is nearly spent, mixed and muddied with the blood of the common people, who are not of our race. Now, the trees have been cut down and the fields tilled, the water poisoned with lies, and the very earth desecrated by the common people. But today, we have fought against this enemy, and we have won. But the fight is not over. We must still fight for that most essential part of our lives, our Magic, in order to protect it from those who would destroy it. The common people would seek to destroy us in their quest to destroy our Magic, and we must do what ought to be done in order to stop them.
Therefore, my Lords, I would propose an idea which hath been the topic of discussion for many a day between my Cousin, the Lord Black, and I. We have considered this manner in great depth, and have come to one conclusion; we can no longer live with the common people. We must hide ourselves, as we well are able, with that Magic that we would seek to protect, and we must never let the common people know of our existence, else we be destroyed. We must hide all traces of our Magic, so that it would seem as though it had never existed. You are all well aware that in the matter of that school, called Hogwarts, many have divided opinions upon whether or not to admit those of the common folk showing signs of our gift. Indeed, our Lord Slytherin, present here today, is of the opinion that they ought not to be admitted in order to best preserve ourselves and our Magic. I support him most highly in this matter. It is only by concealing ourselves that we shall preserve ourselves, and by denying those common folk the knowledge of our people, we will best protect ourselves. I do not find fault for those of the common folk born with our gift, blessed indeed as they are, but find however that if they are made aware of our existence, we may risk the whole community having knowledge of our existence, and taking precautions to destroy us.
It is thus that I believe that we will best be able to preserve our lives, drastic as it may seem to some of you. However, as time runs its course you will see as I do, that it is the best way by which we are to preserve our Magic, our lives, and our liberty. Today, my Lords, I stand before you and pledge myself to this matter.
I, Lord Salvius Malfoy, do hereby pledge my sword, my life, and my honor to the protection of the Magic which God has seen fit to grant me. I pledge my sword to draw the blood of all those who would seek to destroy us and our way of life, that we might live in safety. I pledge my life to protect those of our people from those who would destroy us in the name of Good. But most of all, my Lords, I pledge my honor, that my name shall never be stained or dishonored and that the name of Malfoy shall be a spark of hope for our bereaved people. But now I beg of you to follow me in this quest. One sword alone cannot prevail against the hordes of those who seek to destroy us, and one life is too easily lost. I beg you to aide me, to draw swords with me, and to pledge your lives with mine. Together, we have a chance of prevailing, apart, all shall fall.
Today, as we stand here on this field of victory, I ask you aide me, not for my sake, but for the sake of Britain. We must not let her be trapped by this indignity any longer. Instead, we must fight to free her, for the sake of all people. I pray that God will aide us on our quest, and that He will protect us. But in the end, we must remember that it is we, my Lords, who must protect ourselves and our gift. Only then, can we have victory. Only then, can we have hope.