![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leashy_bebesnuclearsugars made me do it. Call it a sneak preview of the epic I intend to write this summer.1/11/1981
PHOENIX FIRM LEADER KILLED
Deputy arrested, 'soldiers' flee.
In a failed takeover attempt, two prime figures in the Phoenix Firm are dead, another is in custody, and a fourth is thought to have fled the country. James Potter, the leader of the Firm, along with his wife Lily, were killed at home in West Kensington, while parts of Peter Pettigrew's body were retrieved from a warehouse in Bromley by Bow. It was at that scene that Sirius Black, Potter's right-hand-man, was arrested. Black provided Potter's link to the hard drugs scene, and was thus responsible for helping the Firm shift from petty criminals to controllers of large swathes of the capital's criminal activity.
Police suspect that Black killed Potter in an attempt to assume leadership of the Firm and was surprised at the scene by Potter's wife. Having killed her while making his escape, it is thought that Black was accosted by Pettigrew later that night. The resulting carnage caused several experienced officers on the scene to be physically ill.
The fourth main figure in the Phoenix Firm, Remus Lupin, remains at large, and is thought to have left the country. The Phoenix Crew have links to drugs growers in northern Africa, and Interpol are collaborating with the police of at least six countries in an effort to ensure Lupin's capture. Always seen as Black's confidant and ally within the group, police say Lupin is likely to have known of Black's impending attack on the Potters. He is highly dangerous and should not be approached under any circumstances.
Page 2: The rise of the Phoenix Firm
Page 3: Criminal underworld in disarray.
***
30/7/1993
PHOENIX GANGSTER ESCAPES
Chief warden suspended, police urge calm
Notorious gangland murderer Sirius Black escaped from prison last night. The exact details of the break out are being kept confidential by police, but it is widely assumed that Black had the help of erstwhile 'colleague' Remus Lupin. Black was jailed twelve years ago for the murders of Phoenix Firm leaders James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, as well as Potter's wife, Lily.
The Metropolitan Police are urging calm, insisting that the Firm's power has disappeared since the killings, and that there will be no return to the violence which gripped parts of the city in the late 1970s. They also wish to remind the public that Black and Lupin are highly dangerous criminals. If spotted, the public should not attempt to approach them, but should contact the police at once.
The chief warden of Azkaban prison has been suspended from duty pending an inquiry. The police assure us this is routine and does not imply any internal assistance in Black's escape.
Page 3: Those 1981 murders in detail
Page 4-5: More on Black's sensational escape.
***
16/7/2020
PHOENIX GANG BOSS JAILED
'Associates' jeer the verdict, threaten judge
Despite being suspected of ordering dozens of murders, and scores of beatings, arson attacks, and drug and weapon deals, Harry Potter was finally jailed for a meagre seven years at the Old Bailey yesterday, on charges relating to extortion and fraud.
The Phoenix Gang are the latest offshoot of the Phoenix Firm, an organisation headed by Harry Potter's father James. It is suspected that now deceased Firm members Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were instrumental in instructing the teenage Harry Potter in the running of his illegal affairs.
Potter's associates, including notorious drug dealers Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, fraudsters Fred Weasley and Lee Jordan, as well as Potter's right-hand-man Ron Weasley jeered from the gallery as the verdict was read, while both the Weasleys made threatening gestures towards the jury and were remanded in custody for contempt of court.
Potter, whose gang rose to power in the 1990s has three teenage children...
Page 3: story continued.
Page 4: Potter could be freed in as few as three years.
***
25/3/2032
24 HOURS OF BLOODSHED
Police, gang members dead.
Violence erupted on the streets of London last night, with several deaths all linked to the same gang-related incident. The latest incarnation of the infamous Potter dynasty, the Phoenix Crew, were apprehended in the middle of the armed robbery of an off-license in Southall. Multiple shots were fired and resulted in the death of one officer and one of the gang leaders, 26 year old Albus Potter.
In what is being described by the police as a heartless revenge attack, the officer responsible for his death was gunned down outside Scotland Yard some hours later. The prime suspect for this murder has been named as James Potter, 27, brother of Albus and the lynchpin of the group. James Potter's body was discovered in the early hours of this morning in the Regent's Park, with the suspected cause of death a gunshot sustained in the off-license robbery.
In yet more carnage, the badly mutilated body of Louis Weasley, 28, a 'soldier' in the Phoenix Crew was found in an alleyway in Battersea. At this stage, police are unsure whether his murder was orchestrated by the Phoenix Crew or a rival gang, as unconfirmed rumours suggest he may have been a police informant.
Pages 2-5: full story
***
17/8/2032
IS THE PHOENIX RISING?
New crimes linked to notorious gang
Police are refusing to comment on the possible connection between a string of crimes and the supposedly defunct Phoenix Crew. Teddy Lupin, the adopted brother of the Potters, was widely regarded as the most likely to figurehead the group should it continue to hold such power as it once did. When he died in a domestic incident on the same day his fiancée (Victoire Weasley, sister of late Phoenix member Louis) disappeared, it was widely anticipated that the group would dwindle away.
However, in recent weeks a string of small but highly targeted attacks in east and south London have been attributed to some remnant of the gang. Many parallels have been drawn between these attacks and the ones carried out by the late Albus and James Potter when consolidating the gang's power in the wake of their father's imprisonment. Information is naturally hard to come by in cases such as these, but local sources say that the businesses and individuals targeted may previously have had illegal arrangements with the Phoenix Crew and latterly gone elsewhere for protection, or money laundering, or drugs and guns.
Inside, we profile several members of the Potter-Weasley family who may be rising to fill the current vacuum of power: Hugo Weasley, cousin of James and Albus Potter, who has served time in prison for possession and supply of class A drugs, and possession of an unlicensed firearm; Freddy Weasley, son of Harry Potter's brother in law and long-term advisor George; or even Lily Potter, sister of Albus and James. Though never arrested, she is rumoured to have a savage temper and to live an extremely extravagant lifestyle.
After three generations, it seems that the Potters' grip on illegal activities in London just will not lessen.
Pages 2-5: The latest crimes, and the new potential leaders.
