As many citizens have noticed, especially those who live in the now rather populated village of Hogsmeade (which could be quite easily described as a bustling city rather than a quiet quaint little village that it had been almost five years go) that there is very little land left for future building plans. Wellingtonshire is entirely too full for anymore expansive homes to be built, while Bartonburg and the Slums have chosen to go upward (the latter perilously so) when new residents have recently arrived.

Apparently unbeknownst to the wizarding populice, the Ministry of Magic Hogsmeade Division has been conducting secret meetings by floo powder and apparation with the Ministry of Magic Headquarters in London. They have been so secretive that not a single tip had been released to the Daily Prophet until they wanted it to; we don't have a tip, we have a newsworthy headlining story (of much more importance than a certain slanderous woman who has been the focus of the paper as of late.) Those who read the paper for the actual news are about to be pleased... or perhaps not, once this entire article has been fully read.

It has been revealed to me by a Ministry Official on official Ministry business that they have come to a very important and newsworthy decision regarding Hogsmeade's ever increasing population. They have come to the decision that land expansion is needed - i.e. more land needs to be acquired and cleared _____________________________________________________________

away for the citizens of Hogsmeade. Seeing as how the Ministry is rather low staffed, they have volunteered the citizens of Hogsmeade to expand the village themselves - with supervision from the Ministry, of course.

The officials were quite convinced that men of certain morals would not want to volunteer themselves and leave their families to go out into the wilderness, so they have devised a draft - a magical binding draft that enters every man who dwells in Hogsmeade (no matter their social standing) that is aged 17 and over into the pool. They claim that the draw is entirely randomized, with the expedition groups being pulled together in an attempt to make them as successful as possible. Once a name is pulled, the person must go on the expedition or risk imprisonment of the permanent kind. An unbreakable curse has been placed on those who choose to desert their duty that will turn the person's body entirely inside-out, a rather cruel and unusual means of ensuring honor, which is clearly impossible to survive and extremely painful.

The upside to this news (if there can be an upside for those to be drafted), is the reward. The Ministry has promised all who complete the expedition ten galleons each as well as a plot of land in the new Hogsmeade development.
The draft is to be done during the next two weeks. Expedition groups are set to begin their exploration (heading South toward the mountains as I have been told) in mid-May.