Ministry of Magic
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In J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of novels, the Ministry of Magic is the governing body of the magical community of Britain, succeeding the earlier Wizards' Council. It is implied that other countries have their own Ministries of Magic. The job of the Minister for Magic seems to include executive, legislative and judicial functions. The Ministry has seven departments and many minor offices, to deal with different aspects of the wizarding world.
The British Ministry of Magic is based in an underground location beneath London. How - or whether - the Ministry of Magic reports to the Prime Minister is unknown, although he is apparently aware of its existence.
The head of the Ministry is Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Fudge is paranoid and believes that Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is a threat to his authority and therefore constantly tries to have him discredited. He also refuses to believe, in the fourth and through most of the fifth book, that Lord Voldemort has returned, which is an impediment to the work of the Order of the Phoenix.
Below Fudge are various undersecretaries (most notably Dolores Umbridge and Percy Weasley). Fudge has been known to place his followers in high positions in organisations furthest from his reach (such as Hogwarts) to gain control over those organisations.
Below them are the heads of the seven departments. These departments are the equivalent of cabinet ministries.
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Department of Magical Law Enforcement
Arguably the most important department, this department is a combination of police and justice facilities. Located on the second level of the Ministry of Magic, it includes the headquarters of the Aurors, a team of experienced wizards that searches for Death Eaters and other dark wizards. It also includes the Improper Use of Magic Office which punishes wizards for using magic in inappropriate ways, at the wrong time, or in violation of magical laws; and the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office (where Arthur Weasley works), which regulates the use of magic on Muggle objects and recovers those which have been bewitched. Finally, there is the Wizengamot, a sort of wizarding supreme court. The department was once headed by Barty Crouch, who was at the time a very powerful and popular wizard. However, his son was captured in the company of Death Eaters and sent to Azkaban. Barty Crouch's popularity dropped, and he moved into the Department of International Magical Cooperation. The current Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement is Amelia Bones, who is considered a prime candidate to succeed Cornelius Fudge as Minister of Magic.
Department of Magical Games and Sports
The most relaxed department (posters for favourite Quidditch teams are found tacked to the wall in its entrance corridor, although it should be noted that some Aurors have also tacked up similar posters in their cubicles) deals with such sports-related pastimes as organizing the Quidditch World Cup. Ludovic "Ludo" Bagman used to be the Head of Department here, but his gambling problem forced him to flee. The department is located on the seventh level of the Ministry of Magic, and includes:
- British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters
- Official Gobstones Club
- Ludicrous Patents Office
Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes
This department is responsible for repairing accidental magical damage. It is located on the third level of the Ministry of Magic, which houses the following subdepartments:
Department of Magical Transport
This department is responsible for various aspects of magical transport. Located on the sixth level of the Ministry of Magic, it includes the following subdepartments:
- Floo Network Authority: Controls the floo powder network
- Broom Regulatory Control
- Portkey Office
- Apparition Test Centre: The magical equivalent of the DMV; grants licences to witches and wizards so that they can apparate
Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures
It is divided into three Divisions ("Being", "Beast" and "Spirit") and contains liaison offices for goblins and centaurs, though the centaurs, being isolationists, have never interacted with the Centaur Liaison Office since its creation. Thus, "being sent to the Centaur Office" has become a euphemism at the Ministry meaning that the person is shortly to be fired. For detail on the distinctions between these divisions, see Magical beasts (Harry Potter).
In Chapter 7 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, we learn that the Department is located on the fourth level of the Ministry of Magic.
Subdepartments:
- Beast Division
- Being Division
- Spirit Division
- Pest Advisory Board
- Goblin Liaison Office
Department of International Magical Cooperation
The British International Confederation of Wizards is based here, as are offices that regulate international magical law. This is where Percy Weasley began to climb the ladder of success, and where Barty Crouch, Sr. spent his final days in the Ministry. They regulate such things as the thickness of cauldron bottoms. Headquarters on the fifth level of the Ministry of Magic include:
- the International Magical Trading Standards Body
- the International Magical Office of Law
- the International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats
Department of Mysteries
| Battle of the Department of Mysteries | |||||||||||||||||
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| Conflict | Second Rise of Lord Voldemort | ||||||||||||||||
| Date | June 1995 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place | Ministry of Magic HQ in London (spec. Department of Mysteries and Atrium) | ||||||||||||||||
| Result | Decisive Victory for OotP and DA | ||||||||||||||||
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The Department of Mysteries is, as its name suggests, a mysterious department. It carries out most of its operations in total secrecy to even most of the rest of the Ministry. Those wizards who work in the Department of Mysteries are called 'Unspeakables', most probably due to their vow of secrecy. The Department may be a magical equivalent of Muggle secret services and institutions; for example MI5 or the CIA.
Although most of the workings of the Department are still covert, some of the projects undertaken, most seemingly for research purposes, were revealed in Order of the Phoenix: the Department apparently works to uncover the secrets of death and time, among other things, and record prophecies whenever they are made. Prophecies are magically stored within glass orbs on rows of shelves within the Hall of Prophecies. They are magically protected, so that the only people who can lift them off their shelf are the Keeper of the Hall of Prophecies and the subject or subjects of the prophecies; all others are afflicted with instant madness. Given these magical protections, it is unclear why the Department bothers to keep the prophecies.
The rooms at the Department include:
- An entrance room which spins around, disorienting all of its occupants, for several seconds whenever all of its doors are closed. This is presumably a security device to keep non-employees of the Department from finding their way in.
- A long room in which brains swim in a green solution (These "brains" seem to be controlled by some sort of creature that uses them to strangle its victims).
- A large, square room with stone tiers leading down to a pit in the centre. In this pit is a dais, on which stands a very old arch with a tattered curtain hanging from it. Apparently, anyone who passes through the curtain will die.
- A room in which various time-related devices are kept, such as clocks of every description and Time Turners (necklaces with hourglass pendants, which will send the wearer back in time when the pendant is turned over). It also contains a mysterious bell jar, inside which anything will grow steadily younger and younger, then slowly return to its original age in a never-ending cycle.
- A giant, cavernous room with over a hundred rows, where prophecies are kept. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood are lured to this room by Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
- A room behind a door that remains locked at all times and which cannot be unlocked by either the Alohomora spell or magical unlocking penknives. According to Albus Dumbledore, behind that door is the most mysterious subject of study in the Department: a power 'more wonderful and terrible at once than death, intelligence or nature, a power which Harry possesses in droves and Lord Voldemort not at all'. Based on these clues, one may suppose that the power Dumbledore is referring to might be love.
Sixteen years before Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sibyll Trelawney made a prediction about Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter. A Death Eater overheard this prediction, but only part of it. Voldemort decided to kill Harry Potter, believing he was fulfilling the prophecy: instead, he lost his powers.
After his powers were restored in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Voldemort decided he had to get his hands on Trelawney's prophecy, now stored in the Department of Mysteries. The trouble was that only he or Harry Potter could take them from the Department of Mysteries. As Lord Voldemort wasn't about to walk into the Ministry of Magic, he decided to lure Harry there.
This plan nearly succeeded, but the prophecy was destroyed before Voldemort could obtain it. There was a struggle in the Department and Sirius Black was killed. When Cornelius Fudge saw Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic, he was forced to acknowledge that he was wrong in denying that Voldemort had indeed returned.