Wizengamot

The Wizengamot serves as the wizard high court of law, and as a parliament. It is headquartered at the Ministry of Magic and at least some of its trials take place in the dungeons of the lower levels. Wizengamot is pronounced /wɪzengʊmʊt/ in the audio CDs.

The Wizengamot has about fifty members, whose selection is unclear (although the Minister for Magic appears to have some control over selection or deselection), in addition to the Court Scribe, who acts as its stenographer. The Minister for Magic, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, and Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement all sit on the Wizengamot ex officio. Members wear plum-coloured robes embroidered with the silver letter "W" while the court is in session.

Trials seem to be quite short. The defence can present witnesses and the Wizengamot can examine them and the accused, but no lawyers are involved.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Wizengamot tries Harry on charges of violating the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and reluctantly dismisses the charges. References to "the whole Wizengamot" (in Percy's letter to Ron) imply that this type of trial is unusual. Smaller disciplinary hearings do not require the court's attention at all and are dealt with by a single questioner.

Albus Dumbledore holds the position of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, except during the period coinciding with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in which he was removed from the post because of his insistence that Lord Voldemort had returned (he was reinstated by the end of the novel).

The Wizengamot also appears to act as a form of Parliament: the various Decrees introduced by Cornelius Fudge are referred to as being passed and sanctioned by the Wizengamot, just as Muggle laws in Britain must be agreed to by Parliament. It is unstated how much control the Wizengamot has over passing these Decrees, and how much control the Minister exercises in such circumstances.

Known members of the Wizengamot are

 * Albus Dumbledore
 * Cornelius Fudge
 * Amelia Bones
 * Dolores Umbridge
 * Percy Weasley
 * Griselda Marchbanks
 * Tiberius Ogden