British Ministry of Magic

"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day..."

- The Welcome Witch's voice at the Ministry's headquarters The Ministry of Magic (M.o.M.) of the United Kingdom is the main governing body of the magical community of Great Britain with the intention of preserving of magical law. The Ministry connects the British government to the wizarding world. The headquarters of the Ministry are in Whitehall, in central London, deep underground. It is headed by the Minister for Magic.

The Ministry of Magic was formed as a successor to the earlier Wizards' Council and came into being sometime during the 1600s. It was involved in the International Confederation of Wizards' decision to create the Code of Secrecy and still today takes the responsibility to enforce the Code. The laws against magic-use by underage wizards and against wand use by non-wizard folk are also enforced by the Ministry in part to maintain secrecy.

The magical government sometimes has given the impression of, at various times, either incompetence or malice, which are demonstrated by successful break-outs from Azkaban and the Campaign to Discredit Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter, respectively. The Ministry has been known to be corrupt in nature, as it is shown to be quite prepared to decree and enforce draconian laws without notice and seem uninterested in solving serious problems, choosing instead to ignore or cover up bad news.

The current Minister in Britain is Kingsley Shacklebolt. It is known that other countries have their own Ministries of Magic, such as Norway, Germany, etc.

Early years
The Ministry of Magic succeeded the earlier Wizards' Council. It was founded in, or prior to 1629. In 1717, The Ministry classified the Imperius, Cruciatus & Avada Kedavra curses unforgivable.

Shortly before Millicent Bagnold's retirement, many of the wizarding population wanted Albus Dumbledore to become Minister. He was offered the job four times, but turned it down, because of his previous negative experiences with power.

The most likely person to become Minister from that point on was Bartemius Crouch Sr., who had gained popularity from his purges of Death Eaters after the first fall of Lord Voldemort, including arresting his own son for participating in the Cruciatus Curse torture of Alice and Frank Longbottom. However, he fell out of favour, when people suspected that his son's actions and death in Azkaban were the result of Crouch not caring for his son.

Under Cornelius Fudge
"He's not back!"

- Cornelius Fudge, former Minister for Magic, denying the evidence of Lord Voldmort's return and growing power during Harry Potter's hearing During the events surrounding Lord Voldemort's second rise to power, Cornelius Fudge, a highly-corruptible easily-intimidated man, was Minister for Magic. He began Minister for Magic in 1990. After the Return of the Dark Lord on 24 June, 1995, the Ministry campaigned to discredit Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter, as Fudge, his mind "twisted and warped by fear", refused to believe it. On 12 August, Harry Potter was summoned to a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry, pertaining to what the Ministry termed "offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy".

Between late 1995 and mid-1996, Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters tried to retrieve a a specific prophecy pertaining to Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort from the Hall of Prophecy on Level Nine, the Department of Mysteries. In order to do that, they placed both Broderick Bode and Sturgis Podmore under the Imperius Curse to no result, as only Harry could take it from its shelf. Shortly after midnight on 18 June, 1996, the Death Eaters managed to lure Harry Potter and Dumbledore's Army into the deserted Ministry. The Order of the Phoenix went to rescue them, and a battle ensued which included a duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore themselves.

After the battle, Fudge saw Voldemort with his own eyes Ministry was forced to believe the return of the Dark Lord and, he was replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour when after he left the office in disgrace.





Under Rufus Scrimgeour
In response to the war situation the country was facing, Rufus Scrimgeour, appointed Fudge's successor in the summer of 1996, was responsible for the creation of several new bureaucracy, such as Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects.

Despite this, unfortunately, Scrimgeour did not do much better than Fudge, as he tried desperately the Ministry look like it was making progress, despite the contrary, such as wrongfully imprisoning Stan Shunpike and trying to get Harry Potter to be the "poster child" for the Ministry, i.e. give the public hope by telling them that the Ministry remained a source of safety and strength.

In the summer of the next year, shortly after Albus Dumbledore's murder, the Atrium at the Ministry was the setting of a speech by Scrimgeour about the "dark times" the wizarding world was living, and as how the Ministry remained "strong" and active in the fight against the dark forces. In the meantime, the Death Eaters were managing to infiltrate the Ministry by magically controlling some of the its higher-ranking officials. As a consequence, later in the summer, on the evening of 1 August, 1997, the Ministry was the stage of a silent coup during which Scrimgeour was murdered while refusing to give the Death Eaters any information on Harry Potter.

Under Pius Thicknesse
"You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide"

- Pius Thicknesse speaking on the Ministry of Magic's new stance on Muggle-borns, Harry Potter, and members of the Order of the Phoenix



After the Death Eater coup, the Ministry of Magic became headed by Pius Thicknesse, who was under Death Eater control by means of the Imperius Curse; Voldemort chose not to openly show reveal himself as Minister to keep an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty within the community. Much more security was added to the building. In addition, employees were now forced to go to work via a toilet network, accessible inside a set of underground public toilets in Whitehall.

Under Thicknesse's control, the Ministry became totalitarian, placing surveillance upon those it was suspicious of, such as Arthur Weasley, and creating the Muggle-Born Registration Commission to prosecute Muggle-borns for allegedly stealing magic. The Ministry also acquired the motto 'Magic is Might' which was engraved in a sculpture with a witch and wizard sitting on thrones made of Muggles. Death Eaters such as Yaxley gained high positions within the Ministry as well.

Recent Years
In 1998, after the destruction of Lord Voldemort and the end of the Second Wizarding War, Kingsley Shacklebolt became Minister for Magic and led a massive reform of the Ministry. This included the efforts of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in the Auror Office, and Hermione Granger advancing the rights of non-humans, and eradicating pro-pure-blood laws in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and later the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Connection to "Muggle" world
Each new Muggle Prime Minister receives a visit from the Minister for Magic, who informs him or her that the wizarding world exists. He explains that he will contact the Prime Minister only in circumstances in which the events of the wizard world may affect Muggles. For example, the Minister has to inform the Prime Minister if dangerous magical artefacts or animals are to be brought into the U.K.

The Ministry keeps in touch with the British Prime Minister via a wizard's portrait in the Prime Minister's office at 10 Downing Street. The portrait, which cannot be removed from the wall (because of a Permanent Sticking Charm in place), notifies the Prime Minister of the Minister for Magic's arrival. The Ministers for Magic Cornelius Fudge and Rufus Scrimgeour, tend to act in a somewhat patronising manner towards the Muggle Prime Minister.

Government structure and Employment
The Ministry's employees appear to be a largely unelected body, but the post of Minister itself is stated to be an elected position. Who has the power to elect or dismiss ministers is never explained. Nevertheless, both the Minister and the Ministry as a whole are seen to be highly sensitive to (and reliant on) wizard public opinion, which they attempt to influence via the Daily Prophet, the wizarding newspaper. Employment with the Ministry can be obtained right after completion of a wizarding education, though different offices require different levels of education and sometimes specific exam results.

Ministers for Magic
The following is a list of known Ministers for Magic and their tenures in office: The current Minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt, replaced Voldemort's puppet Pius Thicknesse, who had been placed under the Imperius Curse and put in power after Voldemort killed Scrimgeour, who had replaced Fudge. Albus Dumbledore was offered the job of Minister and refused it at least three times. In his latter days at Hogwarts, Tom Riddle was widely predicted to become Minister due to his intelligence, magical talent, and ability to forge alliances with the people around him and to gather followers to serve his interests. Riddle, however, refused all offers of assistance to find work at the Ministry.
 * Artemisia Lufkin (1798–1811)
 * Grogan Stump (1811–1819)
 * Faris Spavin (1865–1903)
 * Nobby Leach (1962–1968)
 * Millicent Bagnold (1980–1990)
 * Cornelius Fudge (1990–1996)
 * Rufus Scrimgeour (1996–1 August 1997)
 * Pius Thicknesse (1 August 1997 – 2 May 1998) (under the influence of Voldemort by means of the Imperius Curse; Minister de facto)
 * Kingsley Shacklebolt (after 1998)

Entering the Ministry
One may enter the Ministry via the visitors' entrance which is in a outside on the pavement. The entrance code on the payphone is number 62442 ("MAGIC"). Following the prompts of the operator, passes are issued and the telephone box will descend through the ground into the Atrium (Floor 8).

More than twenty service lifts stop at all floors, levels 1-9. Stairways may provide access to all 10 levels in the Ministry and must be used to access the Wizengamot courtrooms on level 10.

As the entire Ministry is underground, the higher floor number indicates levels deeper into the ground.

During Voldemort's reign
After Voldemort took over the Ministry, employees and officials were forced to enter the Ministry by flushing themselves through underground toilets. Two stairways are labelled GENTLEMEN or LADIES. They lead into an underground public bathroom. A golden Ministry of Magic coin is used to open the stall doors.

The act of flushing oneself down the Ministry toilet causes the person to emerge into a fireplace on the left side of the Atrium, which faces the Magic is Might monument, a replacement of the Fountain of Magical Brethren

To depart the Ministry, one must stand in one of the fireplaces on the right side of the Atrium, causing them to come out of another toilet in the underground bathroom. At this point one may Apparate to a separate location.

Departments
The Ministry has seven departments in all, each dealing with different aspects of the wizarding world, with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement being the largest and all others more or less answering to it (except the Department of Mysteries).

Each Department has a level of Ministry Headquarters assigned to it, although Law Enforcement has not only level two but also the courtrooms of level ten. There are also many minor offices within the departments. The known departments are the following:
 * Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures
 * Department of International Magical Cooperation
 * Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes
 * Department of Magical Games and Sports
 * Department of Magical Law Enforcement
 * Department of Magical Transportation
 * Department of Mysteries

The departments communicate through "interdepartmental memos" written on pale-violet paper which is folded into paper aeroplanes which fly on their own to destinations. They once used owls, which caused intolerable amounts of fouling by their droppings and moulted feathers.

Level 1 - Minister for Magic and Support Staff


This department has the offices of the highest ministry officials. This level's floor is covered in thick purple carpets and all the offices within contain a gleaming mahogany door, each bearing a small plaque with the owner's name and occupation upon it. During the puppet regime set up by Lord Voldemort in 1997-1998, this level also housed the office of the Head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission.

It includes these known offices:
 * Office of the Minister for Magic
 * Office of the Advisor to the Minister for Magic
 * Office of the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic
 * Office of the Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic

Level 2 - Department of Magical Law Enforcement
The Department of Magical Law Enforcement is the largest department at the Ministry of Magic, although the size of the Department of Mysteries is unknown. Arguably the most important of the various departments, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is a combination of police and justice facilities and is roughly the equivalent to the Home Office of Muggle Britain.

It is located on the second level of the Ministry of Magic. Around the corner from the access lift and past a set of heavy oak doors lies the Auror Headquarters: a large open area divided into small cubicles, one for each Auror. After another set of double doors and another passage, one finds himself in a dimly lit and distinctly shabby corridor at the end of which lies a broom cupboard to the left and opposite it the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, in a room of almost the same size as the cupboard; two desks and overflowing filing cabinets crammed inside.

Before Voldemort's take-over, this Department was headed by Amelia Bones. She is replaced by Pius Thicknesse after Voldemort murders her, and Thicknesse is replaced by Yaxley after Voldemort has Thicknesse appointed the puppet Minister for his regime.

Bartemius Crouch Sr. once headed the department. Harry joined this department, under the Auror Office, at the age of seventeen and was followed by Ron Weasley. It includes the following known offices:
 * Auror Office
 * Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office
 * Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects
 * Improper Use of Magic Office
 * Ministry of Magic Witch Watchers
 * Wizengamot and Wizengamot Administration Services

Level 3 - Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes
The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes is responsible for repairing accidental magical damage. It includes these known departments:
 * Accidental Magic Reversal Squad
 * Obliviator Headquarters
 * Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee
 * Invisibility Task Force
 * Muggle Liaison Office

Level 4 - Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures
The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures is the second largest Department in the Ministry. After leaving Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hermione Granger briefly worked in this department before transferring to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It includes these known departments: "Each wizarding governing body will be responsible for the concealment, care and control of all magical beasts, beings, and spirits dwelling within its territory's borders. Should any such creature cause harm to, or draw the notice of, the Muggle community, that nation's wizarding governing body will be subject to discipline by the International Confederation of Wizards."
 * Beast Division
 * Being Division
 * Spirit Division
 * Goblin Liaison Office
 * Centaur Liaison Office
 * Pest Advisory Board
 * Office of Misinformation

- Clause 73 of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy

Level 5 - Department of International Magical Cooperation
The Department of International Magical Cooperation is an agency concerned in foreign affairs that attempts to get wizards from different countries to cooperate in wizarding actions both political and public. The former head was Bartemius Crouch Sr., until his death. This is also where Percy Weasley began his Ministry career.

It is closest to the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office in the Muggle World, and various organs of the United Nations, though seems to hold less prowess in the Wizarding world, apparently. The duties of this department are to work with magical governments of other countries, set standards for trade, create regulations for things like cauldron thickness, work with Department of Magical Games and Sports on the Triwizard Tournament, be present at the International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats. It includes these known departments:


 * International Magical Trading Standards Body
 * International Magical Office of Law
 * International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats

Level 6 - Department of Magical Transportation


The Department of Magical Transportation is responsible for various aspects of magical transport. It includes these known departments:
 * Floo Network Authority
 * Broom Regulatory Control
 * Portkey Office
 * Apparation Test Centre

Level 7 - Department of Magical Games and Sports
The Department of Magical Games and Sports, deals with organising sports events the likes of the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament, as well as enforcing game-related laws and regulations. The Department has a very relaxed ambiance, the corridor off the access lift being somewhat "untidy-looking" in comparison to the other Ministerial Departments: various posters of Quidditch teams tacked lopsidedly on the walls. Ludovic Bagman used to be the Head of Department here, but his gambling problem forced him to flee from Goblin creditors. It includes these known departments:
 * British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters
 * Official Gobstones Club
 * Ludicrous Patents Office

Level 8 - The Atrium
The Atrium is an area that serves as a lobby and reception area to welcome visitors and employees to the Ministry of Magic. The Atrium is a very long hall with a highly polished dark wood floor. The ceiling is peacock blue and is filled with golden symbols that keep moving like a notice board.

The walls on each side are covered in gilded fireplaces: the left-hand side ones serving for arrivals and the right-hand side ones for departures. Halfway down the Atrium lays a statue: from 1995-1996 it was the Fountain of Magical Brethren and from 1997-1998 under Lord Voldemort it was the Magic is Might Monument. There is also a set of double golden gates leading to the at least twenty access lifts.
 * Lobby and Reception Area
 * Fountain of Magical Brethren/Magic is Might monument
 * Security Desk
 * Ministry Munchies Café
 * Lifts
 * Magical Maintenance

Level 9 - Department of Mysteries


The Department of Mysteries, located on Level Nine, is a section of the Ministry of Magic that carries out confidential research involving particular enigmas (death, time, space, thought, and love) and stores copies of prophecies. Most of its operations are carried out in total secrecy from the general wizard populace. However, the primary operations of the department seem to be more like those of scientists, the department attempting to uncover the sources and rules that govern magic.

Few wizards within the Ministry actually know what is located within this department. Those wizards who work in the Department of Mysteries are known as Unspeakables because of the covert nature of their work. The also rarely talk, even to their co-workers.

During Voldemort's discriminatory regime, he forces the department to lie and claim that Muggle-borns actually steal magic from Pure-bloods, making them "illegal magicals" and allowing their arrest. The reason as to how Muggle-borns (born from non-magical parents) acquire magic remains an embraced mystery in the books, and because the department finally "concluded" Voldemort's lie, the world was forced to believe.

This level bears a striking difference to those above: the black-tiled walls are bare with no windows and no doors apart from a plain black one at the end of the corridor that leads into the Department proper. Light is provided only by torches, which glow with blue-white light. A small flight of steps to the left leads to Level Ten. Upon entering the Department, one finds themselves in a circular hall of dark marble floor, lit by candles emmiting a cool blue light. The door holds several doors leading to at least the following chambers in which various mysteries of life are studied:


 * Brain Room
 * Space Chamber
 * Death Chamber
 * Time Room
 * Hall of Prophecy
 * Love Chamber (a.k.a. The Ever-Locked Room)



Level 10 - Wizengamot Courtrooms
Level 10 the courtrooms, many of which which are used by the Wizengamot, the Wizard High Court, and the Council of Magical Law in to put witches and wizards on full-scale criminal trials (such as the Death Eater trials in 1981 during the First Wizarding War). In 1995, when Cornelius Fudge changed a simple case of underage magic to a full court trial, Harry Potter's hearing location changed from Amelia Bones's office to Courtroom Ten. In 1997, the Muggle-Born Registration Commission also used these courtrooms during their questioning of Muggle-born wizards.



There is a hallway leading from the Department of Mysteries, which leads to a stairwell leading to the courtrooms. It can only be accessed by this stairway and not the lifts. The corridors to the stairway have rough stone walls and torches in brackets. The doors leading to the courtrooms proper are heavy and made of wood, with large iron bolts and keyholes. Courtroom Ten has walls made of dark stone, dimly lit by torches, with serried rows of benches, rising in levels all around the room, all positioned so that they had a clear view of a chair on the centre of the room, in which the person charged with a crime would seat. There is a detention area below the courtrooms, in which convicted wizards are imprisoned while awaiting transportation to Azkaban Prison. It is also a dark-tiled area, with gilded gates closing the cells.

Departments of Unknown Levels The following is a list of Departments within the Ministry of Magic where it is unknown which level they preside on:
 * Committee on Experimental Charms
 * Magical Maintenance Department
 * Ministry of Magic Public Information Services
 * Department of Magical Education
 * Very Important Members of Section M.I. Trx.
 * Wizarding Examinations Authority
 * Ministry of Magic research committee
 * Ministry of Magic exploding bonbons disposal unit
 * Foreign Affairs and Sports DepartmentForeign_Affairs_and_Sports_Department.JPG

Public relations
While being a wizard or witch has obvious advantages, the system of government is not one of them. The Ministry seems to be an unelected body, and appears largely. There appears to be little coherent separation of powers and the judicial system is heavily biased.

Corruption
The Ministry of Magic gives an appearance of, at various times, either confounding incompetence or malice. The Ministry has been seen to decree and enforce harsh and tyrannical laws without notice. The few rights that human wizards do have are denied to non-humans. Even people who have been later found to be innocent have been subjected to the horrors of Azkaban, and not all of the accused are given trials, as was the case with Sirius Black. Modern governments would ostensibly consider some of the actions of the Ministry to be cruel and inhumane. Under the direction of Minister Cornelius Fudge, trials were short and did not employ juries (instead, a Wizarding Council heard every case, regardless of what prior knowledge they had of this case), there was no possibility to appeal the verdict, and lawyers were not allowed. It is likely that conditions have improved with the new administration. During Hagrid's appeal case before the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, the executioner (Walden Macnair) was present with his axe before a verdict was even decided on, and mostly the Committee's decisions are influenced by Lucius Malfoy, who threatens and intimidates the members into doing his bidding. After the return of Lord Voldemort, the minister at the time, Cornelius Fudge, refused to believe that the evil wizard was back despite mounting evidence, and the Ministry even mounted a campaign to damage Harry Potter's credibility, an effort fuelled in part by Fudge's on paranoid fear that Albus Dumbledore wanted his job. Eventually, the Ministry was forced to acknowledge the emergency and act. Fudge was removed from office for incompetence and replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour.

After the Fall of the Ministry of Magic, the entire Ministry was under Voldemort and doing his bidding under the puppet government headed by Pius Thicknesse. The various laws implemented in this regime included in the persecution and harassment of Muggle-borns and Muggles and propaganda suggesting the inferiority of Muggles and how they should be treated as sub-humans by wizards. However, after Lord Voldemort's fall and Kingsley Shacklebolt being appointed minister, Harry, Ron, and Hermione work for the Ministry and change it in ways to make it drastically less corrupt.

Muggle relations
The term "Ministry" implies that the Ministry of Magic is formally subject to the British Crown, but it is clear that in practice it is a fully-fledged government on its own, exercising full jurisdiction (and in some cases, a brutal dictatorship) over its own community. It is in no way part of Her Majesty's Government and exercises only the most minimal liaison with it, in cases of special emergencies, or when a new Prime Minister is elected.

The Ministry keeps in touch with the Muggle Prime Minister of the United Kingdom through the help of a portrait in the Downing Street office. The portrait is fixed to the wall with a Permanent Sticking Charm so no Muggles will be able to remove it, and the subject of the painting will notify the Prime Minister of Muggles of the Minister for Magic's impending arrivals. The British Crown, including the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Monarch, are in full knowledge of the Ministry.



However, after the Fall of the Ministry of Magic into the hands of Lord Voldemort and Pius Thicknesse became minister as Voldemort's puppet, a new era of Wizard-Muggle relations was brought on that was more in line with Death Eater ideology. These actions included the instalment of the "Magic is Might" statue in the Ministry Atrium to replace the Fountain of Magical Brethren, which depicts a witch and wizard on top of a throne made from the bodies of crude-looking Muggles.

While prejudiced depictions of Muggles were taught by professors Amycus and Alecto Carrow at Hogwarts School under its new headmaster, Severus Snape, the Ministry began claiming that Muggle-borns "stole" their magic from "real" witches and wizards. The Muggle-Born Registration Commission, headed by Dolores Umbridge, was set up to persecute and imprison Muggle-borns. Furthermore, the Snatchers organization was formed in an attempt to round up any Muggle-borns or blood traitors on the run. People with known connections to the Order of the Phoenix or sympathies for Muggles, such as Arthur Weasley, were put under surveillance, and a reward for the capture of Harry Potter, known to the Ministry as "Undesirable No. 1", was offered.

Presumably, after Voldemort's defeat and Kingsley Shacklebolt's installation of Minister for Magic, the cruel, prejudiced measures imposed under the Death Eater regime towards Muggles (such as the Muggle-Born Registration Commission) were abolished and the Ministry went on communicating with the Muggle Prime Minister when necessary.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) 
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
 * Pottermore

Notes and references
Ministère de la Magie Ministerstwo Magii Министерство магии Taikaministeriö Ministerie van Toverkunst