Department of Magical Law Enforcement

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

Divisions
The department is located on the second level of the Ministry of Magic, and includes the following divisions:

Auror Office
Aurors are highly trained, elite dark wizard hunters. They act as the highest level of policing during peacetime, and as soldiers during wartime; Aurors were permitted to use the Unforgivable Curses in combatting Death Eaters during the First and Second Wizarding Wars.

The current head of this office is Harry Potter. Prior to Harry, Gawain Robards was the division head. Before him, the division was headed by Rufus Scrimgeour.

Magical Law Enforcement Patrol/Squad
This team of wizards and witches is tasked with general law enforcement. In the 1920s it was headed by Bob Ogden, who led a team to Little Hangleton to arrest Marvolo and Morfin Gaunt for crimes against both Muggles and the Ministry, since the Gaunts had avoided previous attempts at arrest.

Hit Wizards
Hit Wizards comprise a team of highly trained wizards tasked with arresting dangerous criminals. It is not clear what the precise division is between Aurors and Hit Wizards, but entry requirements for the latter are not as strict - five O.W.L.s, including Defence Against the Dark Arts. Members have a personal bed reserved at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. In 1993, Cornelius Fudge suggested that only Hit Wizards should attempt to capture Sirius Black, an Azkaban escapee then believed to be a highly dangerous criminal.

Improper Use of Magic Office
This office oversees and punishes minor violations of wizarding law. This includes underage witches and wizards intentionally using magic, which suggests that this office may be in charge of the Trace, permitting them to monitor the magic used by those under the age of seventeen. This division was headed by Mafalda Hopkirk until at least 1998.

Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office
This office regulates the use of magic on Muggle objects and recovers those which have been bewitched. One of the laws they enforce is the prohibition on magically altering a Muggle vehicle with the intent to fly it. It was headed by Arthur Weasley until his promotion in 1996.

Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects
This office may have been created by Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour in response to the growing threat of Lord Voldemort in 1996. Arthur Weasley was promoted to this division's head at that time.

Wizengamot Administration Services
An office which undertakes administrative and clerical duties for the Wizengamot. Its function is not fully understood; however, one can assume that its functions includes maintenance of court documents, hearing dates, judges' schedules, and the administration of legal proceedings.

Senior Personnel

 * Bartemius Crouch Sr — former head of the department, demoted to head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation after his son's exposure as a Death Eater in 1981
 * Amelia Bones — former head of the department, killed by Lord Voldemort in the summer of 1996
 * Pius Thicknesse — former head of the department, succeeding Amelia Bones; appointed Minister for Magic while under the Imperius Curse following Voldemort's coup in 1997
 * Yaxley — former head of the department, succeeding Piuus Thicknesse, during the Death Eaters' control of the Ministry.
 * Hermione Granger — after working with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, she eventually took a position high up in this department
 * Harry Potter — successor to Gawain Robards as Head of the Auror Office