Wizards' Council

The Wizards' Council was the predecessor to the Ministry of Magic, and governed the wizarding community of Great Britain until the formation of the Ministry. The council may have continued as part of the Ministry as the Wizengamot.

Known Wizards' Council members

 * Barberus Bragge (Chief, c. 1269)
 * Burdock Muldoon (Chief, 1448-1450)
 * Elfrida Clagg (Chief, fourteenth or seventeenth century)
 * Albus Dumbledore
 * Bartemius Crouch Sr. (Leader but not Warlock, at least in 1981)
 * Old member
 * A lot of wizards

Known actions in 1362

 * Made it illegal to play Quidditch within fifty miles of towns

Known actions in 1368

 * Amended the ban on Quidditch by outlawing all playing within 100 miles of a town.

Known actions in 1499

 * Decreeed that Quidditch should not be played anywhere where there is the slightest chance a muggle could see and that violators of that decree would be chained to the wall of a dungeon.

Known actions in 1981

 * After Lord Voldmort's fall in 1981, then Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Barty Crouch Sr., with help of Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, rounded up a number of accused Death Eaters, including Igor Karkaroff, Ludo Bagman, Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan Lestrange, and even Crouch's son of the same name, to be tried and sent to Azkaban.

Igor Karkaroff's hearing


Mad-Eye captured Igor Karkaroff some time after 1981, and the Death Eater was sent to Azkaban, until Karkaroff gave up the names of a number of his fellow Death Eaters in exchange for a lighter sentence. He mentioned the names of Antonin Dolohov, Evan Rosier, Travers, Mulciber, and Severus Snape, all of whom seemed to have already either been killed, captured, or defected, until he called the name of Augustus Rookwood. Rookwood was an Unspeakable, and a double-agent, spying on the Ministry for Voldemort. This was news to the Ministry, but Karkaroff was sent back to Azkaban, pending a review into Rockwood's case; when Karkaroff's allegations proved true, he was released, and went on to take the position of Headmaster of Durmstrang Institute.

Ludovic Bagman's hearing
Some time after the First Wizarding War, Ludovic "Ludo" Bagman was put on trial for passing information to Death Eater double-agent, Augustus Rookwood. According to Bagman, he did not know that Rookwood was a Death Eater, stating that Rookwood was an old friend of his father. Rookwood had persuaded Bagman to give him information in return with promises of a future career in the Ministry, and Bagman had obliged, fully believing the Rockwood was working only for the Ministry. Much to Crouch's disappointment, Bagman was cleared of all charges. Bagman eventually became Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

Aberforth and the goats
Aberforth Dumbledore was once prosecuted for "using inappropriate charms on a goat".

The Lestranges and Bartemius Crouch Jr.
"The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us in Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!"

- Bellatrix at her trial

Some time in 1981, Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan Lestrange, and Barty Crouch Jr. tortured the Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom for information pertaining to Voldemort's location. The Longbottoms were tortured to insanity and permanently incapacitated at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, and the Death Eaters responsible were caught and put on trial.

"Father, I didn't! I didn't, I swear it, Father, don't send me back to the Dementors... No! Mother, no! I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't know! Don't send me there, don't let him! I'm your son! I'm your son!"

- Barty Crouch Jr. pleading with his father at his trial.

All four were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Upon hearing the sentence, Crouch Jr. attempted to deny his involvement with Death Eaters, pleading for his father's mercy, to which the senior Bartemius Crouch replied, "you're no son of mine," and sent him to Azkaban with the Lestranges. As they were being carted off, Bellatrix declared her unwavering loyalty to Voldemort, as well as her belief that he would return for her family and Crouch; indeed, all four Death Eaters had been freed with the Dark Lord's help by 1996, though Barty Crouch Jr. had already been smuggled out of Azkaban with his father's help by 1982, and was later freed from his father's Imperius Curse by Voldemort in 1994.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Quidditch Through the Ages
 * Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Conseil des Sorciers