British Ministry of Magic Headquarters

The headquarters of the Ministry of Magic are located deep underground, below Whitehall, in London. They are comprised of a very large, ten-storey building housing several offices, departments and courtrooms. Although all the structure is underground, magical windows show whatever weather the Magical Maintenance Department has chosen for the day, from bright sunshine to hurricanes. Lifts provide access to every level, except Level Ten, the Wizengamot Courtrooms, which is only accesssible via a set of stairs from Level Nine, the Department of Mysteries.

Early history
It is unknown when the underground building was built. If it was built when the Ministry of Magic was founded, it dates back from the early seventeenth century, although it is unknown whether if it was already used as headquarters of the Wizards' Council. If the latter is the case, it is presumably much older.

Under Cornelius Fudge
Cornelius Fudge became 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. To further express Fudge's control of the Ministry, a large banner of him was erected in the Atrium. On 12 August, Harry Potter was summoned to a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry, pertraining 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 prophecy record pertaining to Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort from the Hall of Prophecy on Level Nine. 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. After the battle, the Ministry was forced to believe the return of the Dark Lord and Fudge resigned 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. 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.

Under Pius Thicknesse
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, the Ministry was the stage of a silent coup during which Scrimgeour was killed while refusing to give the Death Eaters any information on Harry Potter.

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. Sometime between the coup and 2 September of the same year, the Atrium became to house the Magic is Might Monument, a black stone statue illustrative of the new regime, which depicted a wizard and witch sitting atop thrones made from the contorted bodies of Muggles, each with a stupid-expression. Much more security was added to the building. , which included employees being forced to go to work via a toilet network, accessible inside a set of underground public toilets in Whitehall.

Under Kingsley Shacklebolt
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.

Description
Part of the discussion of the Ministry premises revolves around the problem of keeping such a large organization hidden from the Muggles, it being simpler to hide than to explain the presence of a multi-story building, apparently Government-owned, but with no apparent purpose. To solve this issue, the Ministry is entirely located underground, and that one of the issues facing the Ministry maintenance wizards is the underground environment. In Harry's first visit to the Ministry, he learns that the windows spotted around the Ministry do not reflect the outside world, but are fabrications of the maintenance workers, and that a contract dispute had resulted in the windows showing grim, rainy weather for a solid month no matter what the outside weather was doing. We also learn that the maintenance workers have full control of the office environment; in 1997, it apparently became fairly common for rainstorms to occur in the offices of those who the maintenance workers don't approve of.

Entrance to the Headquarters
The visitor's entrance of the Ministry of Magic is an abandoned red telephone phone booth; one enters the Ministry by dialing "62442" ("magic"). Following the prompts of the operator, passes are issued and the telephone box will descend through the ground into the Atrium (Level Eight). More than twenty service lifts stop at all floors, Levels One through Nine. Stairways may provide access to all ten levels in the Ministry and must be used to access Level Ten.

After Voldemort took over the Ministry, employees and officials were forced to enter the Ministry via a particular public lavatory; one opens the lavatory booth with a special token and then flushes oneself to the Ministry through the underground toilets.

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

Level 1 - Minister for Magic and Support Staff
This Level contains the offices of the highest-ranking 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. It contains the offices of the Minister for Magic and other administrative personnel such as:


 * The office of the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic
 * The office of the Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic.
 * During Lord Voldemort's puppet regime in 1997-1998, this Level also housed the office of the Head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission.

Level 2 - 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 houses a combination of police and justice facilities. 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.

In this level, one can also find the:


 * Improper Use of Magic Office
 * Wizengamot Administration Services,
 * Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects (created in 1996).

Level 3 - Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes
Level Three houses the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes whose employees hold the responsability for repairing accidental magical damage. The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes includes the following offices:


 * Accidental Magic Reversal Squad
 * Obliviator Headquarters
 * Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee.

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. The Department incorporates the following offices:


 * Beast, Being and Spirit Divisions
 * Goblin Liaison Office
 * Pest Advisory Bureau.

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. It incorporates the following offices:


 * 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 the:


 * Floo Network Authority
 * Broom Regulatory Control,
 * Portkey Office
 * Apparation Test Centre.

Level 7 - Department of Magical Games and Sports
Level Seven houses the Department of Magical Games and Sports is responisble for 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. Magical Games and Sports incorporates the:


 * British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters
 * Official Gobstones Club
 * Ludicrous Patents Office.

Level 8 - The Atrium
On Level Eight one finds the Atrium, an area that serves as lobby and reception room to the visitors and employees. 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: in 1995-1996 the Fountain of Magical Brethren and in 1997-1998, during Lord Voldemort's puppet regime, the Magic is Might Monument. On the far end of the hall one can find the Security Desk, the Ministry Munchies café and a set of double golden gates leading to the at least twenty access lifts. in a room off the Atrium, one finds the Security Office, a room containing spare keys to the offices and lift informations.

Level 9 - Department of Mysteries
The Department of Mysteries is a section of the Ministry of Magic that carries out confidential research. Most of its operations are carried out in total secrecy. 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 confidential nature of their work.

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. 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 offices:


 * The Hall of Prophecy
 * Death Chamber
 * Brain Room
 * Time Chamber
 * Space Chamber
 * Love Chamber.

Level 10 - Courtrooms
Level Ten hosts about half a score of courtrooms, which are used by the Wizengamot and the Council of Magical Law in full-scale criminal trials (such as the Death Eater trials in 1981). In 1997, the Muggle-Born Registration Commission also used these courtrooms during their questioning of Muggle-born wizards.

Level Ten is accessible via a flight of steps leading down from Level Nine. The corridors here 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 Fortress. It is also a dark-tiled area, with gilded gates closing the cells.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * 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 (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)