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Warning!
At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in Harry Potter: Magic Awakened. As such, spoilers will be present within the article. |
The Erkstag (German: Erkstag Zauberergefängnis) was a wizarding prison used by the German Ministry of Magic.[1]
History[]
Although it is unknown when this prison was built or how long it was used, the German Ministry of Magic once used it to house wizarding criminals, although it was, at least as far as the public were made aware, shut down; likely due to the inhumane way in which the inmates were treated. But though ostensibly abandoned, the German Ministry secretly continued to hold people at the facility. At the time, it was managed by a warder that confiscated the items of each prisoner upon their arrival.[1]
Newt and Theseus escaping from the Erkstag
After the fall of the German Ministry of Magic in 1932, it was used by the Alliance to lock away Grindelwald's enemies, such as Aurors of hostile intent and incriminating evidence that could compromise Grindelwald's election campaign for the office of Supreme Mugwump in 1932, or those who directly opposed him: Theseus Scamander was imprisoned here after he stepped outside of his authority as a British Auror by trying to arrest Gellert Grindelwald and his followers during the Candidates' Dinner at the German Ministry of Magic, a place that was outside his jurisdiction.[1] After his arrest, Albus Dumbledore sent a letter to local wizarding authorities to request permission for Theseus' brother, Newt, to visit the facility in order to check his well-being.[2] Teddy and Pickett were both imprisoned in the cubbyholes during Newt's visit, but both staged a breakout.[1]
Description[]
Exterior[]
A sign at the entrance to the Erkstag
The entrance to the prison was hidden in plain sight from German non-wizards as a seemingly disused U-Bahn entrance somewhere in Berlin, and usually sealed off by a pair of rusty grille doors secured by a padlock on it, and a sign warning people that entering the area was prohibited. While the passage was easily accessed by witches and wizards with a simple spell, it was evidently sufficient to keep Muggles out.[2]
Interior[]
Entrance[]
The Erkstag Warden sleeps inside the Erkstag
After descending a huge set of stairs, visitors would find themselves inside a labyrinthine system of underground tunnels that made up the interior of the prison. Upon entering, the visitor would find themselves in a dreary, cave-like reception area where guttering candles eerily illuminated the warder, who was stationed at a desk in front of a wall of pigeon holes. In order to gain entry to the cells, the visitors would have to present an accepted the appropriate paperwork. The visitor would also, for security reasons, be searched and have to surrender their wand before proceeding to the cells.[3]
Cell blocks[]
Newt and Theseus inside the Erkstag
The cells were located along the walls in a central atrium at the end of a passageway, and spiralled down several levels into a vast pit, wherein the cocooned prisoners had been restrained by rope and hung from their ankles from the ceiling of small cells. Outside each one, a lit lamp was attached to the wall.[2]
Security[]
While a warder had been appointed to oversee the prison, the prisoners were not guarded by wizards, but by a giant, bloodthirsty Manticore which dwelled at the bottom of the pit and devoured the prisoners whenever their lanterns went out, and regurgitated their bloody remains back up onto the edge of the pit to feed its tiny children, making escape very difficult.[2]
Appearances[]
- Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay
- Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (First appearance)
- Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore: Movie Magic
- Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (Appears in the spell book)