Hit Wizard

Hit Wizard
Organisation information
Headquarters	Level 2, Ministry of Magic, Whitehall, London, England, Great Britain
Intentions	Arresting dangerous criminals Upholding wizarding law
Affiliation	British Ministry of Magic Department of Magical Law Enforcement Magical Law Enforcement Squad
Enemies	Dark Wizards Lord Voldemort Death Eaters

"We are looking for talented young witches and wizards with a liking for danger."

— A recruitment advertisement

A Hit Wizard or Hit Witch was a member of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad that were trained to deal with highly dangerous combat situations, such as high-risk arrests, riot controls and presumably, hostage situations. As such they were the wizarding Britain's equivalent of specialist firearms officers.

History

A team of Hit Wizards arrested Sirius Black in 1981 when he was thought to have murdered Peter Pettigrew and twelve Muggles with a single curse.

Arnold Peasegood suffered a minor attack of boils while arresting goblins during the riot in Chipping Clodbury in 1992/1993.

Hit Wizards were also needed to escort the Quidditch team members to safety during the riots that occurred at the Puddlemere United v Holyhead Harpies grudge match.

Alastor Gumboil handled applications for Hit Witches and Hit Wizards from room 919 at the Ministry.

The job

"The Aurors call in the Hit Wizards when we need extra support."

— Alastor Moody

The Department of Magical Law Enforcement maintained squads of trained Hit Wizards and Witches whose job it was to move out at a moment's notice in dire and dangerous situations, be it to disperse the crowd during riots or apprehend dangerous wizarding criminals once they had been located.

While Hit Wizards were trained to fight Dark Wizards, just like the Aurors, the latter appeared to differ in that unlike Hit Wizards, Aurors were more of an elite force whose abilities went far beyond simply arresting suspects such as investigation, concealment and disguise, stealth and tracking, poisons and antidotes, etc., whereas Hit Wizards appeared to be primarily a fighting and controlling force, and not trained to investigate crime.

Job requirements

• 17 years of age or older
• Five or more O.W.L.s including Defence Against the Dark Arts
• Not of nervous disposition

Benefits included

• Starting salary of 700 Galleons per month
• Ministry of Magic broomstick
• Regular bed at Saint Mungo's

Known Hit Wizards

• Alastor Gumboil
• Arnold Peasegood
• Cerberus Langarm (formerly)
• Unidentified Hit Wizard

Behind the scenes

• Hit Wizard is a play on the term "hit man".
• While the difference between Hit Wizards and Aurors were never explicitly stated in the books, in which Hit Wizards has a single reference of being the ones who arrested the suspected Death Eaters and dangerous mass murderer Sirius Black, contemporary writings from Rowling makes references to a riot in Chipping Clodbury in 1999, which Hit Wizards were involved in sorting out. This suggests that whilst the two differed in that whilst the Aurors trained extensively in methods of criminal investigation, intelligence gathering and crime prevention, Hit Wizards by contrast was primarily a fighting and controlling force. In Muggle terms, the distinction would be roughly comparable to that of the Homicide and Major Crime Command, and the specialist firearms officers of the Metropolitan Police. In the US, the equivalent of this would be the differing roles of elite paramilitary units (e.g. SWAT) compared to national criminal investigative bodies (e.g. FBI).
• It is interesting to note that while Harry, Ron and Neville became Aurors after the Second Wizarding War immediately without the N.E.W.T. requirements and Auror training, that both Harry and Ron can actually qualify for the entry requirements of becoming a Hit Wizard, in that they both have seven O.W.L.s including one in Defence against the Dark Arts, are 17 years or older and are not of nervous disposition. Neville can also qualify for this, with the only minor exception for his achievement of only four O.W.L.s, instead of at least five.

See also

• Auror
• Ministry of Magic Witch Watchers
• Magical Law Enforcement Patrol

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (First mentioned)
• Daily Prophet Newsletters (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (First appearance)
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (Mentioned only)