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Warning!
At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery & Harry Potter: Magic Awakened & Hogwarts Legacy. |
Minister Ottaline Gambol was a British witch who served as the fourteenth Minister for Magic of the British Ministry of Magic, in office from 1827 to 1835.[2]
Fascinated with Muggle technology, she was "daring and controversial" and proposed the train as a solution to the age-old dilemma of how to transport hundreds of students to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry without attracting non-magic attention, leading to the creation of the Hogwarts Express.[3]
Biography[]
As Minister for Magic[]
Gambol rose to the office of Minister for Magic in 1827 and proved to be effective in the solution of the problem of how to transport hundreds of students to and from Hogwarts Castle without attracting the Muggles' attention.[3][4]
Gambol was elected Minister at least twice by the British and Irish wizarding community.
Portkeys had been arranged at collecting points all over Britain and Ireland ever since the imposition of the International Statute of Secrecy in 1692. However, Portkeys proved not to be the ideal solution to the problem of school transportation (up to a third of students would fail to arrive every year, as well as many students were prone to Portkey-sickness). A return to the unregulated travel of the past was impossible, as well as other magical routes into the school (like the usage of Floo Powder) were strongly resisted by successive Headmasters, who were concerned the security of the Castle would be breached.[3]
Three years into her time in office, in 1830,[5] Minister Gambol made a daring and controversial suggestion to solve the problem: intrigued by the Muggle technology, the Minister saw the potential of using a train as a secure and comfortable alternative to Portkeys. Thus the Hogwarts Express came to be. Where the locomotive was actually obtained from remains unknown, but there are classified files at the Ministry of Magic pertaining to a large-scale operation involving one hundred and sixty-seven Memory Charms, as well as the biggest Concealment Charm ever performed in Britain. The morning after this operation, the residents of Hogsmeade awoke to find a railway station that had not been there previously and Muggle railway employees in Crewe had the feeling they had misplaced something, which stayed with them for the rest of the year.[3]
During her tenure around the year 1830, she hired the Trolley witch to both sell sweets and ensure all students arrived at Hogwarts.[5] Gambol left office in 1835.[2]
Appearances[]
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play) (Mentioned only)
- Pottermore (First mentioned)
- Wizarding World (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (Mentioned in Muggle Studies classes)
- Hogwarts Legacy (Mentioned only)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ According to Writing by J. K. Rowling: "Ministers for Magic" at Wizarding World, Nobby Leach (Minister for Magic between 1962 and 1968) was the first Muggle-born wizard ever to be appointed to the office)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Writing by J. K. Rowling: "Ministers for Magic" at Wizarding World
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Writing by J. K. Rowling: "The Hogwarts Express" at Wizarding World
- ↑ Writing by J. K. Rowling: "King's Cross Station" at Wizarding World
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Act One, Scene Eleven
