Wizards' Council

Wizards' Council
Organisation information
Founded	Sometime before 1269
Dissolved	1707
Leader(s)	Chief of the Wizards' Council
Intentions	Governing body of the magical community of Britain before the founding of the British Ministry of Magic
Affiliation	Wizengamot

The Wizards' Council was a deliberative assembly that governed the wizarding community of Britain for centuries prior to the establishment of the British Ministry of Magic. It was the longest-serving (but not only) governing body to serve this purpose.

History

In the 14th century, Chief Burdock Muldoon attempted to define all magical creatures as either a Being or a Beast. However, when he called the first meeting of all Beings to discuss new magical laws, the summit was disrupted by Diricawls, Augureys, Fwoopers, Pixies and Fairies who could not understand what was going on, Trolls who proceeded to smash apart the meeting chamber with their clubs and hags who glided around the place in search of children to eat. Muldoon, as Chief of the Council, stood up to open the meeting, but slipped on Porlock dung and ran cursing from the hall. Embittered with the incident, Muldoon forswore any further attempts to integrate non-wizard members of the magical community into the Wizards' Council.

Upon the signature of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy in 1692, the wizarding community needed a more highly structured, organised and complex government structure, to support and regulate the community in hiding. Thus, in 1707, the Wizards' Council disbanded to be replaced by the Ministry of Magic. The first Minister was Ulick Gamp, who, in the days of the Council, had served as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.

The Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) was modelled on the Wizard's Council.

The dissolving of the council was covered in sixth-year History of Magic classes in the 1989–1990 school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Known members

Barberus Bragge (Chief, c. 1269)

Burdock Muldoon (Chief, 1448–1450)

Elfrida Clagg (Chieftainess, fourteenth or seventeenth century)

Ulick Gamp (Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, early eighteenth century)

Known Wizard's Council actions

• 1340s: Did not censure Nicholas Malfoy, who was widely believed to have been killing Muggle tenants and disguising their deaths as Black Death victims.
• Mid-14th century: Made the Golden Snidget a protected species, outlawing either its killing or use in Quidditch.
• 1362: Made it illegal to play Quidditch within 50 miles of towns or villages.
• 1368: Amended the ban on Quidditch by outlawing all playing within 100 miles of a town.
• 1419: Decreed 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.
• 1631: Passed the Code of Wand Use (in which Clause Three was the infamous Wand Ban, forbidding non-human magical beings such as house-elves or goblins to carry a wand).
• 1637: Developed the Werewolf Code of Conduct, in hopes that werewolves would sign it. Unsurprisingly, none were willing to show up before the Council and admit to being a werewolf.
• 1692: Signed the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.
• 1707: Disbanded, to be replaced by the British Ministry of Magic.

Behind the scenes

• It is known that the Department of Mysteries was already in operation in at least 1672, sometime before 1707. It is unknown if it was a part of the Wizards' Council however.
• In Elfrida Clagg's entry on Pottermore's "Timeline of the Wizarding World", the Wizards' Council was originally incorrectly referred to as the "Warlock's Councils". The mistake has since been corrected.
• It is unknown if it governed Ireland as well as Great Britain, as the later British Ministry of Magic did.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) (Mentioned on a Famous Wizard Card)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) (Mentioned on a Famous Wizard Card)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game) (Mentioned on a Famous Wizard Card)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (First mentioned)
• Quidditch Through the Ages (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter (website) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Mentioned only)
• Hogwarts Legacy (Mentioned only)