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Ministry of Magic

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Ministry of Magic
First appearanceHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, referred to in every Harry Potter book yet published.
LocationLondon
PurposeTo keep order in wizarding Britain
EnemiesDeath Eaters

In J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of novels, the Ministry of Magic is the governing body of the magical community of Britain, succeeding the earlier Wizards' Council. It is known that other countries have their own Ministries of Magic. The job of the Minister for Magic seems to include executive, legislative and judicial functions. The Ministry has seven departments and many minor offices, to deal with different aspects of the wizarding world. Different departments communicate through "Inter-departmental memos", pale violet paper airplanes that will fly to their destination.

The British Ministry of Magic is based in an underground location beneath London. It was revealed in the first chapter of book six that the Ministry keep in touch with the British Prime Minister with the help of a wizard's portrait in the Prime Minister's office that notifies the Prime Minister when the Minister For Magic is arriving (ususally imminently). To enter the ministry, one must dial the number 62442 into a phone booth and state one's name and reason for entering. Passes are then issued (apparently through a magical system) and the Phone booth then descends through the ground into the ministry's lobby in Floor B8.

In books one through five Cornelius Fudge served in the position of Minister of Magic, however he was sacked and Rufus Scrimgeour was given the post in book six. Below the Minister are various undersecretaries (most notably Dolores Umbridge), and heads of various magical departments. The exact structure of power within the ministry is relatively unknown.

Floor Directory

Cross-section showing floors and lifts in the Ministry of Magic (see floor directory)
Cross-section showing floors and lifts in the Ministry of Magic (see floor directory)

A floor directory of the Ministry of Magic is as follows:

Important note: As the entire Ministry is underground, the higher the floor number, the deeper the floor is. (Although the texts do not normally use the prefix "B-" on floor numbers to denote underground floors, they are used in this article to comply with standard usage and for purposes of clarity.

Vertical transportation directory

The main lift (disguised phone booth) transports visitors from ground level to the Atrium on floor B8.

More than twenty service lifts stop at all floors between B1 and B9, inclusive.

Stairways probably provide access to all 10 levels in the Ministry. They must be used to access the courtrooms on floor B10.

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Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Template:Spoiler Arguably the most important of the various departments, this one is a combination of police and justice facilities. Located on the second level of the Ministry of Magic, it includes the headquarters of the Aurors, a team of elite dark wizard hunters. It also includes the Improper Use of Magic Office which punishes wizards for using magic in inappropriate ways, at the wrong time, or in violation of magical laws; the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office which regulates the use of magic on Muggle objects and recovers those which have been bewitched; and the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects Office (which is headed by Arthur Weasley). Finally, there is the Wizengamot, a sort of wizarding supreme court. The department was once headed by Barty Crouch. The former Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, prior to her brutal death at the hand of Lord Voldemort was Amelia Bones.

Department of Magical Games and Sports

The most relaxed department (posters for favorite Quidditch teams are found tacked to the wall in its entrance corridor, although it should be noted that some Aurors have also tacked up similar posters in their cubicles) deals with such sports-related pastimes as organizing the Quidditch World Cup. Ludovic "Ludo" Bagman used to be the Head of Department here, but his gambling problem forced him to flee from Goblin creditors. The current head of the department is unknown. The department is located on the seventh level of the Ministry of Magic, and includes:

Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes

This department is responsible for repairing accidental magical damage. It is located on the third level of the Ministry of Magic and houses the following offices:

Department of Magical Transport

This department is responsible for various aspects of magical transport. It is located on the sixth level of the Ministry of Magic and includes the following offices:

Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures

It is divided into three divisions ("Being", "Beast" and "Spirit") and contains liaison offices for goblins and centaurs, though the centaurs, being isolationists, have never interacted with the Centaur Liaison Office since its creation. Thus, "being sent to the Centaur Office" has become a euphemism at the Ministry for firing. For further detail on the distinctions between these divisions, see Magical beasts (Harry Potter).

In Chapter 7 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, we learn that the department is located on the fourth level of the Ministry of Magic.

Offices:

Department of International Magical Cooperation

The British International Confederation of Wizards is based here, as are offices that regulate international magical law. This is where Percy Weasley began to climb the ladder of success, and where Barty Crouch, Sr. spent his final days in the Ministry. Headquarters on the fifth level of the Ministry of Magic include:

Department of Mysteries

Template:Battlebox The Department of Mysteries is, as its name suggests, a mysterious department. It carries out most of its operations 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 called the Unspeakables.

Although most of the workings of the Department are still covert, some of the projects undertaken, most seemingly for research purposes, were revealed in Order of the Phoenix: the Department apparently works to uncover the secrets of death and time, among other things, and record prophecies whenever they are made. Prophecies are magically stored within glass orbs on rows of shelves within the Hall of Prophecies. They are magically protected, so that the only people who can lift them off their shelf are the Keeper of the Hall of Prophecies and the subject or subjects of the prophecies; all others are afflicted with instant madness.

Its name could be a reference to the Eleusinian Mysteries of Ancient Greece.

The rooms at the Department include:

  • An entrance room which spins around, disorienting all of its occupants for several seconds, whenever all of its doors are closed. This is presumably a security device to keep non-employees of the Department from finding their way in.
  • A long room in which brains swim in a green solution (These "brains" seem to be controlled by some sort of creature that uses them to strangle its victims). Probably used to study the mind.
  • A large, square room with stone tiers leading down to a pit in the centre. In this pit is a dais, on which stands a very old arch with a tattered curtain hanging from it. Probably used to study death.
  • A room in which various time-related devices are kept, such as clocks of every description and Time Turners (necklaces with hourglass pendants, which will send the wearer back in time when the pendant is turned over). It also contains a mysterious bell jar, inside which anything will grow steadily younger and younger, then slowly return to its original age in a never-ending cycle. Probably used to study time.
  • A giant, cavernous room with over a hundred rows, where prophecies are kept, noted as the Hall of Prophecy in a news article in The Half-Blood Prince. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood are lured to this room by Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Probably used to study prophecies and the future.
  • A room behind a door that remains locked at all times and which cannot be unlocked by either the Alohomora spell or magical unlocking penknives. According to Albus Dumbledore, behind that door is the most mysterious subject of study in the Department: a power more wonderful and terrible at once than death, intelligence or nature, a power which Harry possesses in droves and Lord Voldemort not at all. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, this power was confirmed through a dialogue between Harry and Dumbledore to be love.

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Sixteen years before Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sibyll Trelawney made a prediction about Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter. A Death Eater (who was revealed in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to be Snape) overheard this prediction, but only the first part of it. Voldemort decided to kill Harry Potter, believing he was fulfilling the prophecy: instead, he made the prophecy truly happen in the first place, and lost his powers.

After his powers were restored in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Voldemort decided he had to get his hands on Trelawney's prophecy, now stored in the Department of Mysteries. The trouble was that only he or Harry Potter could take them from the Department of Mysteries. As Lord Voldemort was not about to walk into the Ministry of Magic, he decided to lure Harry there.

This plan nearly succeeded, but the prophecy was destroyed before Voldemort could obtain it. There was a struggle in the Department and Sirius Black fell through the Veil and is presumed dead. When Cornelius Fudge saw Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic, he was forced to acknowledge that he was wrong in denying that Voldemort had indeed returned.

Unfortunately, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the heroes see the situation has largely not improved with the Ministry of Magic seemingly more concerned with keeping a public image of diligence than actually opposing Voldemort with proper vigor. For instance, they arrest Stan Shunpike who is likely guilty of no more than idle boasting and attempt to persuade Potter to join the ministry for propaganda purposes. When he refuses, Rufus Scrimgeour accuses him of being "Dumbledore's man through and through", a characteristic Harry proudly adapts for himself.

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