Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter)
The Ministry of Magic is an organization that features in Harry Potter.
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History
The Ministry of Magic was a government body responsible for overseeing magic users within the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707 where it succeeded the earlier Wizards' Council with its first head being Ulick Gamp. As Minister of Magic, he was responsible for seeing the Ministry in policing the fractured magical community after the imposition of the International Statute of Secrecy. The former Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot Ulick Gamp term involved policing a fractious and frightened community adjusting to the imposition of the International Statute of Secrecy with his greatest legacy was to found the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. In 1717, the Ministry classified the Imperius, Cruciatus, and Avada Kedavra curses as the Unforgivable Curses, with the strictest of penalties attached to their use.
In the summer of 1992, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office Arthur Weasley proposed a Muggle Protection Act, leading to a massive Ministry crackdown for illegally enchanted or dark objects. At the same time, the Improper Use of Magic Office sent Harry Potter a letter of reprimand after the Malfoy family house-elf, Dobby, performed magic in an attempt to keep him away from Hogwarts. In early 1993, Fudge went to Hogwarts to send Rubeus Hagrid to Azkaban on suspicion of opening the Chamber of Secrets, an accusation that had led to his expulsion from Hogwarts 50 years earlier. Hagrid was eventually freed in June after the trio solved the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets. In the summer of 1993, wrongfully convicted "mass-murderer" Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban, leading to a massive Ministry manhunt. In early 1994, Severus Snape captured Black and returned him to Fudge's custody, but Harry Potter and Hermione Granger helped him escape using a Ministry Time-Turner and Buckbeak the Hippogriff, thus making the Ministry a 'laughingstock'.
Organising the 1994-1995 Triwizard Tournament involved substantial efforts from the Department of International Magical Co-operation, the Department of Magical Games and Sports, and other parts of the Ministry. The Tournament concluded with the death of Cedric Diggory and the Rebirth of Lord Voldemort on 24 June, 1995. Fudge refused to believe Dumbledore and Harry Potter's accounts of these events, leading Dumbledore to reactivate the Order of the Phoenix to counter Voldemort. Because of Fudge's refusal to see the truth, the wizarding community was put at a disadvantage when dealing with the imminent threat of Lord Voldemort and his followers. After Voldemort's return, the Ministry campaigned to discredit Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter, as Fudge, his mind "twisted and warped by fear", refused to believe this horrifying truth. This trend of attempting to minimise the immediate damage included the Ministry's attempts to get Harry drummed out of the wizarding community, forcing on teachers an oversight on Hogwarts, removing privileges from Dumbledore and anyone who accepted his statement that Voldemort had returned, and encouraging the Daily Prophet to publish stories mocking and denigrating Dumbledore and Harry. On 12 August, Harry was summoned to a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry, pertaining to what the Ministry termed 'offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy'. The hearing was changed to a full court trial, which was unorthodox and was outside the context of the law, in a biased and obvious attempt to further discredit Harry.
Finally, the Ministry had to hide the reason for the mass breakout from Azkaban, as the Ministry could not explain, or justify, the defection of the Dementors. Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters tried to retrieve a specific prophecy pertaining to Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort from the Hall of Prophecy on Level Nine, the Department of Mysteries. In order to do that, they placed both Broderick Bode and Sturgis Podmore under the Imperius Curse, but to no avail, as only Harry could take it from its shelf. Shortly after midnight on 18 June 1996, the Death Eaters lured Harry and five other Dumbledore's Army members into the deserted Ministry. A battle broke out over the prophecy concerning Harry and the Dark Lord. The D.A. members did well holding the Death Eaters at bay until help could arrive. The Order of the Phoenix went to rescue them, and the Death Chamber standoff ensued, which resulted in the death of Sirius Black at the hands of his own cousin Bellatrix Lestrange. The standoff also included a duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore in the Atrium of the Ministry. After the battle, Fudge and several other witnesses saw Voldemort with their own eyes, and this position of denial became untenable. Thus, the Ministry was forced to acknowledge the return of the Dark Lord and Fudge was unceremoniously replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour, although Fudge was allowed to aid in an 'advisory capacity'. The public was then made aware of the growing threat to its population and this marked the start of open warfare.
In response to the war situation the country was facing, Rufus Scrimgeour, the previous Head of the Auror Office, was appointed Fudge's successor on 2 July 1996, and was responsible for the creation of several new bureaucracies, such as the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects. Despite this, Scrimgeour did not fare much better than Fudge. Again reacting to public opinion, Scrimgeour tried desperately to make the Ministry look like it was making progress despite the reality being the contrary, such as by wrongfully imprisoning Stan Shunpike. Under Scrimgeour's regime, there was no progress. He was too concerned with the appearance of false safety, something that ultimately led to the downfall of both himself and the Ministry. Harry had two meetings with Scrimgeour, in which Harry's co-operation with the Ministry was solicited for his propaganda value: the Ministry wanted Harry to act as their "poster child" so as to give the public hope, by telling them that the Ministry remained a source of safety, strength, and that "the Chosen One" endorsed the Ministry's investigations. Harry turned Scrimgeour down flat both times, making it perfectly clear that he did not approve of what the Ministry was doing and made his opinion of Scrimgeour known.
Overview
In appearance, the Ministry of Magic was a magical organization organised by the wizarding community.
The head of the body held the position of Minister of Magic.
Each new Muggle Prime Minister received a visit from the Minister for Magic, who informs them of the existence of the wizarding world. The Minister explains that they will contact the Prime Minister only in circumstances in which the events of the wizarding world may affect Muggles.
It was divided into a number of departments which included:
- Department of Magical Law Enforcement :
- Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes :
- Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures :
- Department of International Magical Cooperation :
- Department of Magical Transportation :
- Department of Magical Games and Sports :
- Department of Mysteries :
The headquarters of the Ministry of Magic was located in the heart of London. The actual structure was all underground, although magical windows showed whatever weather Magical Maintenance had chosen for the day, from bright sunshine to hurricanes. Visitors to the Ministry of Magic came to a broken-down red telephone box on a dingy street which had several shabby offices, a pub, and a wall covered with graffiti. When the telephone in the box was dialled (62442, the word M-A-G-I-C), the welcome witch's voice answered, not from the phone, but from the air, as if the person was standing right there. Visitors were asked their business at the Ministry, upon which a silver badge popped out with the visitor's name and purpose of visit. Then the telephone box dropped down like a lift for about one minute, after which the visitor would be in the Atrium.
Members
- Ulick Gamp : male wizard who was the first Minister of Magic.
- Damocles Rowle :
- Perseus Parkinson :
- Eldritch Diggory :
- Albert Boot :
- Basil Flack :
- Hesphaestus Gore :
- Cornelius Fudge :
- Dolores Umbridge :
- Hermione Granger :
Notes
- The Ministry of Magic was created by J. K. Rowling where it featured in the setting of the Harry Potter universe.
In other media
Films
Video games
Appearances
- Harry Potter:
External Link
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