MACUSA

"*MACUSA was modelled on the Wizards’ Council of Great Britain, which predated the Ministry of Magic. Representatives from magical communities all over North America were elected to MACUSA to create laws that both policed and protected American wizardkind.*"

The **Magical Congress of the United States of America** (shortened **MACUSA**), is the magical body in charge of governing the wizarding community of the United States of America. It is led by the President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America. Unlike the No-Maj United States Congress, which is divided into a House of Representatives and a Senate, the MACUSA is unicameral. The MACUSA is located within the Woolworth Building in downtown New York City and has hundreds of stories.

## History

### **Early History**

The Magical Congress of the United States of America was established in 1693 with the introduction of the International Statute of Secrecy, as a direct result of the Salem Witch Trials. Thus this means that MACUSA pre-dates the No-Maj formation of the United States of America by around a century. It was founded by several Wizards, Witches and Magical Creatures who fled to the new World following King James's purge of Magical Creatures of England in 1616. At that time it was called the Magical Congress of the Colonies(MACOC). This name was later changed due to several juvenile insults involving the name sounding similar to "My Cock". One of the representatives was Josiah Jackson, who became the first President of MACUSA(though the title did not yet exist and had different terms than a Presidency). Josiah was thought to be strong enough to deal with the troubles caused by the Salem Witch Trials.

The first task of the North American wizarding legislature was to put on trial the Scourers, an unscrupulous and brutal band of wizarding bounty hunters and racketeers, executing those convicted of murder, wizard-trafficking, and torture. Josiah Jackson's main priority when he became President was to create and train Aurors. There were only a select few to start with, with only two of them surviving to old age. They won the enduring respect of the magical community in North America, which was extended to their descendants.

MACUSA has had to move its location at least five times since its inception. Originally, MACUSA had no definite meeting place and moved around so it would not be detected by No-Majs. Eventually, MACUSA created an enchanted edifice in the Appalachian Mountains as their headquarters. However, they had to change it as it was in an inconvenient location. Due to the fact that America had a very hostile relationship between magical and non magical people, there was no cooperation between MACUSA and the No-Maj government.

In 1760, MACUSA relocated to Williamsburg in Virginia where then President Thornton Harkaway lived. Harkaway bred magical creatures which escaped and attacked local No-Majs, it led to a great breach of the Statute of Secrecy and Harkaway had to step down due to disgrace.

MACUSA then relocated to Baltimore, where President Able Fleming lived. However, when the Revolutionary War began, MACUSA decided to move to what would become Washington, decades before the No-Maj Congress even built the city.

In 1777, then President Elizabeth McGilliguddy presided over the infamous Country or Kind? debate. It was an extraordinary meeting which led to the expansion of the Great Meeting Chamber. They discussed whether to support their community or their country and whether to fight for liberation from the British Muggles. They also debated whether it was really their fight. The argument did not go well and led to violence. Pro-interventionists argued that by intervening, they could save lives, while anti-interventionists believed that they would reveal their community by intervening and place it in danger. They sought the advice of the Ministry of Magic to find out whether they intended to intervene on their side and they replied with only a four word letter — "Sitting this one out". McGilliguddy replied with an even shorter message stating — "Mind you do".

While they did not officially intervene, several Wizards and Witches on fought on both sides, these incidents were concealed, ultimately they did attempt to protect their No-Maj neighbors and it grew to the extent that almost the entirety of the American Wizarding World celebrated Independence Day.

Following similar incidents of brief interference during the War of 1812, Due to the indiscretions of the dim-witted witch Dorcus Twelvetrees, the then President Emily Rappaport created Rappaport's Law, which would enforce strict segregation between the No-Maj and wizarding communities. Henceforth, wizards were no longer allowed to befriend or marry No-Majs, and penalties of such fraternisation were harsh. Communication was also limited to that necessary to perform daily activities. During this time, MACUSA worked strictly independent of itself from the No-Maj government to decrease the possibility of exposure.

Under Rappaport's Law, MACUSA continued to avoid communication with the No-Maj community for many years, and MACUSA also continued to impose severe penalties on those who disobeyed the International Statute of Secrecy.

After an incident in 1892, MACUSA was forced to relocate its headquarters for the fifth time in its history, and moved from Washington to New York City at the Woolworth Building where it remained throughout the 1920s even as the City was renamed to Metropolis. The incident was blamed on Irene Kneedander, Head of the Body for the Protection of Magical Species. Kneedander had taken to attacking any Sasquatch that had done something wrong, killing and imprisoning them in a concentration camp pike manner, which led to their rebellion and Kneedander's death in a riot. Kneedander's followers later recruited American Gunslinger John Marston to hunt down the members of the Sasquatch species, spreading the lie that they had eaten humans and even killed a baby. Marston realized the deception when he confronted what was seemingly the last Sasquatch and was faced with the decision of letting the last member of the race live or mercy killing him. While his choice is not known, other Sasquatches have been spotted and encountered in recent years, including some joining society and embracing the nickname "Bigfoot".

MACUSA needed a new headquarters, and over the course of several years, wizards infiltrated the construction team of a new building in New York. By the time the Woolworth Building was completed it could both house No-Majs and — if activated by the correct spells — transform into a space for wizards. The only outer mark of their new secret location was the owl carved over the entrance.

### **20th Century**

Sometime at the end of the 19th century, legislation was introduced which would require all American wizards and witches to have a permit allowing them to carry a wand. This was a measure that was intended to keep tabs on all magical activity and identify the perpetrators by their wands, thus making the concealment of magic easier. Rappaport’s Law was still in operation in the 1920s and several offices in MACUSA had no counterpart in the Ministry of Magic. This law was enforced by President Amanda Todd Jennings. During World War I, MACUSA became aware of a war between the White Magicians and the Black Magicians, both of which had joined the opposing sides of the war. America had a late entry into the war, allowing Jennings and MACUSA to formulate a plan for the country's involvement.

Unlike the No-Maj community, which had a strict Prohibition law against alcohol for many years, MACUSA allowed the wizarding community to consume alcohol, though many criticized this policy, pointing out that it made witches and wizards rather conspicuous around sober No-Majs. However, the then President Seraphina Picquery stated that being a wizard or witch in America was already hard enough. At one point she famously told her Chief of Staff that the "Gigglewater was non-negotiable."

It is known that House elves worked at MACUSA during the 1920s. One such House-elf was cleaning wands. A significant difference between the wizarding governments of the United States and the UK of this time was the penalty for a serious crime. Whereas British witches and wizards were sent to Azkaban, the worst criminals in America were executed.

In the 1920s, the President of MACUSA was Seraphina Picquery from Savannah, after Jennings had served four five year terms. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement was headed by Percival Graves, a well-respected descendant of one of the original twelve American Aurors. It was during this period that the MACUSA closely monitored the terrorism committed by the Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald and his followers in Europe, also cooperating in the international search for him. It is also known that during this time Grindelwald's ideals influenced MACUSA workers.

By 1926, Gellert Grindelwald had infiltrated the MACUSA by assuming the identity of Director of Magical Security and Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Percival Graves, at a time when the MACUSA's Major Investigation Department was attempting to discover the identity of an unknown magical force causing severe devastation throughout the city. He used this high-ranking position to manipulate a No-Maj boy Credence Barebone into revealing the identity of the unknown magical force.

In December of 1926, British Magizoologist Newt Scamander was detained by former MACUSA Auror Tina Goldstein when he inadvertently caused a series of breaches of the International Statute of Secrecy related to his case of magical creatures. The severest breach occurred when Scamander accidentally swapped cases with No-Maj Jacob Kowalski at a bank in Metropolis, leading to various creatures escaping. The three then set about attempting to recover the escaped magical beasts without reporting the incident to wizarding authorities.

Whilst this was occurring, the unknown magical force killed No-Maj Senator Henry Shaw Jr in front of guests at a fundraising dinner including his father Henry Shaw Sr. As a result, the International Confederation of Wizards, already concerned with the rising levels of MACUSA's Magical Exposure Threat Level Measurer, sent a delegation to MACUSA Headquarters to hold an emergency meeting. It was at this meeting that Newt Scamander, Tina Goldstein, and Jacob Kowalski were falsely believed to have been responsible for the Senator's death and were arrested. Grindelwald, in his capacity as Director of Magical Security, sought to have them executed after Scamander and Tina discovered a hint over his true identity. Scamander, Goldstein, and Kowalski ultimately escaped the MACUSA becoming fugitives.

After Scamander, Tina and Queenie Goldstein, and Jacob Kowalski were able to recover all of the escaped magical beasts, Grindelwald discovered that the identity of the magical force was indeed Barebone simultaneously revealing that the boy was an Obscurus. Grindelwald then attempted to persuade Barebone to join his cause after callously rejecting him which provoked Barebone into transforming once more into his Obscurus form and caused him to go on a rampage across the city. The rampage resulted in Credence Barebone seemingly destroyed at the hands of MACUSA Aurors, Gellert Grindelwald revealed and arrested by MACUSA, Goldstein and Scamander pardoned and thanked for their role in helping unmask Grindelwald, and the en masse obliviation of the thousands of Metropolis No-Maj residents and the MACUSA engaging in a major clean-up operation to repair the property damage caused. The Execution of criminals also ceased at this time once Scamander and Goldstein proved their innocence. This also meant Grindelwald was sentenced to life imprisonment. He would interrogated in order to determine where Percival Graves was hidden as the use of Polyjuice potion suggested he still lived. Grindelwald would often give cryptic hints and false locations. Graves was eventually discovered but too late. He had since died in captivity. It was then declared that Grindelwald would be executed. Negotiations between MACUSA and the British Ministry of Magic led to it declared Grindelwald would be executed in England where most of his crimes were committed. Apparition was deemed too risky a method of transportation as there was a window in which Grindelwald could travel elsewhere and escape.

On 30 May 1927, MACUSA, working with the International Confederation of Wizards, attempted to extradite maximum-security prisoner Gellert Grindelwald via use of a flying high-security carriage from Metropolis to Europe. Several MACUSA Aurors escorted the carriage on broomstick, while additional Aurors along with the ICW's Head of Incarceration Rudolph Spielman guarded inside. The attempt was ultimately sabotaged by MACUSA worker-turned Grindelwald Acolyte, Abernathy, whom in fact managed to switch places with Grindelwald before the extradition. Grindelwald subsequently attacked the transport in the skies of Metropolis, assuming control of the carriage by killing the Aurors and injuring Spielman, whom he threw off the carriage into Empire Bay, escaping with Abernathy into the night. Grindelwald had indeed successfully escaped through Apparition but had returned to rescue Abernathy rather than allow him to be captured. The two were believed to be lovers. Grindelwald is also believed to have possessed a "Geass" a rare type of ability that allows one to manipulate others with the sound of their voice and which was responsible for Grindelwald's discolored eye. Grindelwald had used this ability on both the reptilian creature used to cancel out his magic, several guards, Aurors and even President Picquery. When it was discovered she had been placed under Grindelwald's spell she was impeached and imprisoned.

## **Known Presidents of the Macusa**

1.Josiah Jackson-1693-1701

2.????-1701-1709

3.Charity Wilkinson-1709-1717

????-1717-1725

????-1725-1733

????-1733-1741

????-1741-1749

????-1749-1757

11.Thornton Harkaway-1757-1760

12.Benjamin Franklin-1760-1768

13. Able Fleming-1768-1776

14.Elizabeth McGilliguddy-1776-1784

15.Emily Rappaport-1784-1792

16.Proctor Brown-1792-1832

17.Alvin Miller-1832-1900

Dreadnought Stanton: 1900-1908

Amanda Todd Jennings: 1908-1916

18. Seraphina Picquery**-**1920-1928

Florence Zimmerman-1928-1936

Zanoni Quartz-1936-1952

Giovanni “Mandrake” Zatara-1952-1960

Gomez Addams-1960-1968

Jonathan Sax- 1968-1972

Vincent Van Ghoul-1972-1980

Gomez Addams-1980-1995

Stephen Strange 1995-2014

Samuel G.Quahog-2014-2016

Harry Dresden-2016-2018

Sabrina Spellman-2018-2023

Harry Dresden-2023-2029

Justin Russo-2029-2033