British Ministry of Magic

The **Ministry of Magic** (**M.o.M.**) was the main governing body of the magical community of Great Britain (*i.e.* England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland, with the intention of preservation of magical law. The Ministry connected the British government to the wizarding world. The headquarters of the Ministry was under the HM Treasury building and Whitehall, in central London, deep underground.

It was headed by the Minister for Magic. By 2019, the Minister for Magic was Hermione Granger. Each Prime Minister of Great Britain was visited by the Minister for Magic. During the height of the Dark Lord's power, the Minister for Magic worked with the Muggle Prime Minister to ensure protection for the Muggle world.

The Ministry of Magic was formed as a successor to the earlier Wizards' Council and came into being in 1707. It was involved, in some capacity before its actual formation, in the International Confederation of Wizards' decision to enact the Statute of Secrecy in 1692, which took the responsibility of enforcing said Statute in the United Kingdom. The laws against magic-use by underage wizards and against wand use by non-wizard folk were also enforced by the Ministry, in part to maintain secrecy.

Other countries, such as Finland, France, Germany, Bulgaria, etc., had their own Ministries of Magic. The United States of America was one of the exceptions, given that its governing magical body was instead referred to as a "Magical Congress" (MACUSA).

## Headquarters

Main article: British Ministry of Magic Headquarters
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' entrance

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.

### The Atrium

> They were standing at one end of a very long and splendid hall with a highly polished, dark wood floor. The peacock-blue ceiling was inlaid with gleaming golden symbols that were continually moving and changing like some enormous heavenly notice board. The walls on each side were panelled in shiny dark wood and had many gilded fireplaces set into them. Every few seconds a witch or wizard would emerge from one of the left-hand fireplaces with a soft whoosh; on the right-hand side, short queues of wizards were forming before each fireplace, waiting to depart.
>
> Harry Potter entering the Ministry for the first time, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

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The Atrium was on level 8. It was a large hall with fireplaces up and down both long walls. The fireplaces on the left were used for arriving employees, while the ones on the right were for departing employees. The floor was polished dark wood. The ceiling was peacock blue with golden symbols moving across it.

The Fountain of Magical Brethren was halfway down the Atrium. A group of golden statues, depicting a wizard, a witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf, spouted water into the surrounding pool of water. At the end of the Atrium was a set of golden gates, next to which was a security stand. Eric Munch was usually on duty here. He registered the wands of visitors. Another smaller hall was beyond the gates, where there was a series of lifts. The lifts provided access to the other levels, except the tenth.

### Levels

On level one were the offices of the Minister for Magic and Support Staff.

On level two was the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

On level three was the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.

On level four was the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

On level five was the Department of International Magical Co-operation.

On level six was the Department of Magical Transportation.

On level seven was the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

On level eight was the Atrium.

On level nine was the Department of Mysteries.

Level ten could only be reached by the stairs to the left of the door which led to the Department of Mysteries on level nine. Courtroom Ten was first seen during Harry's first forays into Dumbledore's Pensieve, when he witnessed various Death Eater trials. Dungeon-like corridors led to Courtroom Ten. The walls of the courtroom were dark stone. In the centre of the room was a chair covered in chains that stood below rows of high benches on which the Wizengamot sat.

## History

### Early years

#### 18th century

The Ministry of Magic was formally established in 1707 to succeed the earlier Wizards' Council, with former Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Ulick Gamp, serving as the first Minister for Magic. His term lasted from 1707-1718. Gamp had the onerous job of policing a fractious and frightened community adjusting to the imposition of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. 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. By the 1990s, their use would command a life sentence in Azkaban.

Damocles Rowle was the Minister for Magic from 1718-1726. He was elected on a platform of being 'tough on Muggles'. When the Ministry proposed a purpose-built wizarding prison on a remote Hebridean island, Rowle swiftly scrapped the plans and insisted on using Azkaban instead, which was carried through despite protests. Censured by the International Confederation of Wizards, he was eventually forced to step down.

Perseus Parkinson was the Minister for Magic from 1726-1733. He tried to pass a bill making it illegal to marry a Muggle. This proved to be against the public mood; the wizarding community, tired of anti-Muggle sentiment and wanting peace, voted him out at the first opportunity. Parkinson was also pro-Azkaban.

Eldritch Diggory was the Minister for Magic from 1733-1747. He was a popular Minister who first established an Auror recruitment programme. While visiting Azkaban, Diggory realised what conditions inside were like. Prisoners were mostly insane and a graveyard had been established to accommodate those that died of despair. He established a committee to explore alternatives to Azkaban, or at least to remove the Dementors as guards. Before they could reach any decision, however, Diggory caught Dragon Pox and died.

Albert Boot was the Minister for Magic from 1747-1752. He was considered a likeable but inept Minister, resigning after a mismanaged goblin rebellion.

Basil Flack was the Minister for Magic for two months in 1752. He was the shortest serving Minister, having resigned after the rebelling goblins joined forces with werewolves.

Hesphaestus Gore was the Minister for Magic from 1752-1770. One of the earliest Aurors, he successfully put down a number of revolts by magical beings, although historians felt his refusal to contemplate rehabilitation programmes for werewolves ultimately led to more attacks. He renovated and reinforced the prison of Azkaban.

Maximilian Crowdy was the Minister for Magic from 1770-1781. Father of nine, he was a charismatic leader who routed out several extremist pure-blood groups planning Muggle attacks. When the Revolutionary War began in 1775, the Ministry of Magic were asked by MACUSA to decide whether they were to intervene and help their Muggle neighbours. In 1777, MACUSA President Elizabeth McGilliguddy asked Crowdy what they had decided. He replied with a simple four-word letter stating that they were "*sitting this one out*", to which she replied with an even shorter letter stating "*mind you do*". Crowdy's mysterious death in office was the subject of numerous books and conspiracy theories.

Porteus Knatchbull was the Minister for Magic from 1781-1789. He was called in confidentially in 1782 by the Muggle Prime Minister of the day, Lord Frederick North, to see whether he could help with King George III's emerging mental instability. When it leaked out that Lord North believed in wizards, he was forced to resign after a motion of no confidence.

Unctuous Osbert was the Minister for Magic from 1789-1798. Because he was too much influenced by pure-bloods of wealth and status, many saw him as little more a puppet to his own advisor Septimus Malfoy, who would have served as the Ministry's *de facto* head.

Artemisia Lufkin was the Minister from 1798-1811. The first witch to ever hold the office, she established the Department of International Magical Co-operation, lobbying hard and successfully to have a Quidditch World Cup tournament held in Britain during her term.

#### 19th century

> [A being is] any creature that has sufficient intelligence to understand the laws of the magical community and to bear part of the responsibility in shaping those laws.
>
> Grogan Stump's definition of a being, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (real)

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Grogan Stump was the Minister from 1811-1819. Very popular and passionate fan of Quidditch team Tutshill Tornados, he established the Department of Magical Games and Sports and managed to steer through legislation on magical beasts and beings that had long been a source of contention.

Josephina Flint was the Minister from 1819-1827. She revealed an unhealthy anti-Muggle bias in office; she disliked new Muggle technology such as the telegraph, which she claimed interfered with proper wand function.

Ottaline Gambol was the Minister from 1827-1835. A much more forward-looking Minister, Gambol established committees to investigate Muggle brainpower, which seemed, during this period of the British Empire, to be greater than some wizards had credited.

Radolphus Lestrange was the Minister from 1835-1841. He was a reactionary, who attempted to close down the Department of Mysteries, which ignored him. He eventually resigned due to ill health, which was widely rumoured to be inability to cope with the strains of office.

Hortensia Milliphutt was the Minister from 1841-1849. She introduced more legislation than any other sitting Minister, much of it useful, but some wearisome (hat pointiness and so on), which ultimately resulted in her political downfall.

Evangeline Orpington was the Minister from 1849-1855. A good friend of Queen Victoria's, who never realised that she was a witch, let alone Minister for Magic. Orpington was believed to have intervened magically (and illegally) in the Crimean War.

Priscilla Dupont was the Minister from 1855-1858. She conceived an irrational loathing of the Muggle Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, to an extent that caused such trouble (coins turning to frogspawn in his coat pockets, etc.) that she was forced to step down. Ironically, Palmerston was forced to resign by the Muggles two days later.

Dugald McPhail was the Minister from 1858-1865. A safe pair of hands. While the Muggle parliament underwent a period of marked upheaval, the Ministry of Magic knew a period of welcome calm.

Faris "Spout-hole" Spavin was the Minister from 1865-1903. Longest-ever serving Minister for Magic, and also the most long-winded, he survived an 'assassination attempt' (kicking) from a centaur who resented the punchline of Spavin's infamous 'a centaur, a ghost and a dwarf walk into a bar' joke. Attended Queen Victoria's funeral in an admiral's hat and spats, at which point the Wizengamot suggested gently that it was time he move aside (Spavin was 147 when he left office).

In 1890, concern for Ranrok's goblin rebellion had steadily grown in the wizarding world. However, opinions differed on how big of a threat Ranrok was, with George Osric having had difficulties persuading the British Ministry of Magic to be aware of how dangerous Ranrok was.

#### Early 20th century

Venusia Crickerly was the Minister for Magic from 1903-1912. Second ex-Auror to take office and considered both competent and likeable, Crickerly died in a freak gardening accident (mandrake related).

Archer Evermonde was the Minister from 1912-1923. In post during the Muggle First World War, Evermonde passed emergency legislation forbidding witches and wizards to get involved, lest they risk mass infractions of the International Statute of Secrecy. Thousands defied him, aiding Muggles where they could.

Lorcan McLaird was the Minister from 1923-1925. A gifted wizard, but an unlikely politician, McLaird was an exceptionally taciturn man who preferred to communicate in monosyllables and expressive puffs of smoke that he produced through the end of his wand. He was forced from office out of sheer irritation at his eccentricities.

Hector Fawley was the Minister for Magic from 1925-1939. Undoubtedly voted in because of his marked difference to McLaird, the ebullient and flamboyant Fawley did not take sufficiently seriously the threat presented to the wizarding community by Gellert Grindelwald. He paid with his job.

Leonard Spencer-Moon was the Minister from 1939-1948. A sound Minister who rose through the ranks from being tea-boy in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, he oversaw a great period of international wizarding and Muggle conflict. Enjoyed a good working relationship with Winston Churchill.

Wilhelmina Tuft was the Minister from 1948-1959. She was a cheery witch, who presided over a period of welcome peace and prosperity. Died in office after discovering, too late, her allergy to Alihotsy-flavoured fudge.

### Late 20th century

#### Political warfare

> Acquitted herself magnificently with the now infamous words: "*I assert our inalienable right to party*", which drew cheers from all present.
>
> Millicent Bagnold and the British wizarding community celebrating the defeat of Lord Voldemort, Pottermore

Ignatius Tuft was the Minister from 1959-1962. The son of his predecessor, Ignatius was a hard-liner who capitalised on his mother's popularity to gain election. He promised to institute a controversial and dangerous Dementor breeding programme, and was forced from office.

Nobby Leach was the Minister from 1962-1968. First Muggle-born Minister for Magic, his appointment caused consternation among the old (pure-blood) guard, many of whom resigned government posts in protest. He always denied having anything to do with England's 1966 Quidditch World Cup win. Left office after contracting a mysterious illness (conspiracy theories abound).

Eugenia Jenkins was the Minister from 1968-1975. Jenkins dealt competently with pure-blood riots during Squib Rights marches in the late 1960s, but was soon confronted with the first rise of Lord Voldemort. Jenkins was soon ousted from office as inadequate to the challenge.

Harold Minchum was the Minister from 1975-1980. Seen as a hard-liner, he placed even more Dementors around Azkaban, but was unable to contain Voldemort's apparently unstoppable rise to power.

Millicent Bagnold was the Minister from 1980-1990. A highly able Minister, she had to answer to the International Confederation of Wizards for the number of breaches of the International Statute of Secrecy on the day and night after Harry Potter survived Lord Voldemort's attack. Acquitted herself magnificently with the now infamous words: 'I assert our inalienable right to party', which drew cheers from all present.

Shortly before Minister Millicent Bagnold's retirement in 1990, many of the wizarding population wanted Albus Dumbledore to become Minister. He was offered the job four times, but turned it down, because of his previous negative experiences with power.

The most likely person to become Minister from that point on was Bartemius Crouch Senior, who, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, had gained popularity from his purges of Death Eaters after the first fall of Lord Voldemort, including arresting his own son for participating in the Cruciatus Curse torture of Alice and Frank Longbottom. However, he fell out of favour when people suspected that his son's actions and 'death' in Azkaban were the result of Crouch neglecting his son and by not spending enough time at home due to his ministerial pursuits.