History of Magic 101

The Ministry of Magic is the governmental authority of the for the wizarding world in Britain. The basic mission of the Ministry in is to keep the Muggles from finding out about an entire culture of magical folk. It's a huge, complicated, and inefficient bureaucracy, just like most governmental organizations.

The Ministry consists of seven departments of which the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is the largest. All of the other departments are in some way answerable to it, with the possible exception of the Department of Mysteries.

The Ministry has its headquarters in London. It consists of numerous Departments, Committees, Boards, and Offices whose job it is to make and enforce laws and regulations. Besides keeping the activities of Witches and Wizards hidden from the Muggles (and swooping in with Memory Charms when things get out of hand), the Ministry also handles commerce and international relations.

There are a number of law enforcement agencies within the Ministry. They maintain order, enforce laws and regulations, deal with breaches of security, and operate Azkaban, the wizard prison. This high-security fortress is located on a tiny island far out to sea. It is guarded by Dementors. The Ministry also maintains squads of Hit Wizards to deal with criminals and elite Aurors to track down Dark wizards. The Wizengamot is the High Wizard Court, a body which serves as the ultimate arbiter of justice for the wizarding world.

The Muggle Prime Minister is aware of the wizarding world. Presumably this is also true of the President of the United States and of other world leaders. Both when Sirius Black (July 1993 and when ten top Death Eaters. escaped from Azkaban, Cornelius Fudge informed the Prime Minister the escapees were dangerous wizards because he posed a threat to Muggles as well as magic folk. In extreme cases where a magical creature has been seen by Muggles and the usual interventions won't suffice, the Office of Misinformation (part of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures) works with the Muggle Prime Minister to concoct a believable lie to give to the public.

The current Minister for Magic in Britain is Kingsley Shacklebolt. Shacklebolt replaced Voldemort's puppet Pius Thicknesse, who had been placed under the Imperius Curse. Voldemort put Thicknesse in power after he killed Rufus Scrimgeour. Scrimgeour himself replaced Cornelius Fudge, who in turn replaced Millicent Bagnold about whom nothing else is known. Other Ministers have included the highly popular Grogan Stump (1770–1884), who was appointed to the post in 1811 and settled the Beings vs. Beasts classification problem, and Artemisia Lufkin, the first witch to be elected to the post. Albus Dumbledore, former headmaster of Hogwarts, was offered the job of Minister and refused it at least three times. In his latter days at Hogwarts, Tom Marvolo Riddle was widely predicted to become Minister due to his intelligence, magical talent and ability to forge friendships and alliances with the people around him, gathering a crowd of followers to serve his interests; however, Riddle refused all offers of assistance to find work at the Ministry.

The following is a list of known Ministers for Magic and their tenures in office:

• Artemisia Lufkin (1798-1811)
• Grogan Stump (1811-1819)
• Faris Spavin (1865-1903)
• Nobby Leach (1962-1968)
• Millicent Bagnold (1980-1990)
• Cornelius Fudge (1990-1996)
• Rufus Scrimgeour (1996-1997)
• Pius Thicknesse (1997-1998)
• Kingsley Shacklebolt (1998-unknown)

The Wizengamot serves as the wizard high court of law (presumably a fictional version of the Law Lords). It also appears to be similar to the real-life Parliament; various decrees that character Minister Cornelius Fudge introduces are passed and sanctioned by the Wizengamot, just like in the real-life Parliament. The word "Wizengamot" is a portmanteau created from the words "wizard," and "Witenagemot," which was a council of powerful people summoned to advise and appoint kings in real-life Anglo-Saxon England. The word derives from the Old English for "meeting of wise men" (witan - wise man or counsellor / gemot - assembly).

About fifty people were present in Harry Potter's infamous hearing wearing plum-colored robes embroidered with a silver letter "W" on the left-hand side of the chest. During his hearing, the Minister for Magic was sitted in the middle of the front row and did most of the interrogation while character Percy Weasley acts as a Stenographer. Other officials sitted within the Wizaengamot include Senior Undersecretary to the Minister (on the Minister's right) and Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (on the Minister's left) - appearantly on the Wizengamot's ex officio.

Until his death, character Albus Dumbledore held the position of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. However, he was removed during the period coinciding with Order of the Phoenix. His missing period of time could be why the Minister was seated in the middle of the first row, a seat possibly reserved for the Chief Warlock.

There are seven departments in the Ministry, with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement being the largest and all others more or less answering to it (except the Department of Mysteries)

Each Department has a level of Ministry Headquarters assigned to it, although Law Enforcement has not only level two but also the courtrooms of level ten.

• Department of Magical Games and Sports
• Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes
• Department of International Magical Cooperation
• Department of Magical Law Enforcement
• Department of Magical Transportation
• Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures
• Department of Mysteries

Other countries have similar governing bodies; Bulgaria, for example, has its own Ministry of Magic, the Minister of which, Mr. Oblansk, sat in the Top Box to watch the World Cup Final in 1994. There is also a Ministry of Magic in Norway and other countries. All of these governmental organizations have signed the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy of 1692 which set down many requirements for individual countries to keep the Muggles unaware of the wizarding world. This requires the Ministries of each country to monitor activities such as Quidditch and to protect and hide the various magical beasts which live within their borders.

• International Confederation of Wizards
• International Federation of Warlocks

• Andorran
• Burkina Faso
• Bulgarian
• German
• New Zealand
• Norwegian
• A subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers
• Transylvanians are to sign the International Ban on Dueling.

Please answer the following short questions and PM them to me, using proper heading including your name, year, house and HO ID. In the subject title please put the assignment title you are turning in.

1) In your own words please give a general definition of the Ministry of Magic.

2) What city is the British Ministry of Magic located?

3) Who is Pius Thicknesse?

4) Where does the word “Wizengamot” come from?

5) Who is the present Minister of Magic?