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| Ministry of Magic | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Universe | Harry Potter |
| Founded | 1707 |
| Location | Ministry of Magic Headquarters Whitehall, London |
| Leader | Minister for Magic |
| Key people | |
| Purpose | Preservation of magical law |
| Powers | Government of UK's Magical Community |
| Affiliations | International Confederation of Wizards |
The Ministry of Magic is the government of the British wizarding community in the fictional universe of Harry Potter. It is led by an official called the Minister for Magic, and is first mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Throughout the novels, it is regularly depicted as corrupt, elitist and completely incompetent, with its high-ranking officials blind to ominous events and unwilling to take action against threats to wizard society. In Order of the Phoenix, Dolores Umbridge was placed at Hogwarts to observe the happenings within the school (acting as a ministry plant), and prevent the spread of news concerning the return of Lord Voldemort. It reaches a zenith of corruption, before being effectively taken over by Voldemort. At the end of the final book, following Voldemort's death, Kingsley Shacklebolt is revealed to have become the Minister for Magic.
Composition and status
Connection to Muggle world
Each new Muggle Prime Minister receives 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. For example, the Minister has to inform the Prime Minister if dangerous magical artefacts or animals are to be brought into the UK.
Government structure
The post of Minister for Magic is stated to be an elected position who has the power to elect or dismiss ministers is never explained. In the books, employment with the Ministry can be obtained right after completion of a wizarding education, though different offices require different levels of education and sometimes specific exam results with some extra training required within the department itself.
Judicial system and corruption
In the books and films, the wizarding courts have displayed at times, a marked lack of interest in evidence for or against a suspect. All of the accused are given trials, as in the case of Buckbeak. In Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry is shown to be quite prepared to decree and enforce draconian laws without notice. At times, the Ministry can also seem uninterested in solving serious problems, choosing instead, to ignore or cover up bad news. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Fudge takes a long time to respond to the attacks on Hogwarts; and even then is sure that Rubeus Hagrid is causing the trouble rather than someone else. In the fourth and fifth instalments, Fudge refuses to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, despite mounting evidence. The Ministry even mounts a campaign to damage Harry Potter's credibility, an effort fuelled in part by Fudge's fear that Albus Dumbledore wants to forcibly remove him from his position. Eventually, the Ministry is forced to acknowledge the emergency and act on it. Fudge is subsequently removed from office for incompetence and replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour.
Departments
Department of Magical Law Enforcement
The Department of Magical Law Enforcement is a combination of police and justice facilities. It is located on the second level of the Ministry of Magic. Bartemius Crouch Sr. once headed the department, prior to the first book. At the beginning of the series, it is headed by Amelia Bones, who is replaced by Pius Thicknesse after Voldemort murders her. Thicknesse is replaced by Corban Yaxley after Voldemort has Thicknesse appointed the puppet Minister for his regime. By the events of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Harry Potter has become its head.
According to Rowling, this is the department that Hermione joins, after the events of the seventh book, transferring from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, where she began her post-Hogwarts career.
Auror Office
The Ministry employs Aurors to pursue and apprehend Dark wizards. A potential recruit also has to pass "a series of character and aptitude tests." Nymphadora Tonks mentions that the program's courses of study include "Concealment and Disguise" and "Stealth and Tracking," and that the training is hard to pass with high marks.
Aurors in the Harry Potter series include Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, John Dawlish, Frank and Alice Longbottom and Rufus Scrimgeour. Harry himself later joins the department, and, according to a Rowling 2007 interview, is eventually promoted to department head.
During the First War against Voldemort, Aurors had authorisation to use the Unforgivable Curses on suspected Death Eaters: that is, they received licence to kill, coerce, and torture them. Aurors also operate to protect high-profile targets such as Harry, Hogwarts, and the Muggle prime minister – in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix auror Kingsley Shacklebolt worked secretly in the Muggle Prime Minister's security detail.
Improper Use of Magic Office
The Improper Use of Magic Office is responsible for investigating offences under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy. They regulate an underage wizard's or witch's use of magic and prohibit wizards and witches from performing magic in the presence of Muggles or in a Muggle-inhabited area in the Harry Potter universe. An enchantment called "the Trace" is placed upon children and helps the department detect offences; it ends when they reach the age of 17. However, Dumbledore explains to Harry that the Ministry cannot tell who exactly uses magic in a given area, only that it has been used. This can be seen as unfair to young witches and wizards who grew up in the Muggle world (such as Muggle-born wizards, or those with one magical and one Muggle parent) as they are more likely to be caught using magic than those who grow up in the wizarding world. Those living in the Muggle world generally have no contact with other witches or wizards away from school, and the Ministry simply presumes that any magic performed where they are is an act of underage wizardry, while at the same time presuming that any magic performed in a wizard home that has minors present was performed by those aged 17 and over. This means that minors living in the wizard world have a much greater chance of escaping punishment for the use of underage magic. The Ministry has to rely on wizard and witch parents to enforce the ban on under-age magic within their homes.
It is not known how or when the Trace is placed upon a child, though it may be assumed that it begins either when the child begins to show magical talent or when they first go through the barrier to Platform 9¾. A number of witches and wizards, including Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Lily Evans, and Severus Snape all known to have performed some underage magic while growing up in the Muggle world that went unpunished.
After Harry's first minor violation – a Hover charm that was actually performed by Dobby the House-elf – he is merely warned. His second violation, inflating Aunt Marge, is forgiven by Fudge because the Minister fears that Sirius Black is after Harry, and feels that his safety after running away from the Dursleys takes precedence. After his third offence (creating a Patronus to protect himself and Dudley from two Dementors), the letter sent to him states that he is expelled from school; that representatives will arrive at his home to destroy his wand; and that he is required to appear at a disciplinary hearing given that the offence occurred after he had already received one warning. Dumbledore reminds Fudge that the Ministry doesn't have the power to expel students from Hogwarts, or to confiscate wands without benefit of a hearing.
At Harry's hearing, he is tried by the entire Wizengamot court and cleared of all charges thanks to Dumbledore's intervention. Such proceedings are highly unusual, however. For a simple case of underage use of magic, Harry was originally supposed to be interviewed solely by Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Wizengamot
The Wizengamot serves as the wizard high court of law, from the words "wizard" and "Witenagemot", which was a council of powerful people summoned to advise and appoint kings in Anglo-Saxon England. That word derives from the Old English for "meeting of wise men" (witan – wise man or counsellor / gemot – assembly).
In Order of the Phoenix, about fifty people are present at Harry's hearing. During the hearing, the Minister for Magic sits in the middle of the front row and conducts most of the interrogation, while Percy Weasley (the Junior Undersecretary), acts as stenographer. Other officials seen at the Wizengamot include the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Dumbledore had held the position of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot for about 50 years. He was removed at the beginning of the Order of the Phoenix novel and reinstated at the end. He remained in that post for one year, until his death at the end of Half-Blood Prince.
Other offices
Other offices include the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, which pursues day-to-day law offences; the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, headed by Perkins, and the job in which the reader first sees Arthur Weasley; and the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects Office, created by Rufus Scrimgeour in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, into which Mr Weasley is promoted, to be its head.
Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes
The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes is responsible for repairing accidental magical damage in the world of Harry Potter. It is located on the third level of the Ministry of Magic and houses the following offices:
- The Accidental Magic Reversal Squad is a squad of wizards whose job it is to reverse "accidental magic." These accidents are normally caused by young witches and wizards who have not learned to control their magic. They may also be caused by older wizards out of control, or severe, unintentional effects of charms or spells, such as splinching (in Apparition when a wizard or witch is split with one part remaining at the point of origin, and the rest of the wizard at the destination). For instance, two members of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad were sent out in the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban book and movie when Harry Potter inflated Aunt Marge; they "deflated" her and erased her memory of the inflation (the memory modification done by Obliviators).
- The Obliviator Headquarters. "Obliviator" is the designation for a Ministry of Magic employee who has the task of modifying the memory of a Muggle who witnesses incidents belonging to the Wizarding world. They are first called so in the sixth volume, although the practice is mentioned in the previous novels: any wizard can modify memories in the Harry Potter books by using the spell "Obliviate". They were sent out in the third book when after they deflated Aunt Marge, they erased her memory of the incident.
- The Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee explains any major magical accidents to the Muggles by creating a non-magical reason for the accident. For example, Peter Pettigrew killed twelve Muggle bystanders and tore apart the street (so as to reach the sewer pipe and escape) by means of an immense explosion curse during his altercation with Sirius Black. The massive and obvious damage and mortality was explained by the committee as due to a tragic accidental explosion of the gas main.
Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures
As noted in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures is divided into three divisions: the Beast Division, the Being Division, and the Spirit Division. It is also noted that Hermione began her post-Hogwarts career here before transferring to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in this office. It is located on the fourth level of the Ministry of Magic.
Department of International Magical Cooperation
The Department of International Magical Cooperation is an agency that attempts to get wizards from different countries to co-operate in wizarding actions both political and public. This department on the fifth level of the Ministry of Magic includes the headquarters of the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law, and the British seats of the International Confederation of Wizards. The former head was Barty Crouch Sr., until his death. This is also where Percy Weasley began his Ministry career. This department is similar in function to the real-life Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom, and various organs of the United Nations.
Department of Magical Transportation
The Department of Magical Transportation 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: the Floo Network Authority, responsible for setting up and maintaining the network, and distributing the greenish floo powder; the Broom Regulatory Control, that controls the traffic of broom travel; the Portkey Office, the regulation of Portkeys; and the Apparition Test Centre, that grants licences to witches and wizards so that they can apparate.
Department of Magical Games and Sports
The Department of Magical Games and Sports organises events like the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament. Ludo Bagman used to be the Head of Department here, but his gambling problem forced him to flee from Goblin creditors. The department is located on the seventh level of the Ministry of Magic, and includes the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club, and the Ludicrous Patents Office – other sports and games-related aspects of the Harry Potter world.
Department of Mysteries
The Department of Mysteries is a department which studies particular enigmas (death, time, space, thought, and love) and stores copies of prophecies made in the Harry Potter universe. During Voldemort's discriminatory regime, he forces the department to lie and claim that Muggle-borns actually steal magic from Pure-bloods, which makes them "illegal magicals" and allows their arrest.
The rooms at the Department include:
| Name | Contents |
|---|---|
| Brain Room | A tank of green liquid which contains a number of pearly-white brains. When removed from the tank, the brains fling out streamers of thought which can seriously injure someone. |
| Entrance Room | Whenever one of its doors is shut, the room's walls rotate, disorienting its occupants for several seconds. Responds to a verbal request for an exit by opening the correct door. |
| Space Chamber | Magically simulated floating solar system. |
| Death Chamber | There is a pit with a raised, stone dais, on which stands an arch with a tattered black curtain hanging from it. Despite an absence of wind, it continuously flutters slightly, and entrances its viewers. Harry Potter hears faint voices from beyond the veil when he comes near it in the books. It was through this archway that Sirius Black fell and died in Order of the Phoenix. |
| Time Chamber | A room in which various time-related devices are kept, such as clocks and Time-Turners (which can send the user back in time). It also contains a mysterious bell jar, inside which anything will grow steadily younger and younger, and then slowly return to its original age in a never-ending cycle. |
| Hall of Prophecy | Vertical to the door are towering shelves holding thousands of orbs (recordings of prophecies). Whenever an orb breaks, the recorded prophecy it contains is repeated aloud once, after which the recording is useless. Sybill Trelawney's 1980 prophecy of "the boy who would defeat the Dark Lord" is kept in here until the events of Order of the Phoenix in which it was smashed. |
| The Ever-Locked Room (Love Chamber) | According to Dumbledore, behind this door is the most mysterious subject of study in the department: a force "that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature... It is the power held within that room that Harry possesses in such quantities and which Voldemort has none at all." In Half-Blood Prince, this power was confirmed through a dialogue between Harry and Dumbledore to be love. |
Unspeakables
The Unspeakables are the group of wizards who work in the Department of Mysteries (their identities classified for security reasons). Known Unspeakables include Broderick Bode, Croaker, and Augustus Rookwood who is a Death Eater.
Ministry officials
The following characters are notable Ministry of Magic officials. Yaxley is listed under Death Eaters.
Ludo Bagman
Ludovic "Ludo" Bagman is a retired professional Quidditch player. He was the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Rowling uses Dumbledore's Pensieve to reveal in Goblet of Fire that Bagman was accused of being a Death Eater about thirteen years before the events of the fourth book because he had given information to recently discovered Death Eater Augustus Rookwood. It is stated that he had believed Rookwood, who was his father's friend, to be beyond suspicion, and that, consequently, he had thought that he was aiding the Ministry by passing the information on to him.
Bagman loves gambling, which got him in financial trouble so severe that he pays some of his creditors with disappearing Leprechaun Gold, after they have gambled on the Quidditch World Cup. After the World Cup final, some goblins corner him in the woods outside the stadium and take all the gold he had on him, which is not enough to cover his debts. To clear his debts with the goblins, Bagman makes a bet on the Triwizard Tournament, of which he is one of the judges. He bets the goblins that Harry would win. He tries to help Harry over the course of the Tournament, giving him a perfect score in the First Task even though he is injured, and offering him advice. Harry and Cedric Diggory end up tying for first place in the tournament, and Bagman does not win the bet as the goblins argue that Bagman was betting Harry would win outright. Bagman runs away after the Third Task of the Tournament. Bagman appears in the Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup video game as a Quidditch announcer.
Barty Crouch Sr.
Bartemius "Barty" Crouch Sr. was the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement when Voldemort first came to power. He sent Sirius Black to the wizard prison Azkaban without a trial. Crouch appeared to be the favourite to become the next Minister for Magic until his son, Barty Crouch Jr., was caught with the Lestranges, Death Eaters who were assisting Voldemort's rise to power and who had tortured Neville Longbottom's parents into insanity with the Cruciatus Curse. Crouch gave his son a trial before sending him to Azkaban; however, according to Sirius, the trial was a sham, merely a public demonstration of how much he hated the boy. The public were sympathetic to Crouch Jr., and placed all the blame on Crouch Sr., accusing him of driving his son to join the Death Eaters because of his parental neglect. After the trial, Crouch lost much of his popularity and any chance he had of becoming Minister of Magic, and he was shunted sideways to a post as the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation.
About a year after the trial, Crouch's terminally ill wife begged for her son's life to be saved, so Crouch abetted the two in trading appearances using Polyjuice Potion. Mrs. Crouch died as Crouch Jr. in Azkaban, while Crouch Sr. subsequently used the Imperius Curse to keep Crouch Jr. under house arrest. When Bertha Jorkins discovered the truth, Crouch Sr. silenced her with a powerful Memory Charm that permanently damaged her memory.
Shortly thereafter, Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew show up at the Crouch family home, having found out about Crouch Jr. from interrogating Jorkins. Voldemort places Crouch Sr. under the Imperius Curse, freeing Crouch Jr. from the Imperius Curse placed on him by his father, and forces Crouch to continue to appear in public as if there is nothing wrong. While still under the Imperius Curse, Crouch Sr. acts as one of the five judges at the Triwizard Tournament. However, worried that Crouch will fight off the effects of the Imperius Curse, Voldemort later has him imprisoned within his own house and has him communicate exclusively through supervised owl post. Despite this precaution, Crouch manages to break free of the Imperius Curse, and makes his way to Hogwarts, hoping to warn Dumbledore of what is happening, running into Harry and Viktor Krum in the Forbidden Forest. However, while Harry is on his way to summon Dumbledore, he unwittingly alerts Crouch Jr., who is using Polyjuice Potion to impersonate Mad-Eye Moody, to his father's presence. Crouch Jr. immediately goes to the forest, stuns Krum, kills his own father, transfigures the body into a bone, and buries it on the Hogwarts grounds.
Roger Lloyd-Pack appeared as Crouch Sr. in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
John Dawlish
John Dawlish is an Auror. He is described as a "tough-looking wizard" with "very short, wiry" grey hair.
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Dawlish accompanies Fudge to Hogwarts to confront Harry about the secret Dumbledore's Army meetings. Dawlish is knocked out along with Fudge, Umbridge, and Kingsley when Dumbledore, who takes all the blame for the Army on himself, escapes. A few weeks later, Dawlish is among the wizards who attempt to arrest Hagrid when Umbridge sacks the gamekeeper. Dawlish appears again in Half-Blood Prince guarding Hogwarts after the commencement of the Second War. He is sent to follow Dumbledore when the Headmaster leaves school to search for Voldemort's Horcruxes, but is "regretfully" hexed by the Headmaster. He is Confunded by an Order member early on in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and gives Death Eater Corban Yaxley false information on Harry's removal from the Dursleys' home. Being Confunded, he is defeated by Dirk Cresswell, who escapes halfway on the way to Azkaban. Later, Dawlish is sent to arrest Augusta Longbottom. After a struggle, her defence places Dawlish in St Mungo's Hospital.
Dawlish's first name is not revealed in the books or films. However, Rowling said in an interview with the podcast "PotterCast" that she named him John, owing to host John Noe's appreciation of the character.
Dawlish is portrayed by Richard Leaf in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Cornelius Fudge
Cornelius Fudge is first mentioned in Philosopher's Stone as the Minister for Magic of the United Kingdom. He makes his first appearance in Chamber of Secrets, when he arrives at Hogwarts to take Hagrid to Azkaban. He also removes Dumbledore as Headmaster when pressured by Lucius Malfoy who insisted that all the school governors had voted on it. However, it is not until Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that Fudge meets Harry for the first time. Fudge does not press charges against Harry for accidentally inflating Aunt Marge, and advises him to be careful because an escaped convict is at large. When Fudge goes for a social drink at the Three Broomsticks pub, he inadvertently tells an unseen Harry that Sirius was James Potter's best friend and was believed to have betrayed the Potters to Voldemort.
His kindly relationship to Harry abruptly changes in Goblet of Fire. When Harry emerges from the Triwizard Tournament's third task after having seen the rebirth of Voldemort, Fudge refuses to believe it. He is worried about the fallout of announcing Voldemort's return, marking the end of the Wizarding world's years of peace, and the sudden outbreak of gloom and terror; hence he decides to merely ignore all of the evidence rather than accept the truth. J. K. Rowling has since stated that Fudge's behaviour mirrors that of Neville Chamberlain in the lead-up to World War II.
In Order of the Phoenix, Fudge orchestrates a vicious smear campaign through the Daily Prophet to present Dumbledore as a senile old fool and Harry as an unstable, attention-seeking liar. He also passes a law allowing him to place Dolores Umbridge, his Senior Undersecretary, as a teacher at Hogwarts. He then appoints Umbridge as Hogwarts' "High Inquisitor", with the power to inspect and fire teachers, and ultimately Dumbledore's successor as Headmaster, which gives her primary control of how Hogwarts is managed. Fudge is concerned that Dumbledore is a threat to his power and that he is planning to train the Hogwarts students to overthrow the Ministry.
After Voldemort appears in the Ministry of Magic at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Fudge finally admits that Voldemort has returned. He is ousted by the wizarding community for his failure to announce the return of Voldemort immediately after the Triwizard Competition; for discrediting Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore; and for installing Dolores Umbridge as Headmistress of Hogwarts. He is replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour, though he stays on as a powerless advisor and messenger to the Prime Minister in Half-Blood Prince. Fudge is portrayed by Robert Hardy in the film series.
Bertha Jorkins
Bertha Jorkins was a student at Hogwarts at the same time as James Potter. She became a Ministry of Magic employee after leaving Hogwarts. In the summer before the events of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, she was killed by Voldemort. Rowling later revealed that her death was used to turn Nagini, Voldemort's snake, into a Horcrux.
Rufus Scrimgeour
Rufus Scrimgeour serves as the Minister for Magic of the United Kingdom from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince until his death in the following book, succeeding Cornelius Fudge. He is described as looking like an old lion with tawny hair and bushy eyebrows, yellow eyes and wire-rimmed spectacles. Before being selected as minister, Scrimgeour headed the Auror Office of the Ministry and he is heavily battle-scarred from his years of service as an Auror, giving him an appearance of shrewd toughness. As the Minister, he visits the Muggle Prime Minister to inform him about important wizarding events, crucial to internal security.
Scrimgeour was more concerned about the Ministry's reputation than seeing the danger the Death Eaters and Voldemort posed to the wizarding world. He tried to make it look like the Ministry was making progress by covering up breakouts from Azkaban and arresting random suspects such as Stan Shunpike - although later on Shunpike is in fact shown to have joined the Death Eaters, albeit ironically as a direct result of his being arrested in the first place. He also sought to raise the wizarding population's morale by asking Harry, who has been labelled as the "Chosen One", to be seen visiting the Ministry, so that the public would believe that Harry supports the Ministry's actions against Voldemort. Harry also rejects that role, primarily because of his own antagonistic history with the Ministry and because of the Ministry's treatment of Dumbledore.
Scrimgeour makes a short appearance in Deathly Hallows as the executor of Dumbledore's will. Scrimgeour is assassinated shortly after the visit, when the Death Eaters take over the Ministry through a coup. Harry felt a "rush of gratitude" to hear that Scrimgeour, in his final act, attempted to protect Harry by refusing to disclose his location.
Bill Nighy played Scrimgeour in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, in which he is portrayed as Welsh and a more compassionate character.
Pius Thicknesse
Pius Thicknesse is first introduced in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the start of the book, when he is placed under the Imperius Curse by Corban Yaxley, who uses his position to infiltrate the senior ranks of the Ministry. Thicknesse is described as a man with long hair and a beard, which are mostly black but tinged with some grey, along with a great overhanging forehead and glinting eyes. Harry's immediate impression is of "a crab looking out from beneath a rock."
After the coup in which Scrimgeour is killed, the Ministry comes under the de facto control of Voldemort, who appoints Thicknesse as his puppet Minister. Thicknesse joins the ranks of the Death Eaters for the rest of the book and fights with them at the Battle of Hogwarts, where he duels against Percy Weasley, who resigns mid-duel. Following the end of the battle, the Imperius Curse that was placed upon him is broken. Kingsley Shacklebolt replaces him as interim (later permanent) Minister for Magic. Not much is known about the "real" nature of Thicknesse, as he has been under the control of Yaxley for nearly the entire book.
Guy Henry plays Thicknesse in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2, in which he is depicted as a Death Eater even before Scrimgeour's death. However, it's unknown if he's under the imperious curse, or joined out of his own free will. In Part 2, Thicknesse is killed by Voldemort.
Dolores Umbridge
Main article: Dolores UmbridgeDolores Umbridge is a short, squat woman described as resembling a large pale toad, with "short, curly, mouse-brown hair". She speaks with a quiet, childish, high-pitched voice. She has a tendency to speak to people as if they are simpletons or very young children, without having demonstrated any magical abilities to back up her superiority claims. Umbridge becomes the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor during Harry's fifth year. Before that, Umbridge acted as Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.
Umbridge demonstrates incredible incompetence by refusing to teach the practical component of the class for political reasons. Fudge later appoints Umbridge as "Hogwarts High Inquisitor", a role which is solely symbolic, as Umbridge is unable to evict a rival professor from Hogwarts Castle and merely dictates numerous rules. She also lacks the ability to manufacture a truth potion, and falsely believes that Albus Dumbledore seeks a political coup against Minister for Magic Fudge.
During the events of Deathly Hallows Part I & Deathly Hallows Part II, Umbridge adopts a new title: Head of the "Muggle-Born Registration Commission", from 1997-1998. This Commission conducted unethical trials against "muggle-born" witches and wizards before being disassembled by Interim Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt.
J.K Rowling has confirmed via the fan site PotterMore that Umbridge is canonically placed in Azkaban, the Wizarding Prison, after the fall of Voldemort's corrupt Ministry. Fans of the Harry Potter series typically detest Umbridge because of her egregious conduct throughout the books and movies.
Percy Weasley
Percy Weasley is the third son of Arthur and Molly Weasley. In direct contrast to his brothers, he is a stickler for rules and often pompous due to his love of authority, though he does have good intentions at heart. When readers first meet Percy in Philosopher's Stone, he is a Gryffindor prefect, and in Prisoner of Azkaban, he becomes Head Boy. In both these circumstances, he becomes physically attached to his badge, wanting to polish it and wear it even when out of school. Percy is an academically high-performing student. When he finishes school, this academic distinction plus his having served as Head Boy secures him a job in the Ministry in Goblet of Fire. Percy somewhat idolises his immediate supervisor, Barty Crouch Sr. When Crouch is ill, Percy replaces him as a judge in the second Triwizard Tournament task. He gives up his family time for a better position as an assistant to the Minister for Magic.
In Order of the Phoenix, Percy is promoted to Junior Assistant to Minister Fudge. Since this is an unusually high-ranking position for someone of Percy's age to hold, Arthur suspects that Percy's promotion was not earned but instead given to him to allow the Ministry to better manipulate the Weasleys. Outraged and hurt by the suggestion, Percy violently argues with Arthur, resulting in Percy's subsequent alienation from his family. When Percy learns Ron is made a prefect, he sends him a letter congratulating him for following in his footsteps, and unsuccessfully urges Ron to sever ties with Harry (claiming Harry is an extreme danger to Ron's prefect status), and to pay loyalty to Umbridge and the Ministry – going so far to refer to her as a "delightful woman," much to Harry's and Ron's disgust.
In the climax of Deathly Hallows, Percy returns to his family and manages to make up with all of them, and eventually duels new Minister for Magic and Voldemort puppet Pius Thicknesse in the Battle of Hogwarts. While dueling Thicknesse, Percy announces that he is resigning, the first joke he has made in many years, much to Fred's delight. While dueling alongside Percy, he witnesses the death of his brother Fred at the hands of Augustus Rookwood, and Percy clings to the corpse and shields it from further damage. In the last part of the battle, he and his father work together to defeat Thicknesse.
Percy is portrayed by Chris Rankin in the film series.
Others
| Character | Background |
|---|---|
| Broderick Bode | A worker in the Department of Mysteries. He is placed under the Imperius Curse by Lucius Malfoy, who seeks to obtain the prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort. Bode suffers spell damage from his attempt to steal the prophecy and is sent to St Mungo's Hospital; he is subsequently strangled by a potted Devil's Snare plant at Christmas to prevent him from revealing any information about the Death Eaters' plot. |
| Amelia Bones | Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She is the aunt of Susan Bones and the sister of Edgar Bones. During Harry's trial in book 5, Madam Bones expressed admiration for Harry's ability to produce a corporeal Patronus at such a young age; her fair handling of the trial also helped lead to Harry's acquittal. Madam Bones is revealed to have been brutally murdered in the opening chapter of book 6, sometime before the events of it; it is said that Voldemort himself likely killed her, and that she put up a very hard fight in the process. She is portrayed by Sian Thomas in the film adaptation. |
| Reginald Cattermole | Works in Magical Maintenance at the Ministry. Ron impersonates him using Polyjuice Potion in Deathly Hallows. Cattermole is portrayed by Steffan Rhodri in the film adaptation. |
| Dirk Cresswell | Muggle-born Head of the Goblin Liaison Office until Albert Runcorn exposed his falsification of his family tree and caused him to be sent to Azkaban. He escaped, but eventually was killed by Snatchers. |
| Amos Diggory | Father of Cedric Diggory. Works in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Amos constantly boasts of his son's accomplishments and reminds Harry at every opportunity that Cedric beat him at Quidditch. In the film version of Goblet of Fire, he is more amicable and was portrayed by Jeff Rawle. |
| Madam Edgecombe | Works in the Department of Magical Transportation, Floo Network office. She helped Dolores Umbridge to police Hogwarts fireplaces. She is the mother of Marietta Edgecombe, the Ravenclaw who betrayed Dumbledore's Army to Umbridge. |
| Mafalda Hopkirk | Works in the Improper Use of Magic Office in the Ministry, and is responsible for sending out warnings when magic by the underaged is detected. Hermione uses some of her hair to impersonate her and enter the Ministry, and gets close to Umbridge prior to their stealing of Slytherin's locket. Her voice is portrayed by Jessica Stevenson in the film version of Order of the Phoenix, but in Deathly Hallows, she is played physically by Sophie Thompson. |
| Griselda Marchbanks | An elder witch who formerly served on the Wizengamot and was already working for the Wizarding Examinations Authority in Dumbledore's time as a student. Madam Marchbanks remains a vocal supporter of Dumbledore, in defiance of the Ministry's attempts to discredit and arrest him, and resigns her position in protest at his treatment. |
| Bob Ogden | Ogden worked as a Magical Law Enforcer and was Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad before he died. |
| Tiberius Ogden | Though never explicitly introduced, Ogden is mentioned several times in the fifth instalment as a staunch ally of Dumbledore in the face of the headmaster's growing unpopularity. As a result, allegations (probably invented) are made against him, claiming he is involved in goblin riots. A member of the Wizengamot until he resigns to show solidarity with Dumbledore. |
| Albert Runcorn | Impersonated by Harry in Deathly Hallows. In the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, he is played by David O'Hara. |
| Newt Scamander | A retired Ministry official who worked in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He is the author of the textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. In the Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, he is played by Eddie Redmayne. |
Reception
See also: Politics of Harry PotterJennifer Barnett of People's Weekly World stated that the reader is drawn "into the politics of the wizarding world—the 'Educational Decrees' from the toad-like Ministry of Magic representative, the high-level connections of 'war criminals' from the last rise of Voldemort, the prejudice against 'mudbloods' and 'half-breeds,'" and suggested connections "to the world we live in, to the similarities and differences between the Fudge administration and the Bush administration." Julia Turner of Slate Magazine also interpreted Rowling's depiction of the ministration as criticism of the Bush and Blair administrations, suggesting the Ministry's security pamphlet recalls the Operation TIPS (Terrorism Information and Prevention System). University of Tennessee law professor Benjamin Barton notes what he considers to be libertarian aspects of Harry Potter in his paper "Harry Potter and the Half-Crazed Bureaucracy", published in the Michigan Law Review, stating that "Rowling's scathing portrait of government is surprisingly strident and effective. This is partly because her critique works on so many levels: the functions of government, the structure of government, and the bureaucrats who run the show. All three elements work together to depict a Ministry of Magic run by self-interested bureaucrats bent on increasing and protecting their power, often to the detriment of the public at large. In other words, Rowling creates a public-interest scholar's dream—or nightmare—government."
In popular culture
One of the most influential wizard rock bands is named Ministry of Magic after the government structure in the series. Ministry of Magic has made numerous performances, amongst the most notable of them taking place in Wrockstock.
References
- ^ Rowling, J. K. (2005). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747581088.
- Rowling, J. K. (2003). "Luna Lovegood". Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747551006.
- ^ Rowling, J. K. (2000). Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Bloomsbury. ISBN 074754624X.
- ^ Rowling, J. K. (2003). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747551006.
- ^ Rowling, J. K. (2007). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Bloomsbury. ISBN 1551929767.
- Brown, Jen (26 July 2007). "Exclusive: Finished 'Potter'? Rowling tells what happens next". Today.NBC "As for his occupation, Harry, along with Ron, is working at the Auror Department at the Ministry of Magic. After all these years, Harry is now the department head."
- Rowling, J. K. (1998). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747538492.
- Rowling, J. K. (1999). Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747542155.
- Vander Ark, Steve (27 December 2000). "The Wizengamot". The Harry Potter Lexicon. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
- Rowling, J. K. (2001). Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0613325419.
- "Online Chat Transcript". Bloomsbury Publishing. 31 July 2007. Archived from the original on 6 January 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2007.
- Anelli, Melissa, John Noe, Sue Upton (18 December 2007). "PotterCast 130: The One with J. K. Rowling" (Podcast). PotterCast. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
{{cite podcast}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - "J. K. Rowling Discusses Inspiration for Minister for Magic and More in New Interview", The Leaky Cauldron, 4 February 2008. Retrieved on 4 February 2008
- Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; 2005; Chapter 16; Pages 345–347 (American edition).
- "Bill Nighy to star in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". Newsround. United Kingdom: CBBC. 6 July 2009. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
- Barnett, Jennifer (10 July 2003). "Harry Potter and the irresistible read" Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. People's Weekly World
- Turner, Julia (20 July 2005). "When Harry Met Osama; Terrorism comes to Hogwarts" Archived 26 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Slate Magazine
- Barton, Benjamin H. (2006). "Harry Potter and the Half-Crazed Bureaucracy" (PDF). Michigan Law Review. 104. Social Science Research Network. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
