Hey guys, welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re
going to be discussing the ministry of magic, or more specifically, all of the Departments
and levels that exist within the ministry of magic. We hear different departments being
namedropped on several occasions throughout the books films, but I’ve never really thought
about how many there actually are. Are there any that we don’t know about?
“Perhaps there are some that have never been mentioned” I thought to myself
The ministry of magic is of course the primary form of government in the magical world - at
least in the UK. Other countries have a similar structure of government, but have different
names. I.e in the US there is MACUSA - The Magical Congress of the United States of America.
Like a muggle government, the ministry’s responsibilities are vast, as they are the
primary body that attempts to sustain law and order in the magical world. Like any system
of government, in an effort to cover as much ground as possible, the primary governmental
body is systematically divided to focus on different sectors of the wizarding world.
The ministry of magic was formed
The governmental body in britain before the The Ministry of Magic was the wizards council,
which was the longest-serving form of government that served britain. However, the wizards
council lacked structure, and it was time for their antiquated system to spring forward
in to an area. In the year 1707, the ministry of magic (that we now know) was formed, a
newer and more modern form of government that could more appropriately address all of the
concerns of the wizarding world, while simultaneously ensuring that the statute of secrecy was carefully
upheld.
The CORE reason for the ministry’s existence, summed up quickly, is explained in this quick
exchange between Harry and Hagrid in the Philosopher’s stone:
Rubeus Hagrid: "Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual."
Harry Potter: "There's a Ministry of Magic?" Rubeus Hagrid: "Course. They wanted Dumbledore
fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job.
Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin'
fer advice." Harry Potter: "But what does a Ministry of
Magic do? " Rubeus Hagrid: "Well, their main job is to
keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."
Harry Potter: "Why?" Rubeus Hagrid: "Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd
be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."
This quote highlights that regardless of everything that they take on, their ultimate responsibility
is to ensure that there is a harmonious and distinctly segregated relationship with the
muggle world. Secrecy is of utmost importance, which is why there are such strict regulations
around underage magic, and magic in the muggle world. If muggles knew of all that goes on
in the wizarding world, then it could really cause quite the kafuffle.
However, while secrecy is important, and always takes highest priority, there are a number
of sub-departments inside the ministry that function in order to achieve or uphold this
ultimate goal. The ministry of magic has 7 separate departments in total, which are distributed
amongst the 10 levels that the ministry building offers. One important thing to note is that
as the entire Ministry is underground, the higher the floor number, the deeper the floor
is. Level by level, let’s see what the ministry of magic physical location has to offer:
Level one: Level one isn’t that interesting, and does
not house any particular department. The first level is used primarily as office space for
the minister of magic, who oversees all ministry operations, as well as other administrative
staff.
Level two: Level two houses the department of magical
law enforcement, which is the largest department of the ministry. It’s arguably the most
important department of the entire ministry, and is responsible for ensuring that all laws
are upheld in britains wizarding community. Heads of this department have included Barty
Crouch Sr, Amelia Bones, Pius Thicknesse, and others.
The department of magical law enforcement covers a lot of ground, and for this reason
it is subdivided in to various divisions. These divisions are as follows:
-Auror Headquarters The auror headquarters is where all of the
highest ranking members of magical law enforcement work. Aurors are responsible for dealing with
and arresting all manners of dark witches and wizards, or others dealing in dark magic.
-Improper use of magic office The improper use of magic office is responsible
for keeping an eye on witches and wizards and ensuring that they are not committing
violations of magic. It’s likely that this office is responsible for ‘the trace’
which alerts them when young witches and wizards perform illegal magic.
-Wizengamot administration services The wizengamot is the court of the wizarding
world - the high court of law and parliament. The wizengamot administration services office
is responsible for any all all paperwork pertaining to the wizengamot.
Subdivisions OF these core divisions include: The administrative registration department,
the department of intoxicating substances, hit wizards, the investigation department,
the magical law enforcement patrol, the ministry of magic witch watchers, the misuse of muggle
artefacts office, and the office for the detection and confiscation of counterfeit defensive
spells and protective objects.
Level three: Level three of the ministry houses the Department
of magical accidents and catastrophes. The primary function of this department is to
ensure that all magical damage, causes by accidental means, are repaired.
This department has 3 core divisions: First, the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad.
This division is comprised of a team of witches and wizards who are responsible for correcting
magical mistakes. This division is of particular importance as it is not uncommon for young
or inexperienced witches and wizards to have..unfavourable results when learning magic.
The second division is the obliviator headquarters. This division is responsible for all matters
related to the well-known spell, obliviate, which is used to erase memories from someone’s
mind. Obliviators are responsible for wiping the memories of muggles after witnessing acts
of magic.
The third division is definitely an interesting one, and is called the ‘muggle-worthy excuse
committee’. The sole responsibility of this committee is to come up with excuses for magical
accidents or occurrences that take place in the muggle world.
Level Four: Level four houses the department for the regulation
and control of magical creatures.This is the second largest department in the ministry,
after the department of magical law enforcement, and is responsible for ensuring that all manners
of magical beasts and creatures are kept in check.
There are seven divisions of this department. The first is the ‘beast division’ which
handles all matters pertaining to creatures classified as ‘beast’, the second is the
‘being division’ which handles all matters pertaining to creatures classified as ‘being’,
and the third is the ‘spirit’ division which handles all matters pertaining to creatures
classified as ‘spirit’.
A beast is a magical creature that does not have sufficient intelligence to understand
laws, a ‘being’ is a magical creature that should possess sufficient intelligence
to understand magical laws, and ‘spirit’ is reserved primarily for ghosts, or those
who have passed away.
The fourth division is the goblin liaison office, which works to improve relationships
between goblins and wizards. The fifth division is the centaur liasion office, which works
in a similar fashion to the aforementioned office, but deals with centaurs.
The sixth division is the ‘pest advisory board’ which helps to deal with infestations
in wizarding homes- they are basically ‘pest control’ .
Lastly, the seventh department is the office of misinformation, which provides the muggle
prime minister with non-magical explanations for obviously magical events that may have
occurred in the wizarding world. This division is similar to the muggle worthy excuse committee,
and they likely work quite closely together.
Level Five: Level five of the ministry houses the department
of magical cooperation. The goal of this department is to create discourse and collaborate with
witches and wizards from other countries. It is the wizarding equivalent to the british
foreign & commonwealth office. This department is broken up in to 3 divisions:
First, the international magical trading standards body, this division is responsible for overseeing
trade practices between international magical bodies.
The second division is the international confederation of wizards, which is basically the united
nations of the wizarding world. It is an intergovernmental body, and the overseer of this division is
called the ‘supreme mugwump’. Dumbledore was supreme mugwump for a period of time.
The third division is the international magical office of law, which is responsible for monitoring
laws and policies put in place by the international confederation of wizards.
Level Six: Level six houses the department of magical
transportation, this department is responsible for all matters pertaining to magical transport.
There are four main divisions of this department. The first is the Floo network authority. As
we know, the floo network is a network of interconnected fireplaces, bridging wizarding
building together. In order to use these fireplaces, you need to use ‘floo power’, which this
department regulates.
The second division of this department is broom regulatory control. This division is
responsible for ensuring that people are a. Riding brooms safely, and b. That broomsticks
are in proper, safe, working order. It is their responsibility to confiscate brooms
if they have been tampered with.
The third division of this department is the Portkey office. A portkey is a magical object
that allows witches and wizards to instantly transport to a specific and defined location.
Usually commonplace objects are transformed in to portkeys, as to not draw any unnecessary
attention toward them. This division is responsible for overseeing all portkey transport.
The fourth division is the apparition test center, which helps to grant apparition licenses
to witches and wizards. Apparition is of course a magical means of transportation, akin to
teleportation, where the user instantly travels from one location to another. It is a very
difficult skill to learn, which is why there is regulation surrounding it.
Level Seven: Level seven of the ministry of magic is reserved
for the department of magical games and sports. As you might be able to guess by the name,
this department is responsible for all wizarding sporting events-most notably quidditch and
the quidditch world cup.
This department is broken out in to three subdivisions.
The first division is the british and irish quidditch league headquarters, which governs
all aspecst of the british and irish quidditch league.
The second division is the official gobstones club. Gobstones is a game that witches and
wizards play, and this division is responsible for organizing and planning tournaments.
The third division is the Ludicrous patents office. Just like in the muggle world, a patent
refers to intellectual property introducing an idea or concept. And just like in the muggle
world, there are some ridiculous patents that need to be dealt with. This office deals with
the licensing of ‘ludicrous’ patents.
Level Eight: Level eight houses no departments, but is
the location of the ministry atrium, ministry reception area, fountain of magical brethren,
and security desk. We see level eight in the films quite a bit, most notably in the epic
battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort which was in the atrium.
Level Nine: Level nine houses the department of mysteries,
a department that we should all be quite familiar with as it is instrumental in the books and
films. The department of mysteries is responsible for studying the mysteries of the wizarding
world, mysteries associated with love, space, thought, time, death, and others. Basically
anything that is unknown. Anything pertaining to this department is highly confidential,
and those who work in this department are referred to as ‘unspeakables’. The divisions
of this department are broken up by area of study, and includes the following: The brain
room, the hall of prophecy, the death chamber, the love chamber, the space chamber and the
time room. These rooms are accessed via the ‘room of doors’ - a large circular room
where everything is black.
Level Ten: On level ten of the ministry of magic exists
Courtroom Ten, the courtroom where all crimes against wizardkind are addressed. The council
of magical law and wizengamot conduct hearings here, and this is where death eaters were
charged for their crimes in the wizarding war. Harry’s disciplinary hearing for his
use of a patronus charm in Little whining was also held here.
Level ten also houses the muggle-born registration commission forum courtroom, which was used
for hearings pertaining to muggle-born wizards, as well as the ministry detention area, which
is a cell-block that holds witches and wizards in-between trials, and (if convicted) before
they are sent to Azkaban.
And that concludes all of the levels, departments, divisions, and subdivisions of the ministry
of magic! I thought I knew the ministry well, but when doing research on this topic it turned
out that there was A LOT that I didn’t know.
That’s it for this video, if you enjoy the content please remember to like and subscribe.
Until next time, It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.