Entry tags:

ministry

The Ministry

Layout and structure ::: Getting inside the Ministry ::: The Wizengamot and the Minister ::: Aurors, Hitwizards

The Ministry

Building and Atrium:

The actual structure is all underground, although magical windows show whatever weather Magical Maintenance has chosen for the day, from bright sunshine to hurricanes. Any visit to the Ministry would start in the atrium, on the eight floor (read about how to get inside the atrium further down in the document), and from there you would have access to the rest of the building.

The atrium is a large hall. Fireplaces line two of the walls. They are not connected to the Floo, but they go to the underground toilets. Left side for arrivals, right side for departure. There is one fireplace on each side which is reserved for Aurors, Unspeakables and Hit Wizards (this last part is not canon) The floor of the atrium is dark wood, the ceiling is peacock blue with gold figures magically moving across it. The large fountain stands in the middle of the hall.

At the end of the Atrium, there are golden gates with a security stand next to it. Eric Munch is usually on duty here. He registers the wands of visitors. Another smaller hall is beyond the gates and here there is a series of lifts (ca 20 of them). Lifts go up for level 1 through 7 and down for level 9. To get to level 10 there are stairs from level 9. There are stairs to all levels of the buildings next to the lifts but those are for emergencies only.

On the other side of the Atrium, there is a magical door to a restaurant for employees and guests. With dark wood floors and panelled walls, it looks similar to a typically British pub, though instead of a normal bar, you'll have a counter filled with sandwiches, crisps and other snacks. If you want you can order the special for the day instead. This would be a traditional British meal, served magically at your seat after you've sat down. Beverages on offer are non- (or very low) alcoholic, such as butterbeer, juice or water.

Almost everyone who is not a head of a department or a division has a cubicle or simply a desk - no private offices

The different levels:

Level One: "Government", Administration and Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Divisions:
1. Office of the Minister for Magic
2. Office of the Adviser to Minister
3. Office of the Senior Undersecretary to Minister for Magic
4. Office of the Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic
5. Offices of the Heads of every department

- Head of the Dept. of International Cooperation - Percy Weasley
- Head of the Dept. for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures - Lavender Brown
- Head of the Dept. of Mysteries - Theodore Nott
6. Offices of the high-ranking officials of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Level Two: Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Divisions:
1. Auror Headquarters (Head - Harry Potter)

- The Auror Headquarters consist of an open area that is divided into cubicles. The walls of these cubicles are covered in wanted posters, personal photographs, Quidditch posters, and Daily Prophet clippings.
2. Wizengamot Administration Services
3. Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office
A small and crowded office at the end of a shabby corridor on this level.
4. "Classrooms" and other facilities for the Aurors' training, includes a small library (copies of old case files, books concerning law and law theory and ministry history as well as books in the various subjects taught) complete with a few desks for independent study
5. Holding cells for those the Aurors arrest or bring in for questioning

Level Three: Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes

Divisions:
1. Accidental Magic Reversal Squad
2. Obliviator Headquarters
3. Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee
4. Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects (Head - Arthur Weasley)

Level Four: Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures

Divisions:
1. Beast
- Centaur Liaison Office - No centaur has ever actually used this service. In Ministry jargon, saying that an employee has been "sent to the Centaur Office" means that person is about to be sacked.
- Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures
- Dragon Research and Restraint Bureau
- Pest Advisory Board
- Werewolf Capture Unit
- Werewolf Registry
2. Being
* Goblin Liaison Office
* Office for House-Elf Relocation
* Werewolf Support Services
3. Spirit Divisions
4. Pest Advisory Board

Level Five: Department of International Magical Cooperation

Divisions:
1. International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats
2. International Magical Office of Law
3. International Magical Trading Standards Body

Level Six: Department of Magical Transportation

Divisions
1. Apparition Test Center
2. Broom Regulatory Control
3. Floo Network Authority
4. Portkey Office

Level Seven: Department of Magical Games and Sports
A brief glimpse of this level reveals an untidy-looking corridor, the walls of which are hung with various Quidditch posters.

Divisions:
1. British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters
2. Official Gobstones Club
3. Ludicrous Patents Office

Level Eight: The Atrium (look above for a description)

Level Nine:
- Department of Mysteries

Divisions.
1. The Brain Room
2. The Death Chamber
3. The Hall of Prophecy
4. The Locked Room
5. The Planet Room
6. The Time Room
7. Offices of the Unspeakables
8. Offices of Experimental Magic

- Office of the Hit Wizards (this is not canon and but part of Jo's Daily News releases.)

Level Ten: Wizengamot courtrooms. This level can only be reached by the stairs to the left of the door which leads to the Department of Mysteries on Level Nine. Here are also holding cells for the more dangerous criminals to be held while their awaiting trial.

Entering and Leaving the Ministry:

There are only three ways to enter the Ministry: by Floo, by the "toilet-entrance" (also ending you up in the fireplaces) or through the broken down red telephone box located on a dingy street right above the building. There is NO Apparition inside the Ministry except for authorized people (aka Hit Wizards, Aurors)

Visitors Entrance - aka phone booth

For visitors, there is really only one way to enter the Ministry and that's through the red phone booth above the hidden building.

The street with the phone booth is described as dingy and has several shabby offices, a pub, and a wall covered with graffiti. You dial 62442 aka magic, state your business to get a visitors' badge and are sent to the Atrium as the phone booth turns into a lift.

Toilet Entrance

There is an entrance through underground public toilets reachable from street-level.

There are two stairways, labelled Gentlemen or Ladies, that lead down to a "public" toilets. You need a golden Ministry of Magic coin to open the stall doors. Once there you flush yourself down the toilet and end up in the left side of fireplaces in the Atrium.

Departure:

To depart the Ministry, one must stand in one of the fireplaces on the right side of the Atrium, causing them to come out of another toilet in the underground bathroom. You can't Apparate or Floo to specific locations (changed in DH).

Wizengamot and the Minister:

The Wizengamot has roughly 50 members. You are elected into the Wizengamot by the members, and you can be made to leave the Wizengamot in the same fashion. There are NO elections.

The Minister for Magic is elected by the Wizengamot.

Aurors and Hit Wizards

Aurors - training and job

Aurors have many different functions. Aurors are responsible for fighting crimes, from a simple theft to murder. They are divided into internal departments.

To become an Auror you need at least 5 NEWTs. The recommended subjects are DADA, Charms, Potions and Transfiguration, with a fifth elective subject. You'll need at least EE in each of these courses.

In addition to the academic requirements, you need to pass a series of character and aptitude tests as well as a background check before you're accepted into training. Training takes three years.

Training consists of:

First year: Classes - both practical and theoretical - in subjects such as Concealment and Disguise, Stealth and Tracking and Poisons and Antidotes. You also have Defence Against the Dark Arts and Duelling on your schedule. The year ends with test that you have to pass in order to continue your training.

Second year: Classes from year one are now mixed with individual and group case studies where you on an academical level get to train on solving cases and working with the methods available to Aurors. Your physical training and duelling classes also increase in intensity. This year too ends with a series of tests that you have to pass to move on to year three.

Third year: You're placed to work with a senior Auror on the field while some of the theoretic case studies still continue. There is an exhausting physical training. Year three ends with another series of tests, as well as your first own case.

Once you complete training, you become a junior Auror for 2 years before you are considered experienced enough to become a regular Auror and can be lead investigator as well as qualifying to help train third years and junior Aurors). You become Senior Auror through seniority and experience. Senior Aurors are lead investigators on the more serious cases.

Hit-wizards - training and job

The Hit-wizards work under the jurisdiction of the Wizengamot. In addition to finding and apprehending fugitives and criminals, they protect the Wizengamot and the courts. .

To become a Hit-wizards you need 5 OWLs, DADA being one of these. The other four subjects you choose yourself, (though it would likely be wise to go with roughly the same subjects that are required of Aurors.)

In addition you need to be at least 17 years of age, and "not of a nervous disposition". Here too a series of tests are made to determine that the applicant has what it takes. Training takes an additional two years before you're finished.

Once accepted into training the following two years are divided like this:

First year: Classes - both practical and theoretical - in subjects such as Defensive charms and Counter-curses and How to restrain magical law-breakers without attracting Muggle attention. In addition there is a fierce physical training on the schedule as well as flying lessons. A series of tests after the year decide if you're able to continue your training or not.

Second year: Classes are combined with 'on the job' training where you go with experienced Hit-wizards in the field as well as court service. The psychical training is increased as well and another set of tests at the end of the year decide if you're allowed to finish your training or not.

A Hit-wizard have a hefty salary, a broom of his/her own and a permanent bed at St Mungos. He or she is likely to need it as the job is extremely dangerous.

IDs

- Aurors and Hit Wizards have badges like this one.

Aurors - Auror Department written where there's Cardiff City Police, red centre with a wand chiseled in.
Hit Wizards - Hit Wizard, written where there's Cardiff City Police, green centre with bars chiseled in.

- Unspeakables aren't supposed to give out their identity so they don't have IDs, but they have plenty of fake ones to use while working.

Communication

- All Aurors, Hit Wizards and Unspeakables have a pocket watch like this one. There is a spell known only to them, which they can't disclose that allows them to activate the watch. The watch allows them to talk and see the other person.

Aurors and Hit Wizards can talk to any other Auror or Hit Wizard and with headquarters at the Ministry.

Unspeakables can only talk to each other to protect their identity and the DoM

Currently changes have been made so that Aurors and Hit Wizards can contact Unspeakables because of the situation at Hogwarts. Aurors and Hit Wizards are not to reveal their identities to anyone.

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