Although most of the main characters in the Harry Potter series are too young to have any deep knowledge or involvement in the UK’s Ministry of Magic, it’s undeniable that this organization has a huge impact on the story. As the major governing body of the wizarding world, their choices have enormous impacts on the way that the story of Voldemort’s return and takeover progresses.
Harry and his friends do have occasional run-ins with the Ministry, and unsurprisingly, the Ministry is a bit more fleshed out in the books than it is in the films. So what do book fans know about the Ministry that film fans wouldn’t?
Voldemort Progressively Gained Power In The Ministry
Although the films do make it clear that the Minister of Magic, Pius Thicknesse, is under the complete control of Voldemort, his takeover in the British government is a bit more progressive than that.
Prior to gaining control over Pius via the Imperius curse, Voldemort did actually do the same with other employees of the ministry in his efforts to find the prophecy about Harry Potter that was stored in the Department of Mysteries
It’s One Of Many Magical Ministries
Although the Ministry of Magic is the central government presence in the wizarding world of Harry Potter, it’s far from the only wizard governing body in the world.
Most European countries have their own Ministries of Magic, including places like Bulgaria, France, Germany, and Norway. And even those who didn’t hold the title of Ministry of Magic served the same purpose, such as the Magical Congress of the United States of America.
The Ministry Takes Employees Straight From Hogwarts
In most muggle governments at this point in time, it’s pretty much a near requirement that to score a gig in any position that isn’t the bottom rung of the ladder requires at least some education after high school.
However, in the Ministry of Magic, most positions (unless they are extremely specialized or grueling) can be filled by anyone who has graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The Minister Kept In Touch With The Muggle Minister Via Portrait
In a bit of imagery that will undoubtedly be familiar to book readers and film watchers alike, the Minister of Magic and the muggle Prime Minister could communicate via portraits that are located in their offices.
Typically the portraits were just used as a notification that the Ministers had something that needed to be discussed between them, and it was normally used only in extreme circumstances such as Voldemort’s return.
And That Portrait Can’t Be Removed
The muggle and magical Ministers would typically leave their correspondences to important matters, but they were introduced to one another whenever a new Minister was elected.
And, this portrait network wasn’t necessarily a willing avenue of communication for the muggle Prime Minister, as the portrait in the Prime Minister’s office seems to be under the spell of a Permanent Sticking Charm and can’t be removed from the wall.
The Toilet Network Was For Lower Level Employees
One of the funniest and unique Ministry-related scenes in the entire film series is when employees of the Ministry were shown gaining access to the facilities via a toilet network.
However, this wasn’t the standard operating procedure for the Ministry until Voldemort’s return, and this toilet network was for lower level employees at the Ministry (AKA those that Voldemort didn’t install into their positions) and only higher level workers could use apparition or the floo network.
The Department Of Mysteries Was Home To A Room Of Brains
The most memorable and visually iconic scenes of the Ministry of Magic throughout the film series is undeniably the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, and the realization of the Hall of Prophecy is beautiful.
But the Prophecy room and Death Chamber are far from the only unique places the characters run into in the Department. One of the most bizarre was a room that was empty except for a container of moving brains.
And A Room Of Planets, And A Time Room
The Death Eater pursuit of Dumbledore’s Army in the Department actually takes the characters through quite a few places. There is the Brain Room, but they also see a Space Room and a Time Room.
The Space Chamber is a room full of floating planets, and the Time Room contained time devices like clocks and Time-Turners. It’s understandable why they were cut, as they’d be expensive to commit to film, but it would have been interesting to see them.
It Had No Real Right To Interfere At Hogwarts
In a sweet bit of irony, the staff and students took umbrage at the presence and interference of Dolores Umbridge at Hogwarts not just because she was a nightmare wrapped in fluffy pink clothing.
It’s actually extremely unusual for the Ministry of Magic to intervene at Hogwarts and they have no legal right to do so. Hermione does note their interference, but their presence and control essentially made Hogwarts another arm of the wizarding government, which was considered by most to be highly inappropriate.
Dumbledore Nearly Became Minister Of Magic
This likely won’t come as a surprise to many, but Albus Dumbledore was actually a pretty popular candidate for Minister of Magic for quite a long time, and he’d even been offered the job four times.
However, this also does explain Cornelius Fudge’s paranoia when it comes to Dumbledore. Yes, his smear campaign against him was about hiding Voldemort’s return more than anything, but he also believed that Dumbledore may be after his job.
