"Arthur Weasley of the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects said that his team had been acting upon a confidential tip-off."
-- from an article in the Evening Prophet (HBP11)
A division of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the Ministry of Magic
Head: Arthur Weasley, with a staff of ten
This office was created by incoming Minister of Magic Scrimgeour July 1996 in response to the influx of counterfeit objects being sold to, supposedly, protect people (HBP5)
These included:
- protective potions that consist of gravy with bubotuber pus
- defensive jinx instructions that make your ears fall off
- cursed Sneakoscopes (likely to have been bought from a Death Eater)
- Metamorph-Medals to change your appearance at will - they turned most wizards and witches an orange colour, but some had sprouted tentacular warts
They also conducted an unsuccessful search of Malfoy Manor (HBP11)
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Tags: confiscation dangerous defence defense defensive magic defensive spell detection devices fake fear gullible panic protection