What keeps the Wizarding World going? How does it work? The main organisation in the UK is the Ministry of Magic, but there are many more entities that keep things together and Muggle-free.
Ready to discover more about these? Onwards we go!
Podcasts:
OP 7 The Ministry of Magic by Steve VanderArk
Who Enforces the Statute of Secrecy to the Muggles? by Barbara Moline
The Prime Minister by Bridget Bartlett
Episode 17: Trademarks, Contracts, and Butterbeer by Steve VanderArk and Nick Moline
Encore Presentation: Wizarding Currency by Selena Gallagher
Encore Presentation: O.P. 2: Kneazles by Steve VanderArk
Chocolate by Selena Gallagher
About Platform Nine and Three-Quarters by Steve VanderArk
Conversations: St. Patrick’s Day by Steve VanderArk
O.P. 28: Fireworks and Holidays by Steve VanderArk
Harry’s Christmas Gifts by Ashmita Shanthakumar
The Significance of Halloween by Rosie Payne
The Weird Sisters by Bridget Bartlett
Magic Brains by Elizabeth Marsh
Wizard Plumbing by Abby Koop
Portraits by Eileen Jones
Reader’s Guides:
These chapter guides were originally written between 2002 and 2007. Since that time, a few edits were made here and there but basically the text remained the same. To get ready for this Canon Celebration, our editors have been revising each one. We’ve added fan artwork to the Guide which illustrates the text. At the bottom in the Commentary section we’ve added a gallery of additional artwork. So even if you’ve read our guides before, please give them another look. I’m sure you’ll find a lot of information you didn’t know.
The Ministry of Magic
MoM – Ministers for Magic (Essays by Rowling)
CC – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play)
Wizengamot
Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA)
MNA – Magic in North America (Essays by Rowling)
WFT – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)
International Confederation of Wizards (ICW)
FB – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (book)
QA – Quidditch Through the Ages (book)
International Confederation of Wizards Quidditch Committee (ICWQC)
GF 8 – The Quidditch World Cup
QA 8 – The Spread of Quidditch Worldwide
QWC – Quidditch World Cup 2014 (Essays by Rowling)
Wizarding Life
Schools
Koldovstoretz Wizarding School
Jobs
Government (Ministry of Magic, MACUSA Appalachian headquarters and New York headquarters, Ministère Des Affaires Magiques ):
Auror, Hit Witch/Hit Wizard, court scribe, Keeper of Treasure and Dragots, Obliviator
Sciences: Healer, magizoologist, wizarding naturalist
Business: shopkeep, Gringotts Curse-Breaker, security troll/warlock, watchwizard
Entertainment: Quidditch referee, Quidditch correspondent, Quidditch commentator, author, Daily Prophet journalists
School Staff: Headmaster/Headmistress, professor, caretaker, groundskeeper
Wizarding towns
From A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot:
“Upon the signature of the International Statute of Secrecy in 1689, wizards went into hiding for good. It was natural, perhaps, that they formed their own small communities within a community. Many small villages and hamlets attracted several magical families, who banded together for mutual support and protection. The villages of Tinworth in Cornwall, Upper Flagley in Yorkshire, and Ottery St. Catchpole on the south coast of England were notable homes to knots of Wizarding families who lived alongside tolerant and sometimes Confunded Muggles. Most celebrated of these half-magical dwelling places is, perhaps, Godric’s Hollow, the West Country village where the great wizard Godric Gryffindor was born, and where Bowman Wright, Wizarding smith, forged the first Golden Snitch. The graveyard is full of the names of ancient magical families, and this accounts, no doubt for the stories of hauntings that have dogged the little church beside it for many centuries.”
Home of Sports Teams: Appleby, Ballycastle, Bigonville, Braga, Caerphilly, Chudley, Falmouth, Fitchburg, Haileybury, Holyhead, Moose Jaw, Patonga, Portree, Stonewall, Sweetwater, Tarapoto, Toyohashi, Tutshill, Wigtown, Wimbourne, Woollongong
Transportation
Clothing
chameleon cloaks and Invisibility Cloaks
enchanted color-changing robes
Stores and Shops
Medicine
St. Oswald’s Home for Old Witches and Wizards
Literature, Stories and Legends
Children’s and Fiction: The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle; The Tales of Beetle the Bard ; Grumble the Grubby Goat; The Wizard and the Hopping Pot
Romance: Enchanted Encounters; Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches
Hobbies: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; The Official Guide to the Quidditch World Cup; Quidditch Through the Ages
Food!
Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans
Drinks: Butterbeer, Pumpkin Juice, Pumpkin Fizz, Gillywater, Ogden’s Old Firewhisky
Cookbooks: One Minute Feasts- It’s Magic! ; Charm Your Own Cheese
Essays
The Ministry
History of the Ministry by Steve VanderArk
Improper Use of Magic Office: Not the Only Office for Improper Use of Magic? by Ninclow
Quidditch
How Many Quidditch World Cups Have There Been Anyway? by Nick Moline
Finance and Business
Wizard Money by Anton Generalov
Wizard Banking by Carlos Velasco Medina
How Do They Make All Those Books? Printing in the Wizarding World by pepoluan
Technology
When Magic Meets Muggle Technology by Prefect Marcus
Muggle vs. Wizarding Technology by Joywitch Curmudgeon
HogEx: The Hogwarts Express by J.K. Rowling
Beliefs and Values
A Magical Worldview by Steve VanderArk
Merlin, God and You-Know-Who: Religion in the Wizarding World by glamourousgeek
Prejudice: A Great Theme of the Books by Steve VanderArk
Other Cultural Notes
Generations In the Wizarding World by Ebony
The Curious Incident of the Flobberworm in the Nighttime by Professor Koniphorus Swamp
Food and Drink in the Potter Universe by Susanna
Interesting Artwork
We have hundreds and hundreds of pieces of fan artwork in our collection. Some subjects get a lot of depictions — Diagon Alley is a favorite topic, for example, and, well, of course it is! But there are a few pieces here that you may not have seen before:
Posters
Special Feature: Slang and Titles
The epithet “Merlin’s beard” is probably the most used bit of slang in the books, appearing twelve times in the seven books and six more times in other canon. And, of course, O.M. after a name designates someone who has been awarded the Order of Merlin. Here’s a list of all the titles and honorifics used in the Wizarding World.
From the Atlas: Wizarding Britain
Although Wizards live all over the British Isles, the activities we know about are shown on the map below.
Coming up next week…
We’re moving on into the sixth novel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Next week we’ll dive into the first six chapters where we join Harry in the month of August, 1995, for his activities before the start of the school year.