Known informally as the "MLE"
Arguably the most important of the various departments, this one is a combination of police and justice facilities, and is roughly equivalent to Britain's (Muggle) Home Office. Bartemius Crouch Sr. once headed the department.
Location[]
MLE headquarters has moved from its previous location as part of the Ministry of Magic to a separate locale underneath the old Scotland Yard building in Whitehall, London. It now resides in a series of magical catacombs beneath the city, offices charmed to look as though they were in the sunlight.
The entrance to the offices is somewhat intimidating, guarded as it is by a three-headed dog. This dog, known affectionately by MLE staff as "Tulip", is blind but possesses an excellent sense of smell by which it identifies staff members from non and alerts those within to the presence of unknown visitors. Several rooms exist within this structure beyond the offices of staff, including interrogation rooms, conference rooms and a lobby with a statue of St. George slaying a dragon in its atrium. The placement of this statue ignited some controversy among paranormal rights activists in mid-2003 when it was installed in the atrium.
Departments within the MLE[]
The head of the MLE is Head Auror Alastor Moody, also known as "Mad-Eye". He took the position after former Head Auror Gawain Robards was killed and is aided by his second-in-command, Kingsley Shacklebolt. He heads what is a remarkably large division, including but not limited to the following personnel:
- Magical Law Enforcement Squad: After the war the more traditional Magical Law Enforcement Squad and the more elite Auror Headquarters were combined into one department. The term Auror is now applied to all of those personnel, though the ones who held the title of Auror prior to the combining of the offices tend to be in the Vice division.
- The Improper Use of Magic Office: which punishes wizards for using magic in inappropriate ways, at the wrong time, or in violation of magical laws.
- The Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office: which regulates the use of magic on Muggle objects and recovers those, which have been bewitched; this sub-section is located in a tiny office, staffed by an enthusiastic but ill-informed Arthur Weasley and his assistant, Perkins. The aim of the office is to keep enchanted items out of the hands of Muggles, often necessitating raids to remove such items from circulation.
- Magical Equipment Control: controls all magical equipment kept for use by MLE employees.
- Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects Office: one of several new offices which sprung up when Rufus Scrimgeour came to power as Minister for Magic because of the threat from Lord Voldemort.
- The Wizengamot: the wizarding High Court of Justice.
Other Departments within the Catacombs[]
The following departments work closely with the MLE but are not considered a part of Moody's jurisdiction, despite sharing building space with this portion of the Ministry:
• Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures
• Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes
• Department of Mysteries
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