[HPforGrownups] Re: Worldwide Ministry? was, Thoughts on Hagrid's wand

[jazmyn]

No: HPFGUIDX 48120



"Cindy " wrote:
> 
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, midgiecat at a... wrote:
> 
> > I was under the impression that the Ministry of Magic was just
> that, the
> > Ministry of Magic, all inclusive, not just for Britain.  It was
> never called
> > the MOM-Britain.
> >
> > Another point,  I felt the headmaster/mistress of schools from the
> other
> > countries seemed to be under the jurisidiction/control of Crouch,
> Fudge,
> > Bagman, et al during the TWT, and remember Karkoroff being
> questioned during
> > the reign of VM - surely if the MOM was just for Britain he would
> have been
> > questioned in his own country under their MOM.
> >
> > I think the Ministry of Magic encompasses wizards everywhere.
> 
> Hello there....this is my first post on this group (although I have
> been lurking for a while).
> 
> I'd like to respectfully counter (not a flame, just an alternate POV)
> this theory with two facts mentioned in the books:
> 
> 1.  There is a Department of International Magical Cooperation - why
> have one of those if there is only one Ministry?
> 2.  There is a Bulgarian Minister of Magic (Obalonsk?) mentioned in
> GOF.  Surely he heads a Bulgarian ministry.
> 
> I could go on, but I think you get the idea.  When I was writing my
> fic I actually thought about this issue quite a bit. (I ended up
> creating an American Department of Magic, which has multiple sub-
> departments and is very bureaucratic, much like the actual US
> government.)
> 
> Now Voldemort--I could see him wanting to head a worldwide magical
> dictatorship....
> 
> Cheers,
> Cindy
> 

I called it the United States Department of Magic myself as most US gov
'departments' start with United States and rarely if ever, American.  ie
United States Department or Agriculture, etc.  In fact, the FBI having a
secret group of aurors that even the muggle President doesn't know
about, which uses both magic and FBI information resources, while
appearing to be muggles.  They 'pridicted' the 9-11 terrorist attack,
but noone would believe them and another (muggle run) dept took credit
for their work anyways. However, I never can finish a story to a point
where I would post it anywhere. ;)

Also proposed there were three major Magic Colleges in the US. One in
Salem, MA, One in San Francisco, CA and one in Austin, TX (based on the
fact that Mabry (sp?) Air Force base was the first in Texas to allow
Wiccans to openly hold pagan rites on the base, much to the delight of
the local radio talk shows and the surprise of everyone else who thought
Texas was deep in the bible belt and all.  Austin however is populated
half by people who moved from California anyways, so the rest of Texas
hasn't figured out what to do about their captital being overrun yet..
Texas also has a LARGE Harry Potter fan following as well, so might as
well pay hommage to that. ;)

Yes, I can see the USDM being very bureaucratic and can see them making
sure they have wizards or witches placed in muggle government for '
inteligence reasons '.  One fan fic I read had the HP crew coming over
and taking out all the 'bad wizards' going over the heada of the local
wizarding governement. PLUS having the US Wizards asking for help from
the British MOM?  What?  The US asking for help in their internal
problems from ANYONE?  The writer must OBVIOUSLY have been stoned
because Americans are too bloody proud to ask anyone for help, you
know.  I would also suspect that there are a LOT more wizards and
witches in the US, due to larger overall population and the 'melting
pot' ideals of the US, meaning more wizards getting involved with
muggles (and giants, house elves, anything breathing).  One could only
imagine what the 60's were like to the USA's Wizarding World?  Oooo..
boy.  "Man, I'm so stoned. Is that a centaur your girlfriend is with? 
Groovy.."  (the mind boggles)

Another thing though, I can see magic being regulated in the US not so
much at the federal level as the state level.  ie. It may be illegal to
turn someone into a ferret in California, but not Texas. ;)

Jazmyn