In this chapter,I will discuss the Ministry of Magic and some basic laws and rules of the wizarding world that muggle-borns are not likely to know beforehand but must follow nevertheless.

The Ministry of Magic is a governing body,headed by the Minister for Magic(a witch or wizard entitled to hold the office),which governs the wizarding world,as a whole,and upholds the laws and regulations of the wizarding world among its members.It has an office and many departments under it,including the Department of Magical Transportation,the Department for the Care of Magical Creatures and a lot of other departments.

Some of the laws of the wizarding world are as follows:-

The International Statute of Secrecy signed in 1689,and enforced and passed in 1692,which was passed to conceal the magical world,within the muggle world,from the muggle world.It prohibits the use of magic by witches or wizards in front of a Muggle or that can in any way be sensed by a Muggle.This is why you cant use magic at your home or muggle residence,if you are a muggle born,without facing the consequences.If the law is breached intentionally or unintentionally,knowingly or unknowingly,the Muggle Liaison office under the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes is called upon to fix the damage by modifying or removing the particular incident from the memory of the muggle.The witch or wizard who failed to uphold the statute is judged by the council of magical law.

Underage Magic-This law states that witches and wizards below seventeen years cannot perform magic outside the Hogwarts castle,so if you are under seventeen years of age,you cannot perform magic at your home,even during vacations,as there is a magical thing called The Trace used by the ministry to detect underage magic in especially muggle homes(as in wizarding homes,there are adults always practising magic,making it diificult to separately discern underage magic,and hence this law was often known by many to be biased against muggle-borns),and they can detect when and where the spell was performed.You may find yourself answering to the council of magical law if you break this law,and if found guilty,the right to use magic may be completely revoked from you for a considerable amount of time and you do not want that.

Cant apparate-Anyone under seventeen years of age cannot apparate,as apparition requires a license which is obtainable from the Ministry of Magic only after seventeen years of age.The Ministry of Magic uses magic similar to The Trace to detect underage apparition,and impose the required penalties.There are laws regarding making portkeys,laws regarding broomsticks and other forms of magical transportation as well,which you will learn about in your flying classes in first year.

Just like breaking any rules at Hogwarts can lead you to face detention(stay for extra hours with a Professor to face the punishment deemed fit by the Professor) or worse,get expelled,breaking the above laws enforced by the Ministry of Magic can land you in greater trouble by requiring you to face trial by the Council of Magical Law,which is a ministry board,comprised of a judge,a panel of members and a jury,who are all witches and wizards.It is hierarchically inferior to the Wizengamot,which is the wizarding world's high court.After the council or Wizengamot's judgement,you may recieve a sentence which can range from a fine to revoking of wizarding world licenses,to spending years or a lifetime in the wizarding prison of Azkaban.Azkaban is a fortress prison in the middle of an island in the North Sea,and it is guarded by dementors(dark creatures who suck the happiness out of you and cause you to feel depressed),who can suck the soul out of their victims through the mouth,leaving their victims not only dead but an empty soulless shell,worse than dead.Prisoners trying to escape,can face these dementors,or worse be put to death by the dementors.Most inhabitants of Azkaban go mad within weeks,and cannot escape not because of the water or walls,but because they are trapped inside their heads due to the depression caused by the dementors.