Wizengamot
The Wizengamot was formed in 1693 from the aftermath of the Statute of Secrecy (International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy). The law was laid down by the International Confederation of Wizards in 1689 to safeguard the wizarding community from Muggles and hide its presence from the world at large. While it was an internationally agreed law, it was left to individual countries to structure how they enforced it.
In the British context, prior to the Statute, magical interests had been represented by the Lord Minister of magic who held secret office within the royal council of ministers, assisted by magical families within the landed aristocracy. When the Wizengamot was founded, the Lord Minister of magic was the only point of official contact between magical and muggle Britain. It was initially a small council of aristocratic families, 15 in total, and each noble family could appoint one vassal family to the moot, bringing the total number of warlocks in 1693 to 31.
In order to abide by the Statute, those 15 aristocratic families had to renounce the titles and positions they held within the Muggle world. Where previously they had been a mixture of Earls, Lords and Barons, they were now all Ancient and Noble Houses, presented by their Heads and Warlocks, usually held by the same person. The original 15 families were Abbott, Boote, Bulstrode, Fawley, Gamp, Greengrass, Haigh, Longbottom, Macmillan, Meadowes, Malfoy, Ogden, Orpington, Prewett, and Selwyn. They each appointed a vassal family, they did not keep the seat in their family line but did cement long political ties and positions. Abbott for Smith, Boote for Rosier, Bulstrode for Yaxley, Fawley for Flack, Gamp for Lestrange, Greengrass for Rowle, Haigh for Trelawney, Longbottom for Potter, Macmillan for Diggory, Meadowes for Rookwood, Malfoy for Crabbe, Odgen for Marchbanks, Orpington for Jiggers, Prewett for Teague, and Selwyn for Nott.
Fourteen years later, the formation of the Ministry for Magic in 1707 prompted a dramatic change to how the Wizengamot operated. The role of chief warlock and minister for magic were separated from each other, the Ministry taking on the role of civil service and the moot the role of legislator and judiciary. Now the Heads of departments and the minister had votes, the number of seats was up to 35. In the first 20 years it was possible for families to buy House status like purchasing a commission in the military. Houses Chandra and Rowle did this in 1723 and 1924 respectively and in 1798 the House of Haigh went bankrupt and lacked more than one heir and put their seat up to tender and it was bought by the House of Shafiq. After that the ministry gained more control. The number of ministry seats tripled and vassal families were replaced by life long ministerial appointments. When the House of Black bought their seat from Minister from Magic Ottaline Gambol in 1830, they were the last family to do so.
The 1948 Moot Reform Act added an additional 6 seats to the Wizengamot, reformed the inheritance of House titles and sale of “extinct” Houses. These new seats included one additional ministerial appointment and five that are voted on by sitting members from a pool of eighteen nominees put forward by public institutions bringing the total seats to 61. Institutions included are the Board of Governors for Hogwarts, the Guild of Enchanters, the Guild of Potion Makers, the board of trustees of the Healing Order of St Mungo, the Directorate of Gringotts, and the Diagonal Alley Shopkeepers Association (DASA). This meant that the modern Wizengamot is made up of 18 hereditary seats, 12 lifelong ministerial appointed seats, 3 members from each ministry department (1 director plus 2 others equalling 24), the 6 elected seats and a chief warlock.
In July 1988, the House of Prewett arranged to put their Houseship up for tender with a pre-arranged deal for it to be purchased by the Burke family based in Moreton House in Yorkshire. The 1988 Community Welfare Act included a radical amendment to reform the seats within the moot again while keeping the total number at 61.
When the bill was voted through in November 1988, the makeup of the Wizengamot was as follows:
Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore
Ministry Seats (24)
Minister for Magic: Millicent Bagnold
{Senior Undersecretary Stewart Macmillan, Chief Advisor Dorian Orpington}
Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Director Amelia Bones, her deputy, Fatima Smith (Head of legislative unit), and Head Auror Alastor Moody
Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, Director Damocles Flack, deputy Harold Spender (Head of Containment Unit), and Head Obliviator Betty Hornblower
Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Director Amos Diggory, Deputy Miles Parmenides (Head of the Beast Unit), and department secretary Elea Entwhistle.
Department of International Magical Co-operation, Director Bartemius Crouch, Deputy Corban Yaxley (liaison with the ICW), and secretary Andrew Weston.
Department of Magical Transportation, Director Cornelius Fudge, Deputy Benjamin Zeno (head of floo network), secretary Dolores Umbridge
Department of Magical Games and Sports, Director Jeremy Fawley, Deputy Ludo Bagman (head of Quidditch Unit) and secretary Cara Yarrow.
Department of Mysteries: Head Unspeakable Sheridan Blackwood, Deputy Stephen Le Fanu and department secretary Elias Stoker
Ministerial Appointments (12): Griselda Marchbanks, Madam Morag Macmillan, Elphias Doge, Jasper Griffin, Oliver Taplin, Juliana Burke, Killian Turpin, Silva Tide, Tarquin Smith, Perseus Warrington, William Tofty, and Eric Waterfield
Elected Seats (6): Regina Abbott, Hephaestus Jiggers, Oswyn Murray, Horace Slughorn, Robin Fox, Damocles Belby
Hereditary Seats (18): Regina Abbot, Remus Lupin, Reginald Boote, Agnes Bulstrode, Gerard Burke, Predesh Chandra, Aetius Fawley, Brutus Gamp, Lawrence Greengrass, Augusta Longbottom, Dougal Macmillan, Marcus Meadowes, Abraxas Malfoy, Tiberius Ogden, Sabina Orpington, Dag Rowle, Rhys Selwyn and Ari Shafiq
The bill removed one seat per ministry department taking their total from 24 to 16. That meant Dorian Orpington, Fatima Smith, Betty Hornblower, Dolores Umbridge, Elea Entwhistle, Andrew Weston, Ludo Bagman and Stephen Le Fanu lost their seats. The new Department of Magical Community Welfare held two seats but the other eight seats were divided between appointments and elected seats, bringing the Minster’s appointment seats from 12 to 15 and elected seats from 6 to 9. Minister Bagshot appointed Fatima Smith, Lucretia Prewett, and Galatea Merrythought, making a statement about improving the percentage of witches in the Wizengamot, since they made up only a third of seats and had lost more than their fair share in the changes. In the same statement Bagnold announced that she would not seek re-election in 1990. The elected seats put forward Edmund Florentine, Serafina Zabini, and Corvus Boote. The new makeup of the Wizengamot took effect from January 1st 1989.
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