Editing Places in Harry Potter (section)

==Government==

===Azkaban===
Azkaban is a prison for criminals of the British and Irish wizarding world. According to ''Half-Blood Prince'', Azkaban is located somewhere in the North Sea. It is guarded by [[Dementors]], which render the inmates incapable of happiness. According to Sirius Black, many inmates simply stop eating and eventually die of starvation. It was considered impossible to escape from Azkaban until Sirius managed to do it.<ref name="HP5">{{HPref|book=5}}</ref> Performing any of the [[Unforgivable Curses]] on a human is punishable by a life sentence in the prison, although there are occasions when Aurors are allowed to perform those curses. Following Voldemort's demise, [[Kingsley Shacklebolt]] becomes Minister of Magic and ends the use of Dementors at Azkaban.<ref>[http://the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/7/30/j-k-rowling-web-chat-transcript "J.K. Rowling Web Chat Transcript"]&nbsp;– The Leaky Cauldron, 30 July 2007</ref>

===Ministry of Magic===
{{Main|Ministry of Magic}}
The Ministry of Magic is the government of the wizarding community of Britain and Ireland.

===Magical Congress of the United States of America===
The Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA), as seen in the film, ''[[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)|Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them]]'', is the magical body in charge of governing the wizarding population of the United States as an equivalent to the Ministry of Magic. The MACUSA is led by a President instead of a Minister. It is located in a tower in the Wizarding World – all within the same footprint as the [[Woolworth Building]] in Lower Manhattan, New York City – but far larger on the inside, with a vast atrium and extensive basement levels, and at ground level is only accessible by a specific side door.

===The French Ministry of Magic===
The French Ministry of Magic, as seen in the film, ''[[Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald]]'', is in central Paris and is accessed via a hidden lift in the centre of a quiet square that descends through a translucent glass atrium. At night, it is patrolled and defended by [[matagot]]s, large black cat-like spirits. Seen in 1927, its style and design is heavily influenced by the [[Art Nouveau]] movement from late 19th and early 20th centuries.

===The German Ministry of Magic===
The German Ministry of Magic, as seen in the film, ''[[Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore]]'', is in central Berlin and is a large imposing triangular building in the centre of an arrowhead-shaped forum full of imposing columns. Its interior design of the large halls with vast murals is heavily influenced by the [[Reichstag building]] and its offices are sparely decorated, dominated by green-tinged glass, chrome, and black [[bakelite]].  Seen in 1932, its style and design is heavily influenced by the [[Bauhaus]] school of the [[Art Deco]] movement that dominated the 1920s and 1930s.

===St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries===
Located in London, St Mungo's Hospital in the Wizarding World is for treating witches and wizards who have suffered magical injuries or are infected by magical diseases. It also acts as a long-term [[lunatic asylum|asylum]] to keep those left totally and permanently disabled by magic or suffering dangerous conditions – such as an [[obscurial]] – locked away in order to prevent any exposure of the Wizarding World to Muggles.

===Nurmengard===
Nurmengard is a prison that the Dark wizard [[Gellert Grindelwald]] built to incarcerate Muggles and foes. After [[Albus Dumbledore]] defeated Grindelwald, the prisoners were released and Grindelwald himself was imprisoned in the top-most cell. In ''Deathly Hallows'', Voldemort arrives at Nurmengard seeking information about the [[Elder Wand]]. When Grindelwald refuses to tell him anything, Voldemort kills him.

===Erkstag ===
Erkstag is a prison in Berlin that is supposedly closed and decommissioned, but is still surreptitiously being operated and is accessed via a closed [[U-Bahn]] entrance. It appears a vast underground quarry with a spiral walkway down to its depths. It is populated by thousands of baby [[manticores]] with an enormous mother manticore that snatches away prisoners, who hang inverted on the perimeter of the walkway, from time to time and injecting them with an acidic venom that dissolves the body so she can feed the remains to her offspring.