The Auror Office, also known as Auror Headquarters, serves as the operational hub for the Aurors, an elite unit of highly-trained wizards and witches responsible for investigating Dark Magic and apprehending Dark Wizards. It is located on the second level of the Ministry of Magic, as part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The office is described as a large, open-plan, and rather shabby-looking room, buzzing with the constant comings and goings of Aurors. The space is divided into a series of cubicles, creating personal workspaces for each member of the force. These cubicles are notoriously cluttered with paperwork, photographs of wanted criminals, newspaper clippings, Dark Detectors, and maps tacked to the walls, often dotted with pins to track suspects or magical disturbances. The overall atmosphere is one of focused and hectic work. Historically, the Auror Office has been at the forefront of the Ministry's defence against major threats. During both the First Wizarding War and the Second Wizarding War, its occupants were instrumental in the fight against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. However, following the Ministry of Magic's fall in 1997, the office was corrupted from within. Under the control of Pius Thicknesse and Corban Yaxley, Aurors were tasked with persecuting Muggle-borns and members of the Order of the Phoenix. After Lord Voldemort's defeat at the Battle of Hogwarts, the Auror Office was reformed under the new Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were both recruited to join its ranks, helping to purge the Ministry of corruption and rebuild the department.
The Auror Office appears only once in the series, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but it plays a significant symbolic role. Harry Potter is escorted through the office by Arthur Weasley on the way to his disciplinary hearing. This visit provides Harry, and the reader, with a firsthand look at the daily operations of the wizards fighting on the front lines against Dark Magic. During his brief time in the office, Harry observes the busy environment and sees several key members of the Order of the Phoenix, including Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt, at their day jobs. The scene in Kingsley Shacklebolt's cubicle is particularly important; Harry sees a photograph of the original Order of the Phoenix and a picture of Sirius Black from an issue of The Quibbler, confirming that Kingsley was using his position to subtly support the Order and undermine the Ministry's misinformation campaign against Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore. For Harry, the Auror Office also represents a future ambition. His desire to become an Auror is a recurring motivation in the later books, and his visit gives this goal a tangible reality.