Floo Network Authority

The Floo Network Authority is the governing body within the British Ministry of Magic responsible for the regulation, maintenance, and monitoring of the Floo Network. It operates as an office or sub-division within the Department of Magical Transportation. Its primary functions are to control which fireplaces are connected to the network, ensure the network's security, and surveil communications and travel when required by Ministry of Magic policy.

The Authority holds complete control over the magical transportation system that is the Floo Network. Its key responsibilities are mandated by the Ministry of Magic and include:

• Regulating Connections: The Authority decides which fireplaces are officially connected to the Floo Network. Connecting a new fireplace, especially one in a Muggle dwelling, requires special clearance from this office. Arthur Weasley had to make arrangements with the “Floo Network office” for a week to get a temporary connection to the Dursley family's boarded-up fireplace at Number Four, Privet Drive.
• Monitoring and Surveillance: All travel and communication through the Floo Network can be monitored by the Authority. This power was notably used by Dolores Umbridge in her capacity as Hogwarts High Inquisitor. She kept watch over every fireplace in Hogwarts to prevent Harry Potter from communicating with individuals like Sirius Black and to intercept any unauthorized use of the network.
• Network Maintenance: While not detailed in the novels, the Authority is presumably responsible for the overall stability and function of the network, ensuring that travel between grates is safe and efficient.
• Headquarters Control: The Authority manages the extensive network within the Ministry of Magic headquarters itself, which contains over seven hundred fireplaces (Pottermore).

The need for a regulatory body likely arose soon after the invention of Floo Powder by Ignatia Wildsmith in the thirteenth century (Pottermore). The Authority, referred to as the “Floo Network office,” is first mentioned in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when Arthur Weasley arranges the connection to the Dursley residence. Its role as a tool of surveillance became prominent in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Under the authority of Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge was granted the power to monitor and control all Floo connections at Hogwarts. She used this to spy on a conversation between Harry Potter and Sirius Black, though she only arrived in time to catch Remus Lupin and Sirius as they withdrew. Harry's attempt to use Umbridge's own office fireplace to contact Grimmauld Place was also thwarted by this surveillance. During the Second Wizarding War, after the Ministry of Magic fell to Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the Floo Network was compromised. It was stated to be “watched,” making it an unsafe method of travel for members of the Order of the Phoenix and their allies, forcing them to rely on other methods like Apparition or The Knight Bus.

The Floo Network Authority is not an independent entity but an integral part of the Ministry of Magic's bureaucracy, housed within the Department of Magical Transportation. Its policies and enforcement actions are a direct reflection of the sitting Minister for Magic's agenda. Under administrations like those of Cornelius Fudge and the Voldemort-controlled regime led by Pius Thicknesse, its surveillance capabilities were used to suppress dissent and control the wizarding population.

• While the exact phrase “Floo Network Authority” is a commonly accepted term, the original novels refer to the entity as the “Floo Network office”.
• The Pottermore website (now Wizarding World) gives the name of the division responsible for the Ministry's own internal network as “Floo Network Control” (Pottermore).
• The inventor of Floo Powder, Ignatia Wildsmith, was revealed on Pottermore and does not appear in the original seven novels (Pottermore).