Magical Maintenance Department

• Type: Ministry of Magic Department
• Location: Level Four, Ministry of Magic Headquarters, Whitehall, London, England
• Owner/Residents: Ministry of Magic; notable employees include Reginald Cattermole
• Key Features: Responsible for the physical upkeep of the Ministry of Magic building and the reversal of magical effects on misused Muggle artifacts.

The Magical Maintenance Department is a division of the Ministry of Magic tasked with a wide range of practical and remedial magical work. Its responsibilities are twofold: ensuring the proper functioning and repair of the Ministry of Magic headquarters itself, and responding to incidents in the wider wizarding and Muggle worlds involving magically tampered objects. The department's external duties often involve cleaning up the aftermath of mischievous or malicious magic. For example, Arthur Weasley noted that it was Magical Maintenance who would be called to deal with the regurgitating toilets found at the Quidditch World Cup campsite. They were also responsible for clearing a house of numerous bewitched Muggle items, which had led to the owner's admission to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries after he attempted to put a key in his ear. These tasks suggest that the department's members are skilled in identifying and reversing complex charms and jinxes placed on everyday objects. Internally, the department handles the upkeep of the Ministry building. This can range from routine repairs to dealing with significant magical disturbances. When Corban Yaxley's office on Level One began to rain indoors, he immediately demanded a worker from Magical Maintenance to rectify the situation. The inability of Ron Weasley, disguised as a maintenance worker, to stop the downpour with basic spells like `Impervius` and `Meteolojinx Recanto` indicates that the work requires specialized and powerful magic. The exact location of the department's offices within the Ministry is stated to be on Level Four. However, a lift announcement during Harry Potter's visit for his disciplinary hearing also identified Level Four as the home of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. It is likely that both departments share the same floor.

While often a background element that fleshes out the bureaucracy of the wizarding world, the Magical Maintenance Department plays a direct and crucial role during the infiltration of the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. To gain access to Dolores Umbridge and retrieve Salazar Slytherin's Locket, Ron Weasley uses Polyjuice Potion to impersonate Reginald Cattermole, an employee of the Magical Maintenance Department. This disguise provides Ron with a plausible reason for being present in the Ministry under the strict regime of Lord Voldemort. However, the role also becomes a significant liability. Ron is intercepted by Corban Yaxley, who, believing him to be Cattermole, orders him to stop the magical rain flooding his office. This unforeseen complication separates Ron from Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, placing their mission in jeopardy. Ron's frantic and unsuccessful attempts to fix the office create a tense subplot, highlighting the dangers of their infiltration. The entire event is predicated on the existence of the department and the specific duties of its employees. Furthermore, the trio was only able to use Reg Cattermole's identity because his wife, Mary Cattermole, was unjustly facing the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, linking the department's personnel directly to the trio's humanitarian and strategic objectives.

In the film adaptation, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, the subplot involving Ron's impersonation of Reg Cattermole and his confrontation with Yaxley is depicted. The film visually portrays Yaxley's flooding office, emphasizing the magical chaos the Magical Maintenance Department is expected to handle (film).