Brawl at Hog's Head in Hogsmeade involved Ministry wizards and Hogwarts teacher


30-08-2021

Marcelus Grazius-Spears
Staff Reporter


Two Ministry wizards are claimed to have got into a brawl at the Hog's Head inn, it emerged on Saturday, after one of them accosted a customer drinking alcohol on the premises.

The Ministry has not officially confirmed that its officials were involved, but reports suggest two members of the Office of Banned Tradeable Muggle Objects had apparated directly into the inn only to find some of its regulars drinking ale and mead.

Local, Breck Babbidge, 21, who supplies the inn with wood and witnessed the brawl, told reporters, "They apparated right into the inn well after official Ministry work hours, and a number of customers were just finishing their drinks. One of them was Professor Hagrid from Hogwarts, who had ordered his usual four pints of mead.

"Well, I was there, the officials questioned the open flouting of Ministry Decrees, and an argument broke out. Hagrid grabbed both by the back of their robes and threw them out."

Officially the sale of alcoholic drinks in the wizarding community was banned on these Isles by the Ministry of Magic twenty-five years ago. Inns like The Leaky Cauldron, which serves as the entrance to Diagon Alley, was transformed overnight into a family friendly place. A development welcomed by many witches and wizards.

But other inns and guesthouses continue to openly flout Decree 3022 (For the Restriction and Banning of Class A Drugs) and will serve guests a flagon of mead or a glass of firewhisky if they request it.

As the visit to the Hog's Head was unannounced and outside of office hours, no reinforcements from the Ministry appear to have been sent. However, Daily Prophet sources indicate that a Ministry charge of assault against Professor Hagrid, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, is likely this time.

"This is the third or fourth occasion in the last ten years that Hagrid, a part-giant retained by Professor Montefiore, has been caught consuming illegal Muggle substances," said one official. "No doubt this pre-start of term drinking party was a regular occurrence. The Ministry needs to stamp out such open defiance of wizarding laws."

In past cases, the Ministry has acted cautiously, in enforcing Decree 3022, for fear of alienating wizards but if it charges Rubeus Hagrid and other regulars of the Hog's Head, as officials are threatening to do, it is likely to signal a new and tougher approach by the Magical Law Enforcement department.