MASTER CRIMINAL KILLED IN DUEL WITH MINISTRY AURORS

Society Column Feature Story Clues to the Treasure: The IMMF in Action

There's a lot going at at the Ministry of Magic these days, and its not all catching criminals. The International Magical Mystery Force, or IMMF for short, was formed two years ago, the brainchild of a young magical archaeologist working with the Ministry of Magic named Hugh Kenrick, and a collaboration with several departments at the Ministry. It's made headlines a few times, and this reporter was able to sit down with Kenrick and some of his superiors to learn more about this organization, and how its vastly different from other 'mysterious' departments.

While working on a case of recovering a specific magical artifact long lost, Kenrick found that magical artifacts and phenomena were often overlooked by other departments. Their teams were ill-equipped for the exploratory work, investigation and recovery of magic associated with strange creatures and happenings and magic left over from ancient cultures. Law Enforcement organizations had little experience in anything but criminal investigation, and had no time to spare for such ventures. Commercial ventures had difficulty in dealing with international law concerning magic, and boundaries, and their motives were often suspect. So, under an organization designed by Kenrick, a special, cross-functional set of field teams was created to manage special projects, and combine the talents of magical researchers, recovery specialists, investigators, and preservationists.

Its official charter is “To further the non law-enforcement investigation, exploration, magical recovery, and study of contemporary and ancient magical cultures.”

The organization was placed under the overall control of the Ministry of International Magical Cooperation, since its agents often operate far from the UK, and have to obtain special permission to operate in those zones. Recovered magic, devices, and other treasures are then returned to the Ministry for study or preservation by the appropriate existing agency.

Kenrick himself is too junior to head the entire department, but other more senior Ministry officials fill important administrative posts, and control the budgets. Instead, Kenrick supervises a number of regional team leads that operate worldwide. An inventor himself, Kenrick has also introduced some new spells and devices to help the team in their efforts.

Minister of International Magical Cooperation Clifford Sloan-Underwood has brushed off criticism that the group is a bunch of high-paid mercenaries stealing treasure from lost tombs.

“In just two years, the IMMF teams have recovered dozens of lost magical spells and devices, some that were lost by other departments, and solved baffling cases of magical nature, that have also led to new cures for magical maladies. The team has also assisted in operations with other Magical Ministries, leading to greater cooperation, and peaceful sharing of these magical technologies. The Tiara of Peace, for example, was successfully recovered on behalf of the Japanese Ministry of Magic, and this led directly to the signing of a new magical alliance between our nations.”

In the same interview, Kenrick detailed some 27 successful operations carried out in the first two years, by himself and several other team leaders. The team has also recently helped the Ministry of Magical Law Enforcement track down black magic marketers, and was instrumental in preventing a coup attempt against the Minister of Magic in tiny Montenegro, in which Kenrick himself received a medal of appreciation.

The teams are hand picked for every assignment, and equipment and logistics is carried out by the IMMF’s special support lab. Although not chartered for law enforcement, the team often cooperates with Aurors and their contemporaries around the world.

Dark Wizard and Azkaban escapee Asimov was killed Wednesday morning in St. Petersburg, Russia, after being tracked and confronted by Ministry of Magic (UK) Aurors. The team had been tracking Asimov since his escape last fall from the high security section of Azkaban prison, and had eluded capture at least three times in recent weeks.

“We can now say that the era of this man, Asimov, and his crime sprees and murders, are ended with his death in St. Petersburg.” said Auror Chief Brinton McKlellan. Pictures of the body were not released, but some photos of the damage done to the Magical History Museum were, and gave some indication of the fierce fight between the Ministry team, museum guards, and Asimov.

“This was the hard work of a number of people at the Ministry, from research analysts to the Aurors that tracked him,” said Minister of Magic Edward Rostron. “We knew he wasn’t going to go down without a fight, and we are indeed fortunate that casualties were not heavier, considering the man’s track record, and capabilities. We regret the lack of extradition process with the Russian consulate, but he was fortunately stopped before he could wreak further havoc.”

Asimov was tracked to St. Petersburg’s famous Magical History Museum, according to an Auror Department spokesperson, where a small team fought and killed the master criminal after a fierce fight. His motive for breaking into the museum are still unclear, but he was a noted collector of magical items, and may have been attempting to steal one or more of them to sell on the black market.

Russian Ministry officials were reportedly furious that their Aurors were not called in to aid the effort.

“Although we are glad that the evil Asimov was finally brought to justice, the lack of regard for International Magical Law Enforcement cooperation is distressing,” said Vladimir Petrov, Okhrana Chief of Operations.

Minister of Magic Rostron said that a full investigation of where the process broke down was underway as of this writing, and members of the team have been placed on leave or reassigned pending the outcome of that investigation. Ministry Bureau of Finance officials confirmed that the museum will be compensated fully for the damages incurred.

Asimov is best known for his participation in numerous atrocities during and after the Second Wizarding War, including the Ministry Purge and death of Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour. A lone wolf in practice, he was a close adherent of Voldemort during that period, but later went back to conducting independent criminal activities. He was also responsible for 4 deaths of Ministry Aurors that had attempted to capture him before his imprisonment, as well as injury to several more Ministry of Magical Law Enforcement officials.