Office of Misinformation

"The Office of Misinformation will become involved in only the very worst magical-Muggle collisions. Some magical catastrophes or accidents are simply too glaringly obvious to be explained away by Muggles without the help of an outside authority. The Office of Misinformation will in such a case liaise directly with the Muggle prime minister to seek a plausible non-magical explanation for the event."

- Newton Scamander, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

The Office of Misinformation is part of the Ministry of Magic, answering to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. The Office is only employed during the worst magical-Muggle collisions, when an incident is so obviously magical in nature that Muggle authorities have a hard time explaining it.

In such cases, the Office liaises directly with the Muggle Prime Minister to create a plausible excuse for the incident. The Office of Misinformation has worked long and hard convincing Muggles that all photographic evidence of the Loch Ness Monster is fake, salvaging a situation that once looked to be extremely dangerous.

Behind the scenes

 * During the calamitous events involving the Death Eaters in 1996, the Office of Misinformation simply acted directly without the consent of the Muggle Prime Minister, pushing the explanation that the disastrous events in the West Country as being caused by a freak hurricane and modifying the memories of those who saw what really happened. The Muggle Prime Minister was only informed after the fact.

Appearances

 * Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince