Happy birthday this 6th February to ...

sparkly_stuff

and

masterofmystery!

Lyrics: The last one was the perennial favourite Wonderwall by Oasis from 1996, (yes, it is a bit shocking that it's a decade old), as pointed out by tree_and_leaf, jesspallas, golden_d, lareinenoire, msmoocow, and somebody anonymous ...

So this one seems appropriate for today:

Wake up in the morning with a head like 'what ya done?'
This used to be the life but I don't need another one.
You like cuttin' up and carrying on, you wear them gowns.
So how come I feel so lonely when you're up getting down? (2000s)

Quick question on Wizarding penology

(That's the study of prisons, you pervs. :D)

Anyway, what I wanted to ask were the following questions: is it reasonable that 'ordinary' prisoners (i.e. not Death Eaters and similar serious criminals) would be held in cells at the Ministry for extended periods (say a week or two) while awaiting interrogation or trial? Or do the poor bleeders just automatically get sent to Azkaban to sweat it out? And what 'levels' of cell might there be there in terms of Dementor activity?

The only times I can think of people definitely being held in Azkaban before sentencing in 'modern times' are for Dark Arts crimes (DEs in the GoF Pensieve scenes, Hagrid when they think he's opened the Chamber again) -- although Ludo Bagman didn't seem to have been held there. It's not clear whether Morfin and Marvolo were while awaiting trial for the fight with Bob Ogden, although Morfin seems to have gone directly to Azkaban without passing Go when he confessed to murdering the Riddles -- but then that crime involved an Unforgivable Curse anyway. But Azkaban seems harsh for the Willy Widdershins types with their exploding toilets and biting doorknobs.

Can anyone think of things from the HP books that touches on this question?

(I'll try and get back to people tonight, but will be away most of Wednesday and Thursday -- so if I don't get back to you quickly my apologies. Try not to break the interwebs while I'm gone, and if you do, make sure you put them back the way they were or THERE WILL BE WORDS. :D)