Cornelius Fudge

From the Encyclopedia of Speculative Fiction - http://encyclopedia.wizards.pro

Cornelius Fudge was the Minister of Magic for many years until he was dismissed in 1996, due to his unwillingness to believe that Lord Voldemort had returned. He was replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour, but stayed in an advisory capacity.

Cornelius Fudge is a caricature of the modern politician, from his blustery 'hail fellow well met' approach to those who might be useful to him, to his 'duck and deflect' attitude towards the worsening crisis in the wizarding world. As Minister of Magic he appears in the early books as a bumptious good-natured wizard trying to manage and smooth over the occasional crisis, such as Harry Potter's misuse of magic to inflate his Aunt Marge at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

However, Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban prison starts Fudge on a spiralling path of poor decisions, including the posting of Dementors at Hogwarts as a misguided attempt at providing protection for the students that nearly produces tragic results, and a dithering lack of concern following the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins, a Ministry witch on holiday in Albania.

Suspicious that Dumbledore may have designs on the role of Minister himself, Fudge refuses to believe Dumbledore's warning of the return of Voldemort at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, after Harry is accused of using magic illegally in the presence of a Muggle Fudge takes a leading role in the prosecution of Harry before the Wizengamot and actively seeks to discredit Harry by introducing irrelevant considerations and highly prejudicial accusations while seeking to deny Harry's right to a fair chance to present his own version of events. It is only the intervention of Dumbledore and the juridical common sense of Amelia Bones and a majority of wizards of the court that spares Harry the consequence of an unjust conviction and expulsion from Hogwarts.

Fudge is no less determined to undermine Dumbledore's credibility and authority both at Hogwarts and at large in the wizarding world, which he does by first ensuring that Dumbledore is presented in the Daily Prophet as a crackpot. A representative of the Ministry of Magic, Dolores Umbridge, is installed at Hogwarts in the position of professor in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class and her powers are gradually extended until Dumbledore is removed and she is handed control over the school.

It is only when Fudge sees Voldemort for himself at the Ministry of Magic following the battle for the prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney in which Sirius Black is killed that he must, belatedly, accept that Dumbledore has been telling the truth. By then it is too late for him to salvage his political career and he is forced to disclose to the Muggle Prime Minister the true state of affairs and the peril which Fudge, through vanity, indecision and stubborness, has failed to properly contain.

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