Cornelius Fudge - Character Study

[milz]

No: HPFGUIDX 3131

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, stevekimmel at y... wrote:
> Cornelius Fudge – Minister of Magic
> 
> When you react to a revelation about a character with disbelief the 
> author has failed in characterization. The proper response should 
be, 
> "Oh course. Why didn't I see it all along?" With Mad Eye Moody, 
> Rowling succeeds in this characterization task. 
> 
> At the end of Goblet of Fire, I didn't believe the actions of 
> Cornelius Fudge. They were too out of character for what we had
seen 
> before. For me, Rowling's characterization of Fudge was a dismal 
> failure. Because of the subtlety of the approach, Cornelius Fudge's 
> transformation from vaguely amusing bungler to, perhaps, a running 
> dog lackey of Voldemort is less convincing than any of the others. 
> Fudge's performance at the end of Goblet of Fire is so reminiscent 
of 
> Peter Pettigrew's and so irrational than I have concluded that he
is 
> really a follower of Voldemort if not a full blown deatheater.
> 
> Fudge is first mentioned in Philosopher's Stone although he does
not 
> actually put in an appearance until Chamber of Secrets. Hagrid 
> mentions him while taking Harry shopping in Diagon Alley. They 
wanted 
> Dumbledore to be Minister of Magic but he would never leave
Hogwarts 
> so Fudge got the job.
> 
> Question 1: Who are they? Is this some variation on a Voldemort
plot 
> to move Dumbledore away from Hogwarts?
> 
> Question 2: How does someone get to be the Minister of Magic? 
> Apparently not because of your abilities.
> 
> Hagrid describes Fudge as being a bungler who sends owls everyday 
> asking Dumbledore for advice. Although Fudge is not explicitly 
> identified as the sender, there is an owl sent from the Ministry of 
> Magic calling Dumbledore away at the critical moment when Quirrell 
is 
> going to make his attempt on the stone. Had Fudge been identified
as 
> the sender, then perhaps I would be more willing to accept Fudge's 
> "flip" to Voldemort's side.
> 
> Question 3: If it was Fudge who called Dumbledore away, how did he 
> know Quirrell was going to make his attempt that night? Voldemort 
was 
> so weak that it is doubtful he could have informed Fudge by magic.
> 
> We actually meet Fudge for the first time in Chamber of Secrets.
The 
> chamber has been reopened and students are being paralyzed and
Fudge 
> comes to Hogwarts to send Hagrid off to Azkaban. At the time, we 
> entertained the notion that Hagrid might actually be the cause of 
the 
> problem. In retrospect, if Fudge was a follower of Voldemort's, he 
> would probably have known that it wasn't Hagrid at all.
> 
> Question 4: In retrospect, why did Fudge seek to send Hagrid away 
and 
> the same time Voldemort's other follower, Lucious Malfoy, is trying 
> to rid Hogwarts of Dumbledore?  Is Hagrid more important than we 
have 
> previously thought?
> 
> Our most extensive contact with Fudge comes in Prisoner of Azkaban. 
> It is Fudge who meets Harry when he steps off the knight bus and 
sets 
> him up at the Inn. Presumably he knew the truth about Sirius Black 
> and knew that Sirius was actually not a threat to Harry. Presumably 
> his actions were consistent toward eliminating another foe of 
> Voldemort's.
> 
> Question 5: Go back and reread that section. If Fudge is really a 
> follower of Voldemort and Black, were his responses to Harry 
> appropriate?
> 
> By the end of Prisoner of Azkaban, Fudge has grown from being a 
> bungler to an officious twit.
> 
> At the beginning of Goblet of Fire he is still the friendly, 
fatherly 
> type toward Harry though prone to officious prissiness. At the end 
> though, we see him defending everyone Harry mentions as a 
Deatheater, 
> casting aspersions on Harry's reliability and refusing to go along 
> with Dumbledore's plans to thwart Voldemort.
> 
> Question 6: Is there an explanation of Fudge's actions other than 
his 
> being a follower of Voldemort? 
> 
> Do you believe his actions? I don't.

Another thing that has troubled me since reading GoF was Fudge's 
decision to summon a Dementor. It's not stated, but I would think
when Snape went to get Fudge, Snape told him that Barty Jr. was in
the castle. So immediately, Fudge summons a Dementor because he feared
for his personal safety? Doesn't make sense.

I don't think Fudge is a Death Eater per se, but I think he is trying 
to "keep clean" with both factions. If Voldemort gains power, Fudge 
can always point to the instances where he has show a vague loyality 
(from your list above). Even if Voldemort is defeated Fudge at this 
point can say he was loyal to the Dumbledore by excusing his behavior 
in GoF as being "cautious" and "moderate". I can see Fudge's 
statement to the Daily Prophet.

"Harry had just experienced a very traumatic ordeal of facing 
Voldemort and witnessing a classmate die. Surely, I had to proceed 
with a caution. Dumbledore and his Staff were over-emotional. Someone 
had to be calm. Bad decisions are made when one does not carefully
and calmly analyze the situation. The Dementor? Barty Crouch Jr. was 
sentenced to Azkaban for the horrible, horrible crime against the 
Longbottoms. He showed no remorse at his trial and falsely proclaimed 
his innocence. Harry has stated that You-Know-Who considered Crouch 
Jr. to be his most faithful servant. Crouch was cunning enough to
fool Dumbledore for an entire school year and was powerful enough to 
alter 
the Triward's Cup and the Goblet of Fire. I couldn't risk Crouch Jr 
from escaping or hurting anymore students. The Dementor had to be
summoned. Not only for my security, but for everyone at Hogwarts that 
night."

IMO, Rowling will be revealing more and more of Fudge's character in 
the coming books. 

:-) Milz