Fudge - evil or just a moron

[Catherine Keegan]

No: HPFGUIDX 25592

At 11:18 PM 9/4/01 +0000, you wrote:
> > >9) Fudge - secretly evil or just a moron?
>I responded:  Worse.  I think he's a politician.  Various comments about his
>career and generous contributions by the Malfoys make him sound like
>your garden variety politician.

Aleks replies with a bunch of very interesting stuff about the similarities 
of plot lines in the SW and HP universes which I have unfortunately snipped 
a bunch of for brevity's sake...

>Do you agree with the belief that 'a civil war can only make us weaker' or 
>the standpoint of 'if we can
>get in a proactive leadership quickly then things will be better'?
>IMHO the last thing either universe needs is a dispute over who to
>lead them against the enemy. Do you think that Dumbledore, or one of
>his 'supporters' could lead a coup against Fudge without weakening
>them, even temporarily, in the battle against the Big V?

I love this stuff!  I think that the best plot line (and that's what we're 
hoping for, right?) will be a combination of both.  Most of the adult 
wizard population does not want to hear that V is back.  I can understand 
where Fudge is coming from there.  Being the guy in charge when such a 
thing happens will forever link your name to it which is not good 
politically.

Being the person who leads a coup against the guy in charge who is (at the 
time) associated with a trouble-free era is not going to make you 
well-loved.  Fudge should be perceived by most as an ok if not good leader.

JKR has gotten some wonderful digs in at the government and justice system 
(I loved it when Ludo shows up in his Quidditch robes to testify.  Had to 
put the book down while I laughed)  I'm really hoping for an involved study 
of the nuts and bolts of the MoM system, who's in power, which DEs are 
there (other than Lucius) and how V might manipulate the whole.

>that is Dumbledore being removed as
>Headmaster. He implies a threat of this in his comments to D at the
>end of GoF, and I can see it happening. To those supporters of the
>Big V it would seem that he is acting on their concerns by removing
>a 'Muggle-loving-fool' but as a political move it would actually be
>quite canny, by removing Dumbledore from a position which is, at
>least in part, in the public eye those against D will believe him to
>be out of the picture completely but D can continue to act against V
>(which is in Fudge's best interests)and it will seem that his actions
>are unsanctioned from the MoM. Fudge has deniability, and is
>protected from the consequences of D's actions should he fail.

This alone could account for an entire book, maybe two!   The question of 
who would be put in charge of Hogwarts and how they affect the students and 
other teachers will be quite interesting, too.  Some how I don't see 
Professor McGonagall getting the post automatically.  Isn't the headmaster 
slot appointed?  Lucius tried to get rid of Dumbledore with an order of 
suspension signed by the 12 governors in CS.  If enough of the governors 
were in V's corner, he could appoint his own headmaster and help shape a 
new generation.

Thanks for such a great post, Aleks!  Must be time to continue rereading 
the series - I shall ignore the amused commentary from the spousal unit and 
enjoy the heck out of it!

Catherine in CA


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