[HPforGrownups] Fudge is Way Evil and I have the acronyms to prove it

[Edblanning at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 35667

In a message dated 24/02/02 03:06:22 GMT Standard Time, 
bonnie at niche-associates.com writes:

<snip>
> Cornelius Fudge arrives at 
> Hogwarts to question Crouch himself. He brings along a dementor "as 
> protection." 
> 
> Harry is later awakened by an argument between McGonagall, Snape, and 
> Fudge as they conveniently search for Dumbledore in the infirmary. It 
> is revealed that no sooner had the dementor entered the office where 
> Crouch was being kept than it administered the Kiss. Fudge defends 
> his actions:
> 
> "'By all accounts, he is no loss!' blustered Fudge. 'It seems he has 
> been responsible for several deaths!'
> 
> "'But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius,' said Dumbledore. He 
> was staring hard at Fudge, as though seeing him plainly for the first 
> time. 'He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people.'"
> 
> ::Spins on one heel to reverse direction, cape swirling about. (These 
> things cannot be done without capes.) Dramatic pause.::
> 
> You see? Something just occurred to Dumbledore that hadn't before. 
> Something about the fact that Crouch can't reveal any more. Surely, 
> Dumbledore suspects that Fudge deliberately set the dementor on 
> Crouch to silence him, so he couldn't name anymore names. Names like 
> Cornelius Fudge, I daresay.
> 
I had considered bringing this up in my original Evil Fudge post (35393, for 
anyone who's interested) as that elimination of Crouch by the Dementor is 
just *so* convenient: we've mentioned this before in respect of the Evil 
Bagman. Now just *who* wanted to silence him? Fudge or JKR? ( JKR is 
Ever-so-Evil?? no, no, just kidding!)
I suppose my only misgiving about this interpretation was that I  see Fudge 
more as taking which ever  side seems to be winning at the time: he supported 
Voldemort, or at least let himself be corrupted by Rookwood, at a time when 
Voldemort seemed invincible, then got on with being quite respectable after 
Voldy's fall. However he still had a lot to cover up. On reconsideration, 
though, if he was still a covert Voldy supporter, then he might have wanted 
to cover up not only for himself, but for Bagman too. And of course, given 
Crouch Jr's views on less-than-loyal DEs, he might seriously have feared for 
his personal safety, as Snape surmises.
> 
> ::Spins about again, cape swirling.::
> 
> And that's not all. In the next few paragraphs, Dumbledore explains 
> how Crouch was instrumental in bringing Voldemort back to life. Fudge 
> appears to disbelieve:
> 
> <snip quote, emphasising Fudge's smile
> 
> "Fudge's curious smile lingered. He too glanced at Harry..."
> 
> Fudge questions Harry's reliability. Dumbledore explains how Harry's 
> story fits in with the facts. 
> 
> "Fudge still had that strange smile on his face. Once again, he 
> glanced at Harry before answering."
> 
> Is this the smile of a man who believes his leg is being pulled? 
> Perhaps. But Harry would have recognized such a smile. He would have 
> interpreted Fudge's smile correctly and the narrator would have said 
> so. But instead the smile is *strange.* What if it's the smile of a 
> man who's heard the news he's been waiting to hear, but is having a 
> hard time repressing his true emotions. Such a smile could only 
> appear odd to Harry, because Harry doesn't guess the truth. But our 
> beloved Auror--er--Author does know, and she's perfectly willing to 
> drop bread crumbs for those wise enough to see the trail.

Perhaps, though it may equally be the nervous, disbelieving smile of the man 
who's just heard the very  last thing he wanted to hear. Not all of 
Voldemort's former supporters are delighted to have him back, are they? What 
would people like the Lestranges want to do to him, particularly if they knew 
he had once been a supporter of Voldemort.

> ::Significant pause. Absently grabs the still-smoking pipe off the 
> desk and chomps down on it. Chokes again. Clears throat. Continues 
> pacing.::
> 
> The argument between Dumbledore and Fudge continues. Dumbledore tells 
> Fudge they have to remove Azkaban from the control of the dementors. 
> Fudge declares he'd be kicked out of office for even suggesting 
> something so preposterous. Dumbledore says they have to make peace 
> with the giants so they won't rejoin Voldemort. Again, Fudge protests 
> that it would mean the end of his career. Page 708:
> 
> "'You are blinded,' said Dumbledore, his voice rising now, the aura 
> of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, 'by the 
> love of the office you hold, Cornelius!'"
> 
> See, there's that accusation. But look at what he says next...
> 
> "'You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-
> called purity of blood!'"
> 
> Missed it the first time, didn't you? Since when did we ever hear 
> Fudge say anything about pure blood? Never! (I already looked. He 
> doesn't.) But now Dumbledore reveals to us, the alert reader, that 
> Fudge subscribes to the very core doctrine that Voldemort preached. 
> The accusation seems to come out of nowhere! There's no reason for 
> Dumbledore to mention it. Fudge certainly hasn't. But there it is, 
> nonetheless, another clue to Fudge's true leanings.
> 
Agreed. One of my original proofs of his evilness.

> ::Pauses triumphantly. Grabs edge of cape and swirls it.::
> 
> The rest of the evidence against Fudge is more circumstantial, but I 
> find it convincing nonetheless. Page 707.
> 
> "'The rest of us sleep less soundly in our beds, Cornelius, knowing 
> that you have put Lord Voldemort's most dangerous supporters in the 
> care of creatures who will join him the instant he asks them!' said 
> Dumbledore."
> 
> Or in other words, putting the dementors in Azkaban was Fudge's idea. 
> Hmmm. Is it possible that Fudge's affinity with the dementors is a by-
> product of his true loyalties? Why put them there in the first place? 
> That I don't know, but as a side note, it means they weren't there 
> when Sirius Black was first put into Azkaban, nor were they there 
> when the Aurors were catching DEs during and shortly after 
> Voldemort's Reign of Terror. It also means that the dementors were 
> preying mostly on Voldemort's supporters, formerly their allies. 
> Creepy.

And the Lestranges won't thank him for that!

> 
> ::Shudders.::
> If it's true that Fudge is an extremely covert supporter of 
> Voldemort, it could also explain in part how Sirius Black got framed 
> and how his reputation as a mad murderer was spread. In PoA, when 
> Fudge, McGonagall, Hagrid, and Prof. Flitwick explain the situation 
> to Rosmerta, Fudge recalls his involvement. Page 208.
> 
> ::Waits for people to get out PoA and turn to the right page. Picks 
> up pipe and sniffs it. Moves to chomp down on it but thinks better of 
> it. Sets pipe back down.::
> 
> Ready now?
> 
> "'...I was one of the first on the scene after Black murdered all 
> those people. I--I will never forget it. I still dream about it 
> sometimes. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had 
> cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And 
> Black standing there laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in 
> front of him...a heap of bloodstained robes and a few--a few 
> fragments--'"
> 
> So, Black was laughing, was he? Do we hear that from Sirius when he 
> tells his side of the story? Does he say, "as soon as Peter 
> disappeared the absurdity of it all struck me and I couldn't help but 
> laugh?" No! Why would Sirius be laughing? I maintain that he wasn't 
> laughing at all--maybe sobbing, maybe convulsing in agony, maybe 
> standing there, stunned, but not laughing like a madman. I maintain 
> that Fudge willfully inserted that detail into his version of events 
> to make Sirius look bad. 
> 
No, sorry I agree with those who think that Sirius *was* hysterical, and with 
good reason. Weren't there other witnesses ?( shakey ground as it doesn't 
seem to matter really in the framing-of-Sirius scenario)
> 
> Why, some have asked, did they not simply perform a Priori Incantatum 
> on Black's wand or Peter's (assuming he left it behind)? Why didn't 
> they notice that bloodstained robes and bodily fragments are NOT the 
> byproducts of Avada Kedavra, the Death Eater's curse of choice for 
> murder? Because Fudge knew that Pettigrew was the real murderer and 
> the real betrayer of the Potters' Fidelius Charm, and that framing 
> Sirius would make people stop looking for Pettigrew. As the first on 
> the scene, and as one questioning muggles, he could alter his report 
> to his superiors any way he chose. Granted, Pettigrew did a good job 
> of framing Sirius on his own, but I believe that Fudge tied up any 
> stray ends that may have been left behind, including possibly 
> fiddling with the wands to make any Priori Incantatum fail. And with 
> Barty Crouch Sr.'s zeal to throw Voldemort's supporters in Azkaban 
> with all dispatch--and without a trial--any clues suggesting Sirius's 
> innocence would be overlooked and forgotten. And that was fine with 
> Fudge.
> 
The whole wand business  (deriving from my obsession with working out why 
Pettigrew's wand was missing) was my original reason for mistrusting him:
(Quoting myself)
>Think for a moment. One of the biggest problems with Pettigrew's escape plan 
is >the evidence which Sirius' wand could give via *prior incantato*. Sirius' 
descent >into hysteria and his guilt-induced 'confession'  couldn't be 
predicted. If he had >kept calm and demanded that his wand be allowed to give 
its evidence, his >innocence might have been demonstrated instantly. 
>What if someone (Fudge) substituted the guilty wand for Sirius' wand. No 
danger >of the verdict (not that it came to trial) being overturned. No 
danger of any >deranged tale that it was really Pettigrew who had killed the 
muggles being >believed.
>So that could be where Pettigrew's wand ended up.

I also go on to suggest that around this time  Pettigrew passes on 
Voldemort's wand which he has rescued (but without a clear view as to where 
it end up for the next 13 years. Hey, what if Fudge has it stored in the MoM, 
where young Crouch manages to gain access to it via his imperio'd father?)

> Furthermore, and this is pushing it, I know, but Fudge's fatherly 
> manner toward Harry earlier in PoA, when he met him at the Leaky 
> Cauldron, might simply be a way to make sure nothing happened to 
> Harry before Voldemort could finish him off himself. Which is, as we 
> know, what Voldemort wants. Someone like Fudge, who guard's his 
> Lord's prize, would surely be rewarded.
> 
> 
Well this seems to be Crouch Jr's *modus operandi*, doesn't it , so perhaps 
it's not so far-fetched. Alternatively, as he thought  that Sirius was trying 
to get to Harry, he might have wanted to get there first, to make sure that 
he didn't get the chance to tell Harry the truth and get Dumbledore on his 
side.
> 
> So there you have it: F.I.D.E.D.I.G.N.O. Or if you like a more pithy, 
> less ironic version, try F.I.E.: Fudge. Is. Evil.
> 
> Thank you. Dismissed.
> 
> 
F.I.E. indeed!

Eloise, ( who'd been wondering where her pipe and cape had got to. Still, 
you're welcome to the pipe, I didn't get on with it either.)
P.S. I've always wanted to say how cool I think your name is.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]