The Corruption Of Fudge?

[evenflow200214]

No: HPFGUIDX 45572

There's something all together "wrong" about the character of Fudge. 
Apologies if this has been bought up before but I couldn't find 
anything so I thought I'd run with this thread

The scenes after Veritaserum, The Parting Of The Ways were arguably 
the most important chapter in the book - the part where Fudge's true 
colours came out and he refused to believe Dumbledore's party that 
Voldemort had returned?

Rumour has it that Fudge is either one of these:

1) Working for Voldemort. A Death Eater and a faithful servent
2) Used to work for Voldemort but doesn't now
3) Is a corrupt official who is only interested in his own power 
levels and allies with certain *people* to keep himself at a high 
level
4) A bumbling ignorant

First, lets take a look at Fudge's actions and parts in each of the 
books, then look at the pros and cons of the above theories

PS/SS

We are first made aware of the character of Fudge when Hagrid 
collects Hagrid. Hagrid is dismissive of him which leads the question 
as to how Fudge became Minister of Magic? He says that they wanted 
Dumbledore for the job but he refused showing that the candidates are 
probably not elected by the general public. So how do they get in? 
Are they voted for within the Ministry? 

We also see that Fudge is very reliant on Dumbledore for advice. I 
can't see Dumbledore sitting back and letting Fudge take control if 
he had any suspicion that Fudge was dodgy. 

Later, Dumbledore is called away under suspicious circumstances. Now, 
Dumbledore is not perfect but he is surely not idiot enough to be 
fooled by a fake letter. He appears to have an eerie knowledge of 
what goes on in and around Hogwarts the vast majority of the time. He 
appears to have known Quirrel for awhile so would not be fooled by a 
fake sig. Is it purely coincidental that Fudge called Dumbledore away 
at that time? Could this mean he may have been in cahoots with 
Quirrel? Or that he pulls of what I call "the Polonius" and behind 
his bumbling exterior, he, like Polonius in Hamlet, is actually quite 
sharp underneath it all, put two and two together quicker than 
Dumbledore and sent an owl out telling Dumbledore to get himself down 
to the Ministry?

Book 2, we see Fudge in the flesh for the first time and he is 
alligned with Lucius Malfoy. Bad sign. We see throughout that he has 
a lot of respect for Malfoy. In fact, its nothing short of ass 
kissing. In fact, he's supposed to be the Minister. I get the feeling 
that Fudge isn't that well off so likes to latch on to people that 
are: the Malfoys. 

Anyway, he enters Hagrid's hut with Dumbledore and Lucius in tow. 
He's not willing to overrule Lucius when he wants Dumbledore out. He 
is the Minister, he probably could demand that Dumbledore stay if he 
wanted to. Recent example of this at work is recently when two pupils 
were expelled from a school, the headteacher and governers all agreed 
on their expulsion but an appeal court allowed them back in. Although 
there is a huge fuss about it, unless the parents pull the pupils 
out, there's not a lot anyone can do about it. I think we need to 
take a look at who really is the Minister here! It seems that Lucius 
and Dumbledore (linked as they are the advisories of Fudge) are 
jointly in charge through Fudge! Its a strange situation

He shows more loyalty to Lucius than Dumbledore although he feebly 
protests. He takes Hagrid to Azkaban which shows the first signs of 
his bias. An old rumour of an event fifty years ago and the fact that 
Hagrid is a half giant is enough to convince him.

Does he know about the diary? Well, at the moment its like asking if 
Gertrude knew about Old Hamlet's murder. You just don't know. If he 
did then why take Hagrid away? Leave him there and when Ginny 
disappears, say its Hagrid's fault, Tom will finish Harry off, 
destroy the diary, get Voldemort back. If he didn't, why leave the 
school undefended against a creature from hell? 

Book 3

Ok, he had more of a key role in PoA. He was the first to meet Harry. 
He knew exactly where to be, his timing was perfect. Outside the 
Leaky Cauldron. He's supposed not to have known Harry had caught the 
nightbus. Ern and Stan couldn't have relayed a message to them as:

1) They thought he was Neville Longbottom
2) Harry was with them the whole time
3) I wouldn't imagine either of them could leave or apparate "just 
like that" In fact, I wouldn't imagine them being able to apparate at 
all

So what was Fudge doing there? It seems too much of a coincidence to 
be a coincidence, the fact that he was there just as the bus pulled 
up.

Also, the overheard conversation. I didn't realise it until the 
fourth book had all sunk in but a comment Fudge made, made me very 
suspicious. I don't have the third book on me at the moment so it may 
not be the exact quote but here is the gist of it:

"you know who alone and friendless is one thing but give him back his 
most devoted servant and I shudder to think how fast he will rise"

Well, Voldemort's servant did escape that night. Granted, Fudge will 
obviously think its the wrong person (Sirius) but either way you look 
at it, whether you believe Sirius' innocence or not, Voldemort's 
*faithful* servant did escape that night. So in GoF Fudge suddenly 
dismisses the idea that Voldemort has returned. Does he believe that 
Sirius is dead? Does he know that Sirius is innocent, that Wormtail 
has gone back but does not believe that he is faithful? Its a very 
odd situation seeing that as Sirius has eluded everyone's clutches 
and the Dementors apparently weren't searching for him in GoF as he 
could take risks such as breaking into people's houses, nobody (or at 
least nobody who is willing to talk) knows anything about Sirius' 
whereabouts, wouldn't it occur to Fugde, what with the hysteria of 
the previous year, that Sirius may have sought out Voldemort? (On a 
side note, why has Dumbledore not told Hagrid about Sirius' 
innocence?)

Fudge also appears at the end and about Sirius' escape, the first 
thing a respectable politician may consider is, "oh God, people's 
safety" As far as we know that Fudge is concerned, this guy is a 
remorseless killer who thinks nothing of murdering innocent victims. 
Yet what is the first thing he says: (apologies again for not getting 
the exact quote)

"we had Black cornered and he slipped through our fingers again. I'll 
be a laughing stock, the Daily Prophet'll have a field day"

His own image appears more important than people's saftey. As long as 
his public image is protected, who cares? is what is seems to me. 
Notice how he also seems to give it up now, the search. He doesn't 
say that the Dementors will relocate to find Sirius, he kinda gives 
up. Is that a reaction of a man who is concerned with the safety of 
the wizarding community? Is it because he knows that Dumbledore knows 
the Sirius is innocent or that he doesn't want his pride wounded any 
more than it already has been?

Also, back to the overheard conversation Fudge says he was first on 
the scene of Sirius' arrest. This is an idea I heard on another 
board, so I can't take credit for it but its a good theory. Its that, 
Fudge maybe took bribes from people such as Malfoy to get to the 
scene of a crime and destroy evidence linking them to it. For 
example, Malfoy would tell Fudge where his next job was, Fudge would 
keep quiet about it and by that would be "the first on the scene", 
take out all evidence linking it to Death Eaters and collect the 
money afterwards. Maybe

Now in GoF this is where Fudge REALLY gets suspicious. Well, lets go 
through his apperances. The first time, he is willing to brag in the 
top box to all who he knows about Harry's fame, regardless to how 
Harry feels. This is Fudge's pride coming into show. He needs to show 
them that HE is friends with the boy who defeated You Know Who. Its 
quite sad really, for the equivilent of a Prime Minister to have to 
justify himself by being around someone else of whom is famous

Notice when the Malfoy's come in Fudge pays them a lot more respect 
than he does the Weasley's. We know why he pays Harry *respect* but 
he bows and goes into "bumbling old fool" mode. Again, the comparison 
with Polonius. And notice how he conveniently fails to hear Malfoy's 
directed insult at Arthur. Does he hear it and secretly agree with 
Malfoy? Or choose not to acknowledge it as he wants to stay onside 
with Malfoy because of his wealth and the power he has? Also, note 
that Lucius doesn't let his "respectable citizen" act drop around 
Fudge which could signify that he is bothered about what Fudge thinks 
or what he can get out of Fudge if Fudge learns to trust him. I 
suspect the latter. 

"however, under the gaze of the Minister Of Magic, Mr Malfoy didn't 
dare say anything"

Also, after the fiasco with the Dark Mark, Fudge is noticibly absent 
from the forest scene. The high ups of the Ministry are there. Crouch 
snr, Malfoy (although of course in disguise) but Fudge is absent. As 
is Dumbledore from the whole thing which is surprising as we know 
he's started to put two and two together what with Frank Bryce and 
Bertha Jorkins. Could Fudge's disappearence be due to the fact that 
he was in the crowd that tortured the Robertses? Even the most blind 
of people must have noticed Malfoy's blatent bigotry against 
everything remotely related to Muggles. And the disappearence (what 
happened to the body?) of Frank Bryce doesn't bother Fudge all that 
much, despite the fact that he should know Tom Riddle's history. And 
if Dumbledore has kept what happened in CoS from him, it must be for 
a good reason. He's the Minister Of Magic.

Next bit is relatively short but Fudge's bigoted side comes out in 
full force. In fact, you can draw a parallel between him and Ron in 
one way, how they both jump to the easy conclusion as that's what 
they want to believe. Everytime something goes wrong, Ron's attitude 
is, "its Snape" or "its Malfoy" and Fudge is, "its Maxime, Hagrid" as 
they are both half giants. 

Then Fudge drops the attitude when he knows that Harry is around and 
gets slightly embarrassed as though he wants to wrap Harry in cotton 
wool, much like Moody/Crouch until the third task. Then he tries, for 
want of a better term, to fob Harry off and send him back to class. 
He must know he came up to Dumbledore for a reason. So why try and 
send him away? Does he think he knows something and might spill and 
this is Fudge's way of being discreet? 

Also, interesting that Fudge has stationed himself inside the grounds 
as he's going to become the judge for the third task. Could this be 
so he can excuse himself from apparating to Voldemort due to the "no 
apparation on the Hogwarts grounds" thing? Does he want to avoid 
Voldemort but make out to him that he is a faithful servant by 
keeping an eye on things at Hogwarts? He also "looked stern and was 
not talking" Was he worried about the potential events of the evening 
or was he just being awkward as it was Madame Maxime he was sitting 
next to?

Next time we see Fudge is after the kidnapping. There are scenes of 
terror, we do not know what has happened at Hogwarts during Harry's 
disappearance. We know that Fudge (or anyone else at Hogwarts for 
that matter) could not have left under the eye of the huge crowd 
without causing suspicion. I think, no matter what side Fudge is on, 
Cedric's death knocked him temporarily for six. If he's on 
Voldemort's side, he wouldn't have expected Cedric to go through with 
Harry and would have expected Harry dead. If he's an innocent puppet, 
or even just corrupt he wouldn't expect that

But then; aha! Suspicous part! He shouts that Harry needs to get to 
the hospital wing. Then, right on cue, who should appear but 
Moody/Crouch who suggests the hospital wing. Interesting coincidence. 
And if you don't believe in coincidences, this is extremely dodgy. 
Fudge doesn't turn and try and calm the crowd. Is Fudge purposely 
distracting Dumbledore so Crouch can get Harry away to kill him while 
at the same time signalling for Crouch to take him as if Fudge 
himself disappeared, the crowds would know that something is amiss 
and he does not want to give up his position as Minister?

And Fudge doesn't bother coming up for himself. If Dumbledore hasn't 
told him that something is up, his trust is wavering and if he hasn't 
then Fudge's position is now extremely dodgy. Its Dumbledore, 
McGonagall and Snape who appear. However, in Fudge's defence, Crouch 
doesn't mention him once under Veritaserum

Dumbledore tells Snape to go to the grounds and find Fudge. What is 
Fudge doing? If he was with the Diggory's, Dumbledore would have 
said, "go and find Fudge, he's talking to the Diggory's" and later he 
states that he must speak to them, so it seems as if he doesn't know 
exactly where Fudge is at that moment. Wouldn't Fudge have gone up to 
the school when he noticed Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape all gone?

Then its THE scene. The big one. Fudge strides up the ward and 
demands to see Dumbledore and is livid. What reason has he got to be 
livid? He's destroyed Crouch... if I was anyone else, I'd be upset or 
glad the mess is sorted more than anything about what's happened. And 
also, what distracted Dumbledore's attention? He tells Harry that 
he "must meet with Fudge" Also, note he doesn't call him Mr Fudge, 
he's always insisted Harry call Snape, Professor. But he isn't 
bothered by addressing Fudge, who's the equivilent of Prime Minister 
by his proper name. Is this a sign of lack of respect and suspicion? 
When he says that he must meet with Fudge he goes but when Fudge 
comes back he demands to know where Dumbledore is. So Dumbledore 
can't have gone to seen Fudge. It must have taken some time to grab a 
Dementor, get it to Hogwarts, get it to suck Crouch's soul, then 
hotfoot it down to the hospital wing. So where did Dumbledore go? We 
know it wasn't to see the Diggory's. He saw them later. And he 
obviously didn't know that the Dementor was around or he wouldn't 
have let it in, he'd have sent it out, so he would have to be far 
removed from the situation as it took place.

Snape says that Fudge felt that "his personal safety" was in 
question. Why? What reason has Crouch got to harm him? And wouldn't 
he still be doped up after the Veritaserum? Surely Snape told Fudge 
about the Veritaserum before the Kiss? 

Then, the big line IMO. 

"the moment that - that thing entered the room" she screamed pointing 
at Fudge, trembling all over, "it swooped down on Crouch and...

This is McGonagall here! She's pretty cool usually, maximum 
composure. And she gestures at Fudge when she says "that thing". And 
Molly Weasley's comment later, "he knows what Fudge is" What is Fudge?
And it said that Dumbledore then saw him clearly for the first 
time... Very dodgy

And he keeps smiling, its not hysterical like Sirius, he keeps 
grinning, "a curious smile", "a strange smile" Then he starts about 
Harry being a Parseltongue. Anything that discredits what Harry's 
saying

Then when Harry started on the Death Eaters and mentioned Malfoy, 
Snape reacted. I think he had worked out that Fudge wasn't all he 
seemed and when Harry said Malfoy, Snape's movement was too probably 
stick his hand over Harry's mouth and say "shut up" but it was too 
late. He probably thought that by indentifying Malfoy, Fudge would go 
back and tell Malfoy no matter what the situation, Malfoy would tell 
Voldemort and they'll keep it quiet so no-one would suspect Malfoy. 
Or maybe Snape has a self interest linked into the fact that he 
favours Draco

But Snape has shot himself in the foot by showing Fudge the Dark 
Mark. Fudge could easily reveal that Snape is a Death Eater, he was 
aquitted of ever being one at his trial. He's admitted to being one. 
And if Fudge is for Voldemort, he can't go back as a spy as Voldemort 
will never believe he doesn't support Dumbledore

So that's a long winded analysis on Fudge's appearence in the books

The pros and cons of the four points are all in there. 
What's everyone's theory? 1,2,3 or 4



Dan