What If... Dumbledore had included Fudge in GoF Ch.35?

[Tom Wall]

No: HPFGUIDX 55144

You know, all of this revitalized debate on whether FIE or not has 
gotten me thinking...

When I was a teenager, I used to read comic books (revealing some 
childhood geekdom, there) and Marvel comics had this great (well, 
*I* thought it was great, but I'm not sure if it was long-lived or 
not) series called "What If..." The point of the series was to take 
Marvel-verse fact, like our canon, and posit plausible alternatives 
in the form of "What If... such-and-such had happened instead of 
what actually DID happen?"

So, in that light, I got to thinking about GoF Ch.35, "Veritaserum," 
in which Dumbledore administers the potion to Barty Crouch, Jr. and 
he, Harry, Winky, Snape, and McGonagall hear what he has to say. 
That's a lot of people, right, when you think about it? Who is 
missing that should definitely been included in this meeting?

Fudge. If Fudge had been there (and it wouldn't have been that 
difficult to include him) things would have been very different at 
the end of GoF.

So, in that light, "What If... Dumbledore had called Fudge into the 
room to hear Crouch Jr.'s testimony?"

What we have now is this:

"Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, 
and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called 
Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will 
find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up 
to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back 
here." (GoF, US paperback, Ch.35, 680)

What If... he said this:

<snip directions to Snape>
Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a 
large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Tell him that I wish 
to see him and will be with him shortly. Find Cornelius Fudge and 
tell him that it's imperative he come to this room at once. Bring 
the dog to my office, and then come back here."

Imagine if that had happened. 

Well, first of all, Fudge would have heard most, if not all of what 
Barty Crouch, Jr. had to say under the effect of the serum. In other 
words, when Fudge says in GoF Ch.36 that "I see no evidence to the 
contrary!" (US paperback, pg. 706) that wouldn't have happened. He 
would have heard the evidence. So, right then and there, Fudge would 
have bonafide proof that Voldemort was alive.

See? Dumbledore could still have kept Sirius' identity a secret by 
bringing Fudge back to his office and somehow ensuring that Sirius 
remain in his dog form. That would have been difficult, because we 
see that Sirius is standing there in his human form when Albus and 
Harry enter the room. All the same, Dumbledore is indisputably a 
smart guy, and probably could have found a way to make sure Sirius 
was still a canine. He could have had the dog wait outside the 
office instead of bringing him in. He could have sent Harry into the 
office first to take a private word with Fudge outside. Whatever the 
case, in this scenario Fudge would have heard Harry's testimony.

So then, the whole Parting of the Ways scene wouldn't be a `parting' 
at all, because Fudge would be aware of Voldemort's plans via BCJ 
and Harry. And even if Fudge wants to dispute Harry's sanity, or 
take issue with Dumbledore's secrecy, he would still have Crouch, 
Jr.'s testimony to give to the Ministry officials and the public. In 
other words, Fudge would have more of the same information that 
Dumbledore has. Removing the dementors wouldn't be a dispute – it 
would be a foregone conclusion, as would contacting the giants.

So, Dumbledore's secrecy is part of the reason that Fudge blows up 
the way he does in GoF Ch.36. If Fudge had the same information that 
Albus does, then the WW would be able to act accordingly, with some 
form of unanimity. Of course, we, as readers, would lose a large 
part of the suspense that JKR has skillfully built up, and, which I 
might add, makes the story worth reading. ;-)

Other decent "What If..." topics off the top of my head?

"What If... Harry had shaken Draco's hand in PS/SS Ch.6 on the 
Hogwarts Express?"

"What If... The Sorting Hat had placed Harry into Slytherin House in 
PS/SS Ch.7?"

"What If... Harry had revealed that he was hearing a strange voice 
to Dumbledore in CoS Ch.12?"

"What If... Tom Riddle Sr. had accepted that his wife was a witch?"

Just food for thought. I realize that all this would drastically 
change the story that we know and love (and probably make the story 
not half as engrossing,) but still, it's interesting to think 
about. ;-)

-Tom