Fudge Naive or DE? (was "is there a reason?")

[Kelly]

No: HPFGUIDX 77347

 Fran wrote:

> Everyone seems to think that Fudge is just naive but I think he is 
a 
> LV supporter if not a DE.  Around the same passage quoted above, DD 
> accuses Fudge of "putting too much importance on purity of blood". 
> Things that bother me about Fudge:
> 1) Puts the blame on Sirius for the Potter's, and Wormtails 
supposed 
> death without a trial or asking for an explanation.
> 2)The deatheaters in POA
> 3)The dementors kiss on Barty jr without taking the opportunity to 
> question him.
> 4)The whole parting of the ways.
> 5)His continuing reluctance to believe LV is back at the end of 
OOP. 
> He didn't exactly go Oh MY God you were right all along DD, he 
> reacted begrudgingly to it.
> 6)He thinks so highly of Lucious Malfoy. Yes I know Lucious gives 
> money but giving money isnt that big a deal for someone who has 
> alot.  
> I realize that this is out there but I just dont believe he is that 
> naive. I also believe Ludo Bagman is a DE.....Wimbourn Wasp...Wasp 
> buzzing around in GOF and OOP.....

You have some very good points.  I think that there is a chance, 
albeit slim, that Fudge may be a DE after all.  Personally, I think 
he is representative of a bureaucratic politician who 
prefers "business as usual" and will avoid "rocking the boat" at all 
costs.  I also get the feeling that he is almost completely unable to 
make decisions on his own.  Instead, it appears that he takes other 
peoples solutions and acts on them.  This can be evidenced by the 
following points:

-  In SS/ PS when Hagrid tells Harry "They wanted Dumbledore fer 
Minister, o' course, but he's never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius 
Fudge got the job.  Bungler if ever there was one.  So he pelts 
Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice (SS 64-5)."

-  In CoS in the chapter Cornelius Fudge there are numerous quotes 
from Fudge that make him appear to be doing the bidding of others 
rather than making a decision of his own.
     "'Hagrid's record's against him.  Ministry's got to do 
something -- the school's governors have been in touch -- CoS 261).'"

     In the same scene in CoS Fudge is seen with his "Upper lip 
sweating" and "fiddling with his bowler."  He only makes a show of a 
stance against Malfoy and seems, in general, more worried about what 
people will think than future deaths at Hogwarts.

We have the glaring example at the end of GoF.  Fudge is much more 
worried about being thrown out of office than the possibility that 
people are in danger.  I believe he orders the dementor's kiss on 
Crouch without a trial because of his fear that Dumbledore is telling 
the truth.  In fact, I think he knows that Voldemort is back, yet is 
in a serious stage of denial.

The most obvious examples of Fudge's incompetence are in OoTP.  He 
blindly passes the "Educational Decree"s seemingly based on 
Umbridge's recommendations.  His relationship with Malfoy seems to be 
a surrogate for his lost relationship with Dumbledore (i.e. he needs 
a person to help him make decisions).

In short, I think that it is unlikely that Fudge is a death eater.  
However, his incompetence and naivete are rungs in the ladder that 
could allow the DE to rise to power.  His pure blood attitude could 
be seen as a DE trait.  However, I think that it is safe to say that 
many non DE wizards have similar feelings about this.  

Bagman... well not so sure about him.  I think he is a tad smarter 
than he portrays himself, but there just doesn't seem to be enough 
evidence pointing one way or the other.  The fact that he was cleared 
of charges means little since the court is fallible and the jury was 
certainly blinded by his celebrity status.  Hopefully we see him 
again and find out one way or the other.