[HPforGrownups] The Half-Hour Chat with Fudge

[Lady Macbeth]

No: HPFGUIDX 71743

Marianne Said:
>>> Exactly how much information do you think Dumbledore tells Fudge?
Does Fudge already know about the Prophecy? Or will this be news to
him?<<<

Lady Macbeth: I think that Fudge knows OF the Prophecy, but he doesn't know
the wording of it.

Marianne Said:
>>>Will Dumbledore reveal the existence of the Order of the
Phoenix, and, if so, will he mention the names of those MoM employees
who are part of the group?<<<

Lady Macbeth:
I think that he will not tell Fudge ANYTHING about the Order of the Phoenix.
I don't think he trusts Fudge with much of anything, and ESPECIALLY not with
anything that would prove "news" or otherwise useful to Voldemort.

Marianne Said:
>>>Will he tell Fudge about Sirius going
through the veil, and also make a pitch for clearing his name?<<<

Lady Macbeth:
I think this is debatable.  At the moment I would say he would not, because
Fudge would then start wondering what Sirius Black was doing at the Ministry
that night and how he was connected to Dumbledore.  I think that is
something that Dumbledore does not want him finding out yet, especially
since it could draw links to the Order of the Phoenix.

Marianne Said:
 >>> And a related question - does the Order remain in existence now that
the MoM has publicly come around to recognizing that Voldemort is
back?  My opinion on that is, yes, it does, if for no other reason
than that the bureaucratic apparatus of the Ministry does not always
seem to focus on things of vital importance.  Also, while there are
Order members in the Ministry, there are probably Voldemort
supporters there as well.  I do see the Order continuing as a sort of
intelligence-gathering operation that will funnel that information to
people in the Ministry who can act on it appropriately.<<<

Lady Macbeth:
I believe that it WILL stay in existence - it was in existence back when the
Ministry was well aware of Voldemort and the Death Eaters, during the "reign
of terror".  Also, I am not convinced that Dumbledore trusts Fudge with much
of anything - hence only giving him a half an hour.  This suggests that
Dumbledore was willing to give him a glancing overview of what happened,
including verifying that it was indeed Voldemort standing in the Ministry of
Magic offices, and then leave him on his wriggly, feeding off of Malfoy way.
Dumbledore knows that in the end it will be Harry and Voldemort who decide
what happens, and that Fudge will be little more than a stumbling block in
the road; he could turn the Ministry either way, but in the end it's
irrelevant as long as they don't get between Harry and Voldemort.  To this
end, Dumbledore will want complete and accurate control and intelligence
over the situation, hence the need to keep the Order of the Phoenix in place
and secret as it has always been.

-Lady Macbeth


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