ESE Fudge

[meltowne]

No: HPFGUIDX 107203

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "mhbobbin" <mhbobbin at y...> 
wrote:

mhbobbin writes:  
 
Why is it that Fudge turns up so often in the Peter Pettigrew / 
Sirius Black conflict? Coincidence?  We don't know where Percy got 
Scabbers yet...but could he have been given to the Weasleys by 
Fudge? And it is Fudge's comments at the Three Broomsticks, in front 
of Harry's friends (and Harry too although Fudge might not know 
this) that further complicates the story. Fudge just can't keep his 
mouth shut about the inside story. Does he tell this to Hagrid, 
Flitwick, McGonnagall etc thinking it might get back to Harry, and 
Harry will behave recklessly?

Very suspicious. And put together with Fudge being one of the first 
on the scene after the Pettigrew / Black duel. A duel--per Sirius-- 
that Sirius lost because little Peter had his wand behind his back. 
In other words, Sirius didn't see the wand--did Sirius know what 
really happened? Doubtful.

Meltowne:

good point - I hadn't really thought about that, but now that you 
mention it... LV tells Wormtail to "kill the spare" which he des with 
LV's wand (we know this because Cedric's shadow comes from the wand, 
right?).  So Wormtail doesn't have his own wand.  An animagus 
transforms with his possessions (despite the minor flaw in the latest 
movie), so if Wormtail used his own wand against all those muggles, 
we would expect him to have that same wand with him all along - but 
he doesn't!  All that was left was his finger, but we don't hear 
about his wand being recovered - maybe it was lost elsewhere!  If he 
used LV's wand, would we have seen the shadows of those muggles cme 
fromt he wand in the graveyard?  Or did that only work because the 
Killing Curse was used?  

What if Sirius thinks Wormtail cast such powerful magic because he 
didn't know there was another wizard there - Fudge!  Maybe Peter's 
finger really was blown off by the spell, but he managed otherwise to 
escape in Rat form.  I suspect however that Fudge was involved in 
that too - Peter needed to disappear and he went to his friend Fudge 
for help.  Maybe Fudge did give the rat to the Weasley family.  And 
maybe Fudge let Sirius out because he realized he needed that rat 
eliminated (he couldn't afford to tell anyone else about it, so 
Sirious had to do the dirty work).  Or maybe he realized Sirious 
wasn't being driven insane by the dementors, so he wanted an excuse 
to let them kiss him, or maybe even a reason to post them at 
Hogwarts - there are plenty of reasons for him to help Sirious escape.

mhbobbin:

I'm not convinced that Fudge was a Death Eater. He may just be out 
for his own power, a bumbling politician.  But he sure turns up in 
strategic places in the Sirius /Pettigrew mystery and we know there 
aren't many true coincidences in JKR's world.

Meltowne:

Im not sure he was a Death Eater either, but he sympathized.  As 
someone else has posted, he is the type to stand by and let them do 
their thing as long as it doesn't get in his way - particularly if he 
agrees with their sentiments on racial purity.