Fudge & Umbridge believing in Voldy's return

[K.Johnson]

No: HPFGUIDX 112287

Hi all, 
I've been a luker on the board for a few years now. Something about
OOTP has been bugging me for ages and I don't know if it's been
discussed before. 

I'm listening to the book on CD (over and over again) in my car... not
in order, but mixed up... you can concentrate on certain parts that way. 

I'm sorry if this has been discussed before, if so, please point me to
the post. 

If Umbridge doesn't believe LV is back, why would she insist that Harry
knows where Sirius is? (Especially that whole scene with the Veritserum)
Is Umbridge dumb enough to think that Harry would be speaking to Sirius
--someone who was trying to kill him and betrayed his parents? Why would
she think Harry is on the DE's side? Why does she think that Harry,
Dumbledore and Sirius have "been in on this whole thing together from
the start?" 


Yes, I know that deep down Umbridge and Fudge know that Dumbledore is
right and that LV has returned. But how many people (outside the Order)
know the truth about Sirius, Peter and the whole secret-keeper thing? In
order to believe that Harry and Sirius are in cahoots, you have to know
the whole Sirius story, the whole POA story. 

That raises another issue. Did Dumbledore tell Fudge the truth
(everything about Sirius, the time turner, etc) between POA and GOF? Or
was that part of what Dumbledore was explaining to Fudge at the end of
GOF? During Harry's hearing, Fudge bumbles on about "are you going to
tell me some story involving a time turner, etc..." (sorry I don't have
my book in front of me.) Seems like Fudge has heard the real story, but
chooses not to believe any of it. 

I've always thought of it as a stretch not to believe DD and HP, AND to
assume that Sirius and Harry are in cahoots. But if you didn't want
anyone to know that LV has returned, wouldn't you keep your paranoia to
yourself? It's one thing to say that DD is old and off his rocker, but I
wouldn't go around saying that Harry is crazy and that he's
communicating with Sirius Black. To the average wizard, that would have
them scratching their heads, based on the knowledge that the "public"
has. 

The MoM behavior in OOTP has always baffled me. If you're Fudge, you
can't go around telling your employees, "uh, well, we have good reason
to believe that Sirius isn't a death eater and that he's communicating
with Harry Potter, but let's try to supress it all and keep it
hush-hush. Oh yea, let's not forget that Harry Potter is also deranged."
That just doesn't compute. 

Granted, Fudge and Umbridge do a good deal of BSing during Harry's 5th
year, because they're silly, ignorant gits. Umbridge's quest to make
Harry's life miserable shouldn't really make sense to the Wizarding
World and Hogwarts students considering they don't know the real story.
Yes, I know DD spoke at the end of term feast, but it doesn't seem to
get through to anyone, or shall I say that no one has put all the pieces
together.

And of course there's the Daily Prophet. As a journalist myself, I can't
say enough about how crappy that paper is. 

Well, if anyone can shed some light on all of this, that would be great.
I'd love a discussion on this. Am I the only one thinking (and being
frustrated) by this? 

Kim
-who's next question will revolve around how several MoM officials don't
appear to be good wizards. (Umbridge being unable to do spells to get
rid of F&G pranks, Fudge not knowing if Squibs can see dementors,
etc...)