Fudge and Scrimgeour - Birds of a Feather?

[roseviolet66]

No: HPFGUIDX 134634

I had originally hoped that someone competent like Amelia Bones 
would become the next Minister, but JKR squashed that pipedream at 
the outset. Instead we get Rufus Scrimgeour, who appears to be on 
the opposite end of the spectrum from Fudge personality-wise. He's 
described as "an old lion" in appearance with an "impression of 
shrewdness and toughness." Where Fudge is waffling and thoughtless, 
Scrimgeour seems decisive and calculating. Perhaps a bit like old 
Barty Crouch, Sr., also a former head of aurors, who was rather 
overzealous in his prosecutions during the first war with Voldemort.

Ultimately, however, Scrimgeour and Fudge have too much in common 
for my liking. They both envy and distrust Dumbledore, while still 
seeking his assistance. They share a desire to use Harry's status 
as "The Boy Who Lived" for their own political ends. They both have 
no problem with retaining incompetent sycophantic toadies like Percy 
and Umbridge. And both are guided by the political expediency 
of "appearing to do something" regardless of the cost. Just look at 
what Fudge did to Hagrid in CoS, and what Scrimgeour did to Stan 
Shunpike in HBP. Of course, the fact that Scrimgeour has kept Fudge 
on at the Ministry in an "advisory capacity" is simply laughable. 
While the Minister's name may have changed, it still seems to be 
politics as usual at the MoM.


Roseviolet