Umbridgitis in the MoM (Was:A Postscript )

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 166480

Nikkalmati:
>  
> I think we have to look to what model JKR may have been using in her
court proceedings to enlighten us as to what is going on here. <snip>
>  
> It does appear that the Wizengamot at times acts as a legislative
body and the Ministry of Magic as the executive.  We have not seen an
independent judiciary.  
>  
> The proceedings we see in GOF are by and large sentencing hearings.
  These trials were public spectacles and there do seem to have been
many visitors there, as well as voting members.  There is no evidence
taken and no verdict.  
<snip>
> Harry clearly was being "railroaded"  He was in serious danger of 
being found guilty "in absentia" because he was not made aware of the
time and  place of the hearing.  It seems that he would not have been
given a second chance 
> (not much due process is due in the WW). <snip> If Madam Bones is
acting as  the prosecutor, she would ask questions but she would
presumably not vote, but  the rest of the Wizengamot could and would
vote in its capacity as council to  the executive.  Fudge acted as
Chairman.  Although there were  three interrogators, I suspect Fudge 
> could allow others to ask questions, if  they wanted.   

Carol responds:
My point was simply that, based on both the GoF Pensieve scenes, in
which Crouch is in charge and there are no other "interrogators," and
on the fact that the original hearing was to be held, minus the
Wizengamot, in Madam Bones's office, that Fudge (perhaps under
Umbridge's influence) is altering standard procedure. It seems to be a
consensus among the Order members (except maybe Sirius Black) that
Madam Bones will give Harry a fair hearing. Fudge clearly has no such
intention.

The system is already flawed by the absence of a separate judiciary,
but at least until now the Minister of Magic and his Senior
Undersecretary have not stepped in to do the job of the Head of the
Department of Magical Law Enforcement--or to "help" her do it. If
standard procedure had been followed, even allowing for the presence
of the fifty or so members of the Wizengamot who appear to be acting
as the jury, Madam Bones would have been the sole interrogator, as
well as the person who asks for the show of hands (whcih she does) and
the one who stated the verdict (as Fudge does, in this case). (I agree
that she didn't vote; nor did Crouch, her GoF counterpart, in the
Pensieve scenes. Fudge should not have done so, either, but he's not
looking for justice here, nor is he abiding by the established rules.)

However flawed the system was to begin with, Fudge is making it more
so, changing the time and place on short notice, turning a
disciplinary hearing into a trial before the Wizengamot, giving
himself and Umbridge unprecedented authority as "interrogators," and
even changing laws, as Dumbledore points out. And, of course, we see
much the same form of tyranny when Umbridge invades Hogwarts, with her
increasingly repressive Educational Decrees.

I agree that the Star Chamber (instituted by my least favorite English
monarch, Henry VII) is a reasonable analogy of the procedure at
Harry's disciplinary hearing *as it is arranged by Fudge*. Under Madam
Bones, without his interference, it would have been a much simpler
matter, as shown by my posts upthread. I am trying to show that Fudge
perceives himself as under threat, thanks to the influence of a
certain poisonous toad, and is taking oppressive measures to protect
himself against the perceived threat of a Dumbledorean takeover.
Discrediting Harry discredits Dumbledore and hampers the spread of
"lies" about Voldemort.

If we look at the kindly, pompous Fudge of PoA; the anxious, in-denial
Fudge of GoF; the angry, blustering, threatening Fudge of OoP, I think
we can see a progression, with the insidious influence of his Senior
Undersecretary rearing its ugly head in GoF as Umbridge builds on his
insecurity and envy of Dumbledore to make him believe that Dumbledore
is trying to undermine him with a campaign to make the public believe
that Voldemort is back. She takes matters into her own hands in OoP by
sending the Dementors, unknown to Fudge ("What Cornelius doesn't know
won't hurt him," as she says in a slightly different context), with
the intention of discrediting Harry. It is surely her suggestion, or
at least her influence, that results in the change of time and place,
not to mention her presence as an interrogator. (Fortunately, she says
very little.)

It seems to me that Madam Bones does her best under the circumstances
to ensure a fair examination of the evidence and the witnesses. (See
upthread.) Certainly, Dumbledore uses his influence as well, and
fortunately, only a few members of the Wizengamot seem to be
intimidated by Umbridge, laughing sycophantically when she says, "So
silly of me. But it sounded for a teensy minute as though you were
suggesting that the Ministry of Magic had ordered an attack on this
boy!" (147). Her supporters appear to include the frizzy-haired witch
and the heavily mustached wizard who vote against Harry (151). Percy
(fortunately only the Court Scribe and not a member of the Wizengamot)
also appears to be under the baleful influence of that "delightful
woman," as he later calls her in his letter to Ron.

In HBP, after the battle of the MoM has shown Dumbledore to be right
(and to be not at all interested in taking over as Minister for
Magic), chastened, humble Fudge, with his kindliness but not his
pomposity restored (and his job, of course, given to Scrimgeour). He
has obeyed Dumbledore's order (and it is an order) to remove Dolores
Umbridge from Hogwarts (OoP 818). Unfortunately, Umbridge is not
removed from the Ministry, but given the miserable Fudge we see at
Dumbledore's funeral, I think it's safe to say that he, at least, is
no longer under her influence. Whether the same can be said of Percy,
it's too soon to say.

Carol, wondering whether anyone else sees the insidious influence of
Dolores Umbridge as the reason for the alteration in Fudge