Cornelius Fudge

[Fainting Fancies]

I'm writing a story set in 1976, and I'm thinking of having Fudge make an appearance.

We know that in 1981 he was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, do you think it would be plausible for Fudge to have been in the same department in 1976? I sort of get the feeling about Fudge that he would be likely to stick in the same department and work his way up through it.

If Fudge were to be at the scene of a catastrophe, how do you think he'd react? I sort of get the feeling that he wouldn't be much help in getting the situation under control, he might also get bogged down in the details of exactly which rules were broken.

Any thoughts?

Hannah

[DeadManSeven]

I think it's important that he not be completely ineffectual - Fudge is a poor Minister for Magic in a crisis, but he had to have done something in order to rise to the position in the first place. Fudge's big weakness isn't that he's bad at what he does but rather that he seems incapable of thinking outside of the box - he (presumably) moves the Azkaban guards to Hogwarts to protect Harry from Sirius Black despite logical evidence that Black knows some way of evading the Dementors, and he refuses to prepare for the possibility that the Dark Lord will resurface on what looks like just the advice of a man who could be angling to replace him as Minister. I would imagine Fudge wouldn't be completely lost in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, provided he's covering a "normal" casastrophe, if you follow my meaning - if it's something he's prepared for he'll just go by the book, but if there's anything that requires a bit of creative thinking he's likely to make mistakes based upon faulty reasoning.

However, Fudge is sent to go inform the Prime Minister when Scrimgeour is running the show and he gives Harry first a free pass in PoA and tries to make an example of him in OotP depending on what his administration needed at the time, so maybe he is a completely useless disaster management coordinator but knows how to play the political game better than most. He could be more concerned with making it seem like him and his department has appeared to do a good job rather than actually getting the magical accident/catastrophe fixed.

[vatsan17]

Charecteristics
1. He was not brave enough to be the Minister during the second reign of Voldemort.
2. He is very insecure about his job in OOTP.

We don't know anything else about him. I have a few questions.

1.How good are his magical abilities? Is he a powerful wizard?
2.Can his insecurity about his job mean he loves to be a Minister? Is he a megalomaniac?
3.If he is a megalomaniac, to what extent can he go to gain power?

I would welcome any thought about my questions and any other characteristics of Fudge you guys have noticed.

Thanks =)

[expelliarmus17]

We don't know anything else about him. I have a few questions.

1.How good are his magical abilities? Is he a powerful wizard?
2.Can his insecurity about his job mean he loves to be a Minister? Is he a megalomaniac?
3.If he is a megalomaniac, to what extent can he go to gain power?

1. I don't think that the books indicate whether he's a good wizard or not. I would probably write him with average or below average magical skills because his job focuses on people skills, not magical skills.

2. I think he's power hungry to some extent, but I think he cares about his personal reputation more. For example, he would frequently send owls to Dumbledore asking for advice. He cared about doing his job well to maintain his reputation, not to compete for power.

3. I don't think he's ambitious enough to try to gain power. He's too by-the-book to try to take over things and run them his own way. He's also not independent enough; he needs societal approval of his actions.

[lucca4]

1. I don't think that the books indicate whether he's a good wizard or not. I would probably write him with average or below average magical skills because his job focuses on people skills, not magical skills.

I think he was actually a fairly powerful wizard. He was elected by the wizards/witches of England, and I doubt they would want their Minister to be weak with magic skills. He may have been more charismatic than he was powerful, though, but I don't think he was below average.

2.Can his insecurity about his job mean he loves to be a Minister? Is he a megalomaniac?

I don't think he was insecure about his job, at first. He sent many letters to Dumbledore asking for advice, at first, because he knew Dumbledore was the better wizard. Later, in OotP, I think he was finally able to feel on top of things as a minister, and Voldemort's return would seriously damage that. I don't think he was power-hungry, exactly, or obsessed with his own power, I think he just didn't want to acknowledge that he was not ready to deal with something as catastrophic as Voldemort's rebirth. It was more of a pride thing, I think.

3.If he is a megalomaniac, to what extent can he go to gain power?

I think expelliarmus17 answers this perfectly.


xx Ariana xx

[AidaLuthien]

He was elected by the wizards/witches of England, and I doubt they would want their Minister to be weak with magic skills.

Was he? I've always been confused about that. Is it ever said explicitly how the Minister of Magic gets his position?

[vatsan17]

Was he? I've always been confused about that. Is it ever said explicitly how the Minister of Magic gets his position?

I saw one thread which said, the minister of magic was elected by Wizengamot.

[Sapphire at Dawn]

However Ministers are chosen, Fudge must have been a good enough wizard to rise through the ranks at the Ministry and be considered for the top job. We know he wasn't the first faviourite, though, that was Barty Crouch, who incidently is described as being incredibly magically powerful. I think that he must, at least, be on the better side of average for him to have come so far; he was in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes and first on the scene when Peter killed all those people, so he must be competant enough to be despatched first. What he lacks is the personality to be a tough govenor in the second Voldemort war, and a love of his office that's greater than his sense of duty.

Sarah x

[vatsan17]

. What he lacks is the personality to be a tough govenor in the second Voldemort war, and a love of his office that's greater than his sense of duty.

Sarah x

Will that love of his office make him go to any extent to discredit other people? I mean in OOTP he discredited Dumbledore, But can he go a step further?

[Sapphire at Dawn]

I suppose it depends on who he sees as a threat, why, and wether he has social support for it. Dumbledore was suggesting that something had happened that many people really did not want to believe, therefore people would easily believe Fudge's reassurances that Dumbledore was lying because that's what they wanted to hear. Dumbledore was also well known for his eccentricities (I've probably spelled that wrong), so it wouldn't be hard to convince people who were already inclinded to believe that Voldemort wasn't back that Dumbledore was losing his marbles. There are also a fair few influential people (like Lucius Malfoy) who didn't like Dumbledore, so Fudge could count on their support and influence to discredit him.

What are the circumstances in your scenario?

Sarah x