Cornelius Fudge - Blog Posts

So I saw the Whumpay prompts “Truth Serum” and “Magic Overuse” and thought, if I don’t write about Harry Potter I’m basically committing a crime.

So we all know Veritaserum exists and it totally should’ve been used to clear Sirius’s name, but for some reason it never happened. I wrote about it set during prisoner of Azkaban, except it’s Whumpay so of course things go wrong

Here’s my crackfic turned angsty hell based on Hermione having common sense and being a little morally grey featuring oblivious Harry, smart Ron, and stupid Cornelius Fudge.

Tw: Erasing memories, headaches on steroids

They had just broken the bars off his cage, the sound of the the metal falling away almost deafening. That’s when it struck her.

“Veritaserum!” She exclaimed. She couldn’t see Harry’s nor Sirius’s face, but she could feel the confusion rolling off them in waves. They both exchanged looks before they stared back at the bushy haired girl, Sirius with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

“Er- Hermione, what about Veritaserum?” Harry had asked, still planted in front of her on Buckbeak. She slid off the Hippogrif, landing on the stone floor with a small thud, looking back up at Harry.

“It’ll clear his name!” She turned to Sirius now, a smile on her face. “If you take some in front of the Minister of Magic and Dumbledore- well, they can’t very well send you back to Azkaban, can they?”

She was stoked, wand in hand as he grinned happily. Sirius looked dumbstruck. It was the most logical thing he’d ever heard, but for some reason he’d never thought of before.

“This is why you’re the brightest witch of our age.” Harry laughed, finally realizing what this meant- what this could mean. If Sirius was cleared, he could finally escape the Dursley’s. He could finally live with someone who cared about his parents for all they did, and most importantly, cared about him.

“Hermione,” Sirius said, a strange look on his face, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You’re a genius. Absolutely brilliant.”

Hermione was still smiling when she helped Sirius onto Buckbeak’s back. She was still smiling when she told Dumbledore to summon the Minister; when she told him her grand plan. She was still smiling when the Minister of Magic showed up, looking vaguely annoyed and entirely skeptical.

This would prove it. Right here- this moment, this would prove it. Sirius was innocent.

She held back a grin as he chugged down the Veritaserum, barely containing her glee when he confessed that he hadn’t killed James and Lily. She shot Harry a satisfied glanced when he explained that it had been Peter all along, that he was working for the dark lord. He explained that while he did try to kill him, all he got was a finger.

The tension in the room was thick, waiting for the minister to say something. She gave Harry’s hand a small squeeze in support, waiting.

The smile dropped off her face faster than the speed of light when he said it didn’t matter. Her eyes got dark when he ordered cuffs to be placed on Sirius’s wrists despite the damming truth between them. Her hand twitched to her wand when Sirius’s face dropped in realization that he’d have to go back. She watched the light in his eyes dim, and she couldn’t stop herself. Later she’d blame it on impulsivity- but she knew it wasn’t true. She didn’t feel bad for what she did, she felt vindicated.

“Obliviate!”

At once the Minister and his associate stopped, their faces going blank. A sharp pain pierced her own skull, but she didn’t care. From the corner of her eye she could see Dumbledores surprise, clearly not expecting her to do that, but underneath the shock she could tell he was proud. Sirius looked like he didn’t know whether to be stunned or amused, his face settling somewhere between the two. Harry of course was horrified, standing beside her with wide eyes and an open mouth.

“Hermione!” He yelled, sounding vaguely appalled.

“Don’t.” She snapped, looking back at Harry. “Just take Sirius and wait for me at the cell.”

He shifted on his feet then, glancing over the Minister, the blank eyes staring into the distance. “Hermione, you just-“

“I know what I did!” She snapped, looking back at Fudge. “If he doesn’t want to see reason, well…” she smirked, her hand steady on her wand. “Then I guess he just won’t remember this, will he?”

No one would remember this she thought, watching Harry free his uncle from the godawful shackles. Her head pulsed and she closed her eyes, trying to will away the pain. Hermione waited until she heard his footsteps retreating before she opened them. Once he was gone, she turned to fully face Dumbledore. He gave her a knowing smile, like he knew exactly what she was planning.

“You may not be doing the right thing, but you’re doing it for the right reasons.” He spoke softly, tilting his head ever so slightly as he turned to look at Fudge. “That man was proven innocent, and yet..” he trailed off, looking away from the minister.

Hermione hesitated, her wand faltering in her grip, her palms sweaty where the skin touched wood. Before she could speak, Dumbledore was already raising a hand to silence her.

“I shall take Mr Fudge and his associate back to the ministry. Once I return, I’ll be sure to get rid of any evidence, lest you want a migraine for days.” His voice was smooth but amused, she could practically hear the eyebrow raise, even though she couldn’t see it. Hermione blushed in embarrassment, her gaze darting to the floor for a second. “I promise, no one will know this has been done, my dear.” He leisurely walked over to the two men, like this was an everyday occurrence. (It was Hogwarts, maybe it was.) Dumbledore took ahold of them both by the arm, looking back with a soft but knowing smile. “No one but you.”

———————————————

Hermione didn’t feel any regret when she left the room, now holding her wand firmly, the time turner tucked safely under her shirt.

She didn’t feel any regret when she made it back to Harry and Sirius, both of them in varying stages of confusion and worry.

She didn’t feel any regret when she raised her arm, pointing her wand at the two of them. She let a small apology fall from her lips, a courtesy she knew they wouldn’t remember.

“I’m sorry Harry, Sirius. This is for the best.”

She didn’t feel any regret when their faces went blank, their eyes clouding over. She didn’t feel any regret when she got back on Buckbeak, leading them to think they had just broken the bars.

If the law wouldn’t allow Sirius Black to live his life, then Hermione would. She wasn’t cruel, she wasn’t mean, but some people deserved it. In her eyes, Sirius didn’t. If the price she had to pay was a splitting headache and nausea, then she would pay it. Headaches went away. Nausea went away. The trauma from living with dementors never disappeared. Hermione would be dammed if she let Sirius go back knowing he was innocent.

Later that night the two of them sat in the infirmary with Ron. Harry had taken the role of filling him in while Hermione sat in silence. She massaged her temples every once in a while, for the most part having her head rest in her hand. Earlier she had told them that she was tired, they didn’t question it. The headache raged like a hurricane, battering the inside of her head so violently she almost cried. Her vision doubled, she was so nauseous she genuinely debated grabbing a bucket just in case- but she refused to show it. Not in front of Harry. It would be too suspicious.

She wasn’t paying attention when he told Ron that he felt weird, like he was missing time. She didn’t hear him when he stated that the rescue felt much longer than it was, too focused on the cacophony of drums behind her eyes. Only when he turned to her to ask if she felt the same did she realize what he was talking about. She put her shaking hands onto her lap. Out of sight, out of mind, right? She did her best to sound genuine while she reassured him that everything was okay.

“I mean, the stairs did take a bit longer than usual,” she said with a convincingly thoughtful hum, “Maybe it’s just the adrenaline.. I wouldn’t worry about it.” Her voice was strained, trying her best not to show the pain. She gave Harry a bright smile, and he returned one of his own, even if his didn’t reach his eyes. She felt a pit forming in her stomach, but she quickly pushed it away. Third years weren’t supposed to use that spell, let alone know about it, but Hermione was no ordinary third year. She’d been gifted a time turner, what was one more secret to keep? Yes, her head hurt, a side affect of using magic to powerful for her age, but it was well deserved. She didn’t regret anything she did, even if it meant having a migraine. She’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

After Harry had gone to bed, Hermione stuck around. Ron gave her a side eye from his position on the cot but she rolled her eyes, ignoring the spike of nausea from the action. She gave him an unamused look, quirking up one of her eyebrows. “Really Ronald, everything’s fine. Why are you looking at me like that?”

For a minute he just stared, and she sat there confused. Finally he reached over, placing a hand over top of hers. “Whatever you did..” he paused, unsure if he should continue. “I know you had a good reason to do it.”

She stared at him with wide eyes, but she didn’t respond. Was she really that obvious?

He chuckled for a second at her confused expression, a small sound that filled the air between them. “There are painkillers over there, you know.” He said, jutting his head to a small bottle on his bedside table. “They work faster if you hold ‘em under your tongue- here, let me grab them for you.”

Her eyes went wide with shock and she looked away. Ron was a lot more observant than she gave him credit for, clearly. She heard him grab the bottle, having some difficulty flipping open the lid, and she laughed quietly at his struggle. Her gave her a small smile, finally getting it open with a triumphant yell. She shook her head, he was lucky they were the only people in here. She held out her spare hand and he shook three pills into her palm, closing the cap and putting it away.

“Take one now, and these two tomorrow.” He said firmly, now holding a small mug of water. She looked at him with a grateful smile, popping one of the magical pills into her mouth before she drank the water to help it go down.

“Thank you.” She said, setting the water onto the side table. He just shrugged, looking oddly smug. “What’re friends for?”

Ron gave her hand a pat before pulling back, giving Hermione an easy, reassuring smile. As the feeling of being stabbed in her skull slowly faded away, she smiled back.

You can also read this on Ao3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65405383

JK Rowling

Harry Potter and the Sorcerors Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I literally grew up with the release of the books and films. From September 1st 2018 to midnight, July 21st, 2007 I grew up with Harry, Ron and Hermione. But even 20 years later children and adults around the world are growing up with them, learning from the characters, the books, the films, their friends, their families, their teachers, and their stories. 

We have learned about compassion, friendship, empathy, inner strength, how to persevere; we have learned about activism, to fight against inequality, to fight for more than just ourselves. It has been scientifically concluded that these stories have increased people’s humanity and lessened the possibility of hate from taking over. The generation that grew up with these stories, those who read them to us and those who have read them since believe and have a new understanding about those around them that aren’t like themselves due to religion, race, politics, economics, immigration and all the other things that make us beautifully different. What we learned from Harry Potter, what we learned from you over these past 20 years today (in the states), in these 19 years and counting, thank you JK Rowling. Thank you for the world you created in these stories, and so much more

Thank you

Dolores Umbridge

I was wondering what I could write about what we learned from Umbridge, did I really need to write about all the characters, did I learn from them? How people in power can be corrupt and self-indulging, how people can use their greatest insecurities or fears and inner hate as a foundation against others, these are things we know already from life and can see from other characters so why write about her. Well, there are two things—one is just a quandary. It is interesting that as she became more and more in power, more absolute in her hatred of others that she also became more ‘polite’ (a false-politeness as most is) and more ‘girly’ focusing on a love of kittens, the color pink and attempts in being fragile. Why? She didn’t want to come across as fragile or dainty.

Secondly, there are many characters that are hated for the level of pain or evil they caused: the Dursleys, the Malfoys, Pettigrew, while Voldemort, Bellatrix and Umbridge are usually at the top and considered the worst, Voldemort has never been considered high above Umbridge in this aspect, and for many falls beneath her.  Here is the man who split his soul into seven pieces (then accidentally eight), had Cedric murdered just because he wasn’t useful (seriously, just knock him out), tried to kill a baby who might one day kill him (good job on that one), murdered his entire family (both sides), he’s just an evil guy. So how is he not automatically the big villain Umbridge is? Why is she even able to compete? It’s a personal opinion, and choice, and one that fluctuates for most. Umbridge is so hated I believe, because of how much power she was allowed to have, and how she was able to slip in, remain and grow within the Ministry and be seen as someone with intellect, someone who should be compassionate, engaging and encouraging was narrow-minded and without individuality. In comparison, Voldemort had to fight for his power and to promote his beliefs, and people fought against him and disrespected him for it. Being forced to respect either Umbridge or Voldemort will make them hated, but as Umbridge was considered by many adults as one of the ‘good guys’ or that her crimes and hatred against others weren’t important enough to be obliterated and that she was supported makes us hate her and the system more.

The respect, power and approval by the ‘good guys’ she was given is similar to my earlier point in how her affection for kittens and delicate things was in opposition, and a falsehood, of who she really was. I cannot speak for others, but I do feel that giving someone with the same hatred and cruelty in her as Voldemort, giving her the power and respect he wanted is what makes her so hated—what she does is approved and while teachers under Voldemort’s rule would torture students, they did it as it went against their beliefs and because that’s who they were. They didn’t pretend it was for the benefit of the other students or under the guise of someone else. With all her arrogance and self-importance, she really had no confidence or true pride.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix we are propelled more into the depths and darkness the war will bring out that we see grow throughout the remainder of the series with Molly’s boggart turning into finding out any and all of them have been killed, the picture of the original Order of the Phoenix (most of whom have been killed) and even with the song sung by the Sorting Hat.

There is also an additional level of maturity brought to the story, because while our three are becoming more into their own, they are learning more about the complexities of life and good verse evil. Previously even those who were evil but were masquerading as good, we saw as still just evil when revealed (Pettigrew, Quirrell, Barty Crouch Jr.); but now we have Fudge, Percy, and Umbridge who are supposed to be the good guys but are doing more harm than one could imagine, forcing Harry and the others to not just fight against Voldemort and the Death Eaters, but also the Ministry acting out of fear and for power. Then, this complexity is heightened as we learn more about the relationship between James and Snape. In this context thou, the inclusion of Fred and George’s growing business and the boring task of OWLS, we are reminded that during our worst crisis’, funny or not, life goes on.

As Harry Potter progressed thru out the years, he went from fighting with his friends, fighting on his own, and in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, we see him progress to the next level; trying to navigate being a leader of more than just him, Hermione and Ron. Unfortunately this isn’t a lesson he masters by the end of this year or book and is given a painful lesson in the consequences of his actions and thinking things thru. But he does make some strides, in one of my favourite moments in the series of the films, is when Voldemort possesses Harry Potter and in return Harry chooses to think about choosing love over hate, choosing his friends, and decency and fights off Voldemort.

Bartemius Crouch Senior

I love Barty Crouch Senior, I just do. Maybe it’s because when we meet him I just see this bright man who got shafted by his family, the public and was alone; I feel for him. Now, he’s not perfect. We know that he could be cruel, as we see with him and Winky and hear from others in regards to the trails of other Death Eaters not connected to his son. But while he was ambitious and made mistakes as department head, they were misguided mistakes and not with the background of the mistakes or self-promotion ones made by Fudge or Scrimgeour. And while we hear about how he was an absentee father working late at the ministry, we know Barty Crouch Jr. had his mother to over-indulge him similar to how I believe James Potter was overindulged, and we know that Barty Crouch Sr. adored his wife so I feel there were limits or levels to his cruelty, especially as at any moment he could have handled his son differently after his wife passed, but he didn’t.  

How Barty Crouch Dr. became who he was, we’ll never know, but once brought to the light I feel that Barty Crouch Sr. wasn’t as shocked as he would otherwise be, he just wasn’t in denial anymore. Maybe Barty Crouch Jr.’s nature turned his father away from him and not the other way around because regardless of the speculation that Barty Crouch Jr. might have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, we know that’s not true. Barty Crouch Jr. was a proud Death Eater. When it comes to Barty Crouch Sr.’s errors, I put them more in line with Dumbledore’s. While not as understanding of his own faults, Barty Crouch Sr. was not malicious, but strict. Why he could not get the sympathy following the death of his wife and child as Dumbledore had with his sister I don’t understand. Barty Crouch Sr.’s main fault seemed to be in his appearance of being cruel (also alluded to in why Ludo Bagman got more praise than him) because the public first hated that he sentenced his son so ‘unfairly’ by treating him like any other Death Eater, then blaming him when he died in Azkaban, then hating him when they found out he had taken him from Azkaban but had him imprisoned in his home….I think they just wanted to hate him.

Bartemius Crouch Senior was not perfect or innocent, but for the most part, he tried to do what he believed was best for the world even if his methods to get there are more than questionable, and, he honoured his wife more than anything, which counts for something. His story reminds us that life isn’t fair but it is complicated.

Scrimgeour and Fudge

There are many different types of leaders in our world, teachers, pop stars, activists, CEOs and of course, actual political or governmental leaders. As within our daily world, the wizarding world showed Harry Potter and the rest of us that there are all types of leaders, even within the same field. Two of the biggest political leaders that would show different ends of the spectrum were Cornelius Fudge and Rufus Scrimgeour

Before we knew how bad things would get, we knew Fudge was an oaf. While some of his calls were good (increased efforts in protecting Harry Potter from Sirius Black), most of them were done out of self-preservation, for glory and prestige. Why he ever got involved in government, probably stems mostly from that wanting to see important as he portrayed no backbone, showed extreme jealousy and little critical skills. His role in the rise of Voldemort is not large, but important. As the spokesperson and leader of their world any small thing he did differently would have had a tremendous impact, but when the opportunity finally rose not only did he freeze at the challenge, he purposefully put everyone at greater risk just so he could keep his glory days. Seriously thou, what did he think was going to happen?

As former Head of the Auror Office, Scrimgeour was more experienced with the current priorities the ministry faced and was expected to be better at handling the situation when compared to Fudge as a leader. However, in terms of leadership, they were unfortunately, very similar. Considering the threat everyone was under and previous year of administrative secrecy, Scrimgeour should have operated with as much transparency as possible for both the safety and trust of the wizarding and muggle world. Instead, he was very much like Fudge: temperamental, would push for ridiculous propaganda with Harry Potter and bogus arrests, and an illogical paranoia and hatred against Dumbledore. While his death and life focused on the greater good, one cannot help but wonder what would have happened, how many more lives would have been saved, if he were more like Potterwatch being honest, hopeful and encourages those to not only fight for themselves but for others.