Chapter 7
Cornelius Fudge was the orchestrator of his own political demise. Tom never knew that the man was so desperate to commit career suicide that he’d openly flaunt his disregard for the status quo so completely. The end of Fudge’s Ministry started small; he put Arthur Weasley in the smallest office furthest from the hub of the government and sent him on useless assignments involving issues that no one had been able to correct for dozens of years. Yet, with each new challenge, the redheaded man worked quickly, cleanly, and, most importantly, efficiently to cut through the Gordian knot that each task presented, and came away from every meeting with both sides working together to solve their problems.
Not happy to misuse his Senior Undersecretary’s many hidden talents, the Minister worked with like-minded individuals to try and force through legislation that would work counter to the efforts Riddle and his supporters had made to protect their people and bring the muggleborns and halfbloods raised in the muggle world more fully into the magical one. Aided by a gleeful Dumbledore, because he felt that he should be the one to lead their people in the right direction (meaning his), the bills and efforts to protect abused children from their abusers stalled in the execution stages, and left even more innocent children without someone to whom to turn for help.
The Daily Prophet took full advantage of Cornelius’ stupidity and filled their papers with headline after headline, article after article of the Minister’s failures, inaction, and misbehavior, which eventually led to the termination of Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, with Rufus Scrimgeour to replace him as interim Minister until a vote could be had.
February 14, 1983
The Daily Prophet
CORNELIUS FUDGE’S SINS COME HOME TO ROOST!
Shortest Ministerial term in recent UK magical history
Rita Skeeter, reporter
There is much to unpack here, dear readers, so I’ll just start from the beginning. Cornelius Fudge, in an effort to try and control the British magical world, started his Ministerial career by poisoning our former Minister of Magic Millicent Bagnold. Yes, you read that right. He gave her a powder, mixed into her tea, made from the foxglove family of plants; specifically the Digitalis purpurae, which, when used sparingly, can help control heart arrhythmia. However, in larger doses, or if used without the buffering agents that make it an effective heart potion, it is a deadly poison. Because it’s such a common potion ingredient, no one would have batted an eye at the Minister purchasing it. His NEWT scores were average, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t research how to get rid of his predecessor so that he could take over as Minister, aided, unknowingly, by the generous help of Elphias Doge, Milton Fawley, Ernest MacMillan Sr., and Richard Abbott.
Unfortunately for him, she survived his assassination attempt, and was able to pinpoint exactly when she became gravely ill, using a pensieve and her memories to go over the minutes of that specific day. Without concrete proof of actual poisoning, however, nothing could be done to punish Fudge for his efforts. His election was like a badly-written soap opera, full of clumsy intrigue and blatant threats to the other candidates, which, truth be told, impressed the wizarding public enough to believe that the man was ruthless enough to really get the job done.
Once in office, however, the malfeasance continued unabated. In two short years, Cornelius Fudge was able to build up quite a substantial nest-egg, through generous ‘donations’ from many of our citizens eager to buy the help of the Minister for whatever project or effort in which they were involved. As well, evidence shows that he quite likely skimmed monies from various departments and programs and put those ill-gotten gains in his personal vaults. The major, unknowing contributor to his pockets was the Department of Magical Education, where funds earmarked for the upkeep and running of Hogwarts were siphoned off and deposited in his own coffers. The goblins have provided ample evidence and a rather thick paper trail of the thefts, as well as records of Fudge’s ‘campaign donations’, which also went into his personal vaults.
Complaints of inappropriate behavior have also surfaced, made by several underaged witches, in which Cornelius Fudge would throw ‘parties’, at which many of these girls were passed around as ‘favors’. Allegedly, he had several girls upon whom he forced his attentions, and had offered to pay them to recruit other girls to ‘entertain’ his supporters and donors. The ages of these girls ranged from fourteen to sixteen, and many of them were muggleborn. Fudge knew that these girls wouldn’t have anyone to fight for them, since their parents were in the muggle world.
Additionally, these young ladies came from abusive environments, which made them more compliant to the assaults. How could we have been fooled by him for so long? Is his stupidity contagious?
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February 15, 1983
The Daily Prophet
BACKLASH OF FUDGE’S DEEDS CONTINUES!
Victims come forward, including his wife
Rita Skeeter, reporter
Just yesterday, this reporter informed our readers of the shenanigans in which former Minister Cornelius Fudge engaged, to the detriment of his career and freedom. Well, today, those dominoes continue to fall. Fionella Fudge, née Frankenheim has filed for divorce after fifteen years of wedded bliss; or was it? Since the revelations of former Minister Fudge’s prurient activities, Miss Frankenheim has come forward with even more tales of inappropriate behavior. Let’s dive into it, shall we?
Miss Frankenheim was barely fifteen when Cornelius Fudge insisted on taking her as his bride, whilst he was twenty-four. She had not engaged in any form of carnal knowledge with the man before the wedding; however, his veiled hints of inappropriate behavior, to her conservative parents, resulted in them forcing her to marry him over her strenuous protests. Fortunately for her, since her parents were squibs living in the muggle world, they insisted on a muggle wedding, as opposed to a magical bonding, which could not have been broken no matter the reasons for the split.
Her being underage at the time only solidified her feelings of distaste about the man, but that soon changed when, during their wedding feast, she was given a potion that overtook her will, leaving her to be a docile, obedient plaything for the man. She never expected that he would take his illegal attentions outside the marriage bed, but when she read the article printed yesterday, she finally worked up the courage to come into the DMLE and provide even more grist for the mill.
It was a purge, provided by the goblins, that finally cleared her mind enough to realize that she was just as much a victim as the unnamed, unknown girls. Cornelius Fudge made one critical error in his life that finally led to his exposure; he neglected to understand or acknowledge the unending fury of a mistreated woman. Fionella brought reams of parchment with names, dates, locations, and the types of potions used to ensure compliance from the assorted ‘toys’ Fudge had collected for his like-minded supporters and benefactors. She also provided information on the types of ‘payments’ those participants had provided in exchange for the ‘entertainments’.
As well as financial gains, Cornelius Fudge also bargained for rare antiques and potions ingredients, properties, Dark objects, books that have been proscribed by the Ministry, and unwavering support for all of the legislation he’d drafted and wanted passed. To be seen in the company of some of the best and brightest wizards in the world ensured that Cornelius Fudge would be looked upon as a shining example of the greatness his leadership brought to the British magical world. In truth, the only thing his brief turn as Minister did was drag us down into the depths of the cesspit he lived in nearly his entire adult life up to the present day. Here’s hoping the next leader of the magical world has a bit more common sense and intelligence.
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September 1, 1995--Original timeline
“It is my sad duty to inform you all that Harry Potter has died,” Albus Dumbledore announced softly. It was the opening feast of what would have been Potter’s fifth year, had those dementors not been sent to his muggle home. Some of the students at the Gryffindor table were overcome with grief, the girls weeping softly whilst the boys fought for control of their emotions. “Two dementors were sent to his summer home where they Kissed he and his muggle cousin, Dudley Vernon Dursley. Mr. Dursley died instantly, but Harry Potter lingered for two weeks before his magic finally gave out and he succumbed to his injuries. Let us bow our heads and have a moment of silence for such a great loss; for such a horrible blow to the fight against the Dark and Voldemort.”
The silence was absolute, but it didn’t last very long. There was snorting and muffled giggling coming from the Slytherin table, and then, as if a dam burst, laughter rolled through the quiet Great Hall, led, as was expected, by Draco Malfoy. He stood up, a wide, vicious smile on his face and said, “You mudbloods and blood traitors had better put your heads down and pray to Merlin. Now that the Dark Lord is back, you’ll not be poisoning us with your filthy blood for much longer.”
“Mr. Malfoy!” Albus barked loudly, his anger such that his magic escaped its leash, pooling around the old man and moving his hair and clothing as if he was standing in a stiff wind. Minerva leaned away from her old friend warily. Not even in his anger at his former lover did the leash he had over his power ever slip this much. “While I cannot expel you for the repellent words you just spoke, I am putting you on notice. Step even one toe out of line and I’ll have you expelled and your wand snapped.” He clapped his hands, the signal for the elves to fill the tables with food, then he turned and stormed out the teacher’s entrance, his angry magic spiraling around him in a cyclone as he stomped up the staircases to his office.
It took far too long for him to get himself back under control, the rage barely contained, and not even Fawkes could calm his fury. Moments later his office door opened again and Minerva and Severus made their way into the office. Severus leaned against the bookcase behind the old man’s desk, whilst McGonagall took the hard, straight-backed wooden chair in front of it. “You shouldn’t let your emotions get carried away, Albus,” Snape cautioned, dark eyes narrowed. “You cannot afford to show weakness now, when the Savior,” said with a fair bit of scorn, “is dead.
“Many of the students will now look to you for strength and guidance, and my Slytherins will poke at that weakness to see if they can make you crumble.” The Potions Master rounded the desk and took one of the squashy chairs, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and hands clasped together as he continued. “You cannot allow yourself to lose hope. You are the strongest wizard alive right now, and the Dark Lord fears you like he fears nothing else. Use that strength to help us weather this storm until we come out on the other side.”
“You know that there’s a prophecy in place, Severus,” Dumbledore nearly whinged, blue eyes wide and frightened behind his half-moon spectacles. “Only Harry Potter was capable of killing Voldemort, and now that the boy’s dead, there’s nothing else left for us to do.”
“Surely that’s not true, Albus,” Minerva interjected pleadingly. “Prophecies are only a hint of what may come, not what will actually happen.”
“You don’t understand, Minerva,” the old man said tiredly. “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives...The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…*
“That is the prophecy that Voldemort set into motion the night he attacked the Potters. The first part was relayed to Voldemort, by a Death Eater who overheard it while I was interviewing Sybill for the Divination post. Because Voldemort acted on it, he set things into motion that caused the foretelling to come to pass. It has to end the way that the prognostication states; with Harry Potter, Boy Who Lived, vanquishing Voldemort for good and all. It cannot end any other way.”