Chapter One: The Other Minister

[sillydawn]

Chapter One:The Other Minister
In this chapter, the muggle Prime Minister remembers his encounters with Cornelius Fudge, and a summary of past books is briefly given. Fudge visits him again, explaining the most recent events and saying there is now a war as Voldemort and his followers terrorize Muggles, killing many, including Amelia Bones and

Comments

[leaper]

1. JKR mentions on her website that the opening chapter of HBP has been several years in coming. I think that she had been wanting to do a scene which gave some of the Muggle perspective, and managed to have it serve as a handy little recap as well.

4. I didn't pick up on a dictator-like feeling. Certianly one along the lines of we-know-what's-going-and-we-know-that-you-don't-but-please-try-to-keep-up-with-us-anyway-if-you-don't-mind.

6. This is almost certainly a refernce to the Horcruxes. At this point in the story, Dumbledore is still missing at the very least the accurate version of the memory from Slughorn. And even if Dumbledore was certain that Horcruxes were at the heart of Voldemort's longevity, I would not see it as beyond him to not give that information out too freely. And, since we didn't witness the conversation in which Fudge gained that data, we don't know if that's his own interpration of what he heared, or even who told him and whether what was told to him was accurate.

8. At this point I believe that is

[rainpuddle13]

If I recall correctly, JKR has been wanting to use this scene since COS, but it hasn't worked properly until now. It most definitely works here because it shows just how dire the situation has become in just a year's time.

[rainpuddle13]

1. I definitely think the purpose of chapter one was to bring everyone up to speed and set the stage for the events of the book. It seemed to me the soul purpose was to show just how bad things have gotten that the magical world is no longer completely separated from the Muggle world. As we all know, it takes a very a dire situation for the MoM to establish contact with the Muggle PM after the initial contact with a new PM.

2. I have theorized before (after getting over the duck quacking) that the ineffectual Imperius curse was most likely cast by Draco. I don’t see it being a regular Death Eater because they all seem to be in command of their spell casting abilities. Draco would be the most obvious choice, knowing what we know about the ending. He has to learn how to cast Unforgivable curses and it would be far too dangerous for him to practice on wizards. It would make sense that he practice on Muggles, and who better than the Junior PM

[dragonsangel68]

3. Totally agree with the show of power, but I feel these two murders had meaning behind them.

Emmeline Vance was a member of the OotP, one that Voldemort and his supporters would have been familiar with given she was a member in the 1970s; perhaps an attempt to scare the other past members of the Order so they don't oppose him.

Amelia Susan Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement until her death. Possibly a message to not only the Order, but to Fudge as well - a reminder of his threat if Fudge doesn't step aside given that she was one of his Heads of Department.

[isabela113]

1. I thought this scene was one of the most fascinating in the book. Since Sirius' escape made it on the Muggle new in POA, I've wondered how exactly the two governments interact. In a lot of ways I think it is there to tell us just that. More or less pure exposition

[rainpuddle13]

3. This is once again echoes the events that lead up to WWII. I've always thought the events of HP and the events of WWII paralleled with incredible accuracy. It really comes home to roost in this book because of the aggressive attacks, not at the heart of the Order, but all around it and the neighboring Muggle world. It has a two fold effect - a show of power that puts the Order on defense and a distraction because the Order has no idea when or where the next attack will occur. All of it is a smoke screen for what is truly going on - we know it's something big, but we have no clue what it is.

[isabela113]

I hadn't thought of it in the context of World War II, but you're very right. At least we know that we will find out the truth behind it all in the next book. :-)

[dragonsangel68]

1. I think a recap and update of things that happened at/since the end of OotP was the general purpose of this chapter. It tidied up the loose end of Fudge's position and his successor neatly without imposing Harry's thoughts on the demise and/or appointment.

2. The line between the two worlds is blurring. The Muggles failed to see any connection between the recent happenings and the Wizarding world. I think this suggests that Voldemort or his Death Eaters are being cautious in the way they attack. Of course, it could simply be indicative of the Ministry doing an excellent job covering up their violence.

I find the Chortley incident particularly interesting. As we discover later Draco had been spending a lot of time with his darling Aunt Bellatrix while she instructed him in the dark arts. It would stand to reason that he would have to practice these curses in order to get them right. Like rainpuddle13, I believe it's entirely plausible that Draco was the one responsible for the poorly performed Imperius Curse. Bellatrix would have

[rainpuddle13]

Thing about how you feel when it's dark, dreary and misty. You often feel down, depressed, lethargic, slow, etc. I would think the mist from breeding Dementors (*shudders at thought*) would sap the energy from anyone around it. That is why it is so dangerous for them to breed - it sends whole areas into depression (much like the one that led up to WWII).

[dragonsangel68]

Apart from the normal human reaction to such weather conditions, you'd think that the mist created from Dementors doing whatever it is they do to procreate (*let's not think too hard on that point*) would have properties similar, though not as strong, to that of adult Dementors. Anywhere that mist drifts the people are thrown into miserable, depressive states (depending on their own life experiences as with Harry and a real Dementor).

The Muggle PM's train of thought, before Fudge turns up, seems to back up something out of the ordinary going on with the demeanor of his constituents - people really did seem more miserable than usual.

Food for thought or maybe I'm reading too much into such a simple statement.

[rainpuddle13]

Well, it seems like the whole country is in some sort of funk then there are strange occurances and exceptionally brutal murders occuring which only adds to the problem.

People are naturally prone to darker moods with bad weather, then to couple that with horrific occurances...

Apparently, Voldemort is just trying to make England's social and political climate more hospitable to a hostile takeover.

[dragonsangel68]

7. For him to mention the veil would have prompted an explanation to the Muggle PM about what the veil was and how it works. The Muggle PM is a man who likes to appear well informed on any subject and this inclination may have had him asking unnecessary questions

[rainpuddle13]

11. I think Fudge only remains at the Ministry so tabs can be kept on him since he's been known to consort with Death Eaters, namely Lucius Malfoy. I'm sure that a close eye has been kept on him, but he's fairly "harmless" (and I use that lightly) as long as he thinks he's doing something important. Then too, Lucius is rotting away in Azkaban so his contact has been severed (that we know of anyway).

I've never trusted Fudge right from the start.

[dragonsangel68]

Valid point. Perhaps a case of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. Fudge could be dangerous given the right circumstances and opportunity, though it's unlikely without someone to hold his hand. We know that he's easily led and this wouldn't sit well with Scrimgeour. I tend to think he'll keep a tight reign on all Ministry personnel.

If he were being influenced by the likes of Lucius, surely there were others in the same financial position offering him the same bribes/deals?

I never liked Fudge either, but I'm unsure whether I can pin this on the books or perhaps how he's portrayed in the movies - the line has become blurred on this particular character, probably because he's not likeable and while he's relatively important (MoM), he's not particularly interesting.

[rainpuddle13]

If he were being influenced by the likes of Lucius, surely there were others in the same financial position offering him the same bribes/deals?

It's very possible, but we don't know. We've only been eyewitness to Fudge cozying up to Lucius in COS, GOF and OotP, and no one else, but that isn't to say it isn't still happening.

So much is going on in the background that we don't about (much like Harry) so it's truly just difficult to say concretely if it is still happening.

Fudge has always come as a bit smarmy to me, even as early as COS. His treatment of Harry the three times he's used magic outside of school - warning in COS, patted on the head and forgiven in POA, and is brought up on trumped up charges in OotP. It seems obvious to me that he's playing puppet to Lucius' commands via Voldemort.