What happened to Fudge?

[FleurduJardin]

Originally Posted by Nokel

Besides, if Fudge had believed that Voldemort was back, then Voldemort's attempted takeover of Britain may have started sooner. This would have been more destructive to Britain, because Harry wouldn't have been prepared to fight Voldemort, and many of the horcruxes would have still been around, unlike in Book Seven.

That is a very interesting, and very cogent point, Nokel.

If the war had started earlier, with the Horcruxes still in place, Voldemort would most probably have won. *shudder*

[_horcruxgirl_]

Why would he flee the country? Yes, he would be disliked by the English wizards, but that does not mean that anyone would set out to murder him for not believing Harry.

True

I believe that he would have either been murdered or sent to Azkaban.

[purplehawk]

Originally Posted by _horcruxgirl_

I believe that he would have either been murdered or sent to Azkaban.

Which is precisely why he would try to get out of Dodge.

[vampiricduck]

I kind of think that he would have fled- but more out of shame than out of a fear for his own life.

I'd like to think he just disappeared from public life and went to ruins a small bit. Not as a punishment, but just as a fitting end for his story.

[merrymarge]

My guess is that Ludo Bagman and Fudge are roaming the countryside looking for gold with one of Hagrid's Nifflers! (Ha, Ha). I can't imagine Fudge going to Azkaban just because he wouldn't accept Voldemort coming back to power. And how do we know he really signed all those educational decrees? Maybe Umbridge forged his signature. And did Cornelius realize that Delores liked him a lot?
And now that this question has been asked, I might lose sleep over it, or not.

[MrSleepyHead]

Originally Posted by merrymarge

My guess is that Ludo Bagman and Fudge are roaming the countryside looking for gold with one of Hagrid's Nifflers! (Ha, Ha). I can't imagine Fudge going to Azkaban just because he wouldn't accept Voldemort coming back to power. And how do we know he really signed all those educational decrees? Maybe Umbridge forged his signature. And did Cornelius realize that Delores liked him a lot?
And now that this question has been asked, I might lose sleep over it, or not.

I agree. Nothing Fudge did was illegal (he made it so, in certain cases) - just immoral and irresponsible. He largely ignored Voldemort's return for his own self-preservation, but he was not the only one. He sprouted much of the distrust of Dumbledore and Harry, but he was not the only one responsible for it - many others in the Ministry chose to ignore, probably to protect the stability in the years without Voldemort.

I do not mean to defend Fudge or any other Ministry members - I am merely agreeing that nothing they did should earn them a lengthy sentence in Azkaban, or any worse punishment. I do think a period in Azkaban would be beneficial for Fudge and give him just a glimpse of what he had others endure. I do think Fudge will evade Britain's Wizarding World for a period of time, but I think he would eventually realize his place in society and live with his mistakes. He will never be fully forgiven by the rest of the Wizarding community, but I do think they will accept him to a point, just like countless other Ministry personnel were likely endured.

[lil_snuffles]

Originally Posted by Nokel

Why would he flee the country? Yes, he would be disliked by the English wizards, but that does not mean that anyone would set out to murder him for not believing Harry.

But remember; he was one of the most paranoid people in the series.

[GrimeldaDursley]

The Goblins read the Quibbler article about "Goblin Crusher" or whatever it said he was called and believed the part about him baking them into pies. He is still on the run from them!

[Rodrick]

Why do people say he deservs Azkaban when people like Lucius managed to escape it? Lucius was much worse and yet he did not go to Azkaban so why does Fudge deserve Azkaban? And besides, Fudge did nothing criminal. He was just like a typical one dimensional politician cardboard character. He is guilty of accepting bribes and promoting corruption but nothing evil.

On the topic of his blood status, I believe Fudge to be a pureblood. The prejudice rich purebloods were the dominant force in the wizarding word. I say "prejudice rich" because you also have the nice Weasley family who are purebloods and yet they don't hold much power- at least before the DH battle. I am pretty sure the "aristocratic" purebloods did everything in their power to get Fudge elected and I am assuming they might have even rigged the election to elect pureblood- one of their own people.

Well we don't know anything from canon as to what happened to Fudge but I am assuming he just retired and settled down.

[talt]

He probably retired and was completely forgotten about, while occasionally being badgered by historians who want to interview him and lunatics who think he is a war criminal (which increases the parrelels with Tony Blair even more)

[FurryDice]

Originally Posted by Rodrick

On the topic of his blood status, I believe Fudge to be a pureblood. The prejudice rich purebloods were the dominant force in the wizarding word. I say "prejudice rich" because you also have the nice Weasley family who are purebloods and yet they don't hold much power- at least before the DH battle. I am pretty sure the "aristocratic" purebloods did everything in their power to get Fudge elected and I am assuming they might have even rigged the election to elect pureblood- one of their own people.

I agree that Fudge was probably pure-blood, as he placed a value on pureblood, and was swayed by Lucius Mafoy's pureblood and ready galleons.

However, I do not think there were many "aristocratic" purebloods like the Malfoys - the majority of the wizarding world worked for a living, it seems.

Fudge was to stay on as adviser to Scrimgeour for a short time, it was mentioned in "The Other Minister". After that, I think he would have gone somewhere quiet and avoided publicity. I think it would be a source of shame to him that he did not act against Voldemort as quickly as possible, and I think the public would remember that, as Dumbledore warned him they would.

[Kate_S]

I think, after his short stint as advisor to Scrimgeour he probably left the country and retired, and if he didn't precisely leave the country he was probably out somewhere quiet, away from the city.

On the note of his blood status; I think he was likely a pureblood coming from a more working class family, higher in social status than say, the Weasley's but not as wealthy or influential as the Malfoys. I think that is why he was so easily influenced by the money that Lucius Malfoy had.

[MerryLore]

Originally Posted by FurryDice

Fudge was to stay on as adviser to Scrimgeour for a short time, it was mentioned in "The Other Minister". After that, I think he would have gone somewhere quiet and avoided publicity. I think it would be a source of shame to him that he did not act against Voldemort as quickly as possible, and I think the public would remember that, as Dumbledore warned him they would.

I agree, for the most part. I think Fudge assisted Scrimgeour in the transition phase, and then moved into obscurity. He seemed to turn a blind eye to those in his camp who believed in the pureblood ideology because he didn't want to believe it was true (Umbridge, for example) and that isn't quickly forgotten. And since he ignored that, I can also see him not accepting responsibility for unintentionally helping the DE's and passing the blame onto something other than himself - ignorance, perhaps.