Chapter Two Fudge

"I made some mistakes through the whole thing, I admit. On the whole I thought I did a decent job. It was a tough job. One can look back and see that I misperceived certain events, but who wouldn't. I truly did not believe the Potter boy. I did not believe that Voldemort was back until I saw him with my own eyes."

"Of course I was not Minister of Magic when he came to power the first time. I read about it in the papers and it filtered down to our division at the Ministry, I was head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and called away for long periods of time. I could hardly know what was taking place at home when it was kept on the hush-hush for so long."

"I do recall that the Potters were involved. And the Blacks. They were purebloods you know and didn't take kindly to anyone looking down on their son for marrying a muggle-born. Lily Potter was a pretty woman and she attracted people to her. I know Dumbledore was fond of her. But you see I didn't know them personally and only read about their deaths in the Daily Prophet. Very sad, very sad indeed." He hung his head and it bobbled on his neck with palsy.

"Yes, speaking of Dumbledore. I admired the old wizard, I truly did. We had disagreements of course. The Ministry had come to depend on his advice and took him into their confidence. He learned a great deal about the internal workings of the Ministry but refused on several occasions to take the job as Minister. It is a demanding job after all. I can say I am quite proud of the fact that I held the position for a long time."

"However, Dumbledore meddled too." He shook his heavy jowls and thumbed his lower lip. The hands that moved were ancient, wrinkled and purple-veined. He had been wearing a green bowler hat that he had in his lap and his suit and robe were wrinkle-free and neatly pressed. The fine brown hair was gone and in its place were a few wispy strands of white. "I was very sorry that he was murdered," he was saying, "but the Ministry was not at fault. He just would not listen and took no precautions."

He sighed. "In the end, he was right and I was wrong. Doesn't matter. It all came to a boil soon after."

"Harry Potter? You wish me to comment on Mr. P-P-Potter?" he stuttered. "He was a boy. I thought Dumbledore treated him...well spoiled him, should I say. Again I could not have known that he was not making it all up. Boys do tend to do that, don't they? There were so many stories about him being the Chosen One and all that. I never could quite get a handle on it all. Scrimgeour made the decision, you know, to try and have him and 'quarantined' to keep him safe. He was to be brought to the Ministry and held there. No, I wouldn't call it imprisonment. It was for his own good wasn't it."

"As it stood, it didn't work out. He escaped and ended up killing Voldemort anyway. He knew all about the Horcruxes you see. Dumbledore told him and involved him in the hunt. Horcruxes I say! How awful. Something like that had not been done probably for centuries. How Voldemort ever learned..."

"Yes, Scrimgeour demanded that reports be sent directly to him. But I read them of course. For security reasons I cannot even comment on it today. I can tell you that we did not have the necessary information soon enough. Then we were in the midst of the war and the Ministry was busy coordinating things. We had no standing army as you know. Therefore we...I... had to hustle about trying to get people to fight. It was my assigned duty and it was all very difficult. It was a stupendous embarrassment for me to have Scrimgeour take over my position. I don't know that he handled it any better than I did."

"Delores Umbridge? Why she was a friend of mine. I am sorry to say she perished during the battle and I won't talk ill of her. I don't know what became of her but she disappeared. We searched and could not find her."

He nodded and continued, "I learned of the Order of the Phoenix later. I had no idea that it was organized years and years ago when Voldemort first rose to power. They worked behind the scenes naturally. I've always thought of it as a vigilante group and not at all helpful. Those kinds of things are not good for the government. To this day I am not sure of the names of all the members. They were very secretive I will give them that. I believe that Dumbledore was the head."

He sat staring out of the window and then returned to fumble at the sleeve of his robe. "I did the best I could," he said to himself and frowned.

"Oh yes, sorry. My thoughts do tend to drift. It was a long time ago wasn't it? What was the question again? Voldemort. Well he was what he was. He tried to take control of...everything. He murdered people and had his Death eaters kill and torture people. He was just evil and a very frightening man- very powerful."

"Malfoy? Well of course he was one of his Death eaters. I was not aware of that mind you!" His index finger came up and wavered in the air as if to make a point. "Malfoy was a very smooth talker. He actually would have made a fine diplomat if he had not turned out so badly. He came from a wealthy, aristocratic family."

"Yes, on occasion I talked to him about issues. But again, I cannot be held responsible for the results since I did not know he was in league with the Dark Lord. His demise- should we say, since he is not really dead- from the Dementor's kiss was horrific. I wouldn't wish that for anyone. He is at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries but beyond anyone's healing reach."

"What was that? Oh yes, Draco ended up in Azkaban as did many of the Death eaters. They weren't sent there for life so many are now free and the Dementors are no longer there so conditions were more agreeable. I doubt they are causing much trouble. They are as old if not older than I am. Pettigrew and a few others that survived and were captured, who were very close to Voldemort, had their magical powers extracted and were sent to muggle prison. The very harshest of penalties, I should say."

"Would I care to say anything about anyone else you ask?" He rubbed his grisly chin and nodded. "Yes, yes I would. The Potters were murdered while Voldemort was trying to make a Horcrux. Has anyone looked into that? We still do not understand how the Potter boy got his scar and what the connection is. Does someone from the Department of Mysteries need to study Harry Potter? Will he become another Voldemort? That's all that I'm saying. He should be watched."

"I know that he has led what appears to be a very straightforward and productive life as you say. Still, no one has studied his children to see if there are signs." He waved a hand and it drifted towards his brow. "Perhaps you're right and something should have shown up years ago. What bothers me is that there is still one Horcrux missing. Where is it? Can it still cause harm?"

The nurse arrived with a tray of medicines and took the green bowler from his hat and laid it on the bed.

"You say that all of them were found?" He looked confused. "Were they destroyed? Well, I see that we must conclude our interview. Madam McGregor is fussy and wishes me to be in bed at an early hour. But come back again soon. I would really like to talk about this at length. I believe to this day that Voldemort had the right idea to some degree. The purebloods are dying out. What is to become of us when the line between our world and the muggle world fades so much that there is no distinction?"

He was standing at his bedside still talking and could be heard in the hallway as the door swung shut. "Why did they take my wand away from me? I'm not senile. I need it! Miss McGregor will you fetch my wand for me? Oh, yes I forgot that they broke it...