Cornelius Fudge sighed and took a sip of his large brandy. Things had been going from bad to worse—and he wasn't at fault for much of it!
First there was the attempted break-in at Gringott's. Well, how was he to blame on that? That was entirely down to the Goblin's lax security. Really, perhaps it was time a pair of wizards from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were stationed there also?
Then there was the fact Quirrell, who was apparently working for Lord Voldemort, had attempted to steal the Philosopher's Stone from under Dumbledore's nose. Once again, the press had dragged Fudge through the gutter and yet, surely that was all on Dumbledore? It was he who had hired Quirrell, it was he who insisted on keeping the Philosopher's Stone at a school and it was he who had failed to notice Quirrell was trying to steal it all year.
He took another sip of brandy, reflecting this time on the opening of the Chamber of Secrets. That had been a disaster. Students attacked, a giant snake stalking Hogwarts and, to make things worse, an innocent man, Rubeus Hagrid, sent to Azkaban. Fudge squirmed with the memory. Rita Skeeter had been scathing. The few bright sides of that year had come from a handful of successful raids led by Arthur Weasley of all people. Other than possibly the mistaken arrest of Hagrid, once more, Fudge couldn't see the events as been his fault. The running of Hogwarts was entirely down to Dumbledore. Dumbledore should have put all of his resources into tracking down Slytherin's serpent and had seemingly done nothing.
Then, just year, things had gotten even worse. Sirius Black had escaped and broke into Hogwarts and then, Lucius Malfoy had been attacked on the way to Azkaban. Fudge had to admit, but he was surprised that he had managed to hang onto his job. A vote of support had passed the Wizengamot by a mere 15 votes in his favor. Fudge felt very relieved that he had spent the early parts of his reign as Minister promoting his friends and allies into positions of power. But even some of them were turning on him. There were rumors that Dolores Umbridge, his steadfast undersecretary has eyes on his position.
At least one of the Death Eaters who had freed Lucius Malfoy had been apprehended—Abaddon Nott. But even that had been by that interfering, big-mouthed fool Gilderoy Lockhart and the Dark Arts Defence League. Fudge gritted his teeth at the thought of Lockhart. He had been nothing but trouble—blaming Fudge for the mishaps that had occurred. And, even worse, despite not being part of the Minstry, he had a lot of pull. Many in the wizarding community liked and admired Lockhart, and he had somehow persuaded Rita Skeeter to take his side. Fudge suspected Lockhart of wanting to get him removed from office. The annoying thing was, he had had to suck up to the odious, pompous man in an attempt to get him on his side, and Lockhart had just ignored the attempt. Even after been made the special celebrity guest at the World Cup, Lockhart had gone ahead to blame Fudge for the riot!
The World Cup had meant to be his crowning achievement—the one thing to boost his popularity and it had failed. A small part of Fudge wondered if the riot had actually been orchestrated by Dumbledore. He knew Dumbledore wanted his position. In fact, didn't Lockhart teach at Hogwarts once? Perhaps Dumbledore had put Lockhart up to causing trouble and blaming Fudge for everything?
Then there was Dudley Dursley. Fudge had only met the boy briefly, but didn't think he was smart enough at all to figure out a way to bypass Dumbledore's age line, and as for Neville, by all accounts, he was one of the school's worst students. Did Dumbledore allow this to happen as a way to mess up Fudge's big triumph? Fudge felt it seemed very likely. Yet, with the press now against him, there was little he could do. The wolves were at the gates to Castle Fudge and it seemed that sooner or later, he would lose the support of the Wizengamot. If only he could recapture Lucius Malfoy, but, by all accounts, he had fled to Spain and the Aurors had lost track of him. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to resign and play kingmaker to one of his loyalists? At least that way, he could perhaps be the power behind the throne and maintain a degree of influence?
He leafed through some of the papers on his desk. According to his sources, Scrimgeour, Bones and Umbridge were the three favorites to be the next minister. Walden Macnair, Ludo Bagman, Barty Crouch and even Corban Yaxley were other names who had been mentioned in passing. A few wizards had even mentioned Arthur Weasley as being an outside candidate! Out of them, Umbridge, Scrimgeour, Yaxley and Bagman were his old favorites. Fudge felt if one of those gained power, he would at least be kept on in some sort of high-ranked and well-paid ministerial role.