Campaign to discredit Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter

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Campaign to discredit Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter

This was an initially silent, later violentcampaign encapsulating Cornelius Fudge's intentions to verbally assault, discredit, harm, slander, smear and upset bothAlbus Dumbledore andHarry Potter, as well as anyone perceived or believed to be an ally with them with propaganda, primarily innewspapers.

This campaign was put in place on24 June1995 after theRebirth of Lord Voldemort, and ended on18 June1996 after theBattle of the Department of Mysteries. It was initiated whenMinister for MagicCornelius Fudge denied theDark Lord's return, a fact that would ruin the thirteen years of peace that the Ministry had worked so hard to build and maintain. It was also a conspiracy meant to cover up the fact that when theSecond Wizarding War broke out, it revealed Minister Fudge to be such a dangerously incompetent and useless leader that the entire wizarding world suffered as a result of his poor leadership.

This campaign had a highly negative effect; as the majority of the wizarding world began to believe Harry and Dumbledore over Fudge, and once Voldemort was revealed to have returned, the entire wizarding community not only lost complete trust and respect for Fudge, but also confidence in the Ministry of Magic itself; as a result, Fudge was forced to resign from office as Minister for Magic.

Overview[]

Due to the immense fear that Voldemort commanded and the threat he posed againstwizardingBritain, Minister Fudge adamantly refused to believe that he had returned and instead deluded himself into believing a more comforting nonsensical scenario, that Dumbledore was trying to usurp his position of Minister for Magic. In his paranoia, Fudge not only used all his power within the Ministry and theDaily Prophet to make it look as though Dumbledore and Potter were liars and "nutters", but also stripped Dumbledore of many of his titles and statuses:Supreme Mugwump of theInternational Confederation of Wizards, theChief Warlock of theWizengamot, theOrder of Merlin's revocation proposal, and eventually theheadmastership ofHogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.^[3]

Harry, for supporting Dumbledore and being the one who claimed Voldemort returned, also suffered from this campaign; it made him out to be a deluded attention-seeker who could not be trusted. In order to further destabilise Dumbledore and Harry, Fudge planted hisSenior UndersecretaryDolores Umbridge as theD.A.D.A. teacher atHogwarts, and later theHogwarts High Inquisitor. Umbridge was later named the new headmistress after Dumbledore took the blame for Harry's secretD.A.D.A. training group and was forced to flee the school.^[4]

Fudge also made it clear that anyone siding with Dumbledore should clear out their desks in the Ministry's office.^[5] Due to the great influence the Ministry had, the majority of the wizarding community ceased supporting Dumbledore and Harry and lost the chance to prepare themselves against Voldemort.

When Voldemort was revealed to have truly returned following theBattle of the Department of Mysteries,^[6] Fudge was forced to finally accept the truth and to reveal everything to the world, by which time it was far too late to prepare. The campaign, along with all theEducational Decrees created by Umbridge and all theDaily Prophet articles that were crafted to fuel it, were subsequently retracted, and Fudge was ultimately dismissed from office in disgrace as one of the worst Ministers in British wizarding history.^[7]

History[]

Background information[]

In1994, a series of odd occurrences began in thewizarding world, the first of which was the disappearance ofBertha Jorkins in Albania during the early summer.^[8] These incidents continued throughout the following months and included the casting of theDark Mark at the 1994Quidditch World Cup, the scuffle at the home ofAlastor Moody, and the mysterious illness and disappearance ofBartemius Crouch Senior — incidents that all culminated to the events of24 June,1995.

During the Third Task of theTriwizard Tournament, the fourth ChampionHarry Potter and Hogwarts ChampionCedric Diggory tied for theTriwizard Cup. When they both touched it, the Cup which had been made into a Portkey, transported them to theLittle Hangleton graveyard.^[1] Once there, Cedric was murdered byLord Voldemort's servantPeter Pettigrew.^[9]

Harry was forced to watch as the Dark Lord was reborn before his eyes. Once the potion had done its work, Harry witnessed Voldemort summon theDeath Eaters by pressing Wormtail'sDark Mark.^[10] Later, once he had watched Voldemort berate his Death Eaters for their betrayal and speak of his future plans, he was forced toduel with the Dark Lord. Harry was able to escape because of thePriori Incantatem effect between his wand and Voldemort's. As he was running, Cedric's echo asked Harry to return with his body, which Harry did.^[11]

Upon returning to Hogwarts, Harry continued to clutch Cedric's body, refusing to let go.^[12] OnceDumbledore had pulled Harry to his feet, he instructed him to remain there. WhenAlastor Moody removed Harry from his presence, Dumbledore realised something was wrong. Dumbledore,Minerva McGonagall, andSeverus Snape rescued Harry from the impostor Moody.^[12] It was revealed thatBartemius Crouch Junior, Crouch Snr's only son and Voldemort's most loyal Death Eater, was usingPolyjuice Potion to impersonate Alastor Moody in order to perpetrate a plan for Lord Voldemort. After hearing Crouch's story and Harry's account of the events in the graveyard, Dumbledore could come to no conclusion other than that Lord Voldemort had returned.^[12]

When Dumbledore informedMinister for MagicCornelius Fudge of the events that had taken place that evening, Fudge believed them to be the work of one deranged madman. When he was taken to question Barty Crouch Jnr, theDementor that accompanied him subjected Crouch to theDementor's Kiss before he could actually be questioned by Fudge.^[13] Fudge regarded this as no loss since he had "been responsible for several deaths!"^[13] When Dumbledore pointed out that this meant Crouch could no longer testify as to why he committed his crimes, Fudge stated that Crouch did them because he was a madman. Dumbledore replied that Crouch's crimes had been part of a larger plot to revive Lord Voldemort. Fudge smiled and said that Dumbledore was believing the words of a raving lunatic.

Dumbledore proceeded to point out that Harry's account of what happened in the graveyard jived with what Crouch was saying. Fudge smiled again and pointed out that Harry was not necessarily the best source, as he (according toRita Skeeter) had been said to be mentally unstable. Dumbledore replied, in no uncertain terms, that Harry was sane. When the others present began to defend Harry and pointed outCedric Diggory's death (with even Harry trying to convince Fudge that Voldemort had returned and Snape showing his Dark Mark to Fudge), Fudge shouted that Dumbledore and his staff were working to destabilise thirteen years of peace.^[13]

Dumbledore then proceeded to give Fudge a string of suggestions to ensure the safety of the wizarding community and to defeat Lord Voldemort; Dumbledore noted that if Fudge followed these steps, he would be memorialised as one of the bravest and greatestMinisters for Magic in history, otherwise he would be looked down as the man who stepped aside to allow Voldemort a second chance to destroy both the wizarding and Muggle worlds. When Fudge replied that these ideas would result in him being thrown out of office, Dumbledore replied that Fudgeloved his position too much, and that they had reached a parting of ways. While there was no hint of threat in Dumbledore's voice, Fudge took this as a threat and stormed off telling Dumbledore that they would speak in the morning about his running of Hogwarts.^[13]

The campaign[]

Against Albus Dumbledore[]

During the following summer, Cornelius Fudge began to make moves to discredit Dumbledore.^[3] After he made a speech to theInternational Confederation of Wizards announcing Voldemort's return, he was stripped of his title asSupreme Mugwump. It is implied that he was voted out by representatives selected by Fudge, using the excuse that he was going senile in his old age. Soon after, he was removed from his post asChief Warlock of theWizengamot, for much the same reasons. Fudge even threatened to retract theOrder of Merlin, First Class, from Dumbledore.^[3]

When he appeared as Harry's witness at thedisciplinary hearing of Harry Potter, Fudge told him that he considered Dumbledore's views on theDementor attack "bilge".^[14] When Fudge began to slander Harry in front of Dumbledore and the entireWizengamot talking about Harry's misuse of magic at Hogwarts, Dumbledore pointed out that the Ministry had no right to punish students for what they did at school and could not expel students from school. Fudge took exception to this remark, indicating his want to influence the workings of Hogwarts.^[14]

He got his wish a few weeks later when Dumbledore could not fill the position ofDefence Against the Dark Arts professor. On 30 August, the Ministry passedEducational Decree Number Twenty-Two.^[4] This established that in the event theHeadmaster ofHogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry could not find someone to fill a position in his faculty, the Minister for Magic would appoint someone instead.

The following day Fudge appointed his right-hand witch,Dolores Umbridge, as the new Defence Against the Dark ArtsProfessor, which he believed would kill two birds with one stone; Fudge now had a spy at Hogwarts, and as he believed Dumbledore was using Hogwarts as a training centre for an army to use against the Ministry, he could enforce a Ministry-approved theory-based curriculum in Defence Against the Dark Arts to prevent students from learning any practical defensive magic.^[15][16]

Fudge further increased his control at Hogwarts on 8 September. This is when the Ministry passedEducational Decree Number Twenty-Three. This decree created the position of Hogwarts High Inquisitor, which was immediately filled by Dolores Umbridge. The reason for the decree was ostensibly to improve the "falling standards" at Hogwarts. In reality, it gave Fudge greater control of the teaching staff through Umbridge. Umbridge now had the power to inspect and suspend Hogwarts staff. Fudge continued to tighten his grip on the school throughout the school year with more Ministry decrees.^[4]

WhenMarietta Edgecombe betrayed Harry's rebel student group,Dumbledore's Army, to Umbridge in April 1996, Fudge's suspicions seemed to be validated when Dumbledore took the blame for forming the group in an act to protect Harry. When Fudge tried to arrest Dumbledore, Dumbledore attacked him and his entourage and made a hasty escape.^[17] Dumbledore was not seen again until theBattle of the Department of Mysteries.^[18]

It appears that Dumbledore took this beating from the Ministry andDaily Prophet with his usual grace, stating that he didn't care what happened to him as long as they don't remove him from theChocolate Frog Cards.^[3] He did not show overt anger or displeasure at his treatment. This may have been because he was acting against Voldemort anyway, and there was no way the Ministry was going to stop him.

Against Harry Potter[]

The campaign to discreditHarry Potter unofficially began even before he gave evidence about thereturn of the Dark Lord. On the day of the Third Task of theTriwizard Tournament,Rita Skeeter published an article with the title "HARRY POTTER "DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS"" Using sensationalist journalism and quotes from people known to dislike Harry (such asDraco Malfoy), Rita painted a picture of Harry as an attention-hungry boy.

She also made people aware of his ability to speakParseltongue, and claimed that he befriended creatures that scared normal wizards, such aswerewolves andgiants. She even reported that he flopped around on the ground, loudly complaining of pains in his scar.

Skeeter also stated that Harry might resort to using theDark Arts in his attempt to win the Triwizard Cup. It was nothing if not effective; when Dumbledore indicated to the Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge that Harry's story matched the account ofBarty Crouch Jnr, the Minister openly claimed that Harry was unstable.^[13]

TheDaily Prophet began to regularly snipe at Harry over the following summer. He became a running gag; according toHermione Granger, theProphet would say things like "a tale worthy of Harry Potter" if someone was telling an unlikely story or "let's hope he hasn't got a scar on his forehead or we'll be asked to worship him next" if someone had a funny accident. She said that the paper was trying to portray Harry as a "deluded, attention-seeking person who thinks he's a great tragic hero". Harry, at the time, was unaware of the Ministry's denial, and did not comb through the entireProphet to read the criticism against him and Dumbledore, instead just skimming the front page, believing that he should find articles about Voldemort's return there, only to be disappointed and throw the newspaper out when he found no such thing.^[5]

On the night of 2 August, Harry and his cousinDudley Dursley were attacked byDementors inLittle Whinging.^[19] The Dementors were dispatched to Little Whinging on the orders of Senior Undersecretary to the MinisterDolores Umbridge, without the knowledge of Minister Fudge. According to Umbridge, the Ministry had been going on about discrediting and/or silencing Harry, but no one was doing anything about it, so she ordered the Dementors out to Little Whinging.

Umbridge knew that Harry would have to either defend himself with aPatronus Charm or be subjected to theDementor's Kiss, either outcome working in the Ministry's favour as using a Patronus would be a serious breach of theDecree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery.^[20] The Ministry initially expelled Harry from Hogwarts and planned on confiscating and destroying his wand. Dumbledore was notified in time to prevent this from happening. Instead Harry's punishment was changed to ahearing at the Ministry of Magic.^[21]

In an underhanded move to attempt to prevent Harry from attending his own hearing, the Ministry changed the time and location of Harry's hearing on the very morning it was set to be held. Harry thankfully arrived in time to make the hearing. The disciplinary hearing of Harry Potter was tried in front of the full Wizengamot. High profile members of the Ministry were in attendance, including the Head of the Department of of Magical Law Enforcement.

It appeared to be nothing more than a show trial, but due to the intervention of Dumbledore, who acted as a barrister for Harry, Harry got a fair hearing. Once evidence was presented, it was obvious that Harry was not guilty, but Fudge stubbornly kept trying to deny this fact. When the court was polled for a verdict, the overwhelming majority voted for acquittal, with only roughly seven, including Fudge, Umbridge andPercy Weasley - though this last vote was void, since Weasley, as court scribe, carried no position with the Wizengamot - voting for conviction.^[14]

Dolores Umbridge's regime[]

The campaign was much less direct once Harry returned to Hogwarts. The only overt control they had was through newDefence Against the Dark Arts professorDolores Umbridge, who punished Harry for telling the truth with sadistic and abusive punishments by means of aBlood Quill and slowly gaining more and more control over the school, whether it was inspecting teachers, interrogating students, or simply trying to convince everyone that the Ministry was right about everything.^[16][4]

Overall, the Ministry had a harder time getting to him, but the effects of the summer campaign continued to haunt Harry. Other students continued to heckle Harry, but overall the student populace was split. A few who knew Harry personally turned against him, though. A good example of this was whenPercy Weasley sent aletter to Ron. The letter told Ron to cut ties with Harry and tell tales on him to Umbridge.^[22] AlsoSeamus Finnigan, who shared a dormitory with Harry and was friendly with him, turned against him, calling him "mad" on the night they returned to Hogwarts.^[23]

The noose tightened on7 October, when the Ministry passed Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four. This decree was aimed directly at Harry, his two best friends,Ron Weasley andHermione Granger, and all those who had attended the first meeting of what would becomeDumbledore's Army. This group, led by Harry, was formed in response to Umbridge's method of teaching only theory-based defence.^[24]

They hoped to learn practical defence, knowing that Voldemort was out there. When the group was discovered due toMarietta Edgecombe betraying them, Fudge and Umbridge initially thought that they finally had a way of driving Harry Potter out of Hogwarts and marginalising him in the wizarding world. Dumbledore took the blame for Harry, enabling him to continue his studies.^[17]

While it seemed that Dumbledore was taking his discrediting with his usual grace, Harry was unable to control his temper at the way he was treated by the Ministry, and began to lash out even at Ron and Hermione. During the first few days back at school, Harry attempted to persuade Fudge's right-hand woman, Umbridge, that Voldemort has returned, and that he had duelled the Dark Lord, to no avail.^[15] This led to Harry screaming at Umbridge,^[15] for which he was punished with detention where he had to cut words into his own hand. When he read Percy's letter to Ron, it all seemed to hit home for him. Harry was terribly hurt reading those words. He had liked and lived with Percy, and now Percy was suggesting that Harry might become physically violent if Ron decided not to be friends with him.^[22]

When the mass breakout fromAzkaban occurred, Fudge blamedSirius Black for being the mastermind instead of accepting Harry and Dumbledore's explanation, and Umbridge further enforced the suppression of the truth bypreventing the teachers from speaking to students about it. Harry was further infuriated with this, as he saw the Ministry was adamant in their denial even when the mounting dangers were providing more evidence to the truth.^[25]

Harry ceased his subscription of theDaily Prophet out of sheer disgust, and finally found satisfaction in Dumbledore's Army. He relished the opportunity to resist Umbridge right under her nose. He poured all his effort into the D.A. as a way of making himself feel better when he was being constantly attacked.

The truth revealed[]

Battle of the Department of Mysteries[]

However, Dumbledore's Army was discovered by Umbridge, who tried to get Harry expelled for forming an illegal Defence group. However, Dumbledore took the blame for the formation of the group and was forced to flee the school.^[17] Shortly after, withEducational Decree Number Twenty-Eight, Umbridge was named Headmistress and she did all in her power to continue to discredit Harry and tighten her control over Hogwarts, but without much help from the other teachers.^[26]

After Harry got a vision of his godfather,Sirius Black, being tortured by Voldemort, he and his friends decided to go to theDepartment of Mysteries to rescue him,^[20] (this later turned out to be a trick of Voldemort's: Black was safe, but Voldemort needed Harry to retrieve aparticular prophecy from the department).^[18] Before they could leave, they were caught by Umbridge,^[20] but they eventually got rid of her by leading her into theForbidden Forest and having hercarried away bycentaurs angry at her hateful and arrogant remarks towards them.^[27]

The students headed to the Department of Mysteries,^[28] where they found Lord Voldemort'sDeath Eaters waiting for them.A battle ensued, during which Harry's friends were injured and the prophecy destroyed. TheOrder of the Phoenix arrived and battled the Death Eaters, and Sirius Black ended up being killed byBellatrix Lestrange in theDeath Chamber.^[18]

Furious and grief-stricken, Harry pursued her into theAtrium, where Voldemort himself soon Apparated. Voldemort and Dumbledore then engaged in aduel, which ended with Voldemort trying topossess Harry unsuccessfully due to Harry's ability tolove. Following his attempt to possess Harry, Voldemort grabbed Bellatrix and the two Disapparated, but only after Voldemort was seen by manyAurors, Ministry workers, andCornelius Fudge himself.^[6]

Aftermath[]

When Fudge walked into the Ministry of Magic Atrium after theBattle of the Department of Mysteries and saw Dumbledore, he appeared to be of half a mind to have his Aurors seize him, but he had also seen Voldemort with his own eyes. This confirmed that the stories that Harry and Dumbledore had been telling the Ministry and the wider wizarding world for the past year was the truth.^[6]

Umbridge was removed from her positions at Hogwarts,^[29] Fudge was dismissed as Minister in disgrace while Head of theAuror OfficeRufus Scrimgeour took his place,^[7] and Dumbledore was reinstated asHeadmaster. Harry, who had so recently been insulted and slandered by the press, became the darling of newspapers like theDaily Prophet.

The newspapers called him "the lone voice of truth" among ridicule, while failing to mention that it wasthem doing the ridiculing, though Fudge was also making them do that.^[29] Fudge also had the nerve to ask Harry to be the Ministry's poster child; that is, convince the public that the Ministry was winning thewar against Voldemort (which was yet another lie), a move both Harry and Dumbledore opposed, and Harry was disgusted by Fudge's shamelessness.^[30]

Perpetrators[]

Cornelius Fudge (instigator)

Dolores Umbridge

British Ministry of Magic

Mafalda Hopkirk

Wizengamot

Albert Runcorn

Victims[]

Albus Dumbledore

Harry Potter

Hermione Granger

Ronald Weasley

Luna Lovegood

Neville Longbottom

Ginevra Weasley

Michael Corner

Cho Chang

Roger Davies

Sirius Black

Remus Lupin

Weasley family (exceptPercy)

Kreacher

Appearances[]

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire(First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince(Mentioned only)
• Pottermore
• HarryPotter.com
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• Harry Potter for Kinect(Indirectly mentioned only)

Notes and references[]