CORNELIUS FUDGE & THE CROUCHES, MAGIC CORRUPTION

Today, The Weasleys and The Grandma have been invited to visit the Ministry of Magic. They are very excited. The Weasleys have got lots of questions to ask to the Ministers about their work, their rules and their history.

The Grandma is also very interested in talking about the dark face of this Ministry, corruption, focused in three aspects: incompetence, abuse of power and nepotism. She wants to know more details about the lives of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister who denied the return of Lord Voldemort demonstrating that he was a great incompetent; Bartemius "Barty" Crouch Senior, the influential British Ministry of Magic official and Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement who abused of his position to help his son and Bartemius "Barty" Crouch Junior, an ardent follower of Lord Voldemort who took advantage of being a British Ministry of Magic's son, a great example of nepotism.

Before visiting The Ministry of Magic, The Grandma has offered them another Cambridge Key English Test A2 Example.

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The Ministry of Magic (M.o.M.) is the main governing body of the magical community of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Ireland, with the intention of preservation of magical law. The Ministry connects the British government to the wizarding world.

The headquarters of the Ministry are in Whitehall, in central London, deep underground.

It is headed by the Minister for Magic. Each Prime Minister of Great Britain is visited by the Minister for Magic. During the height of the Dark Lord's power, the Minister for Magic worked with the Muggle Prime Minister to ensure protection for the Muggle world.

The Ministry of Magic was formed as a successor to the earlier Wizards'
Council and came into being in 1707.

It was involved in the International Confederation of Wizards' decision to enact the Statute of Secrecy in 1692. Other countries, such as Norway, France, Germany or Bulgaria have their own Ministries of Magic. The United States of America is one of the exceptions, given that its governing magical body is instead referred to as a Magical Congress.

A visitor to the Ministry of Magic comes to a broken-down red telephone box on a dingy street which has several shabby offices, a pub, and a wall covered with graffiti. When the telephone in the box is dialled (62442, the word M-A-G-I-C), the welcome witch’s voice answers, not from the phone, but from the air, as if the person is standing right there. Visitors must state their business, upon which a silver badge pops out with the visitor’s name and purpose of visit. Then the telephone box drops down like a lift for about one minute, after which the visitor is in the Atrium.

The Ministry of Magic was founded in 1707 to succeed the earlier Wizards' Council, with Head of the Wizengamot Ulick Gamp serving as the first Minister for Magic, from 1707-1718.

More information: Wizarding World

Level ten can only be reached by the stairs to the left of the door which leads to the Department of Mysteries on level nine. Courtroom Ten was first seen during Harry’s first forays into Dumbledore's Pensieve, when he witnessed various Death Eater trials. There are nine levels:

-On level one are the offices of the Minister for Magic and other administrative staff.

-On level two is the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

-On level three is the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.

-On level four is the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

-On level five is the Department of International Magical Cooperation.

-On level six is the Department of Magical Transportation.

-On level seven is the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

-On level eight is the Atrium.

-On level nine is the Department of Mysteries.

Dungeon-like corridors lead to Courtroom Ten. The walls of the courtroom are dark stone. In the centre of the room is a chair covered in chains that stands below rows of high benches on which the Wizengamot sit.

More information: Wizarding World

 

 

Ministry of' Magic messing' things up as usual.

Rubeus Hagrid

Minister Cornelius Oswald Fudge is a British wizard who was the Minister for Magic. He thus had complete control of the Ministry of Magic, the main governing body of the British wizarding world.

Fudge began his career in the Ministry as Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. He then succeeded Millicent Bagnold as Minister for Magic, and thus had the responsibility of meeting with the Muggle Prime Minister when necessary.

Fudge had to deal with the pure-blood supremacist criticism directed against Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office Arthur Weasley's proposal of a Muggle Protection Act, which was nonetheless losing reputation when Weasley was found in possession of a Flying Ford Anglia and his daughter Ginny started carrying out attacks on Muggle-born students at Hogwarts School, using the Basilisk concealed within the Chamber of Secrets; as Fudge believed the legend surrounding the Chamber to be a threat to society as well as to the boy Harry Potter, he took Hogwarts gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid to Azkaban for his alleged connection to the attacks.

Fudge had to deal with assumed mass-murderer Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban. As Fudge believed Black to be a threat to society as well as to Harry, he had Dementors stationed at Hogwarts and in Hogsmeade. However, Black narrowly escaped from Fudge's fingers.

During the summer holiday, he organised the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament with Bartemius Crouch Senior. After Cedric Diggory's death in the Tournament and Harry claiming Voldemort had returned, Fudge refused to believe it, because it would mean the end of the peace he and the Ministry had worked so hard to maintain for the last thirteen years.

More information: Wizarding World

Instead, he used his influence at the Daily Prophet to launch a smear campaign against both Harry and Albus Dumbledore, as Fudge was paranoid that Dumbledore was after his job and was simply telling lies.

However, following the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Fudge saw Voldemort with his own eyes and was forced to admit that Harry and Dumbledore had been telling the truth the whole time, causing the wizarding community to protest and scream for his resignation.

He was replaced as Minister for Magic by Rufus Scrimgeour, but stayed in an advisory capacity and communicated news of the Second Wizarding War to the Muggle Prime Minister if Scrimgeour was unable to.

His reputation and image had been completely destroyed and he became known as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy what the Wizarding community tried so hard to rebuild, and his cowardice, arrogance and incompetence led him to become the most disgraced and least effective Minister in British wizarding history.

Cornelius is an old Roman clan's name, possibly related to the Latin word cornu (horn). Name of early Christian saints with a mediaeval cult in the Low Countries.

Oswald is of old Germanic origin, and means godly rule or power of a god, from Anglo-Saxon ós, which means god in a polytheistic context, and weald, rule.

Fudge (Verb) To alter something from its true state, as to hide a flaw or uncertainty. Always deliberate, but not necessarily dishonest or immoral.

More information: Screen Rant

 

 

You are blinded by the love of your office, Cornelius!

You place too much importance,

and you always have done,

on the so-called purity of blood!

You fail to recognise that it matters

not what someone is born,

but what they grow to be!

Cornellius Fudge

 

Bartemius "Barty" Crouch Senior is a British pure-blood wizard and an influential British Ministry of Magic official during the mid-to-late 20th century.

He was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement during the First Wizarding War, but was demoted to the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation afterwards.

He had a reputation for fighting fire with fire, exhibiting the sort of ruthlessness and brutality against criminals that could be compared to some Death Eaters to their victims.

He was cast aside after the First Wizarding War and was put in charge of Department of International Magical Cooperation. He was eventually murdered by his Death Eater son, Barty Crouch Jr, who despised him. He and his son were the last members of the pure-blood Crouch family.

Nothing is known about Bartemius's childhood; however, he was trained in the magical arts, most likely in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and pursued a highly successful career at the British Ministry of Magic. He was married to a wispy-looking little witch and they had a son, who was named after him, Barty Crouch Jr.  

Crouch quickly rose through the ranks of the Ministry of Magic and became the judge in the Council of Magical Law whilst heading the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Crouch spent much of his life in his career and as such, did not pay enough attention to his family, especially his son.

During the downfall of the Death Eaters in the First Wizarding War, Bartemius convicted several suspected criminals to life imprisonment in Azkaban, including Sirius Black, who did not even receive a trial.

Bartemius Crouch Senior, as a high-ranking Ministry official, spent his entire life dedicated to eradicating the Dark forces, and as such, didn't pay enough attention to his own son.

More information: Wizarding World

When Barty Crouch Jr was caught with other Death Eaters at the crime scene of torture of Alice and Frank Longbottom to insanity, his father's parental affection extended to as much as giving him a trial, something he did not always give other suspects.

In the end, the trial was merely to make an example out of his own son, and to publicly disown him, making clear he had nothing to do with anyone who would even remotely be connected to the committing of such a horrible crime. Barty Crouch Senior mercilessly sentenced his own son to Azkaban for life.

A little over a year later, the father, as a favour for his dying wife, smuggled him out of prison and kept him under control with the Imperius Curse for years to come. By Barty Crouch Jr's claim, his father loved only his wife and not him, but this was only in his own perception.

The elder Barty's willingness to sacrifice his wife to spend her last days in the horrific Azkaban to rescue their son may be indicating that he retained some paternal affection for him, despite many believed otherwise. It was this sentence that cost Bartemius Crouch Senior his chance to become Minister for Magic, his position as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and his wife to suffer her last few days in Azkaban.

Bartemius Crouch Senior  was ordered to go to work and do all his usual jobs as if nothing had happened. This included becoming one of the judges in the Triwizard Tournament, which he and his department had helped plan out.

Bartemius Crouch Senior had short grey hair with a neat parting, which was described as almost unnaturally straight and a narrow toothbrush moustache. In certain lights, such as in semi-darkness, he took on a skull-like appearance.

The name Bartemius originates from the Biblical name Bartimaeus, who was permanently blind all his life, until Jesus healed him. Reasons for naming after a blind man may be due to the fact Bartemius was quite oblivious to his family until his position of authority lowered.

The surname Crouch is a variation of the English surname Cross.

More information: Screen Rant

 

 

 You are no son of mine! I have no son!

Barty Crouch Senior

Bartemius "Barty" Crouch Junior is a British wizard and the son of Bartemius Crouch Senior.

He became an ardent follower of Lord Voldemort in order to become a Death Eater and Dark Wizard in his teenage years. He was the first escapee of Azkaban prison in its almost 300 year history, though only his father, late mother and the family house-elf knew until 1994.

Shortly after Voldemort's first defeat, Crouch allegedly participated in the capture and torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom along with the Lestranges, using the Cruciatus Curse to drive the two Aurors to insanity. Crouch and his comrades were sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban for their crimes by his own father.

Crouch and his parents hatched a plot under which Crouch's mother would take his place in Azkaban, using the Polyjuice Potion to disguise herself. She died and was buried in Azkaban, with the result that the wizarding world believed that Crouch himself was dead.

Crouch spent the following years living under his father's Imperius Curse. He eventually broke free with the help of Voldemort, who had learned that Crouch was still alive, and again entered the Dark Lord's service.

He then disguised himself as Alastor Moody, former Auror and the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. In this role, Crouch fixed the Triwizard Tournament so that Harry Potter was chosen as a champion, and turned the Triwizard Cup into a Portkey that transported Harry and Cedric Diggory to Voldemort.  

Shortly afterwards, his identity was exposed, and Crouch was given the Dementor's Kiss by a Dementor that Cornelius Fudge had brought along with him.

Barty took the Dark Mark in his late teens, and after Lord Voldemort's first defeat in 1981, he worked with Death Eaters searching for their fallen master. He was captured with Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan Lestrange after they tortured the Aurors Alice and Frank Longbottom with the Cruciatus Curse, driving the couple into insanity. Barty and the other Death Eaters were brought to trial before the Council of Magical Law, over which his father presided.

More information: Screen Rant

Barty was insistent on his innocence, claiming he had not taken part in the crimes, and begged his father before the entire assembled Council and witnesses such as Rita Skeeter and his mother to clear him of the charges. 

Barty's father headed the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the time and was under extreme pressure to appear to be punishing the terrorism perpetrated by Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters. The torture of the Longbottoms was considered one of the most evil crimes recorded and used the trail as nothing more as to condemn his son.

Barty's father chose to make a public example of his son, and sentenced him to a term of life imprisonment in Azkaban at the age of eighteen or nineteen.

According to Sirius Black, the trial was no more than an excuse to show how much the father hated the child, as the elder Crouch went as far as to drown out his son's voice by shouting the announcement of sentencing, and Barty was screaming inside his cell for his mother for the first few days, but then quieted down from the extreme depressive influence of the Dementors, as did many other prisoners.

One year later, his mother's health had deteriorated drastically from the stress of her son's imprisonment, as did Barty's own from the severe depression inflicted by the prison. The couple were allowed to visit due to Bartemius Senior's high status in the Ministry and as Mrs Crouch's dying wish. She persuaded her husband to help smuggle their son out of Azkaban by swapping him for his mother. Using Polyjuice Potion, and undetected by the blind Dementors, Mrs Crouch took the place of her son. She died a short time later, and was buried outside the fortress under the guise of her son.

Barty appeared to have been: intensely hateful, diabolical, scheming, evil, vengeful, cold, cruel, manipulative, callous, loyal, extremely intelligent, sadistic, shadowy, very arrogant, cunning, selfish and ruthless. He was obviously a quite powerful wizard, having demonstrated sufficient magical ability to Confound the Goblet of Fire into believing that four schools participated in the Triwizard Tournament in order for Harry to participate in the contest despite the object's power.

The name Bartemius originates from the Biblical name Bartimaeus, who was permanently blind all his life, until Jesus healed him. Being named after his father, the reasons for naming after a blind man may be due to the fact Bartemius was quite oblivious to his mother's and house-elf's love. It may also reflect his blind devotion to Voldemort.

The name Bartimaeus means son of honour; a fitting name for the son of a man who placed his own honour before his son's life.

The surname Crouch is a variation of the English surname Cross.

More information: Screen Rant

 

 

 Father, I didn't!

I didn't, I swear it, Father, 

don't send me back to the Dementors...

No! Mother, no!

I didn't do it, I didn't do it, 

I didn't do it, I didn't know!

Don't send me there, don't let him!

I'm your son! I'm your son!

Barty Crouch Junior