Cornelius Fudge

Cornelius Oswald Fudge is the Minister of Magic of Great Britain. His first appearance is in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets where he sends Rubeus Hagrid to Azkaban as he was accused of controlling Slytherin's basilisk to attack Hogwarts. Fudge is forced to allow the removal of Dumbledore as Headmaster when pressured by Lucius Malfoy who states that all the governors voted for it. Harry first meets Fudge in Harry Potter and the Prisioner of Azkaban, where he acts kindly by not pressing charges against Harry for inflating Aunt Marge and and also advises him to be careful because an escaped convict is at large, suggesting Sirius Black might have a connection to him. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry witnesses Voldemort's rebirth and warns the magic world his returned to power but Fudge refuses to believe it, changing his kindly relationship with Harry. Fudge also passes a law allowing him to place Dolores Umbridge, his Senior Undersecretary, as a teacher at Hogwarts; he then appoints her "High Inquisitor," and ultimately Dumbledore's successor as Headmaster as he is particularly paranoid that Dumbledore is a threat to his power and that he is planning to train the Hogwarts students to overthrow the Ministry. At the end of this book, Voldemort appears in the Ministry of Magic and Cornelius sees him. This forces Fudge to be sacked as Minister for Magic and replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour.