Fudges Choice?

[Alz]

"Since they have moved into the open, they have been wreaking havoc. The Brockdale Bridge -- he did it, Prime Minister, he threatened a mass Muggle killing unless I stood aside for him and --"

That seemed to go past without much trace ...
Seemes that Fudge has been talking to Voldemort - Voldemort wanted him to stand ... strange thing is Fudge was ousted not much later and a new Minister appointed ...

Anyone want to speculate wildly about what was coming after the and -- ?

[Hermione]

Opened the gates of Hogwarts to him? That would be something Voldemort would want that Fudge wouldn't do. He would have been damned if he had allowed that, of course he was damned anyway.

Stopped hunting him and allowed the Death Eaters free reign?

Perhaps he wanted a specific death eater out, Lucius malfoy perhaps? Then Voldemort wouldn't have taken his revenge out on Draco. But when Lucus hung back during the break out and allowed himself to be re-capured, perhaps this was a breaking point for Voldemort and he wanted payback.

[Horntail88]

Maybe not in EXCACT contact with him, but I wouldn't put it past a Dark Lord to have other ways to contact people apart from owls. Perhaps a blood-stained letter written on the wall of Madam Bones' house, like the message during Chamber of Secrets?

And he was probably asking for the Ministry's surrender to his will. "Make me the ruler of the world or else I will kill the thousands of muggles you try so dearly to protect."

[Hermione]

I agree, I don't think face to face contact would work well. I also don't think sending a Death Eater as a messanger would be wise, as it would lead to their capture.

Perhaps sending a steady stream of Muggles under the Imperius curse? They wouldn't have the faintest idea as to what was going on, and it would give the MoM even more to deal with.

[Alz]

I suppose if I wanted to get into the realms of Wild Spec you could say that Fudge and Voldemort had channels of communication.
It could account for why Fudge was obsessed with proving to the Magical World Voldemort wasnt alive in OoTP like Harry was making out - perhaps Voldemort wasnt ready to be 'outed' at that point.
Just wondering if Fudge tried to strike some kind of deal or was heavily compromised - as such he was dancing to a Voldemort tune in order to save his own sorry job - but it all backfired badly in the end ...

It is likely that Voldemort did get some means of communication to Fudge - if only to make an offer he knew the Minister wouldnt make - and thus decided to put on the little show to prove he meant business.

I just wondered that the choice Fudge had to make was that between the truth and his position - and perhaps he grew a backbone and did the right thing - or perhaps he didnt do the right thing but Harry Potter bought it all to light anyways ... both ways he paid the price with the job he seemed to like :)

[god is broke]

i always thought fudge was in leage with voldy, the way he whent to extremes to make sure harry wasn't believed. it seem there was more to it then not wanting to believe. the way he tried to get umbridge to take over the school suggest to me he might have been in league with voldy but with the fight at the MoM he couldn't keep voldy under raps any more.

[Alz]

I think it was possible that Voldemort was expecting Fudge to hand over the control of the MoM and all that inside to Voldemort.
This might suggest a kind of 'in league' kind of link - but may have also been Fudge living in blissful ignorance!
I think Fudge was happy continuing in his life until Voldemort tried to cross into it - at this point I think he realised he had to act and this might have been why he was removed - but also retained ... because he still has links to Voldemort.