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"Is this all real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"
The subject of this article is a real-life person, company, product, or creative work that has been mentioned "in-universe" in a canon source. The Harry Potter Compendium is written from the perspective that all information presented in canon is true (e.g., Hogwarts really exists), and, as such, details contained in this article may differ from real world facts. |
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"Are you a wizard or not?"
The title of this article is conjectural. Although it is based on canonical information, the actual name is conjecture and may be supplanted at any time by additional information released from canonical sources. If this occurs, please move this page to the appropriate title. |
- Prime Minister: "But you're wizards! You can do magic! Surely you can sort out - well - anything!"
- Cornelius Fudge: "The trouble is, the other side can do magic too, Prime Minister."
- — The Prime Minister and Cornelius Fudge[src]
The Prime Minister of the Muggle Community of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, usually just referred to as the Prime Minister, is leader of the British Muggle Community and Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and their Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior ministers, who are government department heads) are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and ultimately to the electorate.
The British Prime Minister was traditionally informed of the existence of the wizarding world on the night of their inauguration and was occasionally visited by their wizard counterpart, the Minister of Magic, over affairs that would have an impact on the Muggle world, such as the escape of Sirius Black, the mass breakout from Azkaban, and the return of Lord Voldemort. The secrecy of the wizarding world is maintained in that, in the event that the Prime Minister were to tell anyone of their meetings with the wizards, it is hardly likely that they would be believed by anyone.[1]
Biography[]
Rise to power and meeting with the "Other Minister"[]
- Cornelius Fudge: "The Minister of Magic only reveals him--or herself to the Muggle Prime Minister of the day. We find it the best way to maintain secrecy."
- Prime Minister: ""But then, why hasn't a former Prime Minister warned me?"
- Cornelius Fudge: "My dear Prime Minister, are you ever going to tell anybody?"
- — The Prime Minister and Cornelius Fudge[src]
When the Prime Minister rose to his position, he was greeted by the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, who told him about the world of magic. The Muggle Minister was actually better at accepting this than his predecessor, who thought Fudge was an attempt to sabotage the Prime Minister's career, and tried to throw the wizard out the window. The Prime Minister then tried to pretend none of this had happened. Despite Fudge's claim that they would probably never meet again after the first introduction, circumstances, essentially all the Dark activities of the wizarding world, colluded to render this statement invalid, much to the Prime Minister's discomfort.
In 1993, Fudge met with the Prime Minister to inform him of the escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban. Due to the fact that Black was convicted of murdering 12 Muggles, along with Pettigrew, and was thus a severe threat to both communities, Fudge felt that it was important that the Muggle Prime Minister be informed.[2]
In 1994, Fudge met with the Prime Minster to discuss the events of the Quidditch World Cup, where several Muggles had been tortured by Death Eaters, but declared that everything was fine and was being dealt with (i.e. covered up). He also informed the Prime Minister that they would be bringing three dragons and a sphinx into the country, and as they were classified as highly dangerous creatures, it was in the rules that the Muggle Prime Minister had to be informed.
The Daily Prophet reports Scrimgeour's meeting with the Prime Minister.
Early in 1996, Fudge met with the Minister to inform him of the mass breakout from Azkaban. Then, later in 1996, the Prime Minister was under pressure after the collapse of the Brockdale Bridge, a hurricane that had devastated parts of the South-West of England, and two highly publicised murders one of which had taken place around the corner from 10 Downing Street. He was informed by the former Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge that Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters were responsible for these events. They also told him that his Junior Minister, Herbert Chorley, had been put under a poorly cast Imperius Curse, which was the real reason he had been acting like a duck, and that he was being transferred to St. Mungo's. Fudge also informed him that his new secretary, Kingsley Shacklebolt, was a highly skilled Auror and introduced him to his own replacement as Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour.
Early in 1997, Scrimgeour met with the Prime Minister to inform him about the terror and all the deaths, including a Muggle family; this meeting was briefly mentioned in the Daily Prophet.
His fate following the Second Wizarding War is unknown.
The enchanted portrait[]
This is placed on the wall in Prime Minister's office. Its purpose is to inform the Prime Minister of the imminent arrival of the Minister of Magic. It is described as being an ugly man who occasionally yawns or scratches his nose. Muggles have tried and failed to remove it from the wall. Among the various people who have tried were: an art historian, a builder, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The most likely explanation is that the portrait was affixed to the wall with a Permanent Sticking Charm, which would explain why all attempts to remove it have failed.
It is unknown as to whether replacing the wall would remove the portrait or whether it would return to the new wall.
Behind the scenes[]
- The Prime Minister is never named in the series, and may be intended to be a fictional character. Since the Harry Potter series is set mostly in the 1990's the most likely real-life candidate would be Sir John Major, the Prime Minister of Britain from 1990-1997. However during the last half of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, there was a change of government in Britain and Tony Blair became Prime Minister, serving from 1997-2007.
- If that is the case, then Margaret Thatcher would have been Prime Minister when Cornelius Fudge was nearly thrown out the window. However, Margaret Thatcher had been Prime Minister for eleven years by the time Fudge became Minister for Magic, and wouldn't be as likely to become enraged as she would have met at least two other Ministers for Magic during her time in office. Additionally, Fudge refers to the Prime Minister's predecessor as he, which rules out Thatcher.
- It is possible that Cornelius Fudge lied to the Prime Minister when he described his predecessor's attitude, as an attempt to restore some of the Prime Minister's confidence. Fudge may have been unaware that the predecessor was female, since he only became Minister for Magic the year Sir John Major became Prime Minister.
- Winston Churchill was the UK Prime Minister during Grindelwald's reign of terror in the 1940s, and would have had to cope with that while presiding over the largest Muggle war in history.
- Supposing that the liaison between the Minister for Magic and the Muggle Prime Minister has been the way we know since the Ministry's inception, and supposing that the Muggle Prime Ministers in the Harry Potter universe are all the same as their real-life counterparts, then the following table illustrates the Ministers for Magic that would have introduced themselves to the respective Prime Ministers:
- Given that the Harry Potter series is fictional, it is entirely possible that this Prime Minister, and thus the previous Prime Minister as well, are none of the real life Prime Ministers of Great Britain, but entirely fictional ones with different names and identities. As Britain has, to date, had but one female Prime Minister, the pronoun "she" would be rather conclusive as to identity in the Muggle world.
Appearances[]
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (First mentioned)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (First appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Mentioned only)
- The Queen's Handbag (Mentioned only)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Chapter 1 (The Other Minister)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter 3 (The Knight Bus)