<P> Cornelius Oswald "Goblin Crusher" Fudge is first mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as the Minister for Magic of Britain . He makes his first appearance in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when he arrives at the school to take Hagrid to Azkaban, even though he does not firmly believe that Hagrid is guilty . He also removes Dumbledore as Headmaster when pressured by Lucius Malfoy who insisted that all the school governors had voted on it . However, it is not until Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that Fudge meets Harry for the first time . Fudge does not press charges against Harry for accidentally inflating Aunt Marge, and advises him to be careful because an escaped convict is at large . When Fudge goes for a social drink at the Three Broomsticks pub, he inadvertently tells an unseen Harry that Sirius was James Potter's best friend and was believed to have betrayed the Potters to Voldemort . Fudge allowed the near - execution of Buckbeak to occur, once again intimidated by Lucius Malfoy . In this book, it is revealed that, before becoming Minister for Magic, he worked in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes . </P> <P> His kindly relationship to Harry abruptly changes in Goblet of Fire . When Harry emerges from the Triwizard Tournament's third task after having seen the rebirth of Voldemort, Fudge refuses to believe it . He is worried about the fallout of announcing Voldemort's return, marking the end of the Wizarding world's years of peace, and the sudden outbreak of gloom and terror; hence he decides to merely ignore all of the evidence rather than accept the truth . J.K. Rowling has since stated that Fudge's behaviour mirrors that of Neville Chamberlain in the lead - up to World War II . </P> <P> In Order of the Phoenix, Fudge orchestrates a vicious smear campaign through the Daily Prophet to present Dumbledore as a senile old fool (even though he was constantly asking for Dumbledore's advice in his early days of being Minister for Magic) and Harry as an unstable, attention - seeking liar . He also passes a law allowing him to place Dolores Umbridge, his Senior Undersecretary, as a teacher at Hogwarts . He then appoints Umbridge as Hogwarts' "High Inquisitor", with the power to inspect and sack teachers, and ultimately Dumbledore's successor as Headmaster, which gives her (and by extension, Fudge himself) primary control of how Hogwarts is managed . Fudge is concerned that Dumbledore is a threat to his power and that he is planning to train the Hogwarts students to overthrow the Ministry . After Voldemort appears in the Ministry of Magic at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Fudge finally admits that Voldemort has returned, and is sacked in disgrace from his position of Minister for Magic after the wizarding community calls for his resignation and is replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour, though he stays on as an advisor in Half - Blood Prince . Before his resignation, he makes several attempts to have Dumbledore arrange a meeting between himself and Harry so that Harry can lie on Fudge's behalf and make it look as though the Ministry is winning the war, but Dumbledore refuses, knowing how ridiculous Harry would find the idea . Fudge is last mentioned in the series as one of the attendees at Dumbledore's funeral; his fate during Voldemort's takeover of the Ministry during the following year is unknown . </P> <P> In the film series, Fudge was portrayed by Robert Hardy . </P>

Who replaced cornelius fudge as minister of magic