"Fudge?"
Vita repeated the name, a thoughtful glint crossing her eyes. Since she had come to England, she had naturally made a thorough study of the Ministry of Magic here.
Although she did not know all the inside details, that did not stop her from drawing conclusions. She continued.
"Fudge isn't actually that incompetent. He's quite a capable politician, and he does a decent job of papering over problems and maintaining stability. Otherwise, Dumbledore wouldn't have put him in the spotlight.
"Now Fudge and Dumbledore have fallen out over whether Voldemort has returned, so he can only rely on your side. But judging by your expression, he must have made some outrageous demands without knowing his place.
"The simplest, most direct approach works best on someone as cowardly and slippery as him.
"Cut off all his support, both internal and external, and shatter every illusion he has. Make him feel that whether he remains minister depends entirely on your approval, and that even his life hangs on a single decision of yours.
"Then he'll be very obedient and won't dare entertain any improper ambitions."
Shawn considered her words.
He had previously thought that Dumbledore, too, had grown impatient with Fudge's head-in-the-sand attitude and had essentially given up on him.
That left Fudge with only the pure-bloods to rely on.
Perhaps their unconditional support had made him think they could not do without him. Or perhaps it was because Voldemort had not appeared in England for almost a year.
That had convinced him everything was fine, so he had grown blindly arrogant again. He even had the leisure to indulge his greed.
Since Shawn had yet to find a suitable replacement for minister, he might as well have someone take Fudge to a Death Eaters meeting. "Tom" would attend as well.