Rufus Scrimgeour
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| Harry Potter character | |
| Rufus Scrimgeour | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Hair colour | Tawny |
| Eye colour | Yellowish |
| Allegiance | Ministry of Magic |
| Actor | None Yet |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (mentioned in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) |
Rufus Scrimgeour is a fictional character in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series. Scrimgeour is described as looking 'rather like an old lion' with 'streaks of grey in his mane of tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows'. He wears wire-rimmed spectacles and walks with a 'rangy, loping grace' despite his slight limp.
[edit] Career at the Ministry
Prior to the summer of 1996, Rufus Scrimgeour, a very experienced and accomplished Auror himself, headed the Auror Office of the Ministry of Magic. During June of that year Lord Voldemort was revealed to wizarding Britain as unquestionably alive and active again.[HP5] The Ministry of Magic led by Cornelius Fudge had insisted for the entire previous year that Harry Potter was lying when he reported his reappearance and had undertaken an overt campaign of legal oppression to silence Potter and what the Ministry termed "Dumbledore's rumour mongering".
With his rebirth public knowledge, Voldemort moved out into the open, declaring open war on both the magical and Muggle populations of Britain. For his inaction and ineptitude, Cornelius Fudge was forced out of office and replaced as Minister by Rufus Scrimgeour.[HP6] Gawain Robards succeeded Scrimgeour as Head of the Auror Office, and Fudge was retained only in an advisorial capacity.
It was observed by many, including Harry Potter, that Rufus Scrimgeour was heavily battle-scarred from his years of service as an Auror, giving him an appearance of shrewd toughness.
While seemingly more capable than Fudge, and perhaps with the best interests of Britain's wizarding population at heart, Minister Scrimgeour appeared to be intent on following the tradition of past Ministers and Ministry officials, placing appearances over truth. One example of this was the contrived capture and imprisonment of three people, including an innocent albeit foolish young man, Stan Shunpike, in Azkaban for alleged Death Eater activity in order to give the impression that progress was being made against Voldemort's forces. Another example was Scrimgeour's determination to raise the wizarding population's morale by asking Harry, who had been labelled as the 'Chosen One', to be seen visiting the Ministry, so that the public would believe that Harry supported the Ministry's actions against Voldemort. When first elected Minister, Scrimgeour's desire to use Harry to improve morale was a source of contention between the Minister and Albus Dumbledore who did not support this idea. Harry also rejected this role primarily because of his own antagonistic history with the Ministry, and the Ministry's treatment of Dumbledore.
At the end of Half-Blood Prince it appeared that Rufus Scrimgeour has not changed his approach, still choosing appearances over the truth and repeats his request that Harry show support for the Ministry. Harry again rejects the Minister's proposal, which he sees as morally compromising. Harry declares himself, in Scrimgeour's words, 'Dumbledore's man through and through'.
Luna Lovegood mentioned to Harry Potter that Scrimgeour is a vampire. Her father was going to publish an article about it in his magazine, The Quibbler. Apparently, the Ministry forced Mr Lovegood not to publish this claim, which is probably untrue anyway, as most people scoff at the unlikely and often outrageous stories which are published in The Quibbler. Also, Cormac McLaggen said that he and his father used to go on hunting trips with Scrimgeour before he became Minister.
[edit] Origins and possible influences
J.K. Rowling may have drawn the name Scrimgeour from the poem 'To Mr James Scrymgeour, Dundee' by William Topaz McGonagall, widely hailed as the worst poet in the English language and from whom Rowling also derived the name of Hogwarts's deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall. Rufus Scrimgeour may be the literary equivalent of Winston Churchill who like Scrimgeour took over as Prime Minister while his country was already at war. Scrimgeour's first name Rufus means "red haired" in Latin. It was a nickname for William II of England because of his red hair. J.K. Rowling has also mentioned a Brutus Scrimgeour in Quidditch Through the Ages.
| Preceded by: Unknown (Possibly Alastor Moody) |
Head, Auror Office ?-1996 |
Succeeded by: Gawain Robards |
| Preceded by: Cornelius Fudge |
Minister for Magic 1996-? |
Succeeded by: N/A (Incumbent) |
