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harry potter - Was the Ministry of Magic corrupt?


There seem to be several instances in the books where the judgments of the MoM seem questionable.



  • The execution of Buckbeak


  • Harry's trial for underage magic

  • The show trials of the Death Eaters

  • Umbridge's appointment and methods at Hogwarts

  • The denial and cover-up of Voldemort's return for so long


Are there actually element's of corruption in the ministry? Had it secretly been under the influence of you-know-who for some time? Is this simply meant to imply well meaning incompetency?



Answer



It's hard to answer this, so I'll focus on the points you listed, except the third because I don't get it/remember.



The execution of Buckbeak




Buckbeak attacked Draco, and he told his father, Lucius, who happens to have great influence in the ministry (this may be a sign of corruption).


... BUT, if you think about it, Buckbeak did bite a young student (although it was Draco's fault). It is not unreasonable to tag the creature as dangerous. Execution may be a bit too extreme, though - however, this may be a sign of a super strict and firm ministry rather than a corrupted one.



Umbridge's appointment and methods at Hogwarts



Umbridge just followed the orders of the ministry, so technically she didn't do anything wrong. She's just ultra insane with an obsession for status - but technically she's not trying to crumble the system or support Voldemort.



The denial and cover-up of Voldemort's return for so long




This was done in a pitiful attempt to maintain Fudge's reputation - yeah, probably adds up to a corrupted system.



Harry's trial for underage magic



Umbridge sent the dementors. Her intention was revealed to be that she was doing her best to shut Harry up - remember that it was the ministry's prime objective to hide all information about Voldemort, so Umbridge just did her best to accomplish this objective (very extreme and insane however). She didn't do it to help Voldemort though.



First of all, the Ministry has had some Death Eaters infiltrated. And Lucius as well. This of course affects the way things work in the Ministry.


Then, it was obsessed with keeping its reputation (Fudge and Umbridge). It's up to you to judge if that makes them corrupt or not (probably yes since they endangered everyone by shutting up Dumbledore).


And finally, it has some insane high-ranking staff like Umbridge. But she's just crazy.




Conclusion? Comparably, it is a pretty standard government...


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