Rufus Scrimgeour

"The Prime Minister's first, foolish thought was that Rufus Scrimgeour looked rather like an old lion. There were streaks of gray in his his mane of tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows, he had keen yellowish eyes behinda pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a slight limp. There was an immediate impression of shrewdness and toughness; the Prime Minister though he understood why the wizarding community preferred Scrimgeour to Fudge in these dangerous times."

- The Prime Minister's thoughts on Scrimgeour.

Rufus Scrimgeour (c. 1940- August 1 1997) was, for one year and one month, Minister for Magic, before being killed by Lord Voldemort. It was at his death in 1997 that the Ministry of Magic fell temporarily into the control of Death Eaters.

Description
Rufus Scrimgeour was a man with a certain rangy loping grace; he walked with a slight limp, and looked rather like an old lion with grey streaks in his mane of tawny hair and bushy eyebrows. He had keen yellowish eyes and wore wire-rimmed spectacles.

Head of the Auror Office
Rufus Scrimgeour was a hardened Auror, capable of fighting Dark Wizards. He worked alongside Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alastor Moody and Gawain Robards. When he was the Head of the Auror Office, he often questioned Tonks and Shacklebolt about Sirius Black. He left his job at the Auror Office when Cornelius Fudge was asked to step down from his position as Minister in 1996. Gawain Robards replaced Scrimgeour as Head of the Auror Office.

Minister for Magic
"Some would say it's your duty to be used by the Ministry!" "Yeah, and others might say it's your duty to check people really are Death Eaters before you chuck them in prison. You're doing what Barty Crouch did. You never get it right, you people, do you? Either we've got Fudge, pretending everything's lovely while people get murdered right under his nose, or we've got you, chucking the wrong people into jail and trying to pretend you've got the Chosen One working for you!"

- Scrimgeour and Harry Potter

In office: June 1996 - August 1997

Formally the head of the Auror office, Scrimgeour was elected Minister for Magic in the weeks following Lord Voldemort's reappearance at the Ministry in 1996. The previous year, the Ministry under Fudge had denied any evidence of Voldemort's existence. As a result, when Voldemort finally stepped into the open and declared open war on both Britain's wizarding and Muggle communities, Fudge left office in disgrace and was replaced by the more active Scrimgeour.

Scrimgeour, though seemingly more capable than Fudge, decided to prioritise appearances over truth in his battle against Voldemort. He ordered the arrest of Stan Shunpike, a conductor on the Knight Bus, to give the impression that the Ministry was actively seeking and arresting Death Eaters, even though it was apparent to Harry that Shunpike was merely innocent and foolish.

He quarrelled with Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School, over the use of Harry Potter, the said "Chosen One", as a mascot for the Ministry to "boost morale". He had a confrontation with Harry over this at The Burrow, alongside Percy Weasley. He made a second appearance at The Burrow to read Dumbledore's will to Harry, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

After only slightly more than a year as Minister, he was murdered by Death Eaters so Voldemort could take over the Ministry. Voldermort appointed Pius Thicknesse, the former Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, as Minister, under the power of the Imperius Curse. It was hinted that he put up quite a fight against Voldemort, and was even tortured for information on Harry's whereabouts, but Scrimgeour refused to release the informaton. Harry, Ron and Hermione came to respect him more after learning this.

Personality
Scrimgeour was, according to Dumbledore, a "man of action", having fought against Dark Wizards throughout his career and climbed ambitiously through the Ministry. He gave an impression of shrewd toughness and was more decisive and forceful then Fudge. Rufus did not underestimate Voldemort and cared a great deal about the Ministry’s reputation, though at the expense of justice; he even ordered the arrest of innocent people to give the impression that the Ministry was doing something, not unlike Barty Crouch Sr. He tried unsuccessfully various times to convince Harry to work for the Ministry as a mascot to improve morale: Once during the Christmas holidays, another after Dumbledore’s funeral.

Trivia

 * Luna Lovegood once mentioned to Harry Potter that Scrimgeour was a vampire, a story her father was supposed to publish in the magazine The Quibbler. The authenticity of this claim is questionable, however, as the Quibbler has a reputation for publishing unlikely and outrageous stories. Yet the mentioned "Rot-Fang Conspiracy" could hint towards this being true as "Rot" in German is "Red" in English. Meaning that "Rot-Fang" becomes "Red-Fang".
 * Cormac McLaggen, a student one year above Harry, claimed that his father used to go hunting with Scrimgeour before the latter became Minister.
 * It is possible that he is related to Brutus Scrimgeour, the author of the book The Beaters' Bible, and a reviewer of the book  Quidditch Through the Ages.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows