Rufus Scrimgeour

Rufus Scrimgeour is the current Minister of Magic. He got the job when Cornelius Fudge was asked to step down in 1996. Before that he was the Head of the Auror Office and often questioned Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt about Sirius Black.

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.

Career and Politics
Formally the head of the Auror office, Scrimgeour was elected Minister of Magic in the weeks following Lord Voldemort's reappearance at the Ministry of Magic in 1996. The previous year, the Ministry under Fudge had denied that any evidence of Voldemort's existence was false; as a result, when Voldemort finally stepped into the open and declared open war on Britain's magical and non-magical communities, Fudge was ousted from his office and was replaced by the more active Scrimgeour. Gawain Robards replaced Scrimgeour as Head of the Auror Office.

Rufus Scrimgeour, though seemingly a more capable leader than Fudge, decided to prioritise appearances over truth in his battle against Voldemort. 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 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, followers of Voldemort, even though it was apparent that Shunpike, merely innocent and foolish, was nothing of the sort.

Personality
Scrimgeour was according to Dumbledore a "man of action" he gave an impression of shrewdness and toughness and was more decisive and forceful then Fudge, Rufus did not underestimate Voldemort and cared a great deal about the ministry’s reputation. He even ordered the arrest of innocent people to give the impression that the ministry was doing something. He tried various times to convince Harry to work for the ministry, to boost morale, once during the holidays, then again after Dumbledore’s funeral.

Miscellaneous

 * 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.
 * 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 (Mentioned only)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (First appearance)