Character Analysis
Though the Minister of Magic, Fudge comes off as downright inept at times. He's a politician and he can't even sell a convincing lie to a thirteen-year-old:
"Okay," said Harry slowly, "but why –"
"Don't want to lose you again, do we?" said Fudge with a hearty laugh. "No, no [...] best we know where you are [...] I mean [...]"
Fudge cleared his throat loudly and picked up his pinstriped cloak.
"Well, I'll be off, plenty to do, you know [...]" (3.144-7)
Fudge also has the complaining and the whining down pat in this book:
"The Daily Prophet's going to have a field day! We had Black cornered and he slipped through our fingers yet again! All it needs now is for the story about the hippogriff's escape to get out, and I'll be a laughingstock!" (22.1.46)
We see here that his morals also leave something to be desired – he's more concerned with his image and how this event will appear in the papers than with the fact that a lunatic murderer (in his mind) is once again on the loose. And this time with a maniac hippogriff, to boot. Fudge is definitely annoying, but he isn't evil. Mostly, he's just kind of lame.