Which house was Fudge sorted into?

Question

I was recently told that many think the lime-hatted Minister for Magic was Sorted into Slytherin, but I always had him as a dead ringer for Hufflepuff. A quick scan of Internet wikis doesn't turn up anything definitive on his Sorting, but I'm well out of date on which HP resources are reliable.

Which House was Cornelius Fudge Sorted into at Hogwarts?

If there's no explicit statement, I'm open to logical extrapolation from solid evidence (like connections with other people his age whose Houses are known). I'm not, however, interested in answers based primarily on personality traits or the character's role as protagonist/antagonist.

Answer 1

It is never stated in the books, but Fudge has many qualities that could be attributed to any house.

But like this link(not canon link, but it shares my thoughts) says has all his qualities since they are hard to pinpoint into a house he can probably put into Hufflepuff. Because his qualities can never be pinpointed.

I would say that due to him never showing a lot of intelligence, I would not put him into Ravenclaw due to him never being extremely cunning.

He does try to meet his ends, but he also tries to help others. Like when he tried not to make everyone panic in the 4th and 5th book. That was partially from disbelief, but you could say that he is trying to be helpful and calming.

From here:

He is worried about the fallout of announcing Voldemort's return, marking the end of the Wizarding world's years of peace, and the sudden outbreak of gloom and terror; hence he decides to merely ignore all of the evidence rather than accept the truth. J. K. Rowling has since stated that Fudge's behavior mirrors that of Neville Chamberlain in the lead-up to World War II

when he arrives at the school to take Hagrid to Azkaban, even though he does not firmly believe that Hagrid is guilty. He also removes Dumbledore as Headmaster when pressured by Lucius Malfoy who insisted that all the school governors had voted on it.

He is impressionable, like his name suggests fudge. But that is also a common name(some what), but the quote still shows that he can be used. And that fact, not his power seeking, could be the reason he is in office.

But on another note, he could be a Slytherin.

He also passes a law allowing him to place Dolores Umbridge, his Senior Undersecretary, as a teacher at Hogwarts. He then appoints Umbridge as Hogwarts' "High Inquisitor", with the power to inspect and sack teachers, and ultimately Dumbledore's successor as Headmaster, which gives her (and by extension, Fudge himself) primary control of how Hogwarts is managed. Fudge is concerned that Dumbledore is a threat to his power and that he is planning to train the Hogwarts students to overthrow the Ministry.

As from this quote he has a "addiction" to power, wanting to control peoples reactions, what Harry says and Hogwarts.

And in here he tries to hang onto his power.

He makes several attempts to have Dumbledore arrange a meeting between himself and Harry so that Harry can lie on Fudge's behalf and make it look as though the Ministry is winning the war, but Dumbledore refuses, knowing how ridiculous Harry would find the idea. Fudge is last mentioned in the series as one of the attendees at Dumbledore's funeral; his fate during Voldemort's takeover of the Ministry during the following year is unknown.

But he is a mix of both Slytherin and Hufflepuff.

"You are blinded by the love of your office(Note: Hufflepuff qualities), Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood!(Note: Slytherin qualities.) You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!"

—Albus Dumbledore to Cornelius Fudge

I would put him into Hufflepuff, due to him being not necessarily evil and the fact that he his mostly a good yet weak willed guy, but he his pushed toward wrong decisions by the fact that he has no leadership skills and he has the wrong people whispering in his ears.

From the wikia;

.... At the same time, Lucius Malfoy, then school governor, had Dumbledore suspended, which Fudge tried to protest against, but in futility. Eventually, it was proven that Hagrid was indeed innocent, and he was released.

That summer, Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban, which unhinged Fudge and started him on a downward spiral of poor decisions. A few weeks prior to Black's escape, Fudge visited him while on a tour of Azkaban prison and was unnerved at how normal Black seemed relative to the other prisoners.

From the sorting hat songs:

Possibly he got his love of pureblood from being a Slytherin.

Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those Whose ancestry's purest."

For Ravenclaw, the cleverest Would always be the best

Which can be seen from this quote below that Fudge is definitely not a Ravenclaw.

In Fudge's early days as Minister, it was said that he was not very self-confident, and constantly sent letters to Albus Dumbledore, asking for advice.

This is not canon, but it provides insight I don't agree with it(but it is insight).

But the songs can give you a idea of what it means to be in any house and can help you decide for yourself, as the songs give you a idea of what qualities are for each house. I hope I answered you question , I will give a 1+ for making me think. But I could not find anything canon that said that answer outright.

Answer 2

I would agree with you that he seems like a Hufflepuff, but his love of power and his views of pure-bloods etc. are much more like a Slytherin.

Dumbledore to Fudge:

"You are blinded by the love of your office, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognise that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!"

Remember that witches and wizards of the Slytherin house are also known to be quite cowardly, as Fudge is. It is this reasoning that leads me to believe he is of Slytherin house.

Answer 3

My personal opinion would be that he was in Ravenclaw.

His lack of bravery is distinct when he refuses to beleive Voldemort's return, so I doubt he was a Gryffindor.

Stereotypically Hufflepuff's don't tend to achieve great things so becoming Minister for Magic would be surprising, also Cedoric Diggory's acheivements are well celebrated due to Hufflepuff's lack of success so I expect if they had produced a Minister for Magic it would have cropped up quite a lot when Hufflepuff's try to prove they aren't dumb but there is no evidence of it.

I think it's unlikely he was a Slytherin since Dumbledore would probably have prevented a Slytherin becoming Minister, it is obvious he would have had a lot of power in those sort of de isions having been offered the post and being Chief Worlock of the Wizengamot. I also don't think Fudge was truly evil deep down.

So I think Ravenclaw was most suited to Fudge, he must have been clever to succeed in getting the job.

However, as proven by Peter Pettigrew, Slughorn, Cedoric, and more, the sorting hat does get it wrong sometimes.