Rufus Scrimgeour

Rufus is a man of action and, having fought Dark wizards for most of his working life, does not underestimate Lord Voldemort." — Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter discussing Scrimgeour's attitude and outside disposition as a politician[src] Scrimgeour was, according to Dumbledore, a "man of action", having fought against Dark wizards throughout his career as an Auror and climbed ambitiously through the Ministry. He gave an impression of shrewd toughness and was more decisive and forceful than his predecessor, Cornelius Fudge. Scrimgeour did not underestimate Voldemort as much as Fudge did, which he demonstrated by taking more action for the Wizarding World to fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and cared a great deal about the Ministry's reputation.

However, despite appearing more proactive, Scrimgeour appeared to be a selfish individual and possessed a more hypocritical, deceitful and shameless side as even though he took more action against Voldemort than Fudge did, he prioritised appearances over truth and cared more for the Ministry's reputation than the safety of the wizarding community, just as his predecessor had done. As a result of his selfishness, he did not allow the reporting of devastating events which had occurred such as the death of renowned Auror Alastor Moody and the 1997 mass breakout of Azkaban, due to believing it would cause panic and ruin the Ministry's reputation, and to keep an appearance of false security and safety. At the expense of true justice, he even allowed the arrest of innocent people — such as Stanley Shunpike — just for the slightest suspicion about knowing Voldemort's plans in order to give the impression that the Ministry was making progress in the war, similar to what Bartemius Crouch Senior had done.

This was most likely fueled by a belief that maintaining peace and giving false appearances of progress were important for the Ministry to regain trust from the wizarding community after they unanimously condemned Fudge's tenure as Minister, when in reality it only further endangered the wizarding community by keeping them more oblivious and unprepared of Voldemort's actions and intentions. Due to his own selfishness and corrupt nature, Scrimgeour also appeared ignorant of corruption within the Ministry, as he was oblivious of Dolores Umbridge's tyrannical crimes during her temporary rule over Hogwarts,[15] and the fact that Pius Thicknesse and other Ministry employees were put under the Imperius Curse to serve Voldemort.[20] Along with his tendency to keep an appearance of false security, this would ultimately prove to be Scrimgeour's undoing.[2]