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“Well, it is clear to me that he has done a very good job on you,” said Scrimgeour, his eyes cold and hard behind his wire-rimmed glasses. “Dumbledore’s man through and through, aren’t you, Potter?”

At the close of Chapter 16, Rufus Scrimgeour interrupts the Weasleys’ Christmas dinner and corners Harry in a place where Harry ordinarily feels safe and secure. Hardly anyone at the Weasleys’ table is surprised when Scrimgeour asks Harry to show him around. Scrimgeour encourages Harry to ignore his convictions and pretend to align himself with the Ministry, so as to give the Wizarding world the allusion that the Harry and the Ministry are working together to stop Voldemort’s return. Regardless, Harry, like Dumbledore, does not wish to support the Ministry’s haphazard, often unfair attempts at appearing like they are successfully thwarting Voldemort. Clearly, Rowling thinks it is wise to have healthy distrust of government and to ask questions about what one’s leadership is actually doing. Harry is fundamentally opposed not only to the Ministry’s ridiculous campaign but is also offended by Scrimgeour’s suggestion that Harry lie to his friends and peers.

When Scrimgeour accuses Harry of being Dumbledore’s man, Harry is proud to accept the title. Harry later learns that Scrimgeour has been pestering Dumbledore to set up a private meeting with Harry and that Dumbledore has refused him every time, just as Dumbledore has refused three offers to become the Minister of Magic. Both Harry and Dumbledore have an inherent distrust of the Ministry, and Scrimgeour’s questionable tactics to recruit Harry confirm their suspicions.

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