As far as #1- if Riddle could curse something as abstract as a position, why wouldn't he simply curse the Order of the Phoenix (granted that the way things went in Deathly Hallows, he may as well have)? I always figured it was simply crap luck for Hogwarts/Dumbledore, and good PR for Voldemort.
For #2- well, no one, for all that I always saw Umbridge as more of a self-starter who would simply shove papers under Fudge's nose to sign (at one point in OotP, she brags about having sent the dementors to Little Whinging without his knowledge). Hmm... with Crouch out of the running, and Scrimgeour presumably comfortable where he is, it would probably be Moody as Minister- in which case, the whole "Invasion of the Ministry" subplot would have been neatly curtailed.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-01-30 12:07 am (UTC)For #2- well, no one, for all that I always saw Umbridge as more of a self-starter who would simply shove papers under Fudge's nose to sign (at one point in OotP, she brags about having sent the dementors to Little Whinging without his knowledge). Hmm... with Crouch out of the running, and Scrimgeour presumably comfortable where he is, it would probably be Moody as Minister- in which case, the whole "Invasion of the Ministry" subplot would have been neatly curtailed.