In probably all of the stories that I have read, the Ministry has never done a good job at controlling the Death Eater threat, if it wasn't central to the plot that they did so. Otherwise, it was always just the Order, Harry alone, Harry and his 'mentors', or something of the sort.

I understand this is important most of the time - if the Ministry does the work, it doesn't give a 'face' for the threat being dealt with, nor is it exciting, as the reader doesn't typically get to see any action.

However, I feel that the 'Ministry-hates-Harry' is a cliché. It might just be me, but that's what I feel. So what I was wondering is, could [the majority of] the Ministry actually be competant? How would one go about this, without changing the plot too much?

 

One way to insert some Ministry help would be to find a believable way to force certain parties out of the Ministry. Get rid of Fudge, Umbridge, and other syophants like them, while placing Dumbledore's sycophants in positions of authority. Bring Moody back to take over the DMLE...he'd be good in a position of authority, even if he's got some serious handicaps in battle. I'm betting his paranoia would make it hard to keep or place Death Eaters into the Auror Corps, too.

One could use Madam Bones, as well. She doesn't seem to be one of Dumbledore sycophantic followers, but she has morals and a head on her shoulders. With her niece growing up in her household, she'd have good motives to make sure the threat is contained, even if she couldn't defeat it.

You could also take out the Ministry altogether. A massive attack against the Ministry by Voldemort, his Death Eaters, the Dementors and even Giants, depending on where (when, really) you plan to put the story into effect. What's your starting point?

Lots of different methods would work, if you pull them off believably. And therein lies the hard part...making it believable.

 

If you attempt to strengthen the Ministry, you must also proportionally increase Voldemort's power. Otherwise, Voldemort becomes less of a threat and more of a minor nuisance. It would certainly make what you're trying to write, less enjoyable.

Like ParseltonguePhoenix just mentioned, removing all those incompetent officials would help. Though personally, I wouldn't put Dumbledore's allies in those empty spots; it would make it more interesting if the Ministry was not a puppet of Dumbledore's and instead a separate entity.

Remember, it all depend on how believable the transition from corrupt to competent is.

Something I would like to see is the Ministry being strong yet Voldemort still crushing it.

 

Yes, I planned on starting my story at the end of Book 5 - Scrimgeour comes into power. It would get rid of Fudge, yes, and getting rid of Umbridge due to medical reasons is very easy. I wouldn't plan on the Order and the Ministry working together too much, but not exactly a separate entity either. Rather, the Ministry knows of the Order, but doesn't act upon it except for a few minor favors.

On that note, d'you think that Kingsley would be a good replacement for Moody, as the Head Auror?

I don't think that the problem of increasing Voldemort's forces is that difficult - it was always said in the books about how bad the first war was. Imperius curse and the like. It really isn't that hard.

The reason that I ask this is because I want to make it seem more like an actual 'war'. With small, often incompetent forces fighting eachother, it's quite hard to believe that Voldemort is one of the worst Wizarding villains of all time.

 

Personally, I always believed that the first war was more like the Cold War, with lots of mini-powers doing the super-powers dirty deeds. Which in relation to Trewalny's Second Prophecy, the second war would be like the Great War, (WW1!), and then the Wizarding world would have a third war, = WW2.

This way it resembles real life and lets people understand the errors made and the retribution which would be dealt.

So, (Edit!)
Wizards ////////////////Real Life
First War //////////////Cold War(Yes I know the time line doesn't fit)

Second War ///////////WW1
​

??Third war?? //////////WW2

At least that's the idea behind the Ministry's growing/decreasing competence.
=D

 

Taking DH into account, we can see that the Ministry has a fair amount of power behind it when used effectively (i.e. the Voldemort-controlled Ministry).

All it needs is a powerful wizard leading it.

However, as had been said, if the Ministry were to run at its full potential, Voldemort's resistance against it would not have lasted long, unless you up Voldemort's power too.

 

But that also presents a different thought. Are Voldemort (and his forces) so incompetant because Fudge is leading the Ministry into the ground?