Arthur Weasley (1 of 2)

[flying_ford_anglia]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C6860
From: flying_ford_anglia
Subject: Arthur Weasley (1 of 2)
Date: 8/14/00 6:31 pm  (ET)

Okay, here's Part 1 of this week's character summary! Neil

***

Arthur Weasley

"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain," runs the philosophy of Arthur Weasley. Bless him!

The gentle, eccentric father of seven works in the Misuse of Muggle
Artefacts office at the Ministry of Magic. He is described as tall,
thin and bespectacled - balding, but with hair "as red as any of his
children's". Despite his job, he isn't averse to bending rules or
writing the odd loophole into the law to suit his own ends. In CoS,
for example, he enchants a rusty Ford Anglia to make it fly, as well
giving it an expandable capacity and an Invisibility Booster. Not that
he ever intended to fly it himself... yeah, right.

Arthur loves anything to do with Muggles. "Ingenious, really," he muses,
as Harry explains telephones to him in CoS, "how many ways Muggles have
found of getting along without magic." He is at his most comical when
asking about "escapators," fumbling happily with lighted matches or
enthusing about his collection of Muggle plugs and batteries. "My wife
thinks I'm mad, but there you are," he confesses.

At the end of GoF, Molly tells Dumbledore: "It's Arthur's fondness for
Muggles that has held him back at the Ministry all these years. Fudge
thinks he lacks the proper wizarding pride." Is it his Muggle-loving
nature or is it his own lack of drive? Ron tells Draco defensively:
"Dad could've got promotion any time, he just likes it where he
is." This, perhaps, signals Ron's unspoken embarrassment at his father's
inadequacies?

Molly doles out the Weasley discipline and the children seem to
treat her 'wait till your father gets home' threats with a sackload of
salt. It's a game they play. Arthur is invariably more nervous of Molly's
reaction to the children's transgressions than he is ready to seize
authority. Although he shows anger now and then, he is mild-mannered,
with a sense of fun. This makes him seem more like the eighth Weasley
child, sometimes, than the head of the family.

[part 2 follows...]