Arthur Weasley (2 of 2)

[flying_ford_anglia]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C6861
From: flying_ford_anglia
Subject: Arthur Weasley (2 of 2)
Date: 8/14/00 6:33 pm  (ET)

...and part 2! Neil

***

Arthur Weasley [continued]

In the more recent books, Arthur Weasley's fatherly concern for Harry
becomes more obvious. "Harry, swear to me that you won't go looking
for Black," he urges, in PoA, "whatever you might hear." Harry does
hear Arthur and Molly discussing his welfare at the Leaky Cauldron,
a conversation which tells him the truth but also the fact that Arthur
can be trusted to do the right thing.

One of the most moving moments in GoF is when Harry says goodbye before
leaving the Dursleys and Arthur shames Vernon into replying: "Harry said
goodbye to you ... Didn't you hear him?"

There is no love lost between Arthur and Lucius Malfoy, and this secondary
'good vs evil' storyline looks set to be a page turner at some point. In
CoS, when Harry reports that Malfoy has been selling things in Borgin
and Burkes, Arthur says, with grim satisfaction. "So he's worried. Oh,
I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something." Not long after, the pair
are brawling in Flourish and Blotts. Lucius taunts Arthur about his
lack of wealth and love of Muggles, as a front, so he can slip Riddle's
diary into Ginny's transfiguration book. He succeeds in this ruse, but
the animosity between the two wizards during the fight is very real and
raises the tension for the later books.

Arthur tries to see the good in people. He likes waster, Ludo Bagman,
and is in awe of his celebrity status, but seems powerless to stop the
twins giving Bagman all their savings for a bet. Again, it's really
Molly's reaction he's worried about: "Don't tell your mother you've
been gambling," he implores. We're also told that he has a soft spot
for Mad-Eye Moody "Arthur's the only one who can get Mad-Eye off," Amos
Diggory tells Molly from the fireplace, just before Arthur disappears
to deal with Alastor's dustbin frenzy and drag his own name into the
tabloids again. Weak? Gullible? Kindly?

When the Death Eaters appear at the Quidditch World Cup (GoF),
Arthur takes a more measured approach to the situation than some of
the other adults, despite being torn between his parental role and his
Ministry duties. Harry asks the point of the cruel taunting of the Muggle
family. "The point?" says Mr Weasley, with a hollow laugh. "Harry, that's
their idea of fun." He also shows his social conscience when Hermione
is outraged at the way Winky is treated: "Hermione, I agree with you,"
he says, "but now is not the time to discuss elf rights."

In the final analysis of GoF, Dumbledore says Arthur is "well placed to
contact those at the Ministry who are not as short-sighted as Cornelius,"
indicating that he is planning to circumvent Fudge, and use good old
Arthur. But how?

Um discuss!