The secret job of Arthur Weasley

[Aesha Williams]

No: HPFGUIDX 40635

>  If Arthur was only looking for bewitched Muggle items, why would Lucius
> be worried? I doubt that the Malfoys would waste their time
> bewitching muggle stuff if they don't want any contact with muggles
> at all.

    Hi Hannah! I love your theory. I do wonder, though, why an Auror would
make so little money- I mean, I would think that this would be one of the
most important jobs in the ministry; also, after the fall of Voldemort (even
if it was due to the Potters), all the work and help the Aurors provided
during that time (and after, catching leftover DE's), he would warrant a
raise in pay! But hey, maybe that's just a pitfall of having a 9 member
family. Regarding the fact that Lucius was worried the Ministry might find
some of his things... perhaps, if Arthur really is in the M of MA office, it
would be found that the Malfoys make a hobby of "muggle-baiting". Who knows.
:)

> There is also the fact that Arthur knows when Harry recieved the letter
about not using >Magic.  That sort of thing wouldn't be in his  department,
and He probably wouldn't know a >thing about it.

    I said I love your theory and I mean it, however I'm playing a little
devil's advocate: for one, although the Ministry is a large organization,
there probably is some lunchroom or water-cooler chat. I would think the
fact that the most famous child in the wizarding world got in trouble with
the Ministry would make the rounds. And also, Harry received the letter when
Dobby enchanted the pudding, correct? Well, the bowl (and the pudding, for
that matter) *is* a muggle object, and therefore the MOMA office could very
well have been in on the whole thing.

It is also apparent that he knows the entire story about Sirius as the
Potter's secret keeper, when it is a story that is not widely known.  If he
only worked with Muggles, then he
> probably wouldn't be working on these types of things.

    I was going to say that I didn't think Arthur had spoken personally with
Fudge, but I read the passage and it does say that he's "tried to tell
Fudge". However, I can't seem to find any evidence that he know's about
Sirius being the Potter's secret keeper... I always though that part with
him talking to Harry, making Harry swear that "whatever he might hear" he
wouldn't go looking for Black, was just because it was common knowledge (or
at least, after the fact) that Sirius was Harry's godfather... that not many
people even knew the Fidelus charm had even been used. But, perhaps I am
misinterpreting those passages.
    On another note: When Arthur and Molly are talking in the Leaky
Cauldron, he says how the guards told Fudge that Sirius had been saying
"He's at Hogwarts..." I was always under the impression that Dementors
couldn't talk. Maybe they just don't, generally speaking.

> At one point he gives the names of two 'unspeakables' from the department
of mysteries.  If
> Boad and Croaker really were unspeakables...

    I would really like to know more about the Unspeakables. Besides the
Aurors, that sounds like the coolest job in the ministry!

> My guess is that Arthur is an Auror working with Dumbledore to
> protect Harry, and fight against Voldemort.  I think that he is part
> of a small department in the ministry, which is second only to the
> minister himself.  The fascination that Arthur seems to have with
> muggles is an act.  I wouldn't be surprised if in the next three
> books, Arthur weasley is a key player for Dumbledore.

    Arthur being an Auror would explain why he thinks so highly of Moody and
rushes out to help him so quickly... though he's helping as a member of the
MOMA office. Perhaps the only people who know who are in this special
department (and are actually the only ones aware that it exists) are the
Minister and the members of the department, and therefore Amos Diggory
wouldn't know that he was talking to the wrong person. However, I don't
think Arthur's fascination with Muggle artifacts is an act at all... while I
could buy that he doesn't work in the MOMA office (and in turn doesn't know
the correct names for some muggle objects), I think he does have a fondness
for muggles and is geniunely intrigued by their property. Why else would he
spend money his family doesn't have on a car that it's unneccesary for them
to drive? And why boast to Uncle Vernon that he collects plugs, if it's not
true (and his family must have seen them). Perhaps part of the reason he
became an Auror was to help protect muggles as well as his fellows from the
Dark wizards about.
    On another note (I don't think I've ever really thought about it
before), how does everyone get to King's Cross? I mean, the Weasley's go by
car. But the Malfoys, who despise all things Muggle? The other students?
Hmmm. Hermione, Dean, Justin and the Creeveys I can see driving, since
they're Muggles (and Harry, I suppose, since he was raised a Muggle).
    Thanks for giving me something to think about (and contribute to),
Hannah! :)

Aesha


> Hannah