Arthur Weasley, With Imperius Curse (WAS: What's In A Name?)

[abigailnus]

No: HPFGUIDX 37136

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "ssk7882" <skelkins at a...> wrote:
> Debbie wrote, about the Weasleys:
> 
> > Debbie, waiting for someone to prove her wrong by posting the 
> > sinister Weasley backstory (no, I don't think Molly's sandwich 
> > crimes will do)
> 
> <Elkins, alerted by the words "Weasley" and "backstory" appearing in 
> the same sentence, comes running around the corner, gasping for 
> breath, clutching at her side, and waving a platter of Arthur-Weasley-
> With-Imperius-Curse teacakes madly about in the air.>

SNIP lots of good stuff about Arthur-Weasly-with-Imperius 

> I believe that Arthur Weasley might have been one of them.  For 
> one thing, at the time he would have been a relatively young 
> and likely low-ranked ministry official: precisely the sort of 
> person most likely to be targetted by the Death Eaters for 
> exploitation.  From Ludo Bagman's trial, we already know that the 
> organization sought to make use of the ministry's younger and more 
> vulnerable workers.  It seems quite likely to me that they would 
> have done so not only by deceiving the gullible (as with Bagman), 
> but also through judicious use of the Imperius Curse.  In fact, 
> Crouch/Moody implies as much in Chapter 14 of GoF, when he says: 
> "Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse."

If I might be allowed to veer away from the topic for a second, but 
thinking about Arthur's backstory has brought this to mind:

Has anyone suggested the possibility that Arthur Weasly was, 
at some point before the fall of Voldemort, an auror?  The thought 
came to me when I was thinking about the implied closeness between 
Arthur and Moody.  Amos Diggory calls on Arthur to bail Moody out 
when his flying trashcans attack muggle policemen, and the reactions 
from Molly and the older Weasly children seem to suggest the kind of 
closeness you might see between former colleagues:

'"I'd better hurry - you have a good term, boys," said Mr Weasly to 
Harry, Ron and the twins, draggins a cloak over his shoulders and 
preparing to Disapparate.  "Molly, are going to be all right taking the 
kids to King's Cross?"
"Of Course I will," she said.  "You just look after Mad-Eye, we'll be fine."
...
"Did someone say Mad-Eye?" Bill asked.
...
"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," said Mrs Weasly sternly.'

In all fairness, Charlie does ask, a few senteces later, whether Moody 
was a friend of Dumbledore's, but I believe he says this as proof that 
Moody is not insane as George claims him to be.  My guess is that 
Arthur worked under Moody, possibly with Frank Longbottom and 
perhaps Amos Diggory too (after all, if Arthur bails Moody out due to 
old loyalties, it might be Diggory's motive as well.)  After the fall the 
aurors soon ran out of a reason to exist, and the more junior members 
of the department were given the opportunity to make a career change
 - after all, they could hardly throw these brave men out on the streets 
with no job and marketable skills, after having served their people so 
bravely (and probably dying by the bushel too.)  So Arthur was made 
head of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, and Amos Diggory was given Regulation 
and Control of Magical Creatures.  Moody, being much older than the 
two of them, and less eager for a new career, was probably given a 
golden watch and a nice pension (or not so nice, if you want to believe 
Rita Skeeter's claims that he was pushed out of the ministry when he 
could no longer tell a handshake from an assassination attempt.

> Although "several hands rose tentatively into the air" when
> Crouch, as Moody, invites his students to name the Unforgivables 
> for him, he chooses to call upon Ron.  He has already, at the
> very beginning of the DADA class, identified Ron as Arthur Weasley's
> son.  Ron names the Imperius Curse, adding that he knows of it
> because his father has mentioned it to him.  This seems to please
> Crouch immensely.
> 
> 'Ah, yes,' said Moody appreciatively. 'Your father *would*
> know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one
> time, the Imperius Curse.'"

Can I just say that I love this idea?  I'm not sure where I stand on 
Arthur-with-Imperius as a whole, although I suppose it could work 
even if he was an auror - after all, Imperiusing an auror could be 
very useful - but the idea that fake!Moody targeted the three kids 
in his class whose parents had suffered from the Unforgiveable 
curses is truly beautiful. 

Abigail