Unnamed characters; The DADA spot and photos.

[booklovinggirl]

No: HPFGUIDX 38399

"He was the *o'ny* man for the job. An' I mean the on'y one. Gettin' 
very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't 
too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. 
No one's lasted long fer a while now."
-Hagrid, CoS7.

Now, we already know that Quirrell has been one of the teachers who 
couldn't stay teaching. But I hardly think one person counts as "fer 
a while."

So who was there before him? Do we know them already? Are they 
important? What happened to them, and where have they been since?

A rather unusual one would be that Arthur Weasley once taught. I 
don't know how well this fits into the canon-but we have a timeframe 
of several years. So who knows? Teachers get bad salaries-I don't 
know if this is true in the WW, but I don't see why it wouldn't be. 
He could have learned of the Imperius curse in this way. Only problem 
is, I think Arthur has been in the MoM since he graduated, and I 
doubt he's moved since. Besides, I like the Arthur Weasley under 
Imperius curse better.

Now. Onto another group of unnamed people. Who donated pictures to 
Harry's photo album? Hagrid said he got a bunch of the Potter's old 
friends to give them to him, but we never learn who they were. 
Professor McGonagall might have kept some around, and Dumbledore 
might have as well. But the only other people I can actually think of 
are Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, and Mundungus Fletcher. I have no 
doubt that other members of the Order were friends with the Potters.

But wait; let's look a little more closely at Remus, Arabella, and 
Mundungus first.

Remus, IMHO, sunk into a depressed state after Voldemort's fall. Who 
wouldn't, if they were in the same position? Your best friends were 
either just killed or responsible for the deaths of the others; you 
have to go through a painful transformation once a month; the baby of 
two of the aforementioned friends are living with his terrible aunt 
and uncle, you have trouble getting a job....
Maybe this had faded, to a degree, by the end of book one. After all, 
it had been 11 years, and while the deaths are likely still painful 
to think about, he can deal with it. So maybe he took a few of his 
photos and gave them to Hagrid. You want me to give you photos that I 
just want to blip from my memory? Here you go. Take them all.

(This memory-blipping thing sounds cold, but it would be the attitude 
I'd take to it. Remus is a reasonable person; he knows the danger of 
casting a memory charm on himself, which might be even more dangerous 
in his case, because who knows what it affects during the full moon? 
Other spells don't alter the transformation because they're 
temporary, but he knows better to just hope for the best. In fact, 
hoping for the best GOT him into this situation, didn't it?)

Arabella Figg. This might be used as evidence for the 
Arabella/Polyjuice theory, and it is a lot more likely under that 
theory, but it can work without it. Arabella, after all, agreed to 
watch Harry for 11 years and has likely done even longer. (We don't 
hear from her after SS.) So maybe she knew them in school, or got to 
know them in the order. (I'm trying to keep everyone happy; can you 
tell? ^_^)

Mundungus Fletcher. We don't know nearly enough about Mundungus to 
say anything here, though circumstances are probably similar to 
Arabella's; during school or in the Order.

And does anyone else think that one of the younger members would want 
a better name than the Order of the Phoenix? I mean, it's probably 
supposed to be wonderful symbolism; the Phoenix rising from the ashes 
and spreading new life. Imagine how some might have reacted to this.

Eventually though, somebody would get tired of this wonderful 
symbolism, beautiful as it is. Probably one of the younger members. 
So, this younger member (Let's call her Celeste Sinistra. *g*) 
decides to think up a new name. She (or he, I guess. Sinistra is my 
favorite character as far as people-we-know-absolutely-nothing-about 
go.) plays around with possibilities for a while, and then she hits 
upon it. Death Cheaters.

This, naturally, becomes a popular name amongst the younger people.

Just a thought.

-Katherine