TBAY: Operative!Arthur Attacks Auror!Arthur

[Veronica]

No: HPFGUIDX 45430

Veronica was dozing blissfully in the sun on the deck of the Imerpius!
Arthur Trimaran, listening to people chatting happily and the 
relaxing sounds of band playing in the bow of the ship. There were a 
few odd scuffling noises coming from below, but Veronica recognized 
the brief shriek and the loud thud and understood that Cindy must 
have been chasing Abigail around the cabin with her paddle again. 
Veronica wondered for the hundredth time if she should have put more 
distance between the Operative!Arthur and Auror!Arthur cabins, but 
realized it was too late now.

Suddenly a shrill siren pierced the calm. Veronica sat up and looked 
around just as a crewman came running by. "You aren't the cabin boy 
with my Pina COloda!" she fumed. "And what is that awful racket?"

"That's the call for all hands to man their stations, Captain," the 
crewman explained somewhat excitedly, and with understandable 
concern. What kind of Captain wouldn't know that?

"What in the world for?" she demanded of the young man. "What is so 
important to wake me up from my nap and delay my Pina Colada?!"

"We're under attack, Captain!"

"No, we're not," she answered dismissively. "Why, we're still in the 
Bay, for gosh sake. Besides, regardless of what you might here on 
FoxNews, WE ARE NOT AT WAR! For that matter, this is a pleasure ship, 
not a battle ship!."

"Well, I don't know about that," answered the man nervously, "but I 
did see the explosion that hit us. It was Abigail; she said that 
Imperius!Arthur wasn't *necessary*!"

"What?" Veronica cried, jumping to her feet and lifting the  
frightened crewman by the front of his shirt. "Are you sure?"

The man stuttered for a moment but managed to nod his head, "And 
Cindy agreed with her," he muttered softly.

"Oh, the humanity! This is sabotuage!" Veronica cried. "Here I 
politely welcomed them aboard the Imperius!Arthur--I bought them Pina 
Coladas all afternoon, and now I learn this! What did they say?"

"Abigail and Cindy were arguing about Auror!Arthur and 
Opertative!Arthur," he explained, "and Abigail said that Imperius!
Arthur was not necessary, helpful, but not necessary. She says that 
Arthur was an Auror, but because of the all the terror of the war 
Years, he keeps that a secret. There was a lot of stuff about 
sactuary at home away from the ugliness of his work, but Cindy 
protested that he was quiet about his past because he was an 
undercover agent."

"So now Arthur is James Bond--that is bangy," Veronica muttered under 
her breath with a laugh. "But what about the Unforgivable Curses 
scene where Moody calls on Ron to name the Imperius curse?" Veronica 
demanded.

"They used . . . Eloise," he answered, but when Veronica looked 
dumbfounded, he continued. "Eloise explained that Sirius reports that 
Crouch Sr. authorised the uses of *the Unforgivables* against 
suspects. He doesn't say that it was only the Aurors who were allowed 
to use the Unforgivables. That means that other MoM employees were 
permitted to use the Unforgivables, including Imperius. So maybe 
Arthur wasn't a *victim* of the Imperius, but actually *used* it 
himself."

"But that's not parallel," Veronica protested. "The whole purpose of 
that can(n)on on board the Imperius!Arthur is that parallelism. 
Neville's parents were tortured with Crusiatus; Harry's parents were 
killed with AK. If Arthur merely *used* Imperius, or investigated 
those who claimed to have been controlled by the Imperius curse, it's 
no longer parallel! Besides, I just can't believe that Crouch, Sr. 
would be nutty enough to allow just *anyone* at the MoM to perform 
the unforgivable curses. I always assumed it was just the Aurors or 
folks in Enforcement who were actively hunting Death Eaters. Can you 
image if suddenly everyone who worked there was allowed to enslave 
others with Imperius, torture them with Crusiatus, or even kill them 
cold-bloodedly with AK?

"And what about second chances and proving yourself," Veronica 
demanded. "Everyone is allowed to prove themself in these books. 
Harry (too many times to list), Hagrid (getting Harry, getting the 
stone, being made a teacher), Hermione (after the Halloween fight 
with the Troll, with Devil's Snare), Ron (McGonagall's chess game, 
under the Whomping Willow and in the Shrieking Shack), Sirius (when 
he explained, and when he got Werewolf!Lupin away from the kids), and 
Snape's time is coming, I'm sure. How is Arthur going to prove 
himself by us learning that he was always some important secret agent?

"And another thing," she continued, still screaming at the poor 
crewman. "If Arthur was either a great Auror or an Opertative 
*without being Imperio'd* how does that explain his poor financial 
situation. Even if it is a cover that he is now working in Muggle 
Artifacts, the MoM would take better care of such an important person-
-No! Something is bothering Arthur. Look how tortured he is when he 
and the kids return to the Burrow after the QWC. That man knew some 
pain at the hands of the Death Eaters if not from You-Know-Who 
himself. He did something that bothers him to this day, something he 
could not control--I believe that, and I won't be disuaded 
until I read new can(n)on that says differently.

"No, I can see how Auror!Arthur or Operative!Arthur might explain 
some things, but they don't seem complete without Imperius!Arthur!"

"Yes, sir, Captain, sir," the crewman said shakily. "I know that, 
sir, that's why I serve on board the Imperius!Arthur."

Veronica suddenly realized that she was still man-handling the poor 
fellow and released him. "Why don't you go and ask Abigail and Cindy 
if I might have a word. That Paddle is dangerous enough, but firing 
off can(n)ons while aboard . . . that's just plain crazy!"