TBAY: Operative!Arthur Attacks Auror!Arthur

[m.bockermann at t-online.de]

No: HPFGUIDX 45494

Ethanol slowly crept up the gangway as the gangway of the Imerpius!
Arthur Trimaran gets severly rocked by a mutiny by the Unspeakable!Arthur
quarters. She considered turning back. After all, she is not a frequent
visitor to the HPlist ocean and has never ventured to the shores of TBAY.
Will she be allowed to enter?

But then she saw Veronica standing on the deck, yelling at an innocent
steward and decides to add her madness (as Cindy would likely call it) to
the mix.

As she drew closer she sees Veronica staring out to the waters, murmering
again and again: "Not necessary. Imperius!Arthur not necessary!"

Ethanol gently placed a hand on Veronica's shoulder and said: "Don't worry
Veronica. That is not true. Imperius!Arthur is very important to
Auror!Arthur."

"Yes?" asked Veronica, sudden hope in her voice.

"Yes," said Ethanol. "See, the basic problem of both Unspeakable!Arthur and
Auror!Arthur is: why does nobody, or knows no one or at least none of the
younger Weasleys about Arthur's secret life? Well, there are two compelling
reasons why somebody keeps silent about his past: shame and guilt. You can
have both with Imperius!Arthur theory: shame for being "weak" enough to be
placed under the Imperius curse, guilt for whatever he did while he was
under it."

A light lit up in Veronica's eyes, but she stilled remained dubious. "But
what if they are right? Unspeakable!Arthur *could* work without
Imperius!Arthur. If Arthur was a kind of secret agent, he would keep silent
about it? His kids would delight in his work during Voldemort's reign and
take pride in him instead of seeing him as the loser-job kind of father."

"No!" Veronica shook her head, looking sad again. "Cindy claims that Arthur
is still undercover. That's why he doesn't talk to his kids about it."

But Ethanol gave her an encouraging smile. "Under Fudge's reign? Are you
serious? This man is confronted with Harry's eye witness account and the
body of AKed Cedric and he doesn't believe that Voldemort is back. After the
Dark Lord's fall, most people believed everything was right again and
celebrated. Sure, people like Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hagrid believed he
would be back. But at the MoM the policy was: the dark is over, let's look
ahead. So why would they plant a secret operative in the Mom? To battle the
take over plans of the house elves?"

Veronica thought about that for a moment. "There is no reason for an
undercover agent in the department of Muggle affairs," she finally conceded.
"Does that wreck Unspeakbable!Arthur?"

Ethanol shook her head. "Not necessarily. He could have ladden shame and
guilt on him as Unspeakable!Arthur just as much as with Auror!Arthur."

"With Imperius!Arthur?"

"With Imperius!Arthur. Imperius!Arthur offers you shame and guilt for what
Arthur did - or maybe failed to do - and explain Arthur's (and Molly's and
the older children's) silence. Also Imperius!Arthur makes Unspeakable!Arthur
or Auror!Arthur more likely: if Arthur was deemed important enough be be
imperioed, then he probably was a bigger fish than the operative of a tiny,
rather unimportant department."

"Why are you so intend on that guilt and shame thing?" Veronica asked,
sudden suspicion in her voice.

Ethanol sat down on the deck and, after a moment, Veronica joined her. "If
you accept Imperius!Arthur - and I expect you do because you are the captain
of that boat - you have to answer a question: what did Arthus do, while he
was under the Imperius curse."

Veronica flinched. That Ethanol assumed, was the question she had avoided
for long. "Maybe he spied for Voldemort," she suggested hesitantly.

Ethanol noded. "Possible. But not very bangy, don't you think? A lot of
people spied for him. What would be different if Arthur was just one more?"

"You've something more bangy?"

"Possibly. See, I must make a confession. I'm an ambassador from Elkins."

For a moment Veronica appeared confused. Then she asked: "Imperius!Arthur,
Unwilling Filicide?"

Ethanol nodded again. "Yep. I suggest that Auror!Arthur was imperioed,
causing directly or (more likely) indirectly Missing Weasley child's death.
That would be more guilt and shame than anyone can ask for. And more than
enough reason why Auror!Arthur would keep silent about his past. People
usually assume that Arthur retired from Auror!Arthur or Unspeakable!Arthur.
I would suggest that he was punished by being transferred to Muggle
Artifacts, a very unpopular department as far as we can tell (just look at
Lucius' comments in CS or Fudge's accusation of missing wizard pride). Or,
if you want: not punished but his weakness for the Imperius curse just makes
him fallible to his job. In any case, it explains why be is so poorly paid.
Arthur is happy in Muggle Artifacts, but he wouldn't talk about his earlier
career that failed because of his fatal weakness for the Imperius curse.
Fatal for the Missing Weasley child."

Veronica remained silent for a while, clearly thinking. "I don't know. It
doesn't sound bad. But Missing Weasley child never really convinced me so
much. All this alphabet order or gap between births doesn't convince me."

"You forget Arthur's reaction at the end of the Dark mark chapter in GoF. Or
Molly's fright in the following chapter. And there is the darkening of Ron's
face in PS..."

"The what?"

"in the Hogwart's Express Ron corrects Harry when the later is astonished
about how many brothers Ron had visited Hogwarts. Usually interpreted as
Ron's dismay at having to prove himself against so many brother's but IMHO
opinion the first sighting of Missing Weasley child. By the way: if there is
one, Malfoy's remark in PS about "too many children" would be terribly
cruel. Suits him."

Veronica lifted her hand to stop the flood. "That's a bit much for me, I'm
afraid. I still have to munch about those guilt and shame consequences of
Imperius!Arthur."

"All right," Ethanol sighed. "I'll be there when you want to talk about it.
But in the meantime - could I have a cabin, please?"

But Veronica had this far away glance again and didn't answer.