TBAY: Operative!Arthur Attacks Auror!Arthur

[Cindy C.]

No: HPFGUIDX 45522

"ALL RISE!!!" Dicentra cried.

The crowd in the packed courtroom snapped to its feet, all eyes on 
the door to the judge's chamber.  Judge Elkins trudged to the bench, 
sank into her black leather chair, and removed her gavel from its 
shiny wooden case.

"You may be seated," Elkins said evenly.  "What do we have on the 
calendar for today?"

"People vs. Ethanol, Abigail and Eileen, your honor," Dicentra 
said.  "There was some kind of weird Pensive-style kangaroo court 
proceeding with dementors and lots of yelling a while back, but 
Captain Cindy granted them all this new trial.  She's very fair and 
accommodating that way.  Not only that, Cindy has asked that the 
charges be reduced to one count of Conspiracy to Dog Pile with 
Acronym Envy."

Elkins turned to Eloise.  "Madam prosecutor, what about Veronica?" 

Eloise cleared her throat.  "I dismissed the charges against 
Veronica.  Her argument that she had not taken sides because she is 
the Captain of Imperius!Arthur was quite compelling."

"Very well," Elkins said.  "And who is counsel for the defendants?"

"G'day, your honor.  Roo here."

"Excellent.  Roo, call your next witness."

"The defendants would like to call Captain Cindy to the stand for 
further cross-examination."

The rear door to the courtroom banged open.  Captain Cindy strode 
purposefully down the center aisle.  She paused contemptuously near 
the defense table, where Ethanol, Abigail and Eileen quickly averted 
their eyes, before taking her seat in the witness box.

Dicentra raised her right hand.  "Do you swear to tell the truth, 
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you JKR?"

"More or less." 

Roo gathered several feet of parchment* and stood before the 
podium.  "Captain Cindy, we have heard much eyewitness testimony 
about the Dog Pile you endured.  There's no question that there was 
in fact a Dog Pile.  The issue now is whether the Dog Pile was 
*justified.*"

Cindy stared at Roo blankly.

"Justified?" Elkins repeated.  "How could it be justified?"

"Well," Roo explained, "Captain Cindy has posted several times on 
Imperius!Arthur and Operative!Arthur, but *never once* has she 
addressed the Holy Trinity that is Moody's Unforgivables class.  She 
has said nothing to refute the core argument supporting Imperius!
Arthur and refuting Operative!Arthur – *Parallelism.*  Again and 
again, the defendants have raised that issue, and somehow Cindy 
ducked it each time.  I submit that Captain Cindy *has* no response 
to the Holy Trinity, and the attack on her was completely and 
totally *justified*!"

The crowd in the courtroom murmured in hushed tones.  Elkins smacked 
her gavel smartly onto the wooden bench.  "Quiet!" she ordered.  "I 
want to hear this, and I'll dismiss this case if I don't hear a good 
answer to that question."

"I beg your pardon?" Cindy said, adjusting the collar of her 
uniform, which suddenly felt tight at the throat.  "I don't recall 
any, uh . . .  Holy Trinity."

"Oh, really now?  Well, let me refresh your recollection, then.  
Take a look at Exhibit A, Message 45483:"

********

Captain Veronica on the other hand has begun to laugh hysterically.
"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!"

"She has you there," says Eileen.

"Parallel, schmarallel," says Cindy. "Why do I need a parallel? 
Elkins made up the parallel thing in the first place."

"For very good reasons," says Eileen. "Find me another Crouch Jr. 
line in the book where there isn't something else going on. Why 
would he suddenly be so sincere in acknowledging Ron Weasley's 
question, especially since in that scene he is already engaged in 
angling for Harry's and Neville's reactions. If he isn't referring to
Imperio'ed!Arthur, what is he talking about? You're telling me Barty
thought it was important to bring up the fact Arthur was once
authorized to utilize Imperius... Why?"

**************

"Now do you remember?" Roo sneered.

"As a matter of fact, I do.  Yes, that rings a 
bell.  "Parallelism."  "Holy Trinity."  Uh-huh.  That's what my 
attackers were shouting while they were *beating me senseless!*  
They're saying that Crouch Jr.'s Unforgivables lesson is very 
important.  Crouch Jr. targets Neville with the demonstration of the 
Cruciatus Curse because Neville's family has been victimized by the 
Cruciatus Curse.  Crouch Jr. targets Harry with the Avada Kedavra 
Curse because Harry's family has been victimized by Avada Kedavra.  
So, the Imperius!Arthur attackers reason, Crouch Jr. targets Ron, 
which means that Arthur must have been placed under the Imperius 
Curse."

"So you admit it!" cried Roo.

"Well, sort of.  But Operative!Arthur can explain it.  Let's look at 
that passage in GoF, 'The Unforgivables'":

***********

"Er," said Ron tentatively, "my dad told me about one . . . .  Is it 
called the Imperius Curse, or something?"

"Ah, yes," said Moody appreciatively.  "Your father *would* know 
that one.  Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the 
Imperius Curse."

************

"You see," Cindy said, "I think the Imperius!Arthur people have the 
whole parallelism thing all wrong.  And the key can be found in 
CoS.  Remember that scene where Arthur and Lucius Malfoy brawl?  I 
have never really liked that scene.  I can't imagine two grown 
wizards resorting to a fist fight like that, for one thing.  But 
what really bugs me about that scene is that Arthur, a grown man,  
overreacts so badly to what appear to be few simple schoolboy 
taunts.  Check out Lucius' lines in 'At Flourish and Blotts:'"

***********

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mr. Malfoy.  "All those 
raids . . . I hope they're paying you overtime?"

<snip>

"Obviously not," Mr. Malfoy said.  "Dear me, what's the use of being 
a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for 
it?"

<snip>

"The company you keep, Weasley . . . and I thought your family could 
sink no lower –"

*************

"And that's when Arthur explodes!" Cindy said.  "Right after Lucius 
mentions Arthur's *family!*  Arthur maintains his composure through 
Lucius' taunting about his job, his hours and his pay, even 
tolerating being called a 'disgrace to the name of wizard.'  But 
what really makes Arthur lose it?  Mention of his family!

"Operative!Arthur explains that in a way that Imperius!Arthur 
cannot.  Operative!Arthur says that DEs killed Seventh Son, and 
Arthur thinks Lucius had something to do with it.  Well, how about 
this for a Monster Bang?  I submit to you that *Lucius* was involved 
in the murder of Seventh Son and escaped punishment by claiming to 
be under the Imperius Curse!"

There were audible gasps of horror from the crowd.  One woman 
grabbed her handbag and raced from the courtroom, looking physically 
ill.

Elkins banged her gavel, rising slightly from her seat to address 
the crowd.  "*Repent* or I will clear this courtroom!" she bellowed.

"Objection!" cried Roo.  "There's no canon for that at all!  I 
demand that the witness be cautioned with a Yellow Flag!"

"Oh, I've got canon for that idea," Cindy said.  "We know Lucius 
harbors hostility toward the Weasleys, to the point of giving Ginny 
a cursed diary when he logically should have given it to Harry.  We 
know that Lucius is a DE who escaped prosecution by claiming he was 
acting under the Imperius Curse.  We know that Ginny almost died 
because of Lucius' actions and that when Mr. Weasley learned what 
happened at the end of CoS, he was 'looking deeply shaken.'  That 
suggests to me that this is much more than a garden-variety family 
feud between the Malfoys and the Weasleys based on a few taunts.  
Oh, Arthur just knows deep down in his bones that Lucius was never 
under the Imperius Curse when he played some role in the death of 
Seventh Son.  It explains Arthur's rage, I tell ya.  It all fits!

"So.  How do I respond to the Holy Trinity Parallelism accusation. 
then?  Neville was affected by Cruciatus.  Harry was affected by 
AK.  And Operative!Arthur says that Ron was affected by Imperius –- 
and the instrument of that victimization was Lucius Malfoy who 
claimed to be acting under the Imperius Curse.  *Now* Moody's 
statement that Arthur would be familiar with Imperius and it gave 
MoM a lot of trouble makes perfect sense, does it not?"

"Well, maybe so, maybe so," allowed Roo.  "But you still haven't 
made a convincing case for Acronym Envy.  And without that, the 
defendants are going to walk."

"What?" Cindy demanded.  "Are you telling me my last acronym wasn't 
good enough to demonstrate that the defendants acted with Envy 
aforethought?  I mean, that was one heck of an acronym for someone 
who doesn't do acronyms at all:  CLOAKANDDAGGERARTHUR [Covert 
Liaison Operative Arthur is the Key to Assured Nerve-racking 
Destruction of Diabolical Axis, with Global Governance and 
Equilibrium at Risk, from the Ascension of Ruthless 
Terrorists with Homicidal, Unspeakable Resolve]."

"Not even close to Envy-worthy, right, your honor?" Roo asked.

"He's got a point, Cindy," said Elkins quietly.  "We're talking 
*Special Circumstances* here.  You'll need a better acronym than 
that."

"Fine."  Shaking her head slowly, Cindy heaved an exasperated sigh, 
rose to her feet and cleared her throat significantly:

"I GOT YOUR PARALLELISM RIGHT HERE, MISTER:  [Initially, G-men Opted 
to Tolerate Yeomen Overlords Until Rogues Purged Arthur's 
Relations.  Afterwards, a Legendary Lust for Equanimity Leaves him 
Irresolute, Saddened and Miserable.  Realizing Imperius Gives 
Hostile Transgressors a Handy Excuse, Revenge Energizes Many 
Instances of Stalwart Tenacity against the Evil Regime]."

With that, Cindy left the witness box and walked slowly from the 
courtroom, the door banging shut behind her.

The courtroom was completely silent.

***********

Cindy

************

*Messages 45290, 45320, 45330, 45341, 45377, 45380, 45386, 45423, 
45430, 45481, 45483, 45494, 45507, 45513, 45517.