Arthurs Wound

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 86781

LinneaLand wrote:
The snake at the MoM gave AW a wound that was so large they were
trying stitches to help it close. Not the usual snakebite.
This sounds to me more like the Basilisk (huge fangs) wound that 
Harry got in CS rather than something a snake like Nagini (sp) might 
make.
That Arthur didn't end up petrified might be just luck.
I am bugged about this whole scene largely because Dumbledore 
didn't just ask Fawkes to go to Arthur and save him as he did Harry in 
CS.
One Pheonix tear and Arthur would be back on his feet again, 
problem solved and no one the wiser.

Vicky responded: 
When Fawkes saved Harry DD said something (and now I'm trying to 
translate from Dutch) about Harry showing exceptional loyalty to 
DD. Otherwise Fawkes would not have come to his rescue.
So I assume that even though Arthur fights the good fight and is in 
the Order, he did not show any "exceptional loyalty" toward DD.

Meri responded: 
Also it seems to me that JKR makes a big deal of pointing out that 
magic is not a cure all for every ailment, magically induced or 
otherwise, <snip> And, as to why Fawkes didn't swoop in to 
rescue Arthur (aside from the loyalty thing, which is a good point) a 
rather large and brightly colored phoenix known to belong to 
Dumbledore would be pretty hard to hide or explain away, and I am 
sure that Fudge would have seen that as a sign of Dumbledore's 
treachery. 
 
Sabrina responded: 
I also think, please correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't DD say
something to Harry about how he can't *force* Fawkes to shed tears?
At the end of GoF it is Fawkes who goes to Harry, without any prodding
from DD (at least that we know of) and perhaps he just decided that
Arthur wasn't that badly hurt or traumatized that he needed his help.
Or perhaps Fawkes has just a special affection for Harry.

Carol:
Regarding the basilisk idea, I don't think anything so huge could have
been transported to the MoM (Accio basilisk!) and in any case, aren't
they rare creatures? The one we know of was already dead. Also, Arthur
would have been dead before he was found. I think it's much more
likely that Voldemort possessed Nagini just long enough for her to
bite Arthur or even transformed himself into a snake (which I think
he's been doing all along--many transformations had made him virtually
unrecognizable, he looks snakelike, etc.).

Regarding Dumbledore's not sending Fawkes the Phoenix to Arthur, I
think that Fawkes came to Harry (without actually being sent by
Dumbledore) because of a previously arranged spell Dumbledore had set
up to protect Hogwarts and Harry while he was away. As he leaves
Hagrid's hut with Lucius Malfoy, Fudge, and poor arrested Hagrid,
Dumbledore says, for the benefit of the boys hidden under the
invisibility cloak and Harry in particular, "However, you will find
that I have only *truly* left this school when none here are loyal to
me. You will find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those
who ask for it" (CoS 263-64, Am. ed.)

Harry, of course, is at Hogwarts and is in great need when Fawkes
comes to his aid (though he has not yet been bitten by the basilisk).
He first demonstrates great loyalty to Dumbledore ("Sorry to
disappoint you and all that, but the greatest sorceror in the world is
Albus Dumbledore. . . . Even when you were strong, you didn't dare try
and take over at Hogwarts. . . ," 314). And when Tom retaliates with
"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere *memory* of
me!" Harry replies with "He's not as gone as you might think!" (315).
Though not exactly a request for help, the words express his wish that
Dumbledore were there to help him, and that wish activates the spell
that Dumbledore has cast not only on Fawkes but on the Sorting Hat and
the sword. (Alternatively, he may have told Fawkes to bring those two
items with him when the spell was activated. Either way, Fawkes's
appearance is prearranged by Dumbledore to help Harry fight the basilisk.)

Arthur Weasley was not at Hogwarts expressing loyalty to Dumbledore,
so the spell (assuming that it were still in effect three years later)
would not apply to him. Dumbledore knew that Harry's encounter with
the basilisk was inevitable and did what he could to help him. He had
no way of knowing that Arthur would also encounter a giant snake.

Carol