What's Arthur been up to (was Re: relationships/ages of characters)

[hermionegallo]

No: HPFGUIDX 80641

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, A Featheringstonehaugh 
<featheringstonehaugh at y...> wrote:
>  
> hg wrote:
> > "And some folks have been wondering about the Weasleys and their 
friendship with the Potters: that would have arisen w/ their 
involvement in the Order.
>  
>  
> AF:  But do we know that the Weasleys and the Potters were friends 
or indeed, were A & M even in the Order before this latest 
activation ?  Remember:  in the OoP, when  Moody showed Harry the old 
photo of the members of the Order, he remarked that it was taken 
before Arthur and Molly had joined.  Perhaps the Weasleys joined 
between the time of the photo and V's disappearance or it could be 
that the W's hadn't joined the last time at all, out of fear for the 
safety of their (then) very young children. I just can't recall if 
their  earlier participation had ever been confirmed.  
> 

hg replying to AF:
Oh, that's a really good point, I missed that comment by Moody 
entirely.  I even scouted around that section looking for stuff.

You know, I've been thinking that Arthur always has been doing some 
behind-the-scenes work, whether through the Order proper or 
independently for Dumbledore.  And that reason, in fact, was why I 
assumed that Molly and Arthur weren't in the photo.  (Maybe starting 
long before they joined the Order, perhaps.)  It's only assumption on 
my part, I wholly recognize, but it may explain why there's such a 
gap between Charlie's and Percy's births -- and it may lead to some 
understanding as to why the Longbottoms have been kept quiet all 
these years (and not simply killed), because I don't believe they are 
only suffering the ill-effects of Cruciatus.  Was there some "secret 
operation" going on that Arthur and/or Molly were privy to, and that 
the Longbottoms were working on?  Something ten years or so prior to 
Harry's birth?  

Arthur knows everyone in the Ministry and everything that's going on; 
he's well-connected and respected.  He was one of those called upon 
at the QWC when the Dark Mark appeared, and he seems to have more 
authority than his position dictates.  It seems to me that his job 
has been the perfect outpost for what he's really up to.  For Malfoy 
to assume that Arthur lacks ambition or ability (or for Percy to harp 
on those issues, for that matter) has got to cut him deep; but he 
can't say anything.  It's the only way I can accept the reality of 
the Percy-abandoning-the-Weasleys scenario.  If Arthur weren't able 
to provide Percy with an explanation as to why they've lived so 
modestly all these years, why he hadn't been more ambitious, that 
might be motivation enough for Percy to abandon his family as he does.

Then again, I can see Arthur NOT letting that confrontation go w/ a 
simple argument, but recognizing that Percy's older and now can be 
(and needs to be) brought in on more of what's been going on, and 
Arthur using that explanation to help him understand their family's 
life to date.  Either way, it seems clear that something happened 
with Percy: it was either right before the third Triwizard task, or 
it was after that argument with Arthur; but something happened that 
changed him.
hg.