Percy Weasley and "Donnie Brasco"

[ericoppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 107646

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lorelei3dg" <lorelei3dg at y...> 
wrote:
> > "ericoppen" <oppen at m...> wrote:
> > > Until I hear definitely (as in from Herself herself) that Percy 
> > > turned against his family for base reasons, I shall continue to 
> > > stick to my own theory about his motivations.  
> 
> Phil wrote: 
> > I've lost the URL, but I believe she confirms in the "World Book 
Day
> > 2004" chat that Percy is acting of his own free will.
> 
> 
> Lorel writes:
> Percy acting of his own free does not preclude undercover work; he 
> could have chosen to take on the job without having been 
> forced/tricked/enchanted to do so. 
> 
> (For my part, I'm afraid he's just being a "moron," to borrow the 
> term (thanks, Phil!), but I hope otherwise and greatly enjoy this 
> speculation.)

In point of fact, Herself's statement that he is "acting of his own 
free will" could perfectly well point to his undercover role.  Nobody 
can be forced to do this sort of thing---it's volunteers-only.  If 
Joe Pistone, the FBI guy who became "Donnie Brasco," had decided that 
he didn't want to do it, they couldn't have forced him to.  An 
unwilling mole can betray himself in a thousand ways, many of which 
would look like inadvertence or sheer bad luck.  

As for a mole not being needed---Arthur Weasley's pro-DD views are 
well-known, and apparently resulted in his being shunted aside into a 
role where he couldn't access much information.  Compared to his 
father, Percy's position is perfect for spying---and his break with 
his family would make the anti-DD faction trust him more.