Stan Shunpike - As White as he's Painted? (Was: CHAPDISC: HBP30, The White Tomb)

[Goddlefrood]

No: HPFGUIDX 165848

> > a_svirn:
> > 13.	Why is Scrimgeour so adamant about Stan Shunpike's 
fate? Surely his release is a small price to pay for Harry's 
cooperation?

> Goddlefrood earlier:

> The Ministry, although possibly misguided, as Harry thinks, 
> especially relative to Stan Shunpike, might also actually have 
> some evidence against Stan. It may well turn out, and I put this 
> forward here for further discusssion if anyone is interested, 
> that Stan had been doing illegal or illicit jobs for LV or a 
> Death Eater. 
 
> If I am right then I further conject that he did so under the 
> influence of an Imperius curse, a la Madam Rosmerta. However, 
> whatever he may have done must have been extremely serious 
> and his claim to have been acting under Imperius may have been 
> disbelieved, hence his continued detention.

Goddlefrood now:

I wrote this little answer to a_svirn's earlier question completely 
free from the influence of the books, having been at work at the 
time (I think). I have now had the chance to check references to 
Stan throughout the series and present a little expansion on the 
above. Turns out I wasn't too far off on my original answer for 
reasons I now explain.

Be that as it may, Stan first appears, as we know on the Knight 
Bus in the chapter of the same name back in PoA. He is portrayed 
as rather goofy and probably naive. I say this because he looks 
directly at Harry's scar when Harry first gets on the bus, but 
seemingly fails to register, even while he and Harry are discussing 
the Prophet article relative to Sirius.

He is put over as a good natured, but slightly foolish young man,
and here I'm thinking of his continued use of Neville to address 
Harry even after he discovers who Harry really is. He is further 
portrayed as a love struck dummy in the chapter Dark Mark in GoF 
while attempting to attract some Veelas.

I mention it for completeness sake, rather than for any direct 
relevance it has to what will follow.

Stan has no fewer than five appearances, as it were, in HBP, which 
contains the meat of the evidence I will be using to expand on the 
above quoted portion of my previous post.

We are advised that Stan has been arrested in Hermione's Helping 
Hand. (All quotes are from the Bloomsbury Hardback Edition).

'"Stan Shunpike, conductor on the popular wizarding conveyance 
the Knight Bus, has been arrested on suspicion of Death Eater 
activity. Mr. Shunpike, 21, was taken into custody late last 
night after a raid on his Clapham home ..." (p. 208)

There follows a short discussion in which the trio give no credence 
to what they say is Stan being a Death Eater. The article does not 
specifically state he is a Death Eater or even suspected of being 
one, but that's the trio's interpretation.

We do, of course need to bear in mind that the trio are sixteen year 
old fictional characters before any accusations are levelled against 
this poster.

>From this article it can only be concluded that Stan was taken 
in for some reason connected with the Death Eaters (or so the 
Ministry informed the Prophet). What that was any more certainly 
we are not informed due to the article either being just what is 
quoted above or the balance of the same not being transcribed by 
JKR.

Harry is seemingly very irate about what has happened, and 
maintains that position throughout the rest of the book. He gives 
no credence to the allegation that Stan could have in any way been 
involved as a or with the Death Eaters.

Moving on, Stan is next discussed at The Burrow during the 
Christmas holidays. Arthur Weasley tells Harry in answer to his 
question that Stan is still under arrest (so obviously Wizarding 
Law is very different from Muggle law, in that a person arrested 
can not be held without charge for more than 48 hours [UK], 
excluding terrorist suspecs where it can be longer {Guantanamo Bay 
for instance}). At this news Harry contains himself. (The exchange 
is on pps. 310 and 311).

In the same chapter (A Very Frosty Christmas) we get a brief 
glimpse of a reson why Stan may have been arrested and not 
released.

p. 324:

"You see, I don't like some of the things the Ministry's doing. 
Locking up Stan Shunpike, for instance."
Scrimgeour did not speak for a moment, but his expression 
hardened instantly.
"I would not expect you to understand" he said, and he was not 
as successful at keeping anger out of his voice as Harry had 
been. "These are dangerous times, and certain measures need to 
be taken. You are sixteen years old -"

Harry goes on to try to justify *his* position, but Scrimgeour 
takes no notice. Now it appears that Scrimgeour wanted to say a 
little more, but held back. This man was previously, remember, the 
Head of the Auror Office - oh, and I don't adhere to the view that 
he is himself a Death Eater or even a slightly bad man, just that 
he's a man trying to do a difficult job in difficult times with a 
little more success than Cornelius Fudge.

It is, then, a fair assumption to make that Scrimgeour had a valid 
reason for Stan's continued detention, but he won't share with Harry 
and doesn't. Not knowing him that well it is not easy to form an 
opinion of his motivations, however I would state that he has a 
better idea of the situation in the WWW than does Harry.

As this is becoming a rather long piece on a relatively minor 
matter I will not tire you further with the other two references, 
they are in similar vein.

Any thoughts on what Stan was being held for out there, other than 
what is in the quoted material above?

Goddlefrood