Robert Kropp

## Robert “Bob” Kropp

**Robert "Bob" Kropp** *O.M., Second Class*(18 November, 1915 - 18 October, 1993) was a muggle-born wizard, and the only child of two muggles, John and Martha. He was born in the village of Rattlesden, Suffolk, England, and attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from September 1927 to June 1934. During the Global Wizarding War, he was an Auror employed with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and he fought in France and Germany. After the war, in which he saw much conflict and earned him an Order of Merlin, he quit working with the Aurors, and later settled down to work as a family accountant, which was a much less dangerous job. He was the husband of Bernadine Weasley, and the father of James and Victoria Kropp.

At Hogwarts, he was a Gryffindor, and graduated with twelve N.E.W.T.s.

## Biography

### Early life

Robert was born on 18 November, 1915, in a small farming village in East Anglia. Both of his parents were muggles. His mother's family were farmers. When he was eleven years old, he received a visit from a Hogwarts Professor who informed him that he was, indeed, a wizard, and had been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His parents, John and Martha, were naturally shocked.

Before leaving for school, he travelled to London by train and entered the Leaky Cauldron, which served as the gate between the ordinary muggle world and Diagon Alley. He purchased a wand made of holly and unicorn hair from Ollivander's and boarded the train to Hogwarts on 1 September, 1927.

#### Hogwarts years

On the evening of 1 September, 1927, Robert was sorted into Gryffindor House. He was a good student, and took to magic quickly. He was particularly talented in Defence Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration. He was a year behind Harfang Longbottom, another future Auror, and Wendy Slinkhard, a future best-selling author.

Robert reached his magical majority on 18 November, 1932, in which by this point, the dark wizard Grindelwald was fully terrorising Europe. He eventually decided to become an Auror, wanting to join in on the conflict and help the light side fend off Grindelwald and his acolytes.

Robert was an accomplished student, and achieved twelve O.W.L.s and twelve N.E.W.T.s, with Acceptables or higher in the following subjects: Charms, History of Magic, Herbology, Transfiguration, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, and Ancient Studies. He was selected by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to become an Auror trainee, right after leaving school. By 1936, he was a fully-fledged Auror, and he fought Dark wizards at home. He was only twenty one years old, and because he was seen as expendable, with no children or family, he was sent on many dangerous missions.

### Global Wizarding War

Robert witnessed the British Minister of Magic, Hector Fawley, ousted from his office in 1939, for not taking proper adequate measures to form security in Great Britain. Fawley was then replaced by the more proactive Leonard Spencer-Moon, who proved himself a sound Minister in the context of international turmoil, but even so, Grindelwald's power was already too large to handle by one sole Ministry by that point.

Open warfare began that same year in 1939. However, Albus Dumbledore, Robert's former Transfiguration teacher, had formed a formidable reputation as the most powerful wizard of the modern era; which was heavily supported by millions throughout the entire international wizarding community. In 1941, practically all of the international magical authorities' and political establishments begged and pleaded Dumbledore to intervene; as they held the idealism that he was the only wizard who not only equaled and surpassed Grindelwald in power, but was also the only person Grindelwald feared. All the while, the Acolytes continued their reign of terror, committing more and more atrocities and murders; now directly upon innocent muggles. Robert directly defended muggles on the battlefield and duelled many dark wizards, killing more than a few.

Dumbledore, with the help of Newt Scamander, a Magizoologist, and his brother Theseus, an Auror, tracked down Grindelwald for about two months; Dumbledore finally confronting him solo in the summer of 1945. The exact location as to where they re-encountered each other after almost forty seven years apart was unclear; though with strong indication that it was in rural Austria.

This resulted in a legendary duel between the two greatest wizards of the modern century, which ultimately saw and brought Grindelwald to total defeat. Those who witnessed the duel, including Robert, claimed it was beyond anything they could ever describe or had seen. The international authorities called it: a contest to the death between the two greatest and most powerful magical minds to have ever existed. Dumbledore triumphed over Grindelwald, due to being; in Dumbledore's own words: "*a shade more skilful*".

### Later life

#### Marriage

Following Grindelwald's defeat and the end of the Global Wizarding War, Robert handed in his resignation to the Auror department and set his sights on Bernadine Weasley, a witch who had been a year below him in Hogwarts. They married at the end of 1945. Their son, James, was born in February 1946, and their daughter, Victoria, in April 1950.

During this time, Robert secured employment with the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom as the family accountant. His good friend, Harfang Longbottom, trusted him in the job.

## Personality and traits

He never liked to talk about the things that he had seen in the Global Wizarding War with his family. His son, James, did not know he had even received an Order of Merlin until after his death in 1993. He was humble, but extraordinarily brave, and self-sacrificing. He despised those who practised the Dark Arts, labelling such people as "filth" and relished the idea of Dark wizards being left at the mercy of the Dementors.

## Magical abilities and skills

Robert Kropp was said to be the a very skilled Auror in the British Ministry of Magic during the Global Wizarding War. In his later life, he was the Longbottom family accountant, who also did business with the Houses of Potter (briefly), Abbott, and Macmillan.

* **Magical Mastery**: As a Hogwarts student, Robert had excelled in his studies, and developed an extraordinary skill in many disciplines of magic, qualifying for Auror training as the British Ministry of Magic. This speaks for his versatility and his extensive expertise in many magical disciplines, which is a very big accomplishment for a sorcerer. After all, while most wizards are skilled in different areas of magic, but are best at one specific kind, Robert reportedly had fully mastered several.
* **Leadership skills**: Robert had exceptional leadership skills, evident from his status as a very prominent Auror in the British Ministry of Magic.
* **Auror skills**: Robert Kropp completed the Concealment and Disguise, as well as the Stealth and Trackingportions of Auror training with excellence. Robert was thus extremely capable in both offensive and defensive magic, the hallmarks of the Auror's trade, which he employed effectively.
* **Duelling**: Robert Kropp was an extremely skilled duellist, since in the midst of the Global Wizarding War and Robert utilised martial magic to fight and defeat dozens of skilled Acolytes of Grindelwald. Robert's's ability to switch from offence to defence made him an immensely formidable opponent.
* **Charms**: As an Auror, Robert was highly proficient in charm-work, since as an Auror, he received an Outstanding in his O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. for this subject, and was capable of performing the Disillusionment Charm, an extremely advanced charm that very few could cast. In addition, Robert could also conjure a non-corporeal Patronus, a mark of superior magical ability and testament to his expertise and talent in charms, given the immense difficulty of casting such an advanced and powerful protective spell.

* **Mathematics:** As an accountant in his later life, Robert showed himself to be proficient in mathematics.

## Etymology

Introduced to England by the Normans, Robert is derived from the Old High German *Hruodperht*, a compound name composed of the elements *hruod* (fame) and *perht* (bright). It was the name of several kings of Scotland, including Robert the Bruce, who was one of the most famous warriors of his generation, and eventually led Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against England.