Arthur Weasley

## Arthur William Weasley

**Arthur William Weasley** (born 6 February, 1950) was an English pure-blood wizard in the employ of the Ministry of Magic, as well as a member of the second Order of the Phoenix. He was a staunch believer in the equality of all magical and Muggle folk and was the head of the Weasley family.

Arthur was born to Septimus and Cedrella Weasley (née Black) and had two brothers, Hugh and Leonard Weasley. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1961 to 1968 and was sorted into Gryffindor house.

Soon after graduating, Arthur married Molly Prewett. During the First Wizarding War, he and Molly had seven children: sons Bill, Charlie, Percy, twins Fred and George, and Ron, as well as their daughter Ginny. At some point after graduating from Hogwarts, Arthur began working for the Ministry, in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office.

## Biography

### Early life (1950-1968)

Arthur Weasley was born on 6 February, 1950, to Septimus and Cedrella Weasley (née Black). His mother was disowned for marrying a "blood traitor," as her family believed strongly in the notion of pure-blood supremacy. Arthur had two older brothers, Hugh and Leonard.

The Weasley family made their home in a small cottage in Salcombe, Devon, having sold most of their family land in the early 20th century. The cottage in Salcombe was all that was left of what stood in the 19th century.

He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from September 1961 to June 1968 and was sorted into Gryffindor House. In his third year in 1963, he chose to take Muggle Studies, due to his interest in Muggles. While at school, he met and began dating fellow Gryffindor Molly Prewett. Arthur got caught out of bed by the school caretaker Apollyon Pringle after he and Molly went for a night-time stroll one evening and was severely punished.

### First Wizarding War and aftermath (1968-1990)

Shortly after graduating from Hogwarts, Arthur and Molly married. Their marriage was rather rushed, as Lord Voldemort was gaining power during that time and the First Wizarding War began. Arthur was not a member of the first Order of the Phoenix. He was familiar with the Death Eaters' use of the Imperius Curse and the trouble it caused the Ministry of Magic at the time, as he was now employed in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. During the course of the war, he and Molly had seven children: Bill in late 1970, Charlie in 1972, Percy in 1976, twins Fred and George in 1978, Ron in 1980, and the first daughter to be born into the Weasley family in generations, Ginny, in 1981.

The war ended soon after Ginny's birth, but not before Arthur's brothers-in-law Fabian and Gideon Prewett, both Order members, were killed by Death Eaters. Arthur was upset when some Death Eaters, such as Lucius Malfoy, were able to escape punishment by claiming that they had been under the Imperius Curse. Arthur believed they were lying, and he and Lucius were hostile towards one another whenever they crossed paths.

At some time in the 1980s, Arthur also purchased a Muggle car, a Ford Anglia, and bewitched it to make it fly; in order to do so, he made sure to include a loophole in a law he wrote for the Ministry: as long as he was not intending to fly the car, it would be legal. The car was part of Arthur's substantial personal collection of Muggle artefacts, which he kept in a shed and included plugs and batteries.

#### Between the Wars (1990-1994)

In 1992, Ron, Fred, and George borrowed their father's car to rescue Harry Potter from Privet Drive, after not receiving letters from him all summer. When Arthur returned to The Burrow after a night of Ministry raids, he was pleased to find out the car could indeed fly. That was until he caught his wife's eye; he then poorly reprimanded the boys for doing so. When asked if he had found anything during the raids, he responded that they had only found a bunch of shrinking door-keysand a biting kettle. He was also introduced to Harry Potter and asked him about rubber ducks.

A few days later, the family, as well as Harry, went to Diagon Alley to purchase school supplies for the upcoming year. While there, they visited Flourish and Blotts, where Gilderoy Lockhart was having a book signing event, during which Arthur got into a fist fight with Lucius Malfoy over Arthur's support for Muggles. He was very excited to meet Hermione Granger's parents, both Muggle dentists, insisting on taking them out for a drink.

Arthur also accompanied his daughter, Ginny, on a separate trip to Diagon Alley in late August of 1992, where they picked up the last of her school supplies. The Weasleys often were made to share their things, with the younger children receiving hand-me-downs, but six sets of Lockhart's books to buy, Arthur and Molly had to manage by making multiple trips.

While Arthur wandered around with his daughter on his day off, Ginny ran into Aquila Black in Gambol and Japes' Joke Shop in Diagon Alley. When Aquila and Ginny got into some accidental mischief, fleeing the shop, they bumped into Aquila's parents, Orion and Walburga Black. Walburga Black was extremely cross that her daughter, Aquila, had supposedly snuck away from Gringotts, and personally insulted the Weasleys when Arthur was within earshot. Arthur, having learnt his lesson after his brawl with Lucius Malfoy, decided not to engage, but he taught his daughter Ginny a very valuable lesson on money and those who had it.

When Arthur's son Ron and his friend Harry were prevented from getting on Platform 9¾ on 1 September, 1992, the pair borrowed the Ford Anglia to fly to Hogwarts. As this was a serious potential breach of the Statute of Secrecy, Mr Weasley faced an inquiry at work over the incident.

In the spring of 1993, Arthur and Molly were called to Hogwarts when it was learned the Monster of Slytherin had taken their daughter, Ginny, into the Chamber of Secrets, along with another student, Aquila Black, who was missing and suspected to have followed their daughter down. It turned out that Lucius Malfoy had planted an old school diary of Tom Riddle's on Ginny, which subsequently possessed her and forced her to open the Chamber. Ginny was nearly killed, but was saved by Harry Potter, her friend Aquila, and her brother Ron.

Arthur won some money in the July 1993 Daily Prophet drawing, and he and his family travelled to Egypt to visit his son Bill. In autumn of the same year, when Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban and was believed to be seeking Harry's death, Arthur wanted to tell Harry, and by extension, his daughter Ginny's friend Aquila, the truth. He discussed the matter with his wife in secret, not wanting Harry to panic. Harry, however, overheard their conversation. Aquila was aware of her brother being Sirius, but as her parents had disowned him in the 1970s, before her birth, she was not overly scared, but reportedly told Arthur that it felt weird. On Platform 9¾, Arthur and Harry briefly discussed what Harry had heard; while pleased that Harry was not scared, Arthur urged Harry not to go seeking Black.

## Physical Appearance

Like many other members of the Weasley family, Arthur had bright red hair, though he was balding by the early 1990s. He wore glasses and had blue eyes, and also possessed the tall, thin build inherited by his sons Ron and Bill. He also had visible marks somewhere on his body from a decent caning whilst at Hogwarts, for being late. The punishment was set by the caretaker at the time, Apollyon Pringle.

## Personality and Traits

In the wizarding world, Arthur Weasley was known for being a well-meaning, reasonable and competent every-man, trying to take care of his family and do the right thing. A man of principle, he was strongly opposed to the discrimination of Muggles, Muggle-borns, half-bloods, half-breeds, and cursed beings such as werewolves, and did not think highly of those who subscribed to such intolerant beliefs, despite it being the prevailing views of so many of his fellow pure-bloods. While this earned him respect of his friends and family, others, such as Lucius Malfoy, and Walburga Black, considered him to be a "blood traitor." and a "disgrace to the name of wizard". The latter, however, he never truly took to heart, as his opinion about what disgraced the name of wizard differed greatly from theirs.

While Arthur Weasley was often seen as "fun" in the earlier years, with the return of Lord Voldemort and the gathering crisis in the wizarding world he shouldered a role of increasing challenges, assuming duties within the Order of the Phoenix in addition to new responsibilities at the Ministry. He was protective of Harry and Aquila, his youngest children's closest friends, and at times assumed a father like role. He was a man of principle and remained loyal to Dumbledore, even though this impeded his advancement in the Ministry of Magic and cost him the respect of Percy, who also worked at the Ministry but agreed more strongly with the policies of the Minister for Magic. A devoted father, Arthur was, while more laid-back parent than his wife, was nevertheless very protective of them, and loved his own flesh and blood so much that the only times he was seen to lose control of himself was when any of his children were hurt.

Arthur was fascinated at how Muggles were able to go about their lives without magic. Whenever he found himself in close proximity to them, he had a hard time containing his enthusiasm. During Harry's stays at the Burrow, he liked to sit next to Harry, in order to ask him questions about living with them and had at various times attempted to engage the Dursleys in conversation about electricity. In 1992, when he learned Harry had never travelled by the Floo Network, he joyfully began to ask about the "escapators" in the London Underground. When the Weasleys and Harry met Hermione Granger in Diagon Alley that same year, Arthur was ecstatic to meet Hermione's parents, both Muggles, who were exchanging money at Gringotts. While the other family members went shopping for school supplies, Arthur insisted on taking Mr and Mrs Granger for a drink in the Leaky Cauldron. In addition to his Ford Anglia, Arthur also collected a number of other Muggle items. He had a large collection of plugs and batteries, as well as other undisclosed items in his shed.

Because of his fondness for Muggles, in 1992, he drafted a proposition for the Ministry called the Muggle Protection Act. Many pure-blood wizards took offence to this, and Lucius Malfoy attempted to sabotage Arthur's plans; by planting Riddle's diary on Arthur's daughter, he hoped to discredit Arthur and bury the legislation. So adamant in protecting Muggles, he was outraged at Fred and George's prank on Dudley Dursley, even though the twins did not target Dudley because he was a Muggle, but rather he was a horrible boy. When he took his family, Harry and Hermione to the Quidditch World Cup in 1994, he was adamant about remaining incognito. He insisted on putting up their tents by hand and cooking their food outside with a fire. While somewhat familiar with the concept, he had trouble with a Muggle matchbox; he would light a match and subsequently drop it in surprise. In the end, he managed to get the fire lit with Hermione's help and seemed to have a great time. When Death Eaters started a riot after the cup, Arthur was one of the people who acted to protect Muggle victims.

His wall in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office was covered with Muggle pictures, including several of Muggle cars (one of which was a disassembled motor) Muggle post boxes, which he appeared to have cut out of a Muggle children's book and a diagram of how to wire a plug. His greatest ambition was to find out how Muggles were able to keep aeroplanes airborne. Arthur's love of engineering and Muggle technology was inherited by his sons Fred and George in that they too possessed Arthur's ingenuity and almost compulsive need to invent or modify things from their intended purposes, resulting in many of the twins' joke items.

## Magical Abilities and Skills

* **Charms**: Arthur was shown to be particularly gifted with charm-work, having placed various charms, spells, and enchantments on Muggle objects. For example, he once charmed a Ford Anglia car to be able to fly and become invisible. He also enchanted Sirius' flying motorcycle, enabling it to produce fire like that of a dragon's as a weapon, and a brick wall as a defence from the tail-pipe. Arthur was also able to conjure a corporeal Patronus in the form of a Weasel, which is an extremely advanced and powerful piece of magic as well as proof of superior magical ability. As a member of the Order of the Phoenix, he was able to send messages using his Patronus. Arthur was also highly proficient with the Memory Charm, having used it to erase the memories of Muggles who had unwittingly witnessed magic, as part of his career duties with the Ministry.
* **Duelling**: Arthur was shown to be a proficient duellist. He seemed certain that he was able to match his rival Lucius Malfoy (a notably skilled duellist himself) in skill if not defeat him. He was chosen as one of the protectors during the Battle of the Seven Potters where he survived unscathed, most likely defeating several Death Eaters in the process or at least holding them at bay.
* **Non-verbal magic**: Arthur was capable of casting spells without speaking their incantations aloud, having been able to effectively perform a non-verbal *Oculus Reparo* on Harry Potter's broken glasses in 1992, which testifies to him being a powerful wizard as non-verbal magic is very difficult.
* **Transfiguration**: Arthur was shown to be skilled in this department of magic to a high level, given how he was able to effectively perform conjuration, which is a highly advanced form of Transfiguration; for example, he conjured several chairs for his family when they came to visit him at St Mungo's, with seemingly little effort.
* **Apparition**: Arthur was shown to be adept in the art of apparition, as he was described as making only a faint "popping" noise, which contrasts to the loud "crack" that inexperienced apparition users would make, showing he was skilful with this method of magical transportation.
* **Mechanical engineering**: Due to Arthur's interest in Muggle technology, particularly automobiles, Arthur developed quite a bit of skill in repairing muggle machinery in his spare time.

## Relationships

#### Parents and siblings

Arthur was the son of Septimus and Cedrella Weasley. They were both pure-bloods, although Cedrella was disowned by her family, because she married a blood-traitor. The relationship between them is unknown; it is possible that his father's point of view made Arthur realise that there was no difference between wizards and Muggles. Arthur also had at least two brothers.

#### His wife and children

Arthur eventually married Molly Prewett, whom he had been dating since Hogwarts, and they had seven children; Bill, Charlie, Percy, the twins Fred and George Weasley, Ron, and Ginny. Arthur was less strict than his wife, and his children thought he was funny. He had a good relationship with all of them, before his son Percy became angry with him. However, during the Second Wizarding War, Arthur appeared to have been more protective, because he was afraid of what happened to his children.

His son Bill was a very good student; he had become prefect and Head Boy during his years at Hogwarts. He later worked for Gringotts in Egypt and married Fleur Delacour.

Charlie was also a good student; he was prefect and Captain for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He studied dragons in Romania, but he never married.

He also had a good relationship with Percy, but their relationship was broken up in 1995. Percy was more serious than his father, and they both worked for the Ministry of Magic, although Percy loved to obey the rules and was also very ambitious. Arthur forgave his son in 1998, during the Battle of Hogwarts when Percy was ready to apologise for his previous actions.

His sense of humour was similar to Fred and George's. He loved them very much, and, although they were not model students, Arthur knew they were very clever wizards. Though not as strict towards their mischievous behaviour, a few rare exceptions are when they attempted an Unbreakable Vow with Ron in their earlier years, in 1994 when they left a Ton-Tongue Toffee for Dudley Dursley to have, and in 1995, when he agreed with his wife on their irresponsible use of magic ever since they had come of age. Fred was killed during the Battle of Hogwarts; Arthur was grief-stricken over his death.

Arthur was very protective of Ron and Ginny, who were his youngest children. Ginny was the youngest and the only daughter. When she was possessed by a memory of Tom Marvolo Riddle, in a diary, Arthur was very upset; he shouted at Ginny, saying that he had told her not to trust magical objects that had a mind of their own. He also helped Ron to his mission; he hexed the family ghoul, along with Fred and George, in order to make it look like Ron, who had gone to help Harry and Hermione find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes.

#### Harry Potter and Aquila Black

Harry Potter was Arthur's son, Ron's, best friend. Harry met Arthur in 1992, at the Burrow. Arthur liked to discuss Muggle things with Harry Potter and had entrusted Harry with certain information that many felt him too young to understand, such as in 1993 when the Ministry would not tell Harry that they thought Sirius Black was going to seek him out.

Despite being the daughter of two influential, traditionally dark pure-bloods, Aquila became Ginny's best friend. Ginny was Arthur's only daughter, and as a result Arthur was very protective of her, but he found that Aquila was a very good friend to Ginny, and overlooked her parents, Orion and Walburga Black, who upon their meeting in Diagon Alley, insulted Arthur's job, family worth, and children. Arthur did not blame the child for her parent's mistakes and was always very adamant that his family should rise above prejudice. Upon Aquila's first visit to the Burrow in August 1993, after his daughter Ginny had been rescued from the Chamber, Arthur noticed that something was off and tried to look out for her, coming to the conclusion that the Blacks were not very loving people. Like Harry, Arthur tried to go out of his way to make her feel welcome, and later on took a more paternal role for both of them.

#### Hermione Granger

Because of her friendships with Ron and Harry, Hermione Granger became friendly with the entire Weasley family. She spent a portion of many of her summer and Christmas holidays at their home of the Burrow and attended some family outings with them, such as shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley and attending the 1994 Quidditch World Cup with them.

Arthur was fascinated by the Muggle world and thus Hermione's background and even invited Hermione's parents for a drink upon first meeting them in Diagon alley before the start of her second year.

#### Cornelius Fudge

As Arthur was a lower-class person and having a poor family, Cornelius Fudge always neglected Arthur while having a manipulated friendship with his wealthy rival, Lucius Malfoy, due to Fudge's swaying of money and power. Fudge also happened to consider Arthur a weirdo because of his obsession with Muggles, causing Fudge to think he lacks proper wizarding pride, thus holding Arthur back within the Ministry.

When Lord Voldemort had returned, Fudge suspected Arthur being in league with Dumbledore since he was aware that the two of them were friendly. He even invited Arthur's son, Percy to become his Junior Assistant in an attempt to spy on the Weasley family and Dumbledore, which led to Percy defecting from his family after a row with Arthur. Fudge ignored Arthur and Harry's existences when he and the Wizengamot exited Courtroom Ten. After Fudge was disgraced and forced to resign, Arthur was instantly promoted by Fudge's successor.

#### The Order of the Phoenix

Arthur had a good relationship with most members of the Order of the Phoenix. Arthur was not an official member of the first order, but he became during the Second Wizarding War.

He seemed to know Sirius Black since the First Wizarding War. After the war, Sirius was imprisoned in Azkaban for betraying the Potters to Voldemort and killing twelve Muggles. In fact, Peter Pettigrew had committed the crimes and blamed Sirius. Arthur believed that when Sirius escaped from the prison, he wanted to kill Harry Potter. He told Harry not to try to find Sirius, as he knew that Harry would learn about Sirius's crimes. Harry, Ron, and Hermione learned the truth in 1994, and Pettigrew escaped again. Arthur and Sirius became friendly in the second Order. They lived in the same house for a short time; Sirius also tried to comfort Arthur's children when Arthur was bitten by Nagini. Sirius was killed by his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange, during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. Arthur's first reaction is unknown; he only tried not to talk about Sirius in front of Harry, knowing how that would make the boy feel. Arthur and Sirius were also distant relatives, through Arthur's mother.

Arthur appeared to be on good terms with Remus Lupin, too. Remus was a werewolf, but Arthur did not care about that; he thought Lupin was a good person. Furthermore, they had the same beliefs about blood purity, and they were both poor. Lupin was the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts for a short time when Ron, Ginny, Fred, George and Percy were attending the school. They all thought Remus was a good teacher. Arthur and Remus became members of the Order during the Second Wizarding War; they fought together at the Battle of the Seven Potters and the Battle of Hogwarts; during the final battle, Remus was killed. His body lied near Fred's, and the Weasley family looked very sad by both deaths.

Arthur had a high opinion of Alastor Moody, who he had met at the Ministry of Magic. He thought Moody was a little mad but a very powerful and brave Auror, who had captured dozens of Death Eaters. They were friends, as well as members of the second Order. Arthur's children thought Moody was mad, too. Moody led the group of order members that fought at the Battle of the Seven Potters. Moody was killed by Lord Voldemort during the battle. Arthur was sad about his death.

Arthur also seemed to be on good terms with Severus Snape, despite the fact that Snape disliked his children. However, when he learned that Snape killed Dumbledore, he and his family obviously turned against him but that was most likely retracted when he learned of Snape's true loyalties from Harry. In addition, one of Arthur's grandchildren, Albus Potter, was named after Snape.

Arthur was also friendly with Nymphadora Tonks. Tonks was a young woman, as well as an Auror. Arthur and Tonks also knew each other through the Ministry of Magic. During the Battle of the Seven Potters, Tonks was responsible for Ron, they were paired together. Tonks managed to save herself and Ron from Bellatrix Lestrange, and then Arthur thanked Tonks. She was eventually murdered by Bellatrix during the Battle of Hogwarts. Her dead body was put near Fred and Lupin's, and the Weasleys looked very sad by the deaths of all of them. It is unknown if he had met her son Teddy Lupin.

## Etymology

The name *Arthur* could be derived from the Celtic elements *artos,* "bear" combined with *viros,* "man" or *rigos*, "king". Alternatively it could be related to an obscure Roman family name Artorius. Arthur is the name of the central character in Arthurian legend, a 6th-century king of the Britons who resisted Saxon invaders.

*Weasley* is derived from the weasel, Arthur's patronus.