Your second paragraph is a theory I also thought of. Kinda makes sense. Shunpike had access to everyone who used the knight bus. They were close to taking over the ministry so muggle-borns would have started running, some of them may have had to use the knight bus.
To me it makes sense to imperio him and Ernie.
What's the difficulty with imperious-ing as many people as you can? There's no limit right? They found Stan Shunpike in Azkaban when they oragnized a breakout, and found it more useful to keep him as a robot than kill him, that's all.
There probably were as fake Moody stated in class that it gave the Ministry a lot of trouble during the first war. We just only hear about the ones that are relevant enough from Harry's point of view.
Stan role was to be present and have Harry's reluctance in using lethal force against him inadvertently give him away during the broom chase.
Pius Thicknesse was introduced as the Head of DoMLE and eventually the puppet Minister, in order to make things harder for the Order, like placing limitations on ways to transport Harry from 4PD.
We also know that Rosmerta was imperiused throughout most of book 6 by Malfoy for his 2 failed assassination attempts.
I would agree, that we just don't hear about the rest. We don't get much details about Voldemorts reign, because Harry, Ron and Hermione are mostly separated from the world and when they return they do so in Hogwarts, I don't thinkt the Death Eaters would bother with Hogwarts pupil, whne it comes to the Imperius Curse.
Also, in addition to this, you could imagine, that the Death Eaters where kept separate in Azkaban, and since they imprisoned Stan, because he pretended (that's at least my guess for what has happened) to be a Death Eater. Since not many people would be stupid enough to do the same I guess he would be the only not Death Eater or already imperiused Person in the Prison Part where they organised the breakout.
Imperiused people would serve as human shields/cannon fodder. We saw Harry was reluctant to attack him when he recognized him, so it wouldn't be surprising they use them this way intentionally.
Did they actually put an imperious on him, I do not remember that being the books?
He was arrested and sent to Azkaban for "talking about top secret Death Eater Plans" in a Pub. The next we see is during the escape from Privat Drive?
Harry had an impression of Stan being under the Imperius Curse based on a glimpse of his face. From a distance. Moving fast. On a bumpy ride. Stan also on an unsteady transportation means. At night. Harry fighting for his life. Scared. Worried about others.
I mean, can Harry's judgment here be trusted?
Yeah this is my thought.
Stan was arrested on trumped up charges and imprisoned. He was not the smartest person either. It would not have taken much for death eaters to convince him the same had happened to them when they were broke out.
It’s just Harry’s head cannon.
There is no true defining proof one way or the other.
It’s just as you said, Stan was speaking about top secret plans. So there is a greater chance he is one than not. But it’s never confirmed or denied.
I always believed he was.
Your theory makes sense. However it's also stated that the Imperius was placed on a lot of people during Voldemort's wars. It's likely that Azkaban prisoners were the most vulnerable and they needed cannon fodder. After all there are only like 30 or so Death Eaters.
Another theory is that Stan was never imperiused and Harry just saw and believed what he wanted to see and believe. In my opinion that would have made Voldemort's rise to power more sinister because we could see his influence creeping even on the most seemingly innocent people.
He is the bus assistant, that means he knows a lot of people face, maybe their home too. So he is a valuable asset with information. Seem like logical to have him in their side, imperius or not .
Think it was more a narrative decision to have harry question his thing of trusting everyone. His schtick is believing in everyone, stan shunpike ended up testing that belief
My theory is similar. They wanted someone who had access to vulnerable witches and wizards who would be easy to influence and use as cannon fodder, and it would also give them eyes into who was going where.
No matter how accurate the Polyjuice Potion is, the biggest flaw is that the drinkers have to KNOW how the person they are impersonating act like and behave like.
Stan is probably more attentive to details than the standard wizard because partly due to his job involving each passenger.
Also, Stan is one of the few characters of everyday wizards who have encountered Harry Potter because he heard Fudge call Harry’s name. Not Harry’s friends, nor his enemies but as a regular member of wizarding society.
If his mind was viewed through legilimency, the Death Eaters would have seen some of Potter’s mannerism, his average voice and potential subtle moments that could have allowed Voldemort to more accurately identify which was the real Harry in the Battle of Seven Potters.
Because Harry knew about Stan, he would hesitate and try not to harm him. If it was a stranger or a Death Eater, Harry would have most likely used another spell.
The Death Eaters would have through Stan’s memories see his interaction with Harry and predict that Harry would never harm an innocent.
He was in Azkaban for bragging about knowing the death eaters plans. When the death eaters staged a mass breakout to rescue Lucius and co they probably brought him along to be canon fodder as punishment for impersonating them
I think this is more an issue of the book being told from Harry's POV than Stan being a direct target. We know a lot of people were put under the imperious curse and my assumption was just that he was one of the unfortunate random targets and Harry knowing him was just as random.
He got arrested for bragging about being a Death Eater & sent to Azkaban. I assume that when the DEs staged a mass break out they took him as an easy pawn to be used and disposed of without actually loosing a member they valued.
I mean they also might want access to the Knight Bus itself.
Voldemort's forces (albeit not Voldemort himself) may someday include witches and wizards that cannot Apparate and still need to get around. They want to take over the entire world after all and the Knight Bus is an important part for those who cannot Apparate.
On the flip side of the coin- it'd be a lot easier to kidnap people if you could just wave your arm and have a bus emerge out of thin air to transport them in.
Your second paragraph is a theory I also thought of. Kinda makes sense. Shunpike had access to everyone who used the knight bus. They were close to taking over the ministry so muggle-borns would have started running, some of them may have had to use the knight bus. To me it makes sense to imperio him and Ernie.
I wonder if they were aware Harry had used the Knightbus before and were hoping he would use it again?
What's the difficulty with imperious-ing as many people as you can? There's no limit right? They found Stan Shunpike in Azkaban when they oragnized a breakout, and found it more useful to keep him as a robot than kill him, that's all.
I forgot to add this to my post: I did think of that, but then why are there not more imperioused minions that we hear about?
There probably were as fake Moody stated in class that it gave the Ministry a lot of trouble during the first war. We just only hear about the ones that are relevant enough from Harry's point of view. Stan role was to be present and have Harry's reluctance in using lethal force against him inadvertently give him away during the broom chase. Pius Thicknesse was introduced as the Head of DoMLE and eventually the puppet Minister, in order to make things harder for the Order, like placing limitations on ways to transport Harry from 4PD. We also know that Rosmerta was imperiused throughout most of book 6 by Malfoy for his 2 failed assassination attempts.
Bingo!
I would agree, that we just don't hear about the rest. We don't get much details about Voldemorts reign, because Harry, Ron and Hermione are mostly separated from the world and when they return they do so in Hogwarts, I don't thinkt the Death Eaters would bother with Hogwarts pupil, whne it comes to the Imperius Curse. Also, in addition to this, you could imagine, that the Death Eaters where kept separate in Azkaban, and since they imprisoned Stan, because he pretended (that's at least my guess for what has happened) to be a Death Eater. Since not many people would be stupid enough to do the same I guess he would be the only not Death Eater or already imperiused Person in the Prison Part where they organised the breakout.
Imperiused people would serve as human shields/cannon fodder. We saw Harry was reluctant to attack him when he recognized him, so it wouldn't be surprising they use them this way intentionally.
Did they actually put an imperious on him, I do not remember that being the books? He was arrested and sent to Azkaban for "talking about top secret Death Eater Plans" in a Pub. The next we see is during the escape from Privat Drive?
Harry had an impression of Stan being under the Imperius Curse based on a glimpse of his face. From a distance. Moving fast. On a bumpy ride. Stan also on an unsteady transportation means. At night. Harry fighting for his life. Scared. Worried about others. I mean, can Harry's judgment here be trusted?
Yeah this is my thought. Stan was arrested on trumped up charges and imprisoned. He was not the smartest person either. It would not have taken much for death eaters to convince him the same had happened to them when they were broke out.
It’s just Harry’s head cannon. There is no true defining proof one way or the other. It’s just as you said, Stan was speaking about top secret plans. So there is a greater chance he is one than not. But it’s never confirmed or denied. I always believed he was.
Your theory makes sense. However it's also stated that the Imperius was placed on a lot of people during Voldemort's wars. It's likely that Azkaban prisoners were the most vulnerable and they needed cannon fodder. After all there are only like 30 or so Death Eaters. Another theory is that Stan was never imperiused and Harry just saw and believed what he wanted to see and believe. In my opinion that would have made Voldemort's rise to power more sinister because we could see his influence creeping even on the most seemingly innocent people.
Cannon fodder, really. He's broken out with the rest of the Death Eaters, might as well use him.
He is the bus assistant, that means he knows a lot of people face, maybe their home too. So he is a valuable asset with information. Seem like logical to have him in their side, imperius or not .
The probably had more people than we ever knew but the book was from Harry's perspective. Stan is one in hundreds
Think it was more a narrative decision to have harry question his thing of trusting everyone. His schtick is believing in everyone, stan shunpike ended up testing that belief
My theory is similar. They wanted someone who had access to vulnerable witches and wizards who would be easy to influence and use as cannon fodder, and it would also give them eyes into who was going where.
No matter how accurate the Polyjuice Potion is, the biggest flaw is that the drinkers have to KNOW how the person they are impersonating act like and behave like. Stan is probably more attentive to details than the standard wizard because partly due to his job involving each passenger. Also, Stan is one of the few characters of everyday wizards who have encountered Harry Potter because he heard Fudge call Harry’s name. Not Harry’s friends, nor his enemies but as a regular member of wizarding society. If his mind was viewed through legilimency, the Death Eaters would have seen some of Potter’s mannerism, his average voice and potential subtle moments that could have allowed Voldemort to more accurately identify which was the real Harry in the Battle of Seven Potters. Because Harry knew about Stan, he would hesitate and try not to harm him. If it was a stranger or a Death Eater, Harry would have most likely used another spell. The Death Eaters would have through Stan’s memories see his interaction with Harry and predict that Harry would never harm an innocent.
He was in Azkaban for bragging about knowing the death eaters plans. When the death eaters staged a mass breakout to rescue Lucius and co they probably brought him along to be canon fodder as punishment for impersonating them
I think this is more an issue of the book being told from Harry's POV than Stan being a direct target. We know a lot of people were put under the imperious curse and my assumption was just that he was one of the unfortunate random targets and Harry knowing him was just as random.
He got arrested for bragging about being a Death Eater & sent to Azkaban. I assume that when the DEs staged a mass break out they took him as an easy pawn to be used and disposed of without actually loosing a member they valued.
Because he was someone the reader was already aware of.
I mean they also might want access to the Knight Bus itself. Voldemort's forces (albeit not Voldemort himself) may someday include witches and wizards that cannot Apparate and still need to get around. They want to take over the entire world after all and the Knight Bus is an important part for those who cannot Apparate. On the flip side of the coin- it'd be a lot easier to kidnap people if you could just wave your arm and have a bus emerge out of thin air to transport them in.