Harry Potter: Voldemort's Return Was Fueled By Arthur Weasley's Gambling Addiction

Summary:

• When Arthur Weasley won the lottery, his family picture was published in the Daily Prophet.
• Sirius Black recognized the rat in the picture and escaped from Azkaban to avenge the Potters.
• Wormtail managed to escape and since he was discovered, found himself a new master — Voldemort.

There were infinitely many factors that led to Lord Voldemort’s return, including a chain of betrayals, accidents, and plots, as well as a large roster of his supporters or enemies. But if we were to pinpoint someone to blame for Voldemort’s resurrection (and Sirius Black’s death, for that matter), it would be Arthur Weasley. That’s right.

Arthur’s Gambling Started A Chain Of Events…

Since in the Wizarding World, almost all good things are directly controlled by the government, the Daily Prophet’s venture was the biggest (if not the only!) lottery in Magical Britain. Arthur Weasley was apparently quite fond of it, buying tickets in the hopes of winning the Grand Prize and changing his family’s life for the better.

After the events that transpired in the Chamber of Secrets during Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s second year at Hogwarts, Arthur finally won the lottery. The Grand Prize Galleon Draw provided the Weasley family with just enough funds to travel to Egypt together and visit Bill who was working there at the time being.

As winners, the Weasley family was photographed by the Daily Prophet and published, but apart from its humans, one heinous rat was in the picture, too.

…And Then It Spiraled Out Of Control

When Minister Fudge was visiting Azkaban, Sirius Black, one of the falsely accused prisoners and Harry’s unfortunate godfather, got the newspaper from him. In the picture, Black immediately recognized Scabbers, Ron’s pet rat, as Wormtail, his former friend who got Lily and James Potter killed and Sirius himself imprisoned.

Fueled with rage and revenge, Sirius found a way to escape from Azkaban, and then he found Pettigrew. But the slimy rat escaped, and filled with fear, it found its new master: Lord Voldemort.

Fast-forward one more year, and Wormtail resurrects the Dark Lord, bringing death and destruction upon countless wizards and Muggles.

It all started with that lottery photograph in the Daily Prophet, meaning that if we were to oversimplify, it was Arthur Weasley’s gambling addiction that “sponsored” Voldemort’s return.