Number of Death Eaters

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 20693

Re: How many Death Eaters?
>
>
> --- seimmud at hotmail.com wrote:
> > I don't know if this was mentioned before, but I
> > wonder how many
> > Death Eaters there are.
> >
> > Before I read GoF, I thought that there were
> > hundreds or thousands of
> > Death Eaters  (in relation with about 6000 wizards
> > and witches in
> > Great Britain). But when the DE appeared after
> > Voldemorts "rebirth"
> > they made a circle around Voldemort. There were only
> > a few DE, some
> > are death or absent. Voldemort didn't say anything
> > to some DE, but I
> > don't think that there were so many DE unmentioned.
> > And the circle
> > cannot be so big for some hundred DEs.
> > And: Are they all the DEs of the entired world? Or
> > only the DE of GB?
> > IMO, they should be all DEs because Voldemort wanted
> > to show all his
> > followers that he is back.
> >
> > What is your opinion about that?
> >
> > Katja
> >
> >
>
>
> I think that Voldemort is only a Great Britain
> phenomonon so concivably he only has followers in that
> area(yes I know he was in Albainia but he was in
> hiding and VERY weak so I don't see him having gotten
> any more followers in that time). Therefore those that
> were in the circle would be it.  I don't see him has
> having more than 30-40 DEs after all once he has one
> member of the family as a DE technically he has the
> whole family.  My DH says he can see Voldemort using
> Great Britain as a launching pad to taking the rest of
> the world.
>
> Danette

It could also easily be a case that Death-Eater-ism (is that a word?) is a
matter of several different levels, like a lodge, and only the
highest-ranking DEs were actually summoned by Voldemort.  The low-ranking
Death-Eater-wannabes might only get orders like "go to _this_ house, kill
_these_ people," while the higher-ranking ones get to do more of the
planning.  This would minimize the chances of infiltration by Aurors and of
betrayal by people who thought, at first, they could gain power, only to be
horrified to find what they had to do for that power.

I don't know how many wizards there are in UK/the world in the Potterverse,
and I'm new to this list (be gentle with me, please!) but someone as
power-hungry as Voldemort certainly wouldn't limit his ambitions to Great
Britain.  Karakoff's the only non-British (ex-)DE we know about for certain,
but I wouldn't be surprised to find that Voldemort's got Death Eaters from
all over.  At the Quidditch Championship match, there are wizards and
witches from all over (even the US!) and that's where we first find out
about _what_ Death Eaters are/were, and about the Dark Mark.