Sirius and the Dark Mark

[dicentra_spectabilis_alba]

No: HPFGUIDX 35560

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "marinafrants" <rusalka at i...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "hollygolightly95" 
> > If all Death Eaters have the Dark Mark on their arm, it should be 
> > easy enough to identify them. If Sirius never was a Death Eater, he 
> > doesn't carry the mark, so why was that not enough to prove his 
> > innocence? Why was he sent to Azkaban without even a trial?
> 
> I would guess that at the time, the Dark Mark was not common knowledge
> (in fact, it still isn't -- it seemed to be news to Fudge when Snape
> revealed his Mark and explained what it was).  The DE's, after all,
> didn't go around flashing it in public -- it was their secret club
> tatoo, a sign of their mystical connection to Voldemort.  I wouldn't
> be surprised if Sirius himself had never heard of the Mark at the time
> he was arrested.
> 
> Later, when Voldemort was gone and the DEs were being rounded up, the
> Aurors and the MoM would've presumably found out about the Mark.  But
> Sirius was already locked up by then, and it wouldn't have occured to
> anyone to say, "Hey, maybe we should drop by Azkaban and take a look
> at Black's arm, just in case he's innocent."
> 
I don' think they were particularly interested in Sirius's innocence.
 They "knew" he had killed Pettigrew and twelve muggles, DE or not. 
Being Voldie's heir apparent might be an embellishment people added
later on as they interpreted what they thought they knew about events.
So Sirius's status as DE wasn't relevant enough to investigate.  

--Dicentra, who figures Fudge is evil and is partly responsible for
framing Sirius