TBAY: Rosier and Wilkes are Dead

[lucky_kari]

No: HPFGUIDX 40967

"It's not the Cruciatus so much," says Eileen. "That hurts alright, 
but they say it makes you stronger. It's the humiliation. The 
allegation that one tortured one's own dolls. I never tortured my 
dolls!"

Eileen seems to hear a ghostly laugh. She spins around. No-one is 
there. 

"Ah, Avery!" Bother, Avery is gone. She is alone. The laughing 
continues.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" cries Eileen.

A ghost suddenly appears, covered with silver blood-stains.

"THE BLOODY BARON!" shrieks Eileen and falls flat on the floor. 

"No. I'm afraid I don't answer to that name," says the ghost. "You 
ought to recognize me. The blood stains are of your own creation. GoF 
said I was killed by aurors the year before Voldemort fell, but you 
did have to insist it was in a bloody ambush." Eileen gazes down at 
her FEATHERBOA, then gets up from the floor.

"Rosier or Wilkes?" she asks as politely as possible.

"Rosier. Evan Rosier."

"Pleased to meet you."

"And I you. It gave me a distinct feeling of payback to see you 
grovelling at Elkins' feet. BTW, do you know any way to take off 
ghostly bloody stains?"

"No," says Eileen.

There is a long silence.

"Is that really my old schoolfriend Avery I've seen about here?" asks 
Evan after a bit. 

"Yes. He doesn't seem to be about right now."

Another long silence. Then suddenly Eileen's questions poured out.

"So were you killed in a bloody ambush? Were you really friends with 
Snape? Did Mad-Eye Moody kill you? Or Frank Longbottom? What about 
Wilkes?"

"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to answer those questions," says Evan 
slowly. "But, that last one... I can't help but think you should ask 
it a little more frequently. You've spent all this time devising my 
death, and you haven't spared a thought for Wilkes."

"But GoF says that you were the one who savaged Moody's nose and that 
Karkaroff tried to indict you, and that you were killed after 
Karkaroff was taken. We have "no more than Rosier deserved." That 
gives us something to go on. With Wilkes... Nothing is said about 
Wilkes. You're just much more interesting than Wilkes," Eileen says, 
figuring a little flattery will do no harm.

Rosier bows, but continues on, "That's not entirely true. You did 
figure out something about Wilkes, didn't you?"

"Right," says Eileen proudly. "We did. Wilkes seems to have been 
killed before Karkaroff was taken. Assuming, of course, that Karkaroff 
and Wilkes were in the same cell, something that seems likely. It's 
funny that Karkaroff omits Wilkes, and it mostly likely means that 
Karkaroff knew Wilkes was dead. Now, Wilkes could have died in the 
same bloody ambush Karkaroff was taken in" (Rosier flinches) "or 
killed by aurors beforehand."

"And you'll leave it there?" asks Rosier.

"I'm not sure where to take it from there."

"Well, I really must go, but I'll leave you with a canon to ponder. I 
heard Elkins say that you're always ready to take the lead in a spot 
of Death Eater Anti-Defamation. Say hello to old Aves for me. And tell 
George that he is insane." In a flash, Rosier disappears. 

Well, well. Rosier has good reason to dislike George, Eileen 
supposes. She looks down at the canon Rosier has left her. It reads 
(in translation from my Spanish edition, as well as I can make it):

"Crouch used violence against violence, and authorized the use of the 
unforgivable curses on suspects. I say he became as cruel and 
"despiadado" as those on the dark side."

But, it's always bugged listies, hasn't it, that the aurors didn't 
have the authorization to use "Avada Kedavra" in the first place. How 
is killing someone in a magical shoot-out evil? But Eileen reads on.

"I must say one thing about Moody. He never killed if he could avoid 
it: always tried to bring them all back alive if possible. He's a 
tough type, but he never descended to the level of "los mortifagos"

And yet, Moody seems to have been the one who killed Rosier. As a last 
resort. 

I'm beginning to suspect that Crouch authorized the use of the 
unforgiveable curses on people already taken into custody. I can see 
the usefulness here. Imperius could have reversed Voldemort's 
strategy. While Voldemort had people in the Ministery under his 
control, Crouch could have had people under Voldemort under his 
control. Cruciatus would have been a very effective way to get the 
information out of a prisoner. And, if someone is no longer useful, 
Avada Kedavra is a very quick and easy way of dealing with the 
problem.

Not to mention the factor of revenge.

Where in canon do we see the aurors overstepping their bounds? Sirius 
is sent to Azkaban, but that's a miscarriage of the justice system. 
He's apprehended alive and sent to Azkaban. Rosier is killed in a 
shoot-out. Travers, Mulciber, Karkaroff, the Lestranges etc. are all 
brought in and sent to Azkaban. There just isn't anyone who fits the 
model. No-one to illustrate something Sirius implies was pretty 
common.

What about Wilkes?

Was Wilkes killed after he was apprehended? In act of vengeance by an 
auror? Did Crouch have him offed because he wasn't useful anymore?

We've already speculated that much of Snape's bitterness stems from 
the fact that he was forced to betray his friends. If Wilkes was 
killed this way, that could have been a hard blow. 

And if Frank Longbottom was involved...

Eileen