Death Eater Modus Operendi

[talondg]

No: HPFGUIDX 36515

Some thoughts on how the Death Eaters operated back when Voldy was at 
his height.

Some things we know:

1) The DEs are a secret society, ostensibly secret even from each 
other. Only Voldy knows the complete roll of the DEs.

2) There aren't all that many of them; a couple dozen at the most. 
This means that, when compared to the size of the greater wizarding 
community, they are greatly outnumbered.

3) Every wizard is _armed_ - that wand is the wizarding equivelant of 
a firearm, and all wizards have had some measure of training in its 
use as a weapon. The skill of the average wizard in DATBA will vary 
quite a bit, and the DE's willingness/ability to use Forbidden Curses 
is an advantage in a straight-up fight, but the fact remains that 
attacking any wizard is a hazardous proposition.

4) Most of the targets of the DEs (aside from the occasional Random 
Act of Terror and Muggle Killing) are those who most openly oppose 
the DEs and Voldy. These wizards are more likely to be stronger and 
better defended than Joe Average, making them tougher targets.

5) Aurors in particular seem very tough. They are not bound by the 
restrictions on the Forbidden Curses as are the general public, and 
they are highly trained in magical fighting. An Auror is probably 
worth several DEs in a fight - tangling with an Auror is something to 
be avoided at all costs.

6) In the absence of Aurors, Ministry wizards seem duty-bound to 
respond to the presence of DEs. Any public sighting of a DE is thus 
likely to attract a lot of immediate response from an increasingly 
large crowd of Ministry wizards and Aurors - you will not see a DE, 
identifiable as such, casually walking down Diagon Alley.

>From this, we can conclude that the MO of the Death Eaters is likely 
to be similar to that of all guerillas/terrorist cells - lie low, 
congregate quickly on a summons, strike en masse, and then get the 
hell out of Dodge before the calvary shows up.

That Voldy has a pre-arranged method for quickly summoning the DEs to 
him (the burning Dark Tattoo) bears this out. A Death Eater attack 
would likely proceed as follows:

1) Voldy moves to a staging area near the intended target.

2) He sommons the DEs, who apperate in next to him. (And it would be 
consistant with Voldy's personality that this summons would happen 
without any prior warning, and that the speed at which a given DE 
responded would be a measure of loyalty)

3) The DEs + Voldy proceed to the target, and do whatever they 
intended to do to it, as quickly as possible.

4) Once accomplished, they send up the Dark Mark (I suspect known to 
the DEs as "auror bait") to let the world know they have Struck Again

5) They immediately disperse before anyone can react to the Dark Mark

This, then, begs two questions:

1) Was Voldy alone when he went after Harry and his parents?

2) If so, why break with established procedures?

and as an (unrelated) bonus question:

3) What happens if Harry uses Avra Kedavra on Voldy??

DG