Death Eater Modus Operendi

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 36551

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "talondg" <trog at w...> wrote:
> Some thoughts on how the Death Eaters operated back when Voldy was 
at 
> his height.
> 
> 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.

Huh?  Where does the "couple of dozen" come from?  My impression of 
the DEs is that there are quite a few of them, and that one of the 
reasons they are scary is that they can blend into "normal" wizard 
society.  In GoF "Padfoot Returns" Sirius talks about how things were 
during V's first rampage - you don't know who the DEs are.  All you 
know is that every day there are more stories about who has died, 
been tortured, disappeared, etc.  I get the feeling that this is 
caused by more than 24 or 36 people...

 
> 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.

Hmm, not sure about this.  It would seem that if this were the case, 
the good guys would be able to come up with a defense that would give 
a higher degree of protection to those who most openly oppose Voldy. 
Did Lily and James make a big deal of their opposition to V, and thus 
become greater targets, or was there something else afoot, which made 
them a target regardless of their opposition to the dark side?

 
> 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.

They were given permission to use the Unforgivable Curses, but does 
that automatically more powerful than the average DE?  I don't think 
there is evidence of that.  Think about the 20 hit wizards who showed 
up to bring Sirius Black into custody.  Did they really need all 
these people unless they believed that Sirius had some way powerful 
Dark Magic?  


> 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.

I think that Voldy/DEs can pick a target and strike without a huge 
amount of DE activity.  I don't think that hordes of DEs showed up to 
torture the Longbottoms - several would have probably done the trick.

 
> 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)

Yes, but he can't be that stupid as to assume that speed alone is a 
measure of good Death Eater-ness. What if Lucius Malfoy, when 
summoned by his DE mark, is in a meeting at the MoM which has to do 
with  whether or not Dumbledore should remain as Headmaster at 
Hogwarts?  I would think that V would  be more than happy to excuse 
Malfoy from showing up if he was engaged in deposing Dumbledore.
> 
> This, then, begs two questions:
> 
> 1) Was Voldy alone when he went after Harry and his parents?

No, IMO, Wormtail was there.
 
 
> 3) What happens if Harry uses Avra Kedavra on Voldy??

Voldy dies.  


Marianne