Death Eater Modus Operendi

[talondg]

No: HPFGUIDX 36599

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "kiricat2001" <Zarleycat at a...> wrote:
> --- 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?  

>From the end of GoF, when Voldy summons the DEs to him to witness the
(attempted) killing of Harry.

I'm at a disadvantage here, as (unlike the other 3 books) I "read" GoF
on audio tape, and so I cannot easily re-reference the appropriate
passages. But the impression I got was that the DEs formed a 
single-ranked circle around Voldy - a circle with notable gaps in it,
due to DEs being captured/killed/afraid to show up.

That suggests a couple of dozen people at most, certainly fewer than
100, and probably more on the order of a quarter of that.

> 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. 

Agreed. Anybody could be a DE. In fact, even if you're a DE, you don't
necessarily know who else is a DE - act disloyal to Voldy (as a DE)
and maybe your next door neighbour (who unbeknowst to you is also a
DE) will rat you out.

So yeah, everybody is afraid of the DEs - even themselves. From
Voldy's POV, that's a very good thing "Let them hate, so long as they
fear!"

> I get the feeling that this is caused by more than 24 or 36 
> people...

But it doesn't require large numbers to spread terror.

Consider the most blatent, recent example. 6000 people dead, the
ecomomy crippled, the airline industry up against the ropes, tourism
savaged, people everywhere afraid to fly.

16 (is that number right?) people involved. And of those people, there
is strong evidence that, of the operatives on the planes, only 2 per
plane *actually knew* what the mission really was (the others just
thought it was a typical hijacking w/ransom, and they were there as
"muscle")

So that's 6 people, plus maybe a couple more involved in planning and
training. Call it 10. Doesn't take much manpower, does it?
 
> > 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.

Ah, but you see, that's just the point.

If your objective is to spread terror, then you want to drive home the
point that NOBODY is safe - that you can reach out and touch ANYBODY,
no matter how well protected.

The better protected they are, the bigger the effect of striking that
target down.

Imagine, for a second, the consequences if the DEs were able to pop
into Hogwarts and kill Dumbledore in his office and escape
unscathed....
 
> 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?

That, we don't know. But they certainly went through a lot of trouble
to set up better than average defences, via the Secret Keeper.

Their failing was placing too much trust in the security of the Secret
Keeper. They got complacent, and so (it seems) got caught unprepared.

Constant Vigilance! ;)

> > 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? 

Absolutely.

There are three major differences between an Auror and a DE

1) An Auror is a legitmate "fighting wizard", so they can be openly
trained in combat techniques, and more importantly, PRACTICE on a
constant basis. A DE, however, has this other, public life to carry
on, and simply cannot get the amount of fighting practice (it must be
carried out in secret, in their spare time) than an Auror can.

2) Part of an Auror's training would be teamwork; working in concert
with other Aurors. If the Aurors were at all smart, they would work in
pairs or groups at all times, and would practice doing so. DEs don't
hang out with each other except when summoned by Voldy, so they don't
get this practice time. When it's time to fight, they are a group of
individuals, not a concerted unit.

3) Aurors would be selected for natural aptitude in fighting skills,
logical thought processes, and other skills necessary to their job.
DEs, on the other hand, are selected for "evil personalities" and a
willingness to serve the Dark Lord. 

It can be assumed that all Aurors are competant fighters, but not all
DEs will be - some will be better than others, but their quality will
be all over the map.

I can provide a real-life example, if you like.

> 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?  

Wasn't Sirius an Auror?

And in any case, "he wins who gets there first with the most men" - it
never hurts to err on the side of caution. Bringing more force to the
party rarely hurts your cause. ;)


> > 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.

What if there are only "several" DEs to begin with? There may not *be*
a horde to summon. :)

And we've seen no evidence that Voldy's Summoning Tattoo of Fire is at
all selective.
 
> > 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.

Sure he can. He's LORD VOLDEMORT, the DARK LORD! His needs and desires
are FAR more important than the needs and desires of any underling. He
calls, you COME, **NOW** - your paltry excuses mean nothing to me,
mortal!

Think about it - if any DE can blow off a Summons for any reason, then
there's no way to ensure any of them will ever answer at all....

"Sorry I didn't answer the Summons My Lord, but the season finale of
"the West Wing" was on, and my TiVo was on the fritz...."

DG