[HPforGrownups] The Death Eater Mystery

[Carol Bainbridge]

No: HPFGUIDX 43721

Chris wrote:

>I was re-reading GOF and my attention was caught by a line of Voldemort's 
>when he discusses six missing death eaters.  Three dead, one too cowardly 
>to return, one who has left him forever and one who is his most faithful 
>servent.  Most people assume that they are Karakoff, Snape and Crouch Jnr, 
>but I wonder.  If Snape is to spy for Dunbledore, he MUST go to the Death 
>Eater meeting, but will Voldemort believe him?  Dumbledore told the whole 
>WW that Snape had been a spy, Voldemort is unlikely to welcome him back 
>with open arms.  Indeed, we might expect him to start thr GOF proceedings 
>by killing snape.

That line caught my attention too and I've been wondering about it as 
well.  I definitely pegged Karakoff as the one too cowardly to return, 
although I suppose he could be the one who left forever too.  But these do 
puzzle me.  If Crouch is considered the most faithful servant, then I have 
to wonder about the trial scene when he kept swearing that he had nothing 
to do with the DE's, unlike the pair who went willingly to Azkaban still 
shouting support for Voldemort.  But then if it's not Crouch, why does 
Voldemort leave him out?  He's certainly not the one who has left him 
forever or too cowardly to return.

In any case, let's assume Crouch is the most faithful one and Karakoff is 
one of the others.  Karakoff and the other DE are going to get punished by 
Voldemort.  If Snape is the 3rd, he can't go sneaking back if Voldemort 
believes him to be anything other than most faithful.  (And what about 
veritaserum?  But that's a separate discussion.)  However, we know that 
Snape was a DE and that he goes off to do something at the end of GoF, 
presumable to rejoin the DE's in some fashion.

So what if Snape is actually the one that Voldemort believes to be the most 
faithful servant?  We don't really know what Snape did or what the outcome 
was of his participation in Voldemort's downfall.  Perhaps Snape was acting 
as a double agent of sorts, which would then make his known allegiance to 
Dumbledore a non-issue.  In that case, though, Voldemort would really have 
to trust Snape in order to not use veritaserum on him or just kill him 
outright.  Maybe the statement "left me forever" means something other than 
"permanently withdrew support."  Maybe it's someone who does not come to 
meeting and has become a liability.  That could make Crouch Jr. a 
possibility.  Voldemort isn't terribly forgiving and allows 
less-than-totally-faithful followers to go on only when they are useful to 
him (i.e. Pettigrew).  That could refer to Crouch Jr as well.  He was not 
totally faithful as witnessed by his behavior at the trial, but he was 
useful.  His usefulness, however, once he has gotten Harry to Voldemort, is 
over.  I don't know.  It's a stretch, I know, but I just can't believe that 
JKR is going to go with the obvious on this one.  It's too like her to take 
us all by surprise and I'll bet this is going to be one area where we're 
going to be very surprised by the events.  It's what makes her stories so 
deliciously exciting.

Carol Bainbridge
(kaityf at jorsm.com)

http://www.lcag.org