[HPforGrownups] The Death Eaters Are Off Their Game?

[Lady Macbeth]

No: HPFGUIDX 71776

Dan Said:

>>> I found the Department of Mysteries fight scenes rather strange and...
dare I say, Unbelievable? Here we have a handful of students who for the
longest time beat the living Spam out of a bunch of qualified evil wizards
and witches (trained under the Most Evil Lord Thingy). Does it make sense
that these wizards, clearly Oh-So-Evil enough to pull off Unforgivables,
choose not to use them? Not one fatality for the Students. Little Harry
manages to do a good enough Protego charm to protect himself from various
curses, so why not the DEs? Sure, they were trying to get the prophecy back
to Lord Thingy, but there were plenty of times they could've
killed/seriously injured one of the kids. Why not do a quick switching spell
on one of the brains and one of Ron's vital organs? It doesn't need to be
accurate--even done wrong, it'd still probably kill him... were they just
forgetting that they're the bad guys who are supposed to be more skilled and
underhanded than a couple teenagers? <<<

Lady Macbeth:

Are we possibly defining Death Eaters as worse than they are?  Someone else
had alluded to the idea that they're not like centaurs, they're not above
hurting children.  Do we KNOW that to be true?  Remember, at least a few of
these "ruthless, coldblooded killers" have children of their own; children
who seem for the large part to bear no outward ill-will toward them.
Children who get sent candies and cakes from home.

Voldemort asked a very relevant and very telling question in Goblet of Fire
when his "loyal" Death Eaters had returned:

Goblet of Fire, American Hardback edition, Pg 647:

----- "I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact -- such
prompt appearances! -- and I ask myself...why did this band of wizards never
come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?" -----

And again later:

Pg 650:

----- "Lucius, my slippery friend," he whispered, halting before him.  "I am
told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you
present a respectable face.  You are still ready to take the lead in a spot
of Muggle-torture, I believe?  Yet you never tried to find me,
Lucius....Your exploits at the Quidditch World Cup were fun, I daresay...but
might not your energies have been better directed toward finding and aiding
your master?"

"My Lord, I was constantly on the alert," came Lucius Malfoy's voice swiftly
from beneath the hood.  "Had there been any sign from you, any whisper of
your whereabouts, I would have been at your side immediately, nothing could
have prevented me --"

"And yet you ran from my Mark, when a faithful Death Eater sent it into the
sky last summer?" said Voldemort lazily, and Mr. Malfoy stopped talking
abruptly. -----

Then, even though Voldemort directs attention to Harry, Malfoy once again
brings the attention back to Voldemort.

Pg 652:

----- "Master, we crave to know...we beg you to tell us...how you have
achieved this...this miracle...how you managed to return to us...." -----



This suggests to me that while admittedly some of the Death Eaters are
racist to the point of violence toward Muggles, they don't necessarily hold
with Voldemort's ideas of killing anyone who gets in the way, especially if
they are children from well-respected and/or pureblood wizarding families.
The purebloods know as well as any others that their race is dwindling -
they're the ones marrying their cousins after all - so it wouldn't help
their situation at all to kill their own youth.  Youth can be swayed, but
not if they're dead.

I began to wonder even as early as the first couple of books if these "Dark
wizards" weren't as "evil" as they were cracked up to be - if, possibly, a
lot of them hadn't found themselves regretting joining Voldemort, but unlike
Snape didn't have the safety of Hogwarts to flee to.  Malfoy certainly
didn't, because of his bias against Muggles.  MacNair didn't, because of his
bias against dangerous creatures.  The list likely continues.  Snape, for
reasons yet unrevealed, had some potential that Dumbledore felt earned him
the protection of Hogwarts.

-Lady Macbeth



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