Time, the reverse spell, James and Lily, Voldemort, wierd...

[Matt]

No: HPFGUIDX 81328

Warzog1 asks why none of Voldemort's followers
are nearer his age, with the oldest we know of
being Bellatrix (unknown, but a bit older than 
MWPP cohort) and Lucius (early 40s in OP).
(I have reproduced warzog1's exact language
below.)

A few points in response:

1. We are told (by DD, I believe, and please
pardon the lack of citation as I do not have
the books in front of me) that LV disappeared
for quite a while after school, immersing 
himself in an (apparently solitary) study of
the dark arts and his pursuit of immortality.
He then came back around 1970, unrecognizable
to most as the former Tom Riddle, and began
to recruit followers.  (In the first chapter
of PS/SS, set in 1981, DD says that witches
and wizards have had "precious little to
celebrate" for the last 12 years, implying
that LV's campaign began around 1969 or '70.)

2. Because he did not identify himself as Tom, 
it seems unlikely he would have been recruiting 
among old school friends.  Indeed, identifying 
himself as a "half-blood" would have been in 
tension with the ideology he was espousing at 
this point.  (I say "at this point" because
we do not know just how well-formed his
political views were when he was in school,
although there are of course the indications
of hostility toward Muggle-borns from his
statements as Diary Tom in C/S, and from the 
fact that he apparently used the monster to 
terrorize Muggle-borns.)

3. In any event, it appears that much of 
Voldemort's success in recruiting in the
1970s period was among young people --
see, for instance, Sirius' reference to a 
gang of Slytherins, including the Lestranges,
who "almost all" became Death Eaters.  
Similarly with Barty Crouch, who was 
apparently recruited as a teenager.  It
would make some sense that a persuasive 
leader with radical views and brutal methods
would have an easier time recruiting among
the young, the inexperienced, the impression-
able.  This fits in with Sirius' story about 
his brother Regulus becoming a follower and 
realizing too late the consequences of his
decision.  It also fits in with the anologies
that others have made on this list between the
Death Eaters and terrorist (or quasi-terrorist)
groups, which typically find their most rabid
adherents among the young.  A similar analogy
might be made to cults.

4. Those recruits who were young adults (say 
15-22) during the 1970s, when LV was actively
recruiting, would be 31 to 48 in the 1995-96 
period when the events of OP take place.

5. It is clearly the case that older members
of the WW supported Voldemort in other ways
than becoming Death Eaters (there is the strong
implication in OP, for instance, that Sirius'
parents helped fund LV).  And there is at least
one character whom we see as a Death Eater who
is portrayed as older, namely Macnair. 



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "warzog1" <warzog1 at y...> wrote:
> In Book 5, it states that Lucius Malfoy is 41.
> And that Bellatrix, and Molly & Arthur Weasley are a few years older 
> than Sirus, James, Lily, Lupin, etc.
> And with Harry being 15, figure his parents, and the rest would be in 
> their mid-thirties to VERY-early 40's.
> And yet, it states that Lucius is Voldemort's most trusted, and 
> highest ranking Death Eater.
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> BUT...
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> In Book 2, Tom Riddle, aka Voldemort, was 16 years old, 50 years ago.
> By Book 5, he'd be 69 years old.
> So, even given that, as Dumbledore states in Book 5, Voldemort 
> studied the Dark Arts, and slowly built his army into thousands, WHY 
> aren't ANY of Voldemort's followers in their 60's, or 70's?
> Surely, as a member of Slytherin house, he'd have made plenty of 
> friends, and acquaintances, who shared is views.
> And Surely, his most trusted Death Eaters would be comprised of 
> witches and scorcerors in their 60's and 70's.
> Especially if he had the THOUSANDs of followers it states in Book 5.
> After all, Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix has ALL age groups, old 
> & young.
> (And they were being slaughtered, or converted, by Voldemort & his 
> Death Eaters!)