How Many DEs Left? Was:Dark SHIPS ( was Re: Possession)

[greatelderone]

No: HPFGUIDX 91124

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" 
<justcarol67 at y...> wrote:
> Carol:
> Nah, I won't call you simplistic. It's just that it bothers me to be
> able to account for less than thirty Death Eaters, living and dead,
> when Lupin said there were originally about 400. That's a lot of
> missing people, who can't possibly be accounted for as killed by
> Aurors.

Why not? After Voldemort's fall they'd be as weak as lambs against 
the order and the aurors under the ministry who could no doubt have  
wiped out the main body of death eaters with possible infighting 
under Voldemort and after Voldemort's death(power vaccum) being 
another reason. This question is like asking what happened to the 
10,000 jedi knights we see in the prequels and how we're only left 
with Obi-Wan and Yoda. It's the same answer, they were hunted down 
and wiped out like Rosier and Wilkers. Remember the aurors under the 
ministry were allowed to use the unforgivables like the av.

> And LV didn't seem to think that the number of DEs in the
> graveyard was inadequate (knowing, of course, that one more was at
> Hogwarts and ten more were in Azkaban waiting to be rescued--a bit
> worse for wear, but we won't bring that up).

Remember Voldemort was also counting on getting the giants and 
possibly dementors to further bulk up and rebuild his army. Besides 
things have changed after the first war. He has become the literal 
boggy man of the wizarding world and the leader of the ministry is a 
fool.

> That's it? And now most of the escapees plus Malfoy and a few others
> are back in Azkaban (not that I think they'll stay their but their
> cover is completely blown). That plus several hundred renegade
> Dementors and about eighty giants who seem as prone to kill each 
other
> off as to side with any wizard? That's LV's army? 

You're forgetting that Voldemort could conscript more wizards in his 
army through the imperius curse which it seems he did in the last 
war. No doubt that would net him quite a number of foot soldiers 
who'd serve as canon fodder.

Plus you're putting too much emphasis on numbers which isn't 
everything in war(communications and logistics which Voldemort has a 
good handle on i think). Furthermore the opposition namely the 
ministry is governed by Fudge who is barely competent and the order 
of the phoenix doesn't even have the numbers of soldiers(giants, 
dementors& des) that he has. Now his biggest worry is probably going 
to be securing a base of operations to launch his campaigns of terror 
and domination if he has not done that already.

> Either this new war
> is going to be very small-scale and personal, or there's something 
we
> don't know--like 370-odd Death Eaters elsewhere in Europe or (if JKR
> remembers our existence) America.

We don't even know what Voldemort's plan of action is. Before his 
cover was blown it seems his primary plan was to gather allies&more 
intelligence while trying to discredit his enemies. Remember he was a 
head boy and quite brillant with more than a decade for planning his 
return so no doubt he has a plan for the giants, dementors and the 
DEs.