Snape (Was: How is Snape doing it)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 89868

> In Response to Sue's post Carol responded (in part):
> > In other words, I'm arguing that Snape couldn't have been in the
> > graveyard and must be the one who "has left us forever," but I agree
> > with you that he's dealing primarily with Malfoy and not with LV
> > directly. But with Malfoy in Azkaban, that situation has to change,
> > and Snape's danger is almost certain to increase in the next two
> > books. <snip>
> 
> Thanks for the response Carol.  I completely agree with you.  
> Unfortunately I wrote my post before I read yours.  I am, however, 
> still curious about JKR's decision to omit the names of the 6 DE's 
> missing from the circle.  She (or Voldemort) named all  of the 
> others, including some who had been killed:
> 
> "And here we have six missing Death Eaters...three dead in my 
> service.  One, too cowardly to return...he will pay.  One, who I 
> believe has left me forever...he will be killed, of course...and one, 
> who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already reentered 
> my service."  (GOF pg 651 US hardback ed.)
> 
> It has always seemed odd to me that Voldemort never refers to Crouch 
> Jr. by name, only as "my faithful servant".  It leaves the door open, 
> IMO, for the people in those empty positions to be different than we 
> assume.  The "Dark Lord's" servant is not specifically named in the 
> prophacy made by Trelawny in PoA either.  Because JKR uses 
> misinformation and leads us to a conclusion that is not necessarily 
> correct throughout her stories, it just strikes me that these 
> omissions may also be purposeful.
> 
> Anything strike you?
> 
> Sue (Who loves reading your posts and is repeatedly getting in 
> trouble for not snipping enough.  I hope I behaved this time!)

Carol:
Thank you! I've been feeling guilty for spending so much time posting
when I should be doing other things. Now I feel much better--still
guilty but somehow justified or vindicated. :-)

At any rate, I think there are two reasons for the missing names. One,
as you say, is JKR herself not wanting us to be too certain in our
conclusions--making us wonder and wait (and making some of us at least
agonize over Snape ;-) ). And  yet I really don't see how the one who
has left forever and the one who is too cowardly to return could be
anyone other than Snape and Karkaroff or the faithful servant anyone
but Barty, Jr. (I'll probably get some arguments on this, but that's
par for the course here.) 

The other reason, IMO, is that Voldemort doesn't want his Death Eaters
to know too much, especially not his "slippery friend Lucius," who may
be in his inner circle but whom he would be stupid to trust because
he's devious and primarily concerned with his own self-interest.
That's probably why LV avoids naming certain people. He has only one
"faithful servant" (Crouch!Moody) and even he isn't privy to all of
LV's secrets (he's been in Azkaban or under an Imperius curse since he
was nineteen. How much can he know?) And LV is not going to reveal his
secrets, including the identity of that "faithful servant" and the two
missing DEs (Snape and Karkaroff) in front of people who have already
denied him by pretending to have been under an Imperius curse during
VWI. As for the three that have died in his service Wilkes, Rosier,
and ??), I guess he didn't see the point of naming people who can't
help him now. (He didn't name a lot of the people who were in Azkaban,
either--only the Lestranges, meaning either Bellatrix and Rodolphus or
Rodolphus and Rabastan. One Lestrange got left out; so did Dolohov and
a lot of others whose names I can't think of right now.)

But notice that LV also passes over some of the Death Eaters who are
present in the graveyard: "Some of the Death Eaters he passed in
silence" (GoF Am. ed. 651). It seems to me that he's concealing their
identities, too--or maybe by omitting them, he's leaving room for
speculation by the other DEs about the identities of the coward, the
faithful servant, and the one who has left forever. (It's not a matter
of "Well, he didn't name Snape, so he must be one of the three.")

So my question now is, who are these other people whose names he isn't
giving? Ludo Bagman? Narcissa Malfoy? One of the members of the Order
who showed up at the Dursleys' in OoP? I just don't know, but that's
the omission I think will be important.

Carol

P.S. Can anyone think of the name of the Death Eater, other than
Wilkes and Rosier, who died in Voldemort's service? Not that it's
important. I'm just curious. C.