The blond Death Eater – A further appraisal with conclusions

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No: HPFGUIDX 142009

A little while back I posted an article entitled "Bagman as loyal 
Death Eater and big blond" (#141482). In view of certain questions 
raised with me both here and at the Chamber of Secrets forums I now 
offer another look. I remain firm in my views that Ludovic Bagman is 
the blond Death Eater variously described as huge, enormous, massive 
or big (herein referred to as the BBDE).

For reasons that I hope will become clear I am no longer convinced 
that Bagman assisted Barty Crouch Jnr., except perhaps as a back up, 
in his plot in GOF, however I still believe that Bagman was aware of 
the plot, even if he did not actively encourage it, as I had 
postulated earlier.

Due credit is given to the following for pointing out certain 
difficulties with my earlier article:

(i)	Username destany from Chamber of Secrets forum.
(ii)	Christina, Carol and Valky from HPGfU
(iii)	Username unrecalled from Chamber of Secrets forum.

All references in this article come from the Bloomsbury hardback 
editions of GOF and HBP.

As with my earlier piece I will start with relevant known facts 
regarding Bagman (slightly amended), which are:

(i)	Ludovic Bagman was accused of activities relating to the 
Death Eaters, which are unspecified, in the aftermath of Voldwar 1. 
He is found guilty of passing information to Rookwood and basically 
let off due to his popularity as a Quidditch player. Harry believes 
Bagman to be a Death Eater and this is not contradicted by 
Dumbledore. I, therefore, conclude that Bagman was and is a Death 
Eater. Further evidence is set out below.

(ii)	He played Beater for Wimbourne Wasps and England. This is 
suggestive of his size as Beaters are consistently described as 
large.

(iii)	He disappeared after the third task in GOF and has not been 
heard from again.

Two other suspects will be considered, either of who could be the 
BBDE, but about whom we do not have enough canon evidence to make 
any concrete conclusions. They are Otto Bagman and Goyle Senior.

This is presented for purposes of identification and I, contrary to 
an editorial on Mugglenet entitled "The Enormous Blond Death Eater", 
do not believe that the BBDE will be of any future great import in 
book 7 except insofar as the Death Eaters will also somehow have to 
be finally dealt with by the WW in order to restore order once 
Voldemort is killed / neutralised.

The starting point for this discussion is the descriptions of the 
BBDE by various parties in Chapters 28 and 29 of HBP. I have 
concluded that the perspective of each character in describing the 
BBDE is important to establishing exactly how large he is, so now 
for your enlightenment, he is described thus:

(i)	Through Harry's filter when first meeting the BBDE he is 
said to be enormous ("Harry saw Tonks fighting an enormous blond 
wizard" [Chapter Twenty Eight – The Flight of the Prince, page 558] 
and "I know, I'm on it!" said Harry, aiming a hex from the floor at 
the enormous blond Death Eater [page 559])

(ii)	Again from Harry's POV "he could just make out three figures 
racing across the lawn, heading for the gates beyond which they 
could Disapparate – by the looks of them, the huge blond Death Eater 

" (page 560)

(iii)	Also from Harry's POV, but with Hagrid to compare 
against "the blond Death Eater was aiming curse after curse at the 
gamekeeper" (page 561).

(iv)	Twice again described as huge and once again as enormous 
from Harry's POV (pages 562 and 563).

(v)	Ginny tells us in Chapter Twenty Nine – The Phoenix Lament 
on page 571 "And a Death Eater's dead, he got hit by a Killing Curse 
the huge blond one was firing off everywhere-". She also says huge 
in her description on page 578.

(vi)	Ron on page 578 says "and that massive Death Eater was still 
firing off jinxes all over the place"

(vii)	Lastly Lupin on page 579 says: "Well, the big Death Eater 
had just fired off a hex that caused half the ceiling to fall in".

There are, therefore, no less than five perspectives on the BBDE, 
two from Harry and one each from Ginny, Ron and Remus. Remus, who is 
the only fully-grown wizard, says the BBDE is big, while the three 
students say he is variously enormous, huge or massive. It is 
interesting that when seen against Hagrid he is described only as 
the blond Death Eater, in my view because in comparison to Hagrid, 
who we know to be gargantuan, he is of relatively normal looking 
size, or to put it another way of manageable proportions.

The only people in canon with Death Eater associations who have been 
described as big or large or tall are Ludovic Bagman and Goyle Snr. 
(apart from Crabbe Snr., who is currently in Azkaban probably with a 
baby head unless he has been cured or evaded capture somehow). 
Despite speculation on whether brothers are similar (and I know that 
myself and my brother bear no resemblance to each other whatever 
other than our height) there is no support in canon to suggest that 
Otto Bagman is a big man like his brother. In fact canon would 
oppose that viewpoint in light of the Weasley boys (except for hair 
colour), the Creeveys and the Dumbledores (while conceding that both 
Dumbledores have been described as tall).

Suspect One - Ludovic Bagman (LB)

The addition to my earlier piece in relation to Bagman is that this 
time I am starting from LB as the youngest we have met him, that is 
during his trial, until his appearance, in my view, as the BBDE. The 
initial contact with Crouch Jnr. has also been revised, as it was 
provably false. Only new material is addressed here and my other 
reasoning is contained in the original article.

Additionally I should spell out, as certain responses have focussed 
on the loyalty of LB rather than on his identity as the BBDE, that 
my main reasoning for concluding that LB is the BBDE is the 
descriptive material we were handed about him in GOF. Based on 
description alone LB is the only viable suspect to fit all 
descriptive details that we are given about the BBDE in HBP.

A younger LB is accused of "charges relating to the activities of 
the Death Eaters". (GOF Chapter Thirty – The Pensieve page 514). 
Note the plurality here suggesting that there was more than one 
count on LB's case, although he is pronounced guilty only of giving 
information to Rookwood, who he explains is a friend of his father's.

The description of LB at his trial is that "he was tall and lean and 
muscly" (GOF Chapter Thirty – The Pensieve page 514), in other words 
a typical Beater.

> 	Valky has stated elsewhere:

>	I would say, that the rattling chains indicate Bagman is 
certainly *partially* guilty of the crime he is on trial for, if 
indeed that is what they do (and I tend to agree with Carol, that is 
what they do).

In which case other misdeeds such as cheating on his bets, which we 
*don't know* was happening during VWI, might not have anything to do 
with the guilt that is implied in the Pensieve. Bagman is on trial 
for aiding Death Eaters, and the chains rattle ominously as though 
they *want* to lock him up for something, but he's up on the wrong 
charge, so they can't. The charge he should be up on, in that case 
*could* be that he was a Death Eater but one that doesn't 
necessarily always *aid them*. All befitting of an ex-beater 
who 'accidentally' knocks out / kills his so called cohorts in 
battle.

The balance of my argument for LB as the BBDE is found in my earlier 
article, and particularly the descriptive matters that suggest to me 
that Bagman is a large, powerfully built, blond haired man. These 
will not be repeated as they are fully addressed there (#141482)

I offer some further support gleaned from a further read through of 
GOF. This is in respect of the description of LB amongst the 
Champions and with particular reference to Chapter Eighteen – The 
Weighing of the Wands.

We have been told that a wizard's or witch's wand is a good 
indicator of his or her size. The three champions' wands (I leave 
Harry out because he is not fully physically developed in GOF) are 
described with their lengths on pages 270 and 271. Cedric has a 12 ½ 
inch wand, Krum a 10 ¼ inch wand and Fleur a 9 ½ inch wand. This 
suggests that Cedric is rather tall, perhaps just a little shorter 
than Dumbledore, and that the other two are of fairly average size. 
LB is described as a "slightly overblown cartoon character, standing 
amid all the pale-faced champions" on page 305 (Chapter Twenty – The 
First Task). Despite disagreement with Carol I maintain that LB 
should be interpreted to be rather larger than all the champions, 
and if this supposition were correct then LB would certainly be a 
huge, nay perhaps enormous, man.

Other than my time line being off in the previous piece, in that at 
the point where I contended that LB had met Barty Jnr. in the woods 
Barty Jnr. was not yet aware of the plot against Harry, I still 
maintain that LB is a Death Eater even if he may be a little 
reluctant. Further support for this contention has come to light 
during my reread and I present it as quotations first and will 
expand thereafter.

(i)	Bagman arrives where the Ministry wizards have just stunned 
Winky and Barty Jnr. and we are told `Comprehension dawned suddenly 
on Bagman's round, shiny face; he looked up at the skull, down at 
Winky and then at Mr. Crouch.
"No!" he said. "Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! 
She'd need a wand for a start!"' (GOF Chapter Nine – The Dark Mark, 
page 119)

>From this I take it that LB knows how to conjure the Dark Mark and 
it is suggestive of his knowing the ways of the Death Eaters and 
probably that he is one.

(ii)	Mr. Weasley, a few pages later (page 128) then helpfully 
tells us: "But I'll tell you this 
 it was only the Death Eaters who 
ever knew how to conjure it."

Further indicating that a person who, as LB clearly seemed to, knew 
how to conjure the Dark Mark is a Death Eater.

(iii)	In Chapter Seventeen – The Four Champions, after fake Moody 
has been talking about how Harry got into the Quatriwizard 
Tournament with his thoughts that someone is out to kill Harry on 
page 245 it says: `Ludo Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed 

 "Moody, old man 
 what a thing to say!"'

In my view LB is here trying to deflect suspicion away from what 
fake Moody outlined as the circumstances behind Harry's entry into 
the Tournament and the reasons for it. It seems to me that Bagman 
and fake Moody are deliberately attempting to direct us to look for 
alternative suspects (and of course at this point Karkaroff and 
Snape are still not cleared). This may appear contradictory of an 
earlier statement (and I'm not about to tell you which), but for a 
thoughtful respondent it would not destroy my argument.

(iv)	We are also handed information about LB by Rita Skeeter in 
Chapter Twenty Four – Rita Skeeter's Scoop. Rita was at LB's trial 
and would know of the circumstances leading up to it. She comments 
on page 391 "he was always a bad liar." 

This certainly could lead one to the conclusion that Rita 
disbelieved LB about his excuse at his trial, if not for other 
possible lies. I conclude from this that Rita supports me in my 
contention hat LB is and was a Death Eater.

(v)	Rita also says on page 392 "I know things about Ludo Bagman 
that would make your hair curl
". 

Surely this could not only be referring to his being a dupe in 
passing information to Rookwood. There must be far more to it than 
that and it adds further support to the conclusion that LB is a 
Death Eater.

(vi)	Moving back to Chapter Thirty - The Pensieve when Harry is 
questioning Dumbledore about all he has seen on page 524 we find 
this exchange:

"Er," he said, "Mr. Bagman 
"
" 
 has never been accused of any Dark activity since," said 
Dumbledore calmly.

It transpires that this is exactly what Dumbledore says regarding 
Severus Snape as well. With what we now know of Severus we could not 
possibly say that he (Severus) was not a Death Eater. Whether 
Severus has renounced his position or not is obviously the subject 
of continued heated debate here and elsewhere.

To me this quotation is further support for LB being a Death Eater 
and yes I know it would apply equally to all Death Eaters from 
Voldemort's fall until his return, as they have been very careful 
not to be locked away like so many of their fellows. Why should 
Bagman be any different?

(vii)	Voldemort in the graveyard when speaking to Lucius Malfoy 
says something quite unusual, it is on page 564 of Chapter Thirty 
Three – The Death Eaters:

"And yet you ran from my Mark, when a faithful Death Eater sent it 
into the sky last summer?" 
 "Yes, I know all about that, Lucius 
 
you have disappointed me 
 I expect more faithful service in future."

How did Voldemort know that Lucius ran from the Dark Mark? I suggest 
that LB informed him at some point because LB himself joined the 
muggle-baiting Death Eaters. He only rejoined the Ministry wizards 
quite some time after they had arrived at the scene of the crime of 
conjuring the Mark. He would know that the Death Eaters dispersed 
when the Mark was seen in that circumstance.

The objections that have been raised regarding Veritaserum and Barty 
Jnr. not mentioning LB while under its influence are easily 
answered. Barty Jnr. only answers direct questions under 
Veritaserum. No one questioning him suspects LB and he is, 
therefore, not asked any questions regarding LB. This would explain 
why LB is not mentioned by Barty Jnr. Also LB could quite easily 
have gone to the graveyard as he is not present when Harry returns, 
thus confirming my earlier suggestion that LB disappeared as soon as 
Harry and Cedric did, while pausing only long enough to ascertain 
what the goblins' decision on the winner was.

Finally on LB it has been stated that Harry and at least Tonks saw 
his face. Tonks because she was battling him and Harry because he 
sent a hex at the BBDE's face. In response to this I say that Bagman 
has changed in two years, two years in which he has been dodging 
goblins, and has most probably changed somewhat in appearance, that 
is regained some of his former athleticism. Additionally Tonks may 
only have seen Bagman in passing previously, being a junior Auror 
compared to LB being a Head of Department during GOF. Harry's 
glimpse of the BBDE is fleeting and would be insufficient for him to 
conclude who the BBDE was. Also the Death Eaters are in the habit of 
wearing hoods and these would conceal their identities further. 
After all the hair, which is really the only description other than 
the size we have to work on, if long may show outside the hood.

LB is my favourite for the title of BBDE. That he is not in film 
four only supports my view that the BBDE by himself is not that 
important to the resolution of book 7. LB will be in film 7 if not 
film 6.

Suspect Two – Otto Bagman (OB)

The only reason to support OB as the BBDE is that it is supposed he 
is similar to his brother and he has been in trouble for possession 
of a lawnmower with unnatural powers. If this constitutes proof, as 
has been suggested, then I should immediately change profession from 
lawyer to something else, as this is flies in the face of every 
principle I have and constitutes no proof at all.

Suspect Three – Goyle Senior

In the matter of Goyle Senior as the BBDE I defer to Carol and refer 
those interested to her article on the issue posted earlier 
(#141801), the starting point for which was my suggestion that Goyle 
should be considered a suspect.

I am prepared to defend my theory further so over to you.

Goddlefrood in anticipation of attack