Macnair and Dawlish

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 153292

On an entirely different note from recent posts, I've been thinking
about the Hagrid-centered events in OoP. We know that Hagrid was
trailed by some "berk" from the MoM and that later he observed Macnair
and "another Death Eater" negotiating with the murderous new
"Gurg,"Golgomath. Neither the MoM tracker (whom Hagrid and Madam
Maxime shake off their trail near "Dee John") nor the second Death
Eater is identified. We don't know whether Hagrid ever sees his face.
What if he's the same person? Could he be Dawlish?

We know that Macnair is both a Death Eater and a Ministry of Magic
employee whose job is to deal with dangerous beasts and Dark creatures
(he was the would-be executioner of Buckbeak and the messenger sent by
Fudge to fetch the Dementors to suck out Sirius Black's soul). But
Voldemort has promised him more rewarding jobs. Who better to send as
his ambassador to the largest "Dark creatures" of all than Macnair/

And yet Fudge (no Death Eater, just deluded about DD's motivations)
also has reason to contact the giants. DD himself has advised him to
do it, and if DD is sending Hagrid (as Fudge certainly suspects--see
Umbridge's words and actions in OoP), then it's in his interest (or so
he would think) to send his own ambassador. Again, who better than
Macnair to handle the job?

I think that Macnair was serving two masters here, pretending to work
for Fudge but really working for Voldemort. Quite possibly Lucius
Malfoy suggested Macnair for the job, knowing quite well who was
Macnair's true master.

And what about the second Death Eater, assuming that Hagrid is right
in so identifying him? (He's working with Macnair, a known Death
Eater; therefore Hagrid assumes that he must be a DE himself.)

Could the second man be Dawlish? We know that Dawlish has been tailing
DD in HBP (and has been jinxed for his pains). He is among the Aurors
who attempt to send DD to Azkaban after Dumbledore gets Harry off the
hook by pretending to be training "Dumbledore's Army" to overthrow
Fudge. He is also among the Aurors who show up with Umbridge to arrest
Hagrid (and end up hospitalizing McGonagall with four Stunners to the
chest).

If both the man who trailed Hagrid and the man who accompanies Macnair
as the DE (and MOM?) ambassador to the giants are the same person, it
makes sense to me that he is Dawlish. If that's the case, he certainly
knows that Macnair is a Ministry employee. Does he know that Macnair
is also a Death Eater? If so, Hagrid must be right, and Dawlish is a
Death Eater, too. But it's also possible that he doesn't know that
Macnair is a DE, any more than Fudge knows that his dear friend Lucius
and his useful beast slayer Macnair are DEs.

Anybody? Are they the same person? Are they Dawlish? Is Dawlish a
Death Eater?

Carol, who thinks that Dawlish is too conspicuous in both OoP and HBP
to be merely a name