Death Eaters

### Intentions

* Purify the Wizarding race. Conquer wizarding Great Britain and achieve a global dictatorship under a magical regime. Destruction of all enemies

### Affiliation

* Death Eater controlled Ministry of Magic
* Snatchers
* Giant colonies
* Werewolves
* Dementors
* Lethifold

### Enemies

* Muggles
* Muggle-borns
* Blood traitors
* British Ministry of Magic
* Order of the Phoenix
* Dumbledore's Army
* Elementals
* Albus Dumbledore
* Finn Hudson
* Brody Hudson
* Patrick Dunbar
* Liam Dunbar

"*They were a motley collection; a mixture of the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking some shared glory, and the thuggish gravitating toward a leader who could show them more refined forms of cruelty.*"
—Albus Dumbledore on the forerunners of the Death Eaters[src]

The **Death Eaters** was the name given to followers of Lord Voldemort. The group primarily consisted of wizards and witches who were radical pure blood supremacists, who practised the Dark Arts with reckless abandon and without regard to or fear of wizarding law.

Lord Voldemort used this select group of wizards and witches during both the First and Second Wizarding Wars, employing them as his elite force. They often wore black hoods and masks with snake-like eye slits to cover their faces. Only the members of the inner circle of the Death Eaters had Dark Marks burned into their left forearms. When Voldemort touched one of them, each of the Death Eaters felt it, signalling for them to Apparate to their leader's side.

## History

### Forerunners

Before the Death Eaters themselves came to be, Tom Riddle, as Voldemort was known in his childhood and early adulthood, gathered a gang of Slytherin students who considered themselves his friends, though in truth, he felt no real attachments to any of them due to his lack of desire for a true friend.

According to former Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, they were a mixture of the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking glory, and the thuggish seeking a leader who could show them more refined cruelty, and were considered to be forerunners of the Death Eaters since most (if not all) indeed became the first Death Eaters. He manipulated them to do his bidding, and though this led to several nasty incidents over the years, with Riddle's strategic discretion, none was linked back to the group, much less the model student Riddle himself.

### Origins

"*Voldemort... this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too –– some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right.*"
—Voldemort gaining his many followers[src]
By 1970, the Knights of Walpurgis (later renamed the "Death Eaters") was an organisation that included people that Tom Marvolo Riddle, who became Voldemort, knew from his time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Nearly all of those recruited were from Slytherin House. However there may have been recruits from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and even from foreign schools within the ranks as well. There were presumably no Hufflepuff Death Eaters (Hufflepuff House boasted of being the only house never to produce any Dark Wizards). Actively gathering an army of Dark Wizards and creatures, with the belief that his hidden Horcruxes granted him immortality, Voldemort and his followers planned to overthrow the Ministry of Magic.

### First Wizarding War

"*Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves.*"
—Voldemort's undetermined Death Eaters at the height of the war[src]

Death Eater activity during the First Wizarding War consisted of attacks on wizards, witches, and large numbers of Muggles. These were initiated by the Death Eaters, often, but not always, on the orders of Voldemort. When the Ministry did not suffer an ostensible collapse in the eleven years of Voldemort's reign, the Death Eaters began to attack prominent wizarding families. As a result, fear gripped the wider wizard community, but the Death Eaters remained opposed by the Order of the Phoenix, founded by Albus Dumbledore. The Ministry, in retaliation and spearheaded by the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Barty Crouch Snr, legalised the usage of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects, and ordered kill rather than capture, attack first and question later, and imprison without trials.

## Ideology

"*Many of our oldest family trees become a little diseased over time. You must prune yours, must you not, to keep it healthy? Cut away those parts that threaten the health of the rest... And in your family, so in the world...we shall cut away the cancer that infects us until only those of the true blood remain...*"
—Lord Voldemort on his goals in Malfoy Manor[src]

There are hints in the books that a long-standing dispute had existed in the wizarding world regarding the relationship between Magic and Muggles, and the status of magically talented people born to Muggle parents. These disputes clearly date back to at least the time of the founding of Hogwarts, as the Sorting Hat described the rift between pure blood-valuing Slytherin and the other three founders, who were enthusiastic to admit any young witch or wizard of talent.

Though there are hints in Template:TBB and other legends, even Muggle ones, that once upon a time witches, wizards and Muggles were known to each other and interacted. The International Statute of Secrecy was the solution settled upon in the 1600s to end these relationships, preventing misunderstanding, miscommunication, and cruelty by enforcing the hiding of magic and bringing about the obliviation of any Muggle aware of magic. Probably not coincidentally, the Scientific Revolution began in the Muggle world around this time.

But this remained a controversial choice. There were many in the magical world to whom it occurred that, united, the wizarding community had enough power to openly take control of governments worldwide. For some this was just a means of power, wealth, or fame; but to others, such as Dumbledore, who flirted with the idea of a wizard-led society with Grindelwald in his youth, this was an opportunity to improve the world, to use power responsibly and prevent tragedies based on xenophobia and secrecy like the one that had torn apart his own family.

As for Muggle-born witches and wizards, it seems that their status had been the subject of sometimes violent dispute for centuries. At the time of Harry's first year, and perhaps due to the influence of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff long before that, it was considered gross and impolite to openly disparage Muggle-borns or use slurs like 'mudblood'. But clearly, prejudice and belief in the superiority and supremacy of a long-suffering aristocratic class persisted in many corners of the magical community, centred in England around Hogwarts' Slytherin house, just as Slytherin himself had intended. In many ways, this form of racism was delusional just like Nazi white supremacism, relying on a romanticised, imaginary history of wizarding genealogy, and conveniently ignoring realities such as the partial or total Muggle origins of most witches and wizards, the existence of Squibs, and the lack of real differences in talent between pure-bloods and others. And like Germany in the time of the Nazis, while most people were not openly prejudiced, only a few were really courageous enough to stand up to it as well. Most government officials were content to ignore the problems of classism in magical society, and many participated without complaint when the new Voldemort-backed regime began to persecute Muggle-borns.

## Organisation

"*The Death Eaters can't be all pure-blood, there aren't enough pure-blood wizards left. I expect most of them are half-bloods, pretending to be pure. It's only Muggle-borns they hate...*"
—Hermione Granger regarding the Death Eaters[src]

The Death Eaters were an organisation of pure-blood supremacists that coalesced around Voldemort. He found them very useful, as their ranks included wizarding aristocrats that could accomplish his goals through government and money, and deadly, remorseless thugs of all stripes. But he did not really share their passion for pure-blood supremacy. It is hinted at in 1995 that he openly shared his origins with them, and did not try to hide that he saw no shame in his half-blood status, though he held his Muggle parent in contempt. Though he allowed them to establish purification policies when they took over the Ministry of Magic, he busied himself with increasing his own dominion and stamping out opposition, never bothering to help them with these goals.

Death Eaters followed their leader's commands first and foremost, and he treated them ruthlessly, often sending them on impossible missions and punishing them horribly if they failed him, even due to bad luck rather than incompetence. At his command, they worked against Voldemort's opponents, the Order of the Phoenix, through espionage, murder, and battle, and also infiltrated and undermined the Ministry of Magic. When he needed tasks done to increase his own power, he often sent them if he considered the task trivial enough to not warrant his personal attention, such as retrieving the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries and visiting the werewolves and the giants. The Death Eaters' other, more spontaneous activities included Muggle torture and murder for fun, property crime, and plotting the eventual overthrow of the British Muggle government and replacing it with a wizard-dominated system. Upon their success in taking over the Ministry during the Second Wizarding War, they began a campaign to identify Muggle-born witches and wizards and strip them of their wands, or even imprison or kill them, on the trumped-up premise that they must have 'stolen' their magic from a 'real' witch or wizard.

Although some Death Eaters appeared to have been fanatically loyal to Voldemort, such as Bellatrix Lestrange and Barty Crouch Jr, several only aligned with him for the ideals of purification and shared glory, such as Lucius Malfoy and Regulus Black, while many others seemed to serve him largely out of fear, such as Peter Pettigrew. As soon as he was defeated in 1981, many immediately renounced their loyalty and did not attempt to find Voldemort in the intervening years. Those who rioted at the 1994 Quidditch World Cup also fled when the Dark Mark was cast. Bill Weasley speculated then that those Death Eaters were “even more frightened than the rest of us to see him come back”. However, most Apparated to his side if they were able to when Voldemort called them upon his return, claiming that they had been loyal all along.

In turn, even though Voldemort valued the services they provided, and spoke as though they were a family, he saw them as no more than dispensable servants. Voldemort was willing to sacrifice even the most loyal of them if it would serve him well, the most prominent example being Severus Snape, whom he thought to the end was faithful. Some Death Eaters deluded themselves to thinking that they alone knew and understood Voldemort, or were even close to him, but Voldemort never once desired a friend. Coupled with either disloyalty or constant failures, Voldemort lost faith in some of the once-highly revered servants such as Lucius and Bellatrix. As a sign of distrust-based precaution, the Death Eaters did not have knowledge of all their colleagues' identities: Voldemort alone knew who they all were. This was done in order to prevent any traitors from turning all the others in.

Becoming a Death Eater meant a lifetime service to Lord Voldemort. Death Eaters had no opportunity to "hand in their resignation" if the situation looked grim: deserters would be marked for death. Sirius Black thought his younger brother was killed for attempting to quit after being asked to do something hard, even though later this turned out to be the opposite. Igor Karkaroff deserted the Death Eaters after turning many of them over to the Ministry, and even though he went into hiding after his former master was revived, he was eventually caught and killed for his disloyalty. However, Voldemort did forgive the servants who did not attempt to find him but returned when he touched Wormtail's Dark Mark since Snape claimed that, if otherwise, Voldemort would be left with very few followers.

### Hierarchy

"[...] *why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?*"
—Voldemort stating the obligations of Death Eaters[src]

Voldemort's most senior Death Eaters, most of whom were old chums from Slytherin house or younger Slytherin alumni, mostly pure-bloods, and people highly useful to Voldemort for their wealth, skill, or ruthlessness, were bestowed with the Dark Mark on the inside of their lower left arm. These were his inner circle, those he summoned to his side upon his rebirth in Harry's fourth year, and who sat around his high table at Malfoy Manor. Having been branded with the Dark Mark was a symbol of very high status in Voldemort's social order, but was also something of a dangerous burden, as it allowed the Dark Lord to track, communicate with, and summon his chosen few.

The next level down were allowed to wear Death Eater garments in order to command the respect they engendered, but were not Marked. These seem to included those that Voldemort found useful but did not prefer to associate with, such as the 'half-breed' werewolf Fenrir Greyback.

On the lowest rung was a mass of supportive rabble, loyal to Voldemort but not useful enough to him to deal with him directly. They were given orders and opportunities to commit crimes or advance themselves through the senior Death Eaters. On the same tier were witches and wizards under the Imperius Curse (subtly implied to disproportionately constitute the weak-willed, like Pius Thicknesse, the stupid, like Stan Shunpike, and the dubiously loyal), and non-humans of different degrees of sentience such as werewolves, dementors, giants, Acromantula, and Blast-Ended Skrewts. These were pressed into service by the Death Eaters, and sentient groups that would have ordinarily remained neutral like the dementors, giants, and werewolves were brought into the fold with false promises that their grievances would be avenged upon victory in battle. This entire mass was mobilised for Voldemort's attack on Hogwarts, though before then, they were only used to maintain the new regime, or else roam uncontrolled, sowing chaos and demoralisation as they sought individual gain. During Voldemort's assault on Hogwarts, they were used as expendable cannon fodder meant to overwhelm the students and teachers through shear force of numbers or test Hogwarts's formidable magic defences.

## Known Death Eaters

### Death Eaters' allies and other affiliations

The Death Eaters seem to have a hierarchy, with Voldemort at the top, followed by top ranking members, who were often his most powerful and trusted Death Eaters. Arguably, his topmost Death Eaters were Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy (until he lost favour), Bellatrix Lestrange, and Barty Crouch Jr

## Death Eaters list

### **Death Eaters:**

- Lucius Malfoy; (Slytherin) [voluntarily]

-  Draco Malfoy; (Slytherin) [forced]

- Bellatrix Lestrange; (Slytherin) [voluntarily]

- Severus Snape; (Slytherin) [voluntarily]

- Sue Sylvester; (Slytherin) [voluntarily]

- Jonathan Raeken; (Slytherin) [voluntarily]

- Theo Raeken; (Slytherin) [forced]

- Jackson Whittemore; (Slytherin) [forced]

- Alex Russo; (Slytherin) [forced]

- Santana Lopez; (Slytherin) [forced]

- Andy Payne; (Slytherin) [forced]

- Zayn Malik; (Slytherin) [voluntarily]

- Alisha Daniels; (Slytherin) [voluntarily]

- Rory Regan; (Slytherin) [forced]

- Rami Milton; (Slytherin) [voluntarily]

- Noah Puckerman; (Slytherin) [voluntarily]

- Kim Hall; (Gryffindor) [voluntarily]

NOTE: All Slytherin students whose parents are Death Eaters are considered Death Eaters as well. They have no choice in the matter. Some Slytherin students do agree with Lord Voldemort’s pure-blood supremacy, others do not and defy him in secret.

### **Allies:**

- Narcissa Malfoy; (Slytherin)

- Lucille Malfoy; (Slytherin)

- Elizabeth Milton; (Slytherin)

### **Rejected becoming a Death Eater:**

- Garrett Douglas;

- Joshua Dunbar;

- Patrick Dunbar;

- Liam Dunbar;

- Becky Johnston;