Death Eaters

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Harry Potter association
Death Eaters
Headquarters	Malfoy Manor
Leader(s)	Lord Voldemort
Intentions	Preservation of blood purity and serving Lord Voldemort
Enemies	Harry Potter, Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, Ministry of Magic, Muggles
First appearance	Term first used in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, though other followers of Lord Voldemort had been previously met.

In the fictional Harry Potter series, the Death Eaters are a group of wizards and witches, led by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, who seek to purify the greater Wizarding community of Muggle-borns. They also strive, in achieving their goals, to create a new order through the Ministry of Magic and cause fear through the Wizarding community by terrorising and killing important officials and their other enemies. They battle the Order of the Phoenix. They are the chief antagonists of the Harry Potter series. Some notable Death Eaters include Voldemort himself, Bellatrix Lestrange, Peter Pettigrew, Barty Crouch Jr., and Quirrell. Severus Snape, the Malfoy family and Regulus Black are all reformed Death Eaters.

Death Eaters are recognized by the Dark Mark on their left forearm, a sign created by Voldemort and when touched causes all of them to burn instantly summoning members to their master. When carrying out activities under the guise of the organization they wear black, hooded robes and masks which conceal their faces. The film version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire features the Death Eaters in skull masks and black robes with pointed hats. The film version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, they are shown wearing metal masks and more elaborate robes.

In 2003, J.K Rowling said the she was originally going to name the Death Eaters, "The Knights of Walpurgis". ^[1]

Synopsis

The terror of the Death Eaters started 20 years before the first book when Voldemort was trying to restore "purity" to the Wizarding world (with the murder of Muggles). That turned out to be only half of his mission ten years later, when two boys who fit the prophecy of Sybill Trelawney were born in July. "[N]either can live while the other survives," the prophecy predicted, so Voldemort and his Death Eaters went hunting for the boy who was proclaimed to be Voldemort's eventual downfall, Harry Potter. The Death Eaters tortured and murdered hundreds of innocent people for information. Anyone who was a Muggle, opposed them, or were believed to have information, were likely to perish.

The Potters' Secret-Keeper Peter Pettigrew gave them away to Voldemort. On October 31, 1981, Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow to complete the prophecy and kill his infant rival. James Potter, Harry's father, kept Voldemort at bay so Harry and Lily, his wife, could escape. James was unarmed, which made it easy for Voldemort to utter the unforgiveable curse: Avada Kedavra, which killed him instantly. Lily sacrificed herself for her son when Voldemort attacked him, which made an impenetrable barrier lasting till adulthood. We later find out why Voldemort allowed Lily the chance to save herself, due to Snape's love for her. The curse rebounded off Harry and disembodied Voldemort.

When Lord Voldemort was vanquished after failing to kill Harry Potter, the Death Eaters went into hiding and largely disbanded. The Ministry of Magic rounded many of them up and imprisoned them in Azkaban, the Wizarding prison, but some eluded justice by claiming they were bewitched by the Imperius Curse or by turning in other Death Eaters, as Igor Karkaroff did; Harry witnesses Karkaroff's testimony against former Death Eaters in Dumbledore's Pensieve.

Once Lord Voldemort regains his full strength at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, he summons his followers to him by touching Peter Pettigrew's Dark Mark. Some who have betrayed him are too afraid to return to him, and others are dead or imprisoned, but many return to his service as Lord Voldemort begins his second attempt to claim power.

The 'Dark Mark' brand on Barty Crouch Jr's left arm, as portrayed in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The Minister for Magic (Cornelius Fudge) and most of the Ministry of Magic originally refuse to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned. Though Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore serve as dissenting voices, the majority of the public chooses to believe the Ministry's position. This gives the Death Eaters an advantage, and for much of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the group keeps a low profile in order to maintain their secrecy. Because of the Ministry's refusal to remove the dementors from Azkaban, which Dumbledore advised immediately following Voldemort's return, the Death Eaters are able to recruit the dementors to their cause and make similar progress with the giants; the quiet revolt of the dementors also allowed the Death Eaters to bolster their ranks by allowing the mass breakout of several surviving imprisoned members.

Voldemort sends a group of twelve Death Eaters, led by Lucius Malfoy, into the Department of Mysteries, where he expects them to secure a Prophecy. This Prophecy is of vital importance to him: having originally attacked Harry Potter based upon a partial recounting of it, he now wants to hear the full version in order to fully understand the connection between Potter and himself. The raid on the Department fails, however; Potter and his friends delay the Death Eaters and keep the Prophecy out of their hands, finally destroying it, and are eventually aided by Albus Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore captures eleven of the twelve Death Eaters, puts Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange to flight after a fierce duel with the former, and summons Ministry officials, including the Minister for Magic, who arrives in time to see Voldemort.

The raid is thus a profound failure for the Death Eaters: their reactivation is no longer a secret, and Lucius Malfoy, who had been important both to the Death Eaters and within the Ministry, has been captured and imprisoned. However, the Death Eaters proceed to make the most of their move into open action: they resume their old tactics, assassinating and kidnapping important wizards, killing Muggles, and spreading general terror and chaos.

In 1997, the Death Eaters would attack Hogwarts for the first time and attack the students. This attack was not as destructive as their second attack in 1998, which caused the death of over 50 people. It was in this second attack that Voldemort was killed after his own killing curse, directed at Harry Potter, rebounded due to the fact that the Elder wand truly belonged to Harry. Voldemort's final death signaled the end of the Death Eaters.

Ideology

The Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

The Death Eaters seek to destroy wizarding families of Muggle lineage, to destroy the Muggle world and gain complete power and control over the entire wizarding world, and restore the magical community to the pure-bloods. The Death Eaters are supporters of pure-blood heritage, or wizards who have no Muggle ancestors (though their leader Lord Voldemort is a half-blood who had a Muggle father, although this could be considered by some Death Eaters as a minor fact, due to Voldermort's frightful intimidation, fear and heritage (noted as being the Heir of Slytherin). It is unlikely that all of them are pure-bloods, as very few pure-blood wizards still exist; J.K. Rowling has stated on her website that there are no true pure-blood families left, but that those who call themselves such simply strike Muggles and half-bloods from their family records.

The Death Eaters have also attacked pure-bloods who oppose them: for example, the Prewett brothers, who were Purebloods, but members of the Order of the Phoenix. Rowling has said that a Muggle-born wizard can become a Death Eater "in rare circumstances". ^[2]

The Ministry of Magic has a unit of law enforcement officers known as the Aurors, a squad of the most accomplished trackers and criminal hunters in Britain. Aurors are responsible for hunting and capturing – or killing, if necessary – Death Eaters and other criminals. The Ministry is not the only group resisting the Death Eaters: the Order of the Phoenix, an organization set up by Albus Dumbledore to combat Lord Voldemort and his followers, plants spies among the Death Eaters and fights on a more covert level. Dumbledore's Army, a secret study group created by Harry Potter in which the members secretly learn the use of Defense Against the Dark Arts magic, also fights the forces of Voldemort.

Known Death Eaters

See also

• Dark Arts
• Dark Mark
• Lord Voldemort
• Dark wizards in Harry Potter

References

1. ^ JK Rowling interview in full BBC 19 June, 2003
2. ^ http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=80
3. ^ "J.K. Rowling Web Chat Transcript", The Leaky Cauldron, 2007-07-30. Retrieved on 2007-07-30. 
4. ^ "J.K. Rowling Web Chat Transcript", The Leaky Cauldron, 2007-07-30. Retrieved on 2007-07-30. 
5. ^ http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=5 Malfoy & Nott (Chamber of Secrets/Goblet of Fire)

External links

• Harry Potter Lexicon item on Death Eaters
• [1]

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