GOF Chapter 33: The Death Eaters
Aug. 19th, 2011 03:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslockVoldemort enjoys having his new body. Doesn't care much about Peter, though. Peter who was thoughtful enough to place the wand with which he killed Cedric into the robes he prepared for Tom. Possibly while Harry was not looking due to scar-pain. Tom's first use of his wand in his new body is to levitate Peter and drop him. Peter is begging for something Tom had promised him (perhaps that he would heal his arm afterwards?), but Tom has other priorities - he wants to see Peter's other arm, the left one, with the Mark. (Do we know if Peter is left handed? Because twice he mutilated his right one.) The Mark is back now, vivid and red. I think we are meant to understand Peter had it since before Godric's Hollow, though we don't know how long before. Since I still think pre-GH!Tom still had most of his marbles I tend to think Peter got Marked in the last week of the war, possibly as a reward for bringing Tom the Secret of the Potters' location (because Tom's favorite manner of rewarding loyal servants is to give them more opportunities to risk their lives for his causes).
Tom presses Peter's Mark - it turns black (apparently on the arm of every DE alive). So if Tom wants to call his army he needs at least one of them in immediate proximity. An odd way to handicap oneself. This is also the last plot-significant action by Peter. If Tom had let him die nothing significant would have changed, except perhaps we would have seen Barty's expectation to be rewarded with greater disbelief.
Returning to Voldemort is brave (unless you are Peter Pettigrew). Staying away is foolish. Because he Cruciates those who return and chases to the death those who do not. Until the end, when he killed his own people too.
Tom shares with Harry the story of his birth. Mostly based on what Morfin told him. Though the bit about Tom Sr leaving Merope when she told him she was a witch is his own made up speculation. He doesn't mind Harry knowing he was a half-blood. Well, he didn't expect Harry to survive. But he doesn't mind Peter overhearing them either. Because which DE would listen to him anyway?
Here comes his true family. This choice of words reminds me of Scott Atran's thesis that terrorist organizations act as 'fictive kin' to their members. See for his Aha! moment. Did the DEs play Quidditch together? Heck, Regulus was a Seeker. If Tom used the same recruitment tactics as Al-Qaidah then perhaps much of the Slytherin Quidditch team (for many years) may have ended up in the organization. (This also supports the fanwank of Bellatrix coming to Hogwarts for Quidditch games of her cousins Evan Rosier and later Regulus Black and using that opportunity to sound out potential recruits.) However it turns out Tom treated his chosen family only slightly better than his biological one.
The DEs form a circle around Tom (and thus also Harry and Peter), leaving gaps for the dead, the captured and the otherwise absent.
Tom isn't happy with DEs who used the Imperius plea or other means to remain free. Because they didn't use this freedom to bring him back. Hmm. The DEs knew the steps Tom took to guard himself against 'mortal death' (is there any other kind?) Really? He may have boasted that he used some measure, I doubt he announced the specifics.
Oooh! Tom accuses the DEs of aligning themselves with Albus! Is this about Severus?
Anyway, based on past experience, what Harry should have done now is yelled something about how Dumbly was the bestest wizard ever. That would have brought Fawkes to him and solved his troubles.
What's the deal with Avery? What makes him beg for forgiveness for all of them? Elkins had essays about how he was a remorseful DE. In OOTP he appears to be a DE with some ties at the Ministry, perhaps works there, who brings Tom false information about who can remove prophecies from their shelves. He is one of the DEs who participates in the Ministry raid and gets captured there - and is never heard from again. Did he deliberately provide false information to stall Tom's progress? We'll never know.
Torturing Avery was the second act of magic the returned Tom does with his wand. The third is creating Peter's silver prosthetic hand. A hand strong enough to crush a twig. And to strangle Peter to death. Tom warns Peter about wavering loyalty. Did Peter's loyalty waver when he was strangling Harry despite orders to bring Harry alive or when he let go of him?
Peter stands to Lucius' left. Hmm. Tom refers to the levitation of Muggles by the DEs as 'Muggle torture'. So when we hear someone accused of torture we don't need to jump to the conclusion that the Cruciatus was employed. Lucius attempts to excuse his inaction over the years in there being no hint regarding Tom's whereabouts. If indeed Lucius arranged for the Lestranges to torture the Longbottoms in order to get rid of Bella, by suggesting the Longbottoms may have such information, it all looks beautifully ironic.
On Lucius' right is the gap for the Lestranges. Who will be honored, certainly. With being assigned more missions for Tom. Honored beyond their dreams? To quote Terri from Lord Voldemort and the Servant Problem
Honored beyond his dreams, indeed! Though if you want to get technical about it, Barty undoubtedly had had dreams of being Kissed by a Dementor. Frequently, even. And I’m sure that the three Lestranges, once escaped, had had nightmares of being sent on another raid, captured, and sent back to Azkaban. Which is what happened to two of them; only chance and her own competence (not Lord Voldemort’s protection) preserved Bella from the same fate.
He takes this opportunity to announce that the dementors will join them. Not rejoin or return. The dementors were the Ministry's so far. They will recall the banished giants. Well, 2 of them. He shall have all his devoted servants returned to him - OK, he will break Bella out of Azkaban. Does he consider anyone else as devoted? Barty already has the DADA curse on his head. He'll have an army of creatures whom all fear. What was this about? He already mentioned the dementors (who were more like free agents most of the time). Who else did he have? There was Fenrir. But no other werewolf is shown to be promoting Tom's goals. And when the DEs camp in the Forbidden Forest the spiders invade the school (and capture Hagrid). That's it.
But here in the graveyard he sounds like he actually has a plan.
Tom addresses only some DEs. And all those he mentions by name will turn out to have already been cleared. He wasn't paying them compliments, he was pointing them out to others as negative examples. In Tom's eyes, the best are those who tried to find him and failed. Next are those who died or got caught and couldn't seek him. They are followed by those who were never suspected. Worse are those who were suspected but actively denied him by claiming Imperius. And the ultimate worst are those two who chose not to come back (so far).
Crabbe and Goyle are the largest DEs. In HBP Rowle (yet unnamed) will be described as enormous. Maybe he too was in Azkaban. Nott appears to be a geriatric DE.
Now I'm wondering if even after the graveyard reunion the DEs were out about their participation to those DEs they didn't know well before. Of the DEs that participated in the Ministry battle in OOTP 6 were known Azkaban veterans, 5 were Imperius claimants. Jugson was the only new name. Were the Imperius guys chosen by Lucius because he had interacted with them in the past? Did they volunteer in attempt to remedy their position with Tom? Or did he pick them because now that Tom outed them he certainly knew them too? Was Jugson another of the ex-prisoners? OTOH the Carrows are not among those Tom was displeased enough with to mention. Two sadistic and not very smart siblings that just blended in wizarding society and were never suspected? Goyle didn't participate in the Ministry raid. Because Lucius has standards? In fact, this is Goyle Sr's last appearance in canon. Perhaps he found the winning formula - be so incompetent nobody would want him to do stuff.
The one too cowardly to return will be punished, the one who left forever will be killed. Before OOTP many readers took this threat to mean Severus couldn't return to spying on Tom, that his exposure by Igor and Albus' subsequent defense made it impossible. As it turned out, he managed to dodge that bullet.
Of course this raises the question of Ludo - was he a DE or not? Since he isn't one of those reprimanded for not showing up then if he was a DE he must have been in the circle (rather than dodging goblins somewhere). But he wasn't mentioned as one who denied his master either, and he clearly denies any connection to Tom in his sentencing. Well so did Barty. So the only way Ludo could have been a DE was if like Barty he played an important role in Tom's return. For instance by putting up the Triwizard Tournament. Oh well, back to square one on the question of Ludo.
Lucius asks for more exposition. He knows this is a way to distract his master with something he enjoys. That Lucius dares to ask, that he can speak on his own without being Cruciated, together with Tom directing the most detailed criticism to him earlier suggests he is the highest ranking DE of those present. But by the time he was out of school there were already not only Tom's original school friends but also enough of the next generation to have the early stages of Tom's campaign underway for a couple of years already. When did Lucius rise to his position? How did he surpass those of higher levels of cruelty? Did he manage to gain a position that put him mostly outside most of the action by taking the role of financial backer or recruiter? Or perhaps he only rose to the higher status at the very tail end of the war, when most top people (such as Dolohov who was around from day 1 and stood out both in cruelty and fighting ability) got arrested or killed?
In any case, Tom obliges. He seems eager to share his story. What drama! Maybe he should write his own book? He could easily outdo Rita Skeeter.
Of Lily's blood protection: "this is old magic. I should have remembered it" - not "I should have figured it out" - doesn't this sound like something that was known, based on experience, even if a very rare occurrence? Tom is confident he got it right this time around - he makes a point of touching Harry in front of the crowd of DEs, without having tried in private beforehand. "Pain beyond pain, my friends" - poor Tommy. My heart bleeds for him. But he was top immortality researcher and one or more of his multiple experiments must have worked. The DEs were aware his goal was to conquer death. How many of them joined in hope that once his work was perfected he might share his achievement with them? (No, he never planned to do so. He didn't need competition.)
If he wanted a DE to find him, why hide in Albania? How were any of them supposed to locate him? Why not go to, say, Bella's home? I guess he didn't trust any of them? Perhaps he knew why? Possessing animals shortened their lives. I doubt Quirrell would have lasted much longer than he did regardless of Harry. Perhaps Tom delayed physically possessing him because he doubted he'd survive long enough? Quirrell was foolish and gullible - very similar to Quirrellmort's description of his former self. He was easy to bend to Tom's will. Was Quirrell put under some kind of magical compulsion or was he convinced of Tom's arguments for the superiority of power over anything else?
Tom isn't aware of events that took place between Quirrell's death and Peter's arrival. It seems Peter didn't bother to tell him about COS events. I suppose he didn't expect that story to go down well. But he did tell Tom how rats perceived him. Tom likes such compliments, no matter how lowly the source. Why did Peter enter the inn in human form? Rats can find food rather easily. Perhaps he recognized Bertha and expected capturing her to earn him points? Tom says Peter displayed unexpected presence of mind - ahem, he's the one who faked his death most convincingly in front of many witnesses! I think Tom fears Peter might acquire a following among the DEs and is quick to squash it.
How did Tom interrogate Bertha? Was he already in Babymort form? Did he possess her for a while and 'read' her mind from the inside? He was able to punish Quirrell, both in vapor form and while possessing him. Neither required a wand.
Tom implies the creation of BabyMort was his own invention. Did all previous makers of Horcruxes end up as ghost-like beings? Or did Tom fare worse than his predecessors because he was killed by his own AK, shortly after 2 AKs that tore his soul even further than it already was? Anyway, it seems BabyMort was formed shortly before they left Albania, so probably after Bertha was dead. (Though if Nagini was Horcruxified with her death than Babymort must have been created while she was still alive.) Tom sounds like returning to his body was a temporary measure before pursuing a Philosophers' Stone or the equivalent. Perhaps he was hoping to avoid being reduced to vapor again. However we never see him doing anything of the like. Unless it was happening during HBP, when Harry had no Voldievisions.
His revival was due to an old piece of Dark Magic. So it was done before? I'm getting confused. Does this mean previous Horcrux makers made themselves new bodies without going through a baby stage? But only Harry's Gary Stu blood could make Tom more powerful than before. Tom knows about the protection at 4PD (a year before Albus told Harry about it)? was that something Peter picked up at some point - spying on Dumbles in rat form? Or was this information Albus arranged for Quirrell to find out? Or did Voldie attempt to invade 4PD in vapor form?
Dumbledore invoked an ancient magic, to ensure the boy's protection as long as he is in his relations' care. Not even I can touch him there ...
This does sound like he tried. Maybe during the weeks just before Harry's 11th birthday? Anyway, Tom believes the protection is localized, if he even considered kidnapping Harry from the QWC. So instead he decided to have his servant bring Harry to him as Triwizard Champion. And didn't consider any of the many other options to have Harry sent to him from Hogwarts. Ah! Finally Tom can Cruciate Harry properly! What satisfaction he must have felt. And the DEs laugh. Because at last it isn't one of them who is suffering.
Now that Tom has shown he can touch Harry and cast spells on him, he is confident enough to face him in a public duel. Peter will return him his wand. And once he is dead he will be fed to Nagini as promised.
Tom presses Peter's Mark - it turns black (apparently on the arm of every DE alive). So if Tom wants to call his army he needs at least one of them in immediate proximity. An odd way to handicap oneself. This is also the last plot-significant action by Peter. If Tom had let him die nothing significant would have changed, except perhaps we would have seen Barty's expectation to be rewarded with greater disbelief.
Returning to Voldemort is brave (unless you are Peter Pettigrew). Staying away is foolish. Because he Cruciates those who return and chases to the death those who do not. Until the end, when he killed his own people too.
Tom shares with Harry the story of his birth. Mostly based on what Morfin told him. Though the bit about Tom Sr leaving Merope when she told him she was a witch is his own made up speculation. He doesn't mind Harry knowing he was a half-blood. Well, he didn't expect Harry to survive. But he doesn't mind Peter overhearing them either. Because which DE would listen to him anyway?
Here comes his true family. This choice of words reminds me of Scott Atran's thesis that terrorist organizations act as 'fictive kin' to their members. See for his Aha! moment. Did the DEs play Quidditch together? Heck, Regulus was a Seeker. If Tom used the same recruitment tactics as Al-Qaidah then perhaps much of the Slytherin Quidditch team (for many years) may have ended up in the organization. (This also supports the fanwank of Bellatrix coming to Hogwarts for Quidditch games of her cousins Evan Rosier and later Regulus Black and using that opportunity to sound out potential recruits.) However it turns out Tom treated his chosen family only slightly better than his biological one.
The DEs form a circle around Tom (and thus also Harry and Peter), leaving gaps for the dead, the captured and the otherwise absent.
Tom isn't happy with DEs who used the Imperius plea or other means to remain free. Because they didn't use this freedom to bring him back. Hmm. The DEs knew the steps Tom took to guard himself against 'mortal death' (is there any other kind?) Really? He may have boasted that he used some measure, I doubt he announced the specifics.
Oooh! Tom accuses the DEs of aligning themselves with Albus! Is this about Severus?
Anyway, based on past experience, what Harry should have done now is yelled something about how Dumbly was the bestest wizard ever. That would have brought Fawkes to him and solved his troubles.
What's the deal with Avery? What makes him beg for forgiveness for all of them? Elkins had essays about how he was a remorseful DE. In OOTP he appears to be a DE with some ties at the Ministry, perhaps works there, who brings Tom false information about who can remove prophecies from their shelves. He is one of the DEs who participates in the Ministry raid and gets captured there - and is never heard from again. Did he deliberately provide false information to stall Tom's progress? We'll never know.
Torturing Avery was the second act of magic the returned Tom does with his wand. The third is creating Peter's silver prosthetic hand. A hand strong enough to crush a twig. And to strangle Peter to death. Tom warns Peter about wavering loyalty. Did Peter's loyalty waver when he was strangling Harry despite orders to bring Harry alive or when he let go of him?
Peter stands to Lucius' left. Hmm. Tom refers to the levitation of Muggles by the DEs as 'Muggle torture'. So when we hear someone accused of torture we don't need to jump to the conclusion that the Cruciatus was employed. Lucius attempts to excuse his inaction over the years in there being no hint regarding Tom's whereabouts. If indeed Lucius arranged for the Lestranges to torture the Longbottoms in order to get rid of Bella, by suggesting the Longbottoms may have such information, it all looks beautifully ironic.
On Lucius' right is the gap for the Lestranges. Who will be honored, certainly. With being assigned more missions for Tom. Honored beyond their dreams? To quote Terri from Lord Voldemort and the Servant Problem
Honored beyond his dreams, indeed! Though if you want to get technical about it, Barty undoubtedly had had dreams of being Kissed by a Dementor. Frequently, even. And I’m sure that the three Lestranges, once escaped, had had nightmares of being sent on another raid, captured, and sent back to Azkaban. Which is what happened to two of them; only chance and her own competence (not Lord Voldemort’s protection) preserved Bella from the same fate.
He takes this opportunity to announce that the dementors will join them. Not rejoin or return. The dementors were the Ministry's so far. They will recall the banished giants. Well, 2 of them. He shall have all his devoted servants returned to him - OK, he will break Bella out of Azkaban. Does he consider anyone else as devoted? Barty already has the DADA curse on his head. He'll have an army of creatures whom all fear. What was this about? He already mentioned the dementors (who were more like free agents most of the time). Who else did he have? There was Fenrir. But no other werewolf is shown to be promoting Tom's goals. And when the DEs camp in the Forbidden Forest the spiders invade the school (and capture Hagrid). That's it.
But here in the graveyard he sounds like he actually has a plan.
Tom addresses only some DEs. And all those he mentions by name will turn out to have already been cleared. He wasn't paying them compliments, he was pointing them out to others as negative examples. In Tom's eyes, the best are those who tried to find him and failed. Next are those who died or got caught and couldn't seek him. They are followed by those who were never suspected. Worse are those who were suspected but actively denied him by claiming Imperius. And the ultimate worst are those two who chose not to come back (so far).
Crabbe and Goyle are the largest DEs. In HBP Rowle (yet unnamed) will be described as enormous. Maybe he too was in Azkaban. Nott appears to be a geriatric DE.
Now I'm wondering if even after the graveyard reunion the DEs were out about their participation to those DEs they didn't know well before. Of the DEs that participated in the Ministry battle in OOTP 6 were known Azkaban veterans, 5 were Imperius claimants. Jugson was the only new name. Were the Imperius guys chosen by Lucius because he had interacted with them in the past? Did they volunteer in attempt to remedy their position with Tom? Or did he pick them because now that Tom outed them he certainly knew them too? Was Jugson another of the ex-prisoners? OTOH the Carrows are not among those Tom was displeased enough with to mention. Two sadistic and not very smart siblings that just blended in wizarding society and were never suspected? Goyle didn't participate in the Ministry raid. Because Lucius has standards? In fact, this is Goyle Sr's last appearance in canon. Perhaps he found the winning formula - be so incompetent nobody would want him to do stuff.
The one too cowardly to return will be punished, the one who left forever will be killed. Before OOTP many readers took this threat to mean Severus couldn't return to spying on Tom, that his exposure by Igor and Albus' subsequent defense made it impossible. As it turned out, he managed to dodge that bullet.
Of course this raises the question of Ludo - was he a DE or not? Since he isn't one of those reprimanded for not showing up then if he was a DE he must have been in the circle (rather than dodging goblins somewhere). But he wasn't mentioned as one who denied his master either, and he clearly denies any connection to Tom in his sentencing. Well so did Barty. So the only way Ludo could have been a DE was if like Barty he played an important role in Tom's return. For instance by putting up the Triwizard Tournament. Oh well, back to square one on the question of Ludo.
Lucius asks for more exposition. He knows this is a way to distract his master with something he enjoys. That Lucius dares to ask, that he can speak on his own without being Cruciated, together with Tom directing the most detailed criticism to him earlier suggests he is the highest ranking DE of those present. But by the time he was out of school there were already not only Tom's original school friends but also enough of the next generation to have the early stages of Tom's campaign underway for a couple of years already. When did Lucius rise to his position? How did he surpass those of higher levels of cruelty? Did he manage to gain a position that put him mostly outside most of the action by taking the role of financial backer or recruiter? Or perhaps he only rose to the higher status at the very tail end of the war, when most top people (such as Dolohov who was around from day 1 and stood out both in cruelty and fighting ability) got arrested or killed?
In any case, Tom obliges. He seems eager to share his story. What drama! Maybe he should write his own book? He could easily outdo Rita Skeeter.
Of Lily's blood protection: "this is old magic. I should have remembered it" - not "I should have figured it out" - doesn't this sound like something that was known, based on experience, even if a very rare occurrence? Tom is confident he got it right this time around - he makes a point of touching Harry in front of the crowd of DEs, without having tried in private beforehand. "Pain beyond pain, my friends" - poor Tommy. My heart bleeds for him. But he was top immortality researcher and one or more of his multiple experiments must have worked. The DEs were aware his goal was to conquer death. How many of them joined in hope that once his work was perfected he might share his achievement with them? (No, he never planned to do so. He didn't need competition.)
If he wanted a DE to find him, why hide in Albania? How were any of them supposed to locate him? Why not go to, say, Bella's home? I guess he didn't trust any of them? Perhaps he knew why? Possessing animals shortened their lives. I doubt Quirrell would have lasted much longer than he did regardless of Harry. Perhaps Tom delayed physically possessing him because he doubted he'd survive long enough? Quirrell was foolish and gullible - very similar to Quirrellmort's description of his former self. He was easy to bend to Tom's will. Was Quirrell put under some kind of magical compulsion or was he convinced of Tom's arguments for the superiority of power over anything else?
Tom isn't aware of events that took place between Quirrell's death and Peter's arrival. It seems Peter didn't bother to tell him about COS events. I suppose he didn't expect that story to go down well. But he did tell Tom how rats perceived him. Tom likes such compliments, no matter how lowly the source. Why did Peter enter the inn in human form? Rats can find food rather easily. Perhaps he recognized Bertha and expected capturing her to earn him points? Tom says Peter displayed unexpected presence of mind - ahem, he's the one who faked his death most convincingly in front of many witnesses! I think Tom fears Peter might acquire a following among the DEs and is quick to squash it.
How did Tom interrogate Bertha? Was he already in Babymort form? Did he possess her for a while and 'read' her mind from the inside? He was able to punish Quirrell, both in vapor form and while possessing him. Neither required a wand.
Tom implies the creation of BabyMort was his own invention. Did all previous makers of Horcruxes end up as ghost-like beings? Or did Tom fare worse than his predecessors because he was killed by his own AK, shortly after 2 AKs that tore his soul even further than it already was? Anyway, it seems BabyMort was formed shortly before they left Albania, so probably after Bertha was dead. (Though if Nagini was Horcruxified with her death than Babymort must have been created while she was still alive.) Tom sounds like returning to his body was a temporary measure before pursuing a Philosophers' Stone or the equivalent. Perhaps he was hoping to avoid being reduced to vapor again. However we never see him doing anything of the like. Unless it was happening during HBP, when Harry had no Voldievisions.
His revival was due to an old piece of Dark Magic. So it was done before? I'm getting confused. Does this mean previous Horcrux makers made themselves new bodies without going through a baby stage? But only Harry's Gary Stu blood could make Tom more powerful than before. Tom knows about the protection at 4PD (a year before Albus told Harry about it)? was that something Peter picked up at some point - spying on Dumbles in rat form? Or was this information Albus arranged for Quirrell to find out? Or did Voldie attempt to invade 4PD in vapor form?
Dumbledore invoked an ancient magic, to ensure the boy's protection as long as he is in his relations' care. Not even I can touch him there ...
This does sound like he tried. Maybe during the weeks just before Harry's 11th birthday? Anyway, Tom believes the protection is localized, if he even considered kidnapping Harry from the QWC. So instead he decided to have his servant bring Harry to him as Triwizard Champion. And didn't consider any of the many other options to have Harry sent to him from Hogwarts. Ah! Finally Tom can Cruciate Harry properly! What satisfaction he must have felt. And the DEs laugh. Because at last it isn't one of them who is suffering.
Now that Tom has shown he can touch Harry and cast spells on him, he is confident enough to face him in a public duel. Peter will return him his wand. And once he is dead he will be fed to Nagini as promised.
Re: Building Workable Horcruxes
Date: 2011-08-21 05:34 pm (UTC)Re: Building Workable Horcruxes
Date: 2011-08-21 08:21 pm (UTC)