deathtocapslock | Who were the most important Death Eaters during the first war?

If Lucius, Bellatrix, or Severus weren’t among the most important Death Eaters during the first war, then who was?

We know that old Nott, an elder Rosier, an elder Mulciber, Dolohov, Macnair, Rookwood, and Karkaroff were Death Eaters during the first war. Also possibly an elder Lestrange and an elder Avery since they were in Slughorn’s club looking admiringly at Tom. (Alternatively, the elder Lestrange and Avery could have balked at joining the Death Eaters and, as people who knew too much, became some of Tom’s early victims — though probably not until after they’d married had had kids.) What do we know about any of these candidates?

The elder Rosier was one of Tom’s early followers, one of the four who accompanied him on the job interview trip. If he was Evan, he was killed. If Evan was Severus’s schoolmate, we never hear about the elder Rosier again. He may have been killed or captured. If captured, he presumably died in Azkaban before the mass break-out. We don’t know his status before he was taken out of commission, but he’s a possible candidate for a higher-ranking Death Eater.

There’s only one Mulciber alive and free when Karkaroff names him, since Karkaroff doesn’t have to specify which Mulciber he means, so both Mulcibers were out of commission after that point. The elder Mulciber was also part of the job interview cheering squad. We don’t know whether he was the Imperialist-specialist Mulciber. Other than these two tidbits, we don’t know what either Mulciber did during the first war. So the elder Mulciber is another possible candidate for a higher-ranking DE.

Similarly, there’s only one Avery named in the graveyard and no second Avery in the Azkaban escapees. If the Avery in the graveyard was Severus Snape’s schoolmate, either something happened to the elder Avery or he wasn’t a Death Eater in the first place. He wasn’t part of the cheering squad, which might tilt the odds in favor of his not joining the Death Eaters — but on the other hand, maybe Voldemort brought his least valuable followers on that occasion. That would allow for a high-ranking elder Avery left behind for his protection.

We don’t hear about any living male Lestranges in the 1990s besides relatively-young Rodolphus and Rabastan. The elder Lestrange also wasn’t part of the cheering squad, which suggests the same possibilities as it does for Avery. I like him as a higher-ranking DE in the early days, killed or captured before that final spasm of violence in the last year of the war (the distance in time would explain why he wasn’t included in discussions of his younger relatives’ trials). But canon says so little that just about anything is possible. Maybe he refused to join and was killed to keep him from saying too much about Tom’s schooldays, if you prefer.

We don’t know what Nott ever did besides get injured and arrested or killed during the 1996 Ministry raid. But he apparently had money and social status and has been loyal for decades. In the graveyard, Voldemort lumped Nott in with the elder Crabbe and Goyle as Death Eaters who should “do better this time,” so it’s possible that Nott failed badly somehow near the end of the first war and is still in the doghouse. But he might have been high-ranking before that. Perhaps he was one of those tasked with bribing and blackmailing Ministry officials and suchlike, given his wealth. A role model for Lucius?

Dolohov was widely feared by the public, so he was probably out committing violence during the first war. We don’t know whether he was just a very effective foot soldier or whether Voldemort trusted him with any leadership responsibility.
Voldemort promises Macnair better prey than the animals he executes for the Ministry, so probably Macnair was committing violence during the first war too. Also like Dolohov, we don’t know whether he was entrusted with anything else.

Rookwood lost his primary value when Karkaroff shopped him, and was recaptured or killed during the 1996 Ministry break-in after his first escape, so he isn’t very prominent during the second war. But he might have been the spymaster at the Ministry during the first war. His name is the only useful one Karkaroff gives Crouch, and led to more arrests, like Ludo Bagman’s. Inasmuch as Voldemort values or trusts anyone, Rookwood might have been one of those people, possibly for decades. He probably gathered information from dupes and Imperiused puppets and maybe managed lower-level spies. We don’t know whether he also participated in violent missions, but that seems like a pointless way to risk a difficult-to-replace spymaster. And Karkaroff doesn’t finger him for any violent crimes.

Moody accuses Karkaroff of participating in at least one torture and murder mission, and Karkaroff knew of violent crimes that Evan Rosier had committed. Maybe Karkaroff was another foot soldier. (Visiting from abroad and living in Death Eater safe houses?) On the other hand, he knew about Rookwood and Snape. Rookwood was almost certainly involved in intelligence gathering and possibly sabotage, Imperius, etc. within the Ministry, and possibly not in violence. How would Karkaroff know about him? Maybe Karkaroff was a diplomat who hung out with the Ministry crowd, and recognized Rookwood as a Death Eater based on his posture and voice? Or was he one of Rookwood’s agents, one who both participated in violent missions and gathered information? Maybe he was internal security and reported on fellow Death Eaters, with whom he had no school and probably few close family ties if he was raised outside Britain; acting as a foot soldier was his cover to observe their performance and let Rookwood know whose skills were subpar or whose loyalty seemed to be wavering. Maybe he just happened to run into Snape at Snape’s day job (whatever that was) and recognized him as the guy who stood next to him during circle time. Or, as others have suggested, maybe one of Snape’s jobs was serving as a DE Healer, and he treated Karkaroff’s injuries at least once, again allowing Karkaroff to recognize Snape in another context.

What about other possibilities not confirmed in canon? Cygnus Black is a likely candidate. He might have been recruited by his Rosier in-laws and recruited his daughter Bellatrix and son-in-law Lucius in turn. There are multiple versions of the Black family tree, one giving Cygnus’s death date as 1979 and one as 1992. A 1979 death date could make him one of the senior Death Eaters arrested or killed during the war, while a 1992 death date might mean he survived the war only to die in the same dragonpox epidemic that killed Abraxas Malfoy and possibly several other elder Blacks (Arcturus, Pollux, Cassiopeia, and Lucretia).

The fact that we never hear about Cygnus might argue against his being a Death Eater. Shouldn’t Sirius have made a snide remark about Regulus and Bellatrix falling for the B.S. Uncle Cygnus fed them about the Dark Lord? Or Kreacher have mentioned that Regulus was upset about his uncle’s death when Voldemort demanded a house-elf, implying he already had doubts and Voldemort’s callous treatment of Kreacher was the last straw? Perhaps another dragonpox epidemic from 1977-1979 killed Cygnus as well as with Orion Black, Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, and Charlus and Dorea their son — nothing to do with the war. Members of the Black family seem to have trouble surviving past eighty, so maybe they all inherit the same disease vulnerabilities or congenital health problems. On the other hand, Sirius was out of touch with his family in 1979 and Kreacher might not have known the relevant details. And if Cygnus was killed quietly by Voldemort in a purge of his older (too knowledgeable) followers and his death staged to look natural, maybe few realized what really happened.

So, here’s a possible original lineup:

The elder Lestrange, elder Rosier, elder Avery, Nott, and Cygnus Black are higher-ranking Death Eaters, possibly cell leaders. They plan attacks and give orders to the foot soldiers (possibly fighting alongside them too), and bribe and blackmail important people. How much of which activities they perform varies by individual and over time.

Dolohov fights and may or may not also have leadership responsibilities.

Rookwood is a spymaster; besides getting information from dupes (or pretending-to-be-dupes) like Ludo Bagman and Imperiusing Ministry employees to get information and commit sabotage and whatnot, he has authority over a few other Death Eater spies. His reports may include Mulciber the Imperius specialist and Lucius Malfoy (whose skills lie in the bribing, blackmailing, and Imperiusing line, even if he participates in violence too — though bear in mind that Voldemort in the graveyard might have been mocking Lucius for “leading” from a safe distance). Torturing people for information is another possible duty for this group, maybe in cooperation with the foot soldiers.

Karkaroff is outwardly a “floater” who joins different groups when they need an extra wand for a job, and maybe also does a bit of spying if he had a legitimate (possibly diplomacy-related) day job in Britain. But his true job is internal security: spying on his fellow Death Eaters for Voldemort.

Then the elder Lestrange, elder Rosier, and maybe elder Avery went to prison or died. If they died in a Voldemort-initiated purge in late 1979 or early 1980, shortly after the prophecy was made, this may have misled the Order of the Phoenix into thinking Regulus Black must have been one of the purge victims.

Voldemort took the opportunity offered by the purge to start flattening his organizational structure, maybe alternating who in each cell would be in charge of a given mission rather than having permanent cell leaders. So lower-ranking followers like Travers and second-generation followers like Bellatrix and young Rosier got entrusted with more responsibility and information, but not to the degree that Tom’s original schoolmates had. New recruits like Peter, Severus, and Barty never got much information or authority at all during the first war, and Severus and Barty were being prepared for probable-suicide missions anyway.

(Incidentally, if Severus was an emergency medic for the DEs, he’s another candidate for an internal security operative, like Karkaroff. Treating injured comrades and drugging them for valid medical reasons would offer good opportunities for poking around in their minds without their realizing or remembering. This usefulness doesn’t stop Voldemort from sending him on a probable suicide mission to Hogwarts to deploy the diary and/or kill Dumbledore when he gets the word.)

At some point, probably near the end of the war since it’s still worth mentioning in the graveyard in 1995, Nott screwed up. If this wasn’t directly before Voldemort’s discorporation, Voldemort may have had time to strip Nott of some authority.

Does that work? Any other suggestions?

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: an undisclosed Death Eater meeting place