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DEs and their accomplices after Voldemort |
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 Mar 18 2008, 04:52 PM
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Terrortours Travel Agent
Posts: 6,828
Joined: 12:34pm January 24, 2007
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Before DH Voldemort's forces included his old guard of DEs, including 21 survivors that were named in canon and around 20 (give or take a few) unnamed ones (judging from the size of the circle in GOF and number of attackers in the Battle of the Seven Potters), one new recruit (Draco Malfoy), a couple of giants (do we ever see more than 2 at the same time?), Fenrir Greyback and possibly some of his werewolves, some Imperiurized wizards like Stan Shunpike (I think he and the two others falsely arrested in HBP were held together with the DEs in Azkaban, so were freed together in the break-out) and the dementors.
Before the Battle of the Seven Potters Yaxley managed to Imperiurize Thicknesse, and together they set out to convert others in the Ministry, presumably mostly Aurors and members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (because those were the people with whom Thicknesse interacted the most) - towards the overthrow of Scrimgeour.
During the battle we know of at least 8 DEs that were hit one way or another - Rodolphus Lestrange by Ron, 2 by Kingsley and Hermione, 5 by Harry. It isn't clear how many of those died, though I wouldn't rule out some 2-3 DE deaths. I don't think there were any other DE deaths before Voldemort heard of the loss of the cup Horcrux except Peter Pettigrew, because the DEs faced little opposition and mostly engaged in low-risk activities. The Order was mostly lying low or on the run, engaging at most in publicizing events (Potterwatch), protest (Hagrid's party) and helping people with defensive measures. The Aurors were probably serving Thicknesse's regime, as we see with Dawlish.
On the other hand, once the Ministry fell I imagine many jumped on the DE bandwagon who were not DEs in the first war. Many of these would be younger people, especially those not yet settled down (these are always the easiest to recruit). Many of these would be the recent Slytherin Hogwarts graduates, the ones who saw Dumbledore's partiality to Harry. Others would be people hoping to gain position in the new regime by serving Voldemort. I can imagine they participated in guarding Hogsmeade (there were a dozen of DEs when the trio's Apparition triggered the alarm), random terrorism against Muggles, perhaps some of the attacks against breakers of the Taboo on Voldemort's name or spying on suspects like the Weasleys. Since this category includes people who got the dark Mark they very likely participated in the Battle of Hogwarts. I do not know how many would fall in this category, but I imagine the number in the area of 30-40.
Inside the Ministry there were people like Umbridge, people in high positions who supported the new regime willingly and took initiative to implement policies against Muggle-borns and blood-traitors. There were also people like Thicknesse, who were forced into supporting the regime. At the low positions it would be hard to tell who was following orders willingly and who was just doing what it took to keep their jobs and to keep their families safe. How many of the people printing pamphlets for Umbridge liked their jobs? But we do know of Runcorn, who was known to have gone the extra mile by researching the family background of people he suspected to be Muggle-borns. And we know of the wizard who was glad that Runcorn's efforts might get him a chance to take over the Muggle-born's job. I doubt people like Umbridge or Runcorn attempted to get the Dark Mark, they liked working from the comfort of their offices without getting their hands dirty. We do know Thicknesse participated in the Battle of Hogwarts, and I would guess many of his Imperiurized associates did so too.
And then there were the Snatchers - groups of 5 (well that was the size of the 2 groups we heard of) who were searching for Muggle-borns, escaped students, Taboo-breakers and other wanted people for profit. We know Fenrir was one of them and I imagine at least some of the others were werewolves and other outcasts of wizarding society, people who had a hard time getting a job for whatever reason, maybe the Crabbes and the Goyles of previous decades. We know Fenrir participated in the Battle of Hogwarts (hoping for a bite of young flesh?). Perhaps some of the other Snatchers did also, but it is hard to tell. This group was motivated mostly by profit, not ideology, and I doubt they'd risk themselves in real fighting, unless promissed money for evidence that they killed someone.
Thus the participants in the Battle of Hogwarts on Voldemort's side would be the veteran DEs - around 35 people, new DEs - around 40, some current Slytherin students (especially those 16 and above), Thicknesse and other Imperiurized Aurors and other Ministry staff, Fenrir and maybe some other Snatchers, a couple of giants, dementors and Acromantula. We do not know how many of these died (besides Bellatrix, Crabbe Jr and of course Snape who wasn't on Voldemort's side). We do know that Dolohov, Rookwood, Macnair, Yaxley and Fenrir (and Thicknesse) were taken incustody. We also know that by the time of Harry's duel with Voldemort all other fighting had ceased, meaning that all of Voldemort's supporters in the building were either dead or in custody, though some may have decided to escape before the fighting entered the building, once they saw Neville kill Nagini and Harry disappear.
So what do you think happened with the various groups of Voldemort's supporters after the war?
We can imagine that most of the veteran DEs ended up with prolonged prison sentences. These include a few who were in Azkaban between the wars, those who were caught in earlier DE activities such as the Ministry invasion in OOTP and the Hogwarts invasion in HBP, and any DE that Lucius gave evidence against. (Do you think he tried to sell out as many as possible to make sure he and Draco remain free, or would there be anyone he would like to keep out of Azkaban?)
What about the newly recruited DEs? Would Lucius provide evidence against them? Would they receive lighter sentences than the veterans? And how harsh are going to be sentences of students (some underage, some of-age) who tortured their peers?
We know from Rowling's interviews that Umbridge received a heavy sentence for crimes against Muggle-borns. What about people in subordinate Ministry positions who supported the regime? What about people like Runcorn?
One of the major problems that hindered justice after the first Voldemort war was the difficulty in correct identification of victims of the Imperius Curse. It appears that the Order realized Thicknesse was under the curse. What would be the attitude to people who fought or otherwise acted for Voldemort but did not appear to bear any remnant of the Dark Mark?
What kind of sentences (if any) did the Snatchers receive? Or perhaps only some of them?
Would Wizarding Britain be able to survive with so many of its people in prison, or will there be need for a reconcilliation process (South Africa style, perhaps) where people who were not involved in the worst offences recount their deeds in public and essentially get off? Now that there are no longer dementors in Azkaban, would prison-warden be one of the most common jobs?
This post has been edited by Oryx: Mar 18 2008, 04:54 PM
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Mar 19 2008, 12:49 PM
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Scribbulus Everchanging Inks Changer
Posts: 1,312
Joined: 5:11pm May 4, 2007
Location: Texas
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QUOTE(Oryx @ Mar 19 2008, 12:21 PM)  Capital punishment with trial serves merely to bring up the anger and wish for revenge. It makes people fester. And the families of the victims eventually see how empty the outcome is for them, because revenge does not bring back the dead. Trial ending in capital punishment tends to delay the healing process of the family members, they take longer to move on, than when revenge is removed from the equation. Well said. I agree totally. Also, we need to remember that one of the major themes of the books is forgiveness. This is the opposite of the vengeance present in capital punishment.
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"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
-Albus Dumbledore
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