Death Eaters

Lore & Background

The Death Eaters were formed as Voldemort's army during the First Wizarding War. During this time, their activities focused on fighting against the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix, the two main opposing groups. They used attacks and threats against their enemies and their families to create fear and weaken their resistance. The Death Eaters were first introduced as a group in the novel Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000). However, individual members such as Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, and Peter Pettigrew appeared in earlier books. The name of the group is only mentioned from the fourth book onward, but Voldemort’s followers are talked about in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The term 'Death Eaters' is directly mentioned for the first time in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. According to J.K. Rowling's speech at the 2007 Carnegie Hall event, the Death Eaters' beliefs are similar to the extremist ideas of the Nazi party. This is seen as a way to criticise racism and totalitarianism.

In Their Own Story

The Death Eaters first existed over 11 years before the events of the Harry Potter novels, torturing and murdering Muggles (non-magical people), as well as anyone who opposed them. When a deadly curse from Voldemort rebounded off Harry Potter and disembodied Voldemort, the Death Eaters largely disbanded and vanished. Early in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a group of Death Eaters gathers at the Quidditch World Cup and spread chaos and fear amongst the wizarding community. Voldemort regains his full strength at the end of Goblet of Fire, and summons his followers to him. The Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, deludes himself into believing that Voldemort could not have come back and that it was all a lie cooked up by Dumbledore. The Death Eaters use this tactical advantage throughout Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to maintain their secrecy. Because of the Ministry's refusal to remove the Dementors from Azkaban, the Death Eaters recruit the Dementors to their cause and make similar progress with the giants; the Dementors' revolt against the Ministry of Magic also allows the Death Eaters to bolster their ranks with the mass break-out of several imprisoned Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange. Towards the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Death Eaters attack Hogwarts for the first time, leading to the death of Albus Dumbledore and injuries to several of the school's defenders. A second, more deadly attack near the conclusion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows results in over 50 deaths, including that of Voldemort, who dies when the Killing Curse he casts at Harry rebounds on him. All the Dark Marks on the remaining Death Eaters fade to scars.

Reader's Guide

Voldemort's Death Eaters practise illegal and dangerous spells known as dark magic. They follow a racist ideology that places pure-blooded wizards at the top of a racial hierarchy, above all other magical or non-magical people and entities. They believe wizards are, as a genealogy book within the story phrases it, 'Nature's Nobility'; other magical creatures and the non-magical are inferior and should be subjugated. Within the wizarding community, only those who are born to wizard parents are worthy of magical power, despite the fact that parentage does not in fact determine who possesses such powers. They categorise wizards according to blood purity; 'pure-bloods' (those with only wizards as parents) out-rank 'half-bloods' (mixed parentage) and 'mudbloods', a derogatory name for those born to non-magical parents (Muggles). Death Eaters have also attacked pure-bloods who oppose them. Examples of this are pure-blooded members of the Order of the Phoenix such as Sirius Black, the Prewett brothers, who were murdered because of their loyalties, and the entire Weasley family. Such people are often called 'blood traitors' by those who subscribe to Death Eater ideologies. In reality, the idea of blood purity is a misnomer – Voldemort himself is a half-blood – and it is unlikely that all of them could be pure-bloods, as very few, if any, such people could exist given the small gene pool. In Half-Blood Prince, Rowling depicts the Gaunts as a family who are obsessed with their ancestry and driven to inbreeding to preserve its integrity. 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, Squibs, and half-bloods from their family records. On the other hand, 'in rare circumstances' a Muggle-born wizard can become a Death Eater. They are also not above recruiting creatures they deem inferior, as proven by werewolf Fenrir Greyback and the giant clan from continental Europe, as long as they help further the larger Death Eater agenda. The Death Eaters seek complete power and control over the entire Wizarding world, wishing to restrict leadership to a small band of pure-bloods. The Death Eaters not only seek the restoration of pure-blood rule over the Wizarding community, but also the eventual subjugation of the Muggle community under Wizarding rule. During their control over the Ministry of Magic, they severely persecuted Muggle-born wizards, sending them to Azkaban for life or feeding them to Dementors.

Did You Know?

• The term 'Death Eaters' is directly mentioned for the first time in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
• Voldemort himself is a half-blood, contradicting the Death Eaters' ideology of pure-blood supremacy.
• The Dark Mark on a Death Eater's left arm burns to signal the call of Voldemort.
• During their control over the Ministry of Magic, Death Eaters sent Muggle-born wizards to Azkaban for life or fed them to Dementors.
• The Death Eaters' beliefs are similar to the extremist ideas of the Nazi party, according to J.K. Rowling's 2007 Carnegie Hall speech.