Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing the Death Eaters and the followers of Lord Voldemort. More specifically,
however, we’re going to discussing one follower in particular- notorious mass-murdering werewolf
Fenrir Greyback.
Now, not unlike our own world- the wizarding world is broken up in two types of people:
the morally righteous and the morally corrupt. This dichotomy is a common theme in literary
works- and in Harry Potter the darker side of this spectrum is represented by the death
eaters.
It all started in the late 1930’s when a young man by the name of Tom Riddle began
attending Hogwarts. On the outside Riddle appeared to be a normal, respectable young
man. But on the inside, deep down, he had a lot of demons- demons that pushed him to
do unthinkable things. He didn’t have a mother or father figure- he was just left
at an orphanage- and so he never had any true concept of love, or family. This rough start
to life only made Riddle worse- as if he had been adopted by a loving family things could
have potentially been different. He was conceived under a love potion- and this facts suggests
that he is incapable of love, but Rowling has also stated that IF Riddles mother were
around to care for him- then he would have been able to comprehend love. Love aside,
Riddle didn’t even have a concept of friendship, which is why Riddle’s time at Hogwarts was
so significant.
When Riddle began at Hogwarts he was sorted in to Slytherin house, and it didn’t take
long for him to form a group of ‘friends’- at least that’s what it looked like. Of
course- these ‘friends’ were really just his followers- a group once described by Dumbledore
as “a mixture of the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking glory, and the thuggish
seeking a leader who could show them more refined cruelty”. Initially these ‘friends’
were known as the Knights of Walpurgis- but fast forward to 1970, and they were known
by a different name: The Death Eaters. At this stage Voldemort had decided to fully
act on his dark nature- and he brought other witches and wizards along for the ride.
The Death Eaters were the most loyal followers of Voldemort - obeying his every bidding in
an effort to ‘cleanse’ the wizarding world. The goal of the group was simple: establish
pure-blood authority. Given that Voldemort’s goal was to basically oppress anyone that
wasn’t a pure-blood witch or wizard, you’ll be surprised to hear that some members of
the group weren’t actually pure-bloods. In fact, many of their followers were of breeds
that Death eaters held considerable stigma towards- people like Fenrir Greyback.
Fenrir Greyback was a large vicious-looking werewolf and follower of Voldemort-notorious
for his savagery and brutality when it came to targeting children. He had a bestial appearance
with matted grey hair, whiskers, pointed teeth and long yellow nails- he was a nightmare-inducing
figure. However, Greyback wasn’t always such a monster, in fact, he had quite a rough
start to his life, being bitten by a werewolf very early on and infected with Lycanthropy.
Lycanthropy involves a lycanthrope, also known as someone who transforms in to a werewolf.
Sometimes they do it purposely, but other times it is the result of a curse. There is
no cure for lycanthropy, and people deeply fear this condition as it can result in a
cursed existence.
After being bitten, Fenrir went sour, and made it his goal in life to infect as many
people as possible with Lycanthropy. He didn’t want to be an outcast, and with so much stigma
placed on Lycanthropes, he embraced his condition and instead made it his goal to create enough
werewolves to dominate the wizarding world. Greyback became a leader in the werewolf community,
and was even the one to infect Remus Lupin with Lycanthropy after Lyall Lupin (Remus’s
father) insulted werewolves.
Despite leading a revolution of his own, Fenrir Greyback and the werewolves eventually became
allies with Voldemort for the second wizarding war. However, it’s worth mentioning that
though they were followers of Voldemort, they did not bear the dark mark, nor were they
actual ‘death eaters’- they were just his followers. With that being said- Fenrir
was one of Voldemort’s most useful weapons- a fear inspiring bloodthirsty werewolf that
even frightened, just a little bit, Albus Dumbledore:
"Is that you, Fenrir?" asked Dumbledore. "That's right," rasped the other. "Pleased
to see me, Dumbledore?" "No, I cannot say that I am..."
Fenrir Greyback grinned, showing pointed teeth. Blood trickled down his chin and he licked
his lips slowly, obscenely. "But you know how much I like kids, Dumbledore."
"Am I now to take it that you are attacking even without the full moon? This is most unusual...you
have developed a taste for human flesh that cannot be satisfied once a month?"
"That's right," said Greyback. "Shocks you, that, doesn't it, Dumbledore? Frightens you?"
"Well, I cannot pretend it does not disgust me a little," said Dumbledore.
And Greyback raised a yellow fingernail and picked at his front teeth, leering at Dumbledore.
"I could do you for afters, Dumbledore..."
And despite Voldemort using him as a weapon, and taking advantage of his fearful reputation,
it’s reinforced again and again that Greyback was NOT a Death Eater. Voldemort only used
him for the useful and convenient services that he provided- basically, anything that
helped him to get to power quickly.
“You haven’t heard of him?” Lupin’s hands closed convulsively in his lap. “Fenrir
Greyback is, perhaps, the most savage werewolf alive today. He regards it as his mission
in life to bite and to contaminate as many people as possible; he wants to create enough
werewolves to overcome the wizards. Voldemort has promised him prey in return for his services.
Greyback specializes in children.... Bite them young, he says, and raise them away from
their parents, raise them to hate normal wizards. Voldemort has threatened to unleash him upon
people’s sons and daughters; it is a threat that usually produces good results.”
So now you might you be asking- why, if Fenrir Greyback produced SUCH good results for the
dark lord, was he not made to be a fully-fledged death eater? In the text, it’s highlighted
that Greyback was not granted this honour:
"Will you summon 'im? 'ere?" said Scabior, sounding awed, terrified.
"No," snarled Greyback, "I haven't got - they say he's using the Malfoy's place as a base.
We'll take the boy there."
Harry thought he knew why Greyback was not calling Voldemort. The werewolf might be allowed
to wear Death Eater robes when they wanted to use him, but only Voldemort's inner circle
were branded with the Dark Mark: Greyback had not been granted this highest honor.”
Greyback had no dark mark, which is why he couldn’t summon Voldemort in this instance.
Furthermore, Greyback wouldn’t have EVER been eligible to receive a dark mark because
of the very fact that he was a lycanthrope. As I mentioned earlier, there is considerable
stigma in the wizarding community toward werewolves- and that stigma is not exclusive to the ‘good’
guys- it was a mutual feeling between both sides of power in the wizarding world.
Here’s the thing- Fenrir was a powerful weapon- and Voldemort knew that he would be
able to take advantage of Fenrir’s notoriety to help control the wizarding population,
and escalate his own rise to power. It didn’t matter to Voldemort that he was a werewolf-
not really- he held some stigma towards him, which is why he would have never made him
a death eater, but Voldemort’s real enemies were muggle-borns, half-bloods, muggles and
blood traitors. Fenrir wasn’t the only follower of Voldemort
that wasn’t a pure-blood wizard- he enlisted giants, dementors and all other manners of
dark creatures to help bring down the ministry and the ‘good’ guys. Voldemort was manipulative,
and he basically did whatever it took to get to power the fastest. If people were willing
to work for him under the guise that they were somehow important, he would certainly
let that happen, it was a win win for him.
However, given that Fenrir’s ultimate objective was to infect as many witches and wizards
as possible with Lycanthropy, I’m willing to bet that if Voldemort had achieved power
and was victorious at the Battle of Hogwarts, he would have eradicated the werewolves. Not
because he particularly wanted to kill them, but because they would have posed a threat
to his regime.
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Remember
Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure.