Hey everyone, Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter
Theory. In today’s video, we’re going to be discussing a couple of things- both
pertaining to the powerful dark wizard Lord Voldemort.
First we’ll be looking at whether or not the death eaters were actually aware of the
fact that he was a half-blood. And next, we’ll be discussing how accepting the death eaters
would be of a half-blood in their ranks. When it comes to dark witches and wizards,
the death eaters are as bad they come - followers of Lord Voldemort who obeyed his every bidding
in an effort to ‘cleanse’ the wizarding world. They were a group of pure-blood radical
supremacists, ever-bloodthirsty and always more than eager to incite fear in the hearts
of their enemies. But what’s ironic about the Death Eaters is that their founder, and
leader, was a ‘filthy’ half-blood himself (their words not mine).
In fact, the Death Eaters were originally formed when Tom Riddle still attended Hogwarts
between the years 1938 and 1945. However, Tom’s group in school were just the precursor
to what we now know as ‘Death Eaters’. Back then they were called the Knights of
Walpurgis. The Knights of Walpurgis was a group comprised of exclusively Slytherin students,
as many of their core goals and perspectives as a group coincided with the beliefs of Slytherin
House. These students were certainly a bit morally dubious, and Dumbledore once described
Riddles gang 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”. Voldemort was
messed up- I don’t think that’s something you could argue- but what I find so curious
is that he amassed legions of followers to pursue a cause that, by definition, would
enslave himself. Voldemort would always refer negatively to
his parentage over the course of the books/films, and we find out fairly quickly that Voldemort’s
father was indeed a muggle. He liked to pretend that he wasn’t associated with his parents
at all- but there’s no escaping your heritage. However, the books and films are a little
bit conflicted on whether or not Voldemort’s followers, the Death Eaters, were actually
fully aware of his heritage. After all- is the level of disdain that they felt towards
non pure-bloods actually REAL if they knowingly follow a half-blood? Did they know Voldy’s
dark dirty secret? When Tom Riddle was first sorted in to Slytherin,
he was still just a young boy- a confused young boy that grew up in an orphanage. He
knew nothing of his heritage- but this void of knowledge quickly became his obsession-
and in Chapter seventeen of the Half Blood prince it’s revealed that he quickly became
obsessed with it. Because he had grown up in an orphanage, he grew increasingly curious
as he aged. It was only natural that he sought answers, as any orphan would, and he began
looking for clues within the school. “It seems he searched in vain for some trace
of Tom Riddle senior on the shields in the trophy room, on the lists of prefects in the
old school records, even in the books on wizarding history. Finally he was forced to accept that
his father had never set foot in Hogwarts” It was actually Voldemort’s uncle, Morfin
Gaunt, that eventually revealed his true heritage to him. In the same chapter of the Half Blood
Prince, there is the following exchange between the two:
"I though you was that Muggle" whispered Morfin "You look mighty like that Muggle".
"What Muggle?" said Riddle sharply.
"That muggle what my sister took a fancy to, that Muggle what lives in the big house over
the way," said Morfin, and he spat unexpectedy upon the floor between them. "You look right
like him. Riddle. But he's older now, in 'he? He's older 'n you, now I think on it...."
Using this dialogue, we can infer that Voldemort became truly aware of his heritage sometime
around the age of 15. There are a few parts of the books/films that
sort-of suggest that the Deatheaters knew of heritage, though it is never stated directly.
To delve in to this further, I’m going to start with a segment from page 231 of the
chamber of secrets where Voldemort reveals that some of his ‘intimate friends’ at
school knew of both his old and new identity. He pulled Harry's wand from his pocket and
began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words:
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE The he waved the wand once, and the letters
of his name rearranged themselves: I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
'You see?' he whispered. 'It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most
intimate friends only, of course. You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's
name forever? What this tells us is that some of Tom Riddle’s
closest friends were aware of both names- which confirms that there were people he went
to school with that knew of his heritage. HOWEVER- while it is LIKELY that these same
individuals went on to become Death Eaters- that’s not confirmed.
Additionally, in chapter 23 of the half blood prince, it is revealed that fellow Slytherins
found it amusing that Voldemort’s father was a muggle, despite the fact that he was
a descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself. This suggests that it was never a secret among
his peers that he was a half blood. This leads us to our next and more important question
- who did he go to school with, and did they go on to become deatheaters? A line from page
463 of the Half Blood Prince gives us a clue: “Good gracious, is it that time already?
You'd better get going, boys, or we'll all be in trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay
by tomorrow or it's detention. Same goes for you, Avery.”
The above passage mentions the names of both Lestrange AND Avery, both of whom we know
go on to become Deatheaters. If they went to school at the same time as Voldemort, and
we know that they become Death Eaters later on, it is fair to assume that they would qualify
as the ‘intimate friends’ that Voldemort had previously mentioned. By ‘Lestrange’
I am of course referring to the ancestor of Rodolphous Lestrange- the Lestrange that we
know to be married to Bellatrix.
In chapter 35 the order of the phoenix, Harry mentions Voldemort’s real name, ‘Tom Riddle’
to Bellatrix – which seems to enrage her.
You dare speak his name? YOU FILTHY HALF-BLOOD! She responds
To me this pretty much confirms that Bellatrix, one of the oldest Deatheaters, is fully aware
of Riddle’s real name and background. But I wonder- what of the rest of the Death Eaters?
Bellatirx was at the top of Voldemort’s ranks, and his right hand woman- so it only
makes sense that she would know. But some of the Death Eaters- though they followed
him loyally- were nothing but ants to Voldemort- insignificant, disposable soldiers. Would
he disclose his deep dark secret to them? Did they know? As it turns out- probably.
In the Goblet of Fire, Voldemort addresses all of the Deatheaters in a long monologue.
In his monologue, he discusses his need to acquire his father’s bone to regenerate,
and the necessity to travel to Little Hangleton where his grave was located. The books imply
repeatedly that Little Hangleton is a small Muggle community, which is definitely not
a place that a pureblood family would live. Also, Voldemort’s fathers gravestone clearly
reads ‘Riddle’ – so if the Deatheaters didn’t already know that Voldemort was a
half blood, this would have been a dead give away as they would have been easily able to
recognize that ‘Riddle’ was not the name of a known pureblood family.
So now we know that the Death Eaters were all more than likely aware of his pure-blood
status. This begs the question- why did they accept him despite being a half-blood? Why
did they follow him when by doing so it almost contradicts their core values as death eaters?
I think it comes down to a couple of things:
First of all- though he was a half-blood, Voldemort was still technically the heir of
Slytherin- the founding father of Slytherin House. Slytherin was the one who perpetuated
the anti-muggle purist views in the first place- and he was heavily respected among
Sythlerins- the students most likely to become Death Eaters. As Voldemort was his descendant-
it only makes sense that this would, in a way, balance out his half-blood status.
Next, Voldemort condemned his family. In fact, Voldemort pretty much killed every trace of
family that he had left- all in an effort to leave his old life behind him. It was clear
that Voldemort was a devout follower of his own cause, and this further proved that. Voldemort’s
passion and willingness to eradicate any trace of his muggle heritage PROVED that he was
the real deal- and I’m sure that the Death Eaters respected that.
The last and most important point worth mentioning is that Voldemort was simply too powerful
to question. Sure, they could have spoken up against him, but if they did I doubt they
would have stuck around for much longer. His power was alluring- and this is one the reasons
that Peter Pettigrew changed allegiances. Regardless of what you thought of him, he
was this imposing figure that would seemingly eventually dominate the wizarding world. If
you can’t beat em, join em.
And that’s it for this video! If you enjoy the content please like the video and subscribe
to the channel.
Until next time
Remember
"Sometimes we have to choose between what is right and what is easy."