Chapter 5
-----September 13, 2000----
Voldemort gathered his higher-ranked Death Eaters for another meeting.
"New plan," Voldemort announced, "To speed up our conquest, we will split up our forces. Five hundred Death Eaters plus ten Dementors or twenty of the other beasts should suffice for each town. Mr. Zabini, you will capture and hold Middlesbrough; Mr. Montague, Kingston upon Hull; Miss Parkinson, Manchester; Mr. Flint, Liverpool. Each of you may choose five hundred Death Eaters to take with you, and twenty total of either acromantulas or mountain trolls. While you do that, I will take the main force to Birmingham, where after a short rest we will repeat this arrangement for the southern cities. Remember, treat the people in each town with the utmost kindness. Show no cruelty to anyone and use no intimidation in recruiting more troops. Take each with you three thousand copies of our standard propaganda book and distribute them out to the residents of each town. Use only persuasion; no force unless absolutely necessary," he hissed, carefully emphasizing "absolutely".
"Dismissed!"
Within an hour, the Death Eaters had split off; at about 10:00 a.m., a group of five hundred Death Eaters, five mountain trolls, and fifteen acromantulas, led by Blaise Zabini, reached the small town of Middlesbrough. Although clearly not the same as the full force that had been seen at Hogwarts, they nevertheless frightened the people there.
Blaise pointed his wand at himself, muttering "Sonorus" as he arrived. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he shouted as loud as he could, "I do not wish for bloodshed; do not resist and no one will be harmed!" The wizards and witches in the street wondered at the approaching Death Eaters, who all had their wands out and had swords upon their belt. The sight of the spiders and trolls following peacefully as if disciplined was even more mystifying. However, the Death Eaters had never before shown mercy; everyone determined to take up Zabini on his offer and stood carefully, keeping their hands in the open as Death Eaters marched down the streets. The acromantulas and trolls, while scary, followed instructions and were careful not to step on anyone.
Soon the Dark Mark had been raised over each house, showing that the city was now safe for Voldemort's followers.
"Distribute the booklets!" cried Blaise, and the Death Eaters around town immediately brought copies of a small book out of the folds of their robes, handing them out to the civilians and making the civilians read. Each Death Eater had been carrying six copies, so everyone in the town got one with some to spare. Blaise went about checking that all the townspeople had received a booklet. He then conjured up a massive sign at the southern gate of Middlesborough. The sign read: "Everyone who wishes to volunteer for Lord Voldemort's rebellion may sign up here!"
The next morning, the line of recruits was very, very long, to say the least—and no one was under any Imperius Curses, except for the mountain trolls.
Around this time, Marietta Edgecombe looked out of the window of her apartment in Manchester, her attention drawn by the sounds of a multitude of footsteps. She quickly noticed the hundreds of Death Eaters, with ten Dementors and ten acromantulas at the front, marching into the city from the north.
"Ladies and gentlemen! We come in peace to deliver a message from Lord Voldemort. Do not resist and you will not be harmed!" The voice, clearly amplified by a Sonorus spell, echoed through the town; Marietta realized with a start that it was the voice of a former fellow student, Pansy Parkinson.
The Death Eaters quickly, and in organized fashion, swept into each and every building, one at a time, and would always come out a few minutes later, raise a Dark Mark over the building, and then move on to the next. Sooner or later, she realized, they would reach her apartment. The knock on her door came a few minutes later.
As she tried to decide what to do, the pounding became more insistent. She decided that it would not be wise to resist; she opened her door and was greeted by two tall, hooded Death Eaters, each wearing a heavy black cloak emblazoned with a silver Dark Mark. Both Death Eaters had their wands in their hands, but not pointed directly at her; and each had a sword on his belt.
"May I help you?" she politely asked the two men, while keeping a firm grip on her own wand.
"Take this," one of the Death Eaters ordered, taking her hand and placing a small booklet in it. "And read it." The two men moved on down the corridor, and Marietta shut and locked the door once more, looking over at the book. It was titled "The Ministry of Magic: Oppressor of Britain" and was illustrated on the cover with a picture of a wizard with his legs pinned under the Ministry building. Intrigued, she opened the book and started reading:
The Ministry of Magic: Oppressor of Britain
Introduction
The Ministry of Magic is long overdue to fall. For too long we have silently tolerated the corruption and incompetence of Ministry officials of every rank, and there remains today not one wizard or witch in all Britain who does not personally know a victim of the Ministry's injustice. Yet the Ministry is so heavy-handed that until now, no one has dared to rebel against it. For lack of a leader willing and able to overthrow and replace the Ministry, the country has suffered through many years of oppression; official after corrupt official has become wealthy at the expense of the common people.
Now, however, that leader has been found. Lord Voldemort alone has dared to stand up to the Ministry, as he needs not fear death—for he is already dead. Thousands have flocked to the banner of the Death Eaters. The day of Britain's liberation from the tyranny of the Ministry of Magic is approaching rapidly.
The Myth of "Light Magic"
For many years now the Ministry has tried to paint itself as the side of good. Rather than listen to demands for change, the Ministry has vilified its opponents for using "dark magic", making much of their laws that permit light magic exclusively.
The truth is that what matters is what ends you use magic for, not what "color" of magic it is. Dark magic can be used for good ends—as Salazar Slytherin used it during the founding of Hogwarts, and the Death Eaters now use it to liberate the wizards and witches of Britain—and light magic can be used for evil!The Ministry's Aurors, indeed, have inflicted incredible injustices upon the common people using exclusively light magic. "Light magic" does not place its user on any higher moral ground than "dark magic".
It's Okay to Be a Pureblood
Another common tactic of Ministry officials attempting to defend themselves is to label their opponents as "racist" or "intolerant". As a result, many half-bloods and mudbloods have been granted high positions in the Ministry, and it is no coincidence that those same officials are making the entire country suffer with their incompetence and dishonesty. They complain of discrimination and prejudice from purebloods when they themselves are inflicting wrongs far greater than mere prejudice upon the pureblooded population, thus demonstrating that any prejudice they receive, has been well earned. As Death Eaters, we do NOT support killing of mudbloods, contrary to Order of the Phoenix propaganda; we do believe, however, that there should be no contact between the Muggle and wizard worlds.
Any person who has no Muggle ancestors within three generations is considered pureblood; therefore, we believe that blood purification can be accomplished by prohibiting marriage between wizards and Muggles. In this way, the descendants of any mudbloods or half-bloods, after three generations, will become pureblood. A limited few radicals do advocate killing mudbloods and half-bloods; we do not.
The Cause of the Death Eaters
We have discussed what we are against; now we shall offer our vision for the future.
We believe that in the corrupt Ministry of today, money plays an inappropriately large role. The "democratic" elections for the Minister of Magic's position clearly are insufficient to prevent massive and unacceptable graft among the Minister's subordinates. The Wizengamot and the lower ministries are where most of the corruption resides; the suborned Wizengamot providing cover to the heads of the various Departments and their subordinates. We intend to abolish the Wizengamot and make all top Department officials elected, giving the common people a greater ability to stop corruption and bring justice to the officials responsible.
We will also stop the reverse discrimination now being inflicted upon the pureblood population. It is true that at one time, over a hundred years ago, mudbloods suffered persecution at the hands of the pureblood government; but we feel that the current blood traitor-dominated Ministry has more than compensated for any past treatment, through their recent actions which have disproportionately hurt pureblood wizards. Let us call it even and say that, from now on, all wizards are equal, no matter what descent.
High taxes are a severe burden upon the average wizard family. The most important reason for these high taxes is not the recent war, as the Ministry claims, but rather because Ministry officials themselves embezzle public funds for their own use. When we have stopped this, we will have removed a great drain upon our economy. Wizarding Britain has the potential to be far more prosperous than it is, and it will be when Lord Voldemort is at the helm.
The two Great Wizarding Wars themselves were, indeed, contrived by the Ministry to provide an excuse for their oppressive methods. Dark Magic is not inherently immoral, as we have shown before; the Ministry's insistence on prosecuting dark wizards not for any actual crime, but simply for the "crime" of using a particular "color" of magic, is unjustifiable. We believe that light and dark wizards can live together in peace, and learn much from one another.
Look upon a future under the Ministry's thumb and one sees a dead end. We, the Death Eaters, offer to you a vision of peace, prosperity, and hope. Live no longer under the false shadow of war; fight for a bright future for you and your prosperity. Join us in our cause.
Be a Death Eater
Death Eaters are paid 45 Galleons a month and receive free food, water, and shelter. All recruits will be properly trained in self-defense, wand dueling, and swordfighting. Cavalry recruits will be taught to use spears and will be provided with horses. You may enlist by contacting the Death Eater commander in your area.
Now Marietta realized what was causing so many people to join the Death Eaters. She shut the Death Eater philosophy book and then marched to her fireplace, grabbing a handful of floo powder and throwing it in. A green flame flared up in the formerly dark fireplace. "Albus Dumbledore!" she shouted. A few seconds later the Headmaster's large, bearded face appeared in the flames.
"Ah, Marietta. What is the matter?"
"Headmaster, I've just discovered why so many people are joining the Death Eaters! They've been giving out this propaganda book." She handed the book through her fireplace to Dumbledore's office. "Call a meeting of the Order immediately so we can figure out a response."