Editing Death Eater (section)

==Synopsis==
===Pre-Harry Potter===
The Death Eaters first existed over 11 years before the events of the ''Harry Potter'' novels, torturing and murdering [[Muggle]]s (non-magical people), as well as anyone who opposed them. When a deadly curse from Voldemort rebounded off Harry Potter and disembodied the Dark Lord, the Death Eaters largely disbanded and vanished.<ref name="GoF1">Rowling, J. K. (2000). ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''. Bloomsbury Publishing. Chapter 33: The Death Eaters are revealed to have existed for over a decade before the events of the series, engaging in torture and murder.</ref><ref name="OotP1">Rowling, J. K. (2003). ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix''. Bloomsbury Publishing. Chapter 9: The Death Eaters targeted Muggles and opponents of Voldemort.</ref><ref name="PS1">Rowling, J. K. (1997). ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone''. Bloomsbury Publishing. Chapter 1: The Death Eaters disband after Voldemort’s curse rebounds off Harry Potter and destroys his body.</ref>

===Re-emergence===
Early in ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'', a group of Death Eaters gathers at the [[Quidditch World Cup]], which spreads 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.<ref name="GoF12">Rowling, J. K. (2000). ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''. Bloomsbury Publishing. Chapter 9: Death Eaters gather at the Quidditch World Cup, causing panic and destruction.</ref>

The Minister for Magic, [[Cornelius Fudge]], deluded himself into believing that Voldemort could not have come back and that it was all a lie cooked up by Dumbledore, who Fudge believed had designs on his political office. 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 [[Magical creatures (Harry Potter)#Dementors|Dementors]] from Azkaban, which Dumbledore advised immediately following Voldemort's return, the Death Eaters recruited the Dementors to their cause and made similar progress with the giants; the Dementors' revolt against the Ministry of Magic also allowed the Death Eaters to bolster their ranks with the mass break-out of several imprisoned Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange.<ref name="OotP12">Rowling, J. K. (2003). ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix''. Bloomsbury Publishing. Chapter 1 & Chapter 27: Cornelius Fudge refuses to believe in Voldemort's return, and the Death Eaters take advantage of the Ministry’s denial. Chapter 25: Dementors and giants align with the Death Eaters. Chapter 33: Mass breakout from Azkaban, including Bellatrix Lestrange.</ref><ref name="HBP1">Rowling, J. K. (2005). ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince''. Bloomsbury Publishing. Chapter 27: Death Eaters infiltrate Hogwarts, leading to the death of Albus Dumbledore and several injuries.</ref>

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 Voldemort, who dies when the Killing Curse he casts at Harry rebounds on him. All the Dark Marks on the remaining Death Eaters have been reduced to scars.<ref name="DH1">Rowling, J. K. (2007). ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows''. Bloomsbury Publishing. Chapter 36: The Battle of Hogwarts results in over 50 deaths. Voldemort’s Killing Curse rebounds and destroys him. The Dark Marks on surviving Death Eaters fade to scars.</ref>

===Ideology===
Voldemort's Death Eaters practise illegal and dangerous spells known as dark magic. They follow a [[Racism|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 traitor|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 (Harry Potter)|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, [[Squib (Harry Potter)|Squibs]], and half-bloods from their family records. On the other hand, "in rare circumstances" a Muggle-born wizard can become a Death Eater.<ref name="JKRfestival">{{cite web|author1=J.K.Rowling Official Site|title=J K Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival|url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=80|access-date=8 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111222074210/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=80|archive-date=22 December 2011|date=15 August 2004}}</ref> They are also not above recruiting creatures they deem inferior, as proven by [[Werewolf (Harry Potter)|werewolf]] [[#Fenrir Greyback|Fenrir Greyback]] and the [[Gurg|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.