I’d like to take a brief moment away from the juicy discussions of Snape and R.A.B. to make note of another ambiguous character who may play an important part in the final book. The enormous blond Death Eater who made the battle at Hogwarts such a chaotic mess never once harmed a student or a member of the Order of the Phoenix. He did, however, manage to use Avada Kedavra on a Death Eater.

JKR writes of the chaos the enormous blond DE caused nearly every time he’s mentioned.Here are a few examples:

“...an enormous blond wizard who was sending curses flying in all directions, so that they ricocheted off the walls around them, cracking stone, shattering the nearest window.” – Ch. 28

“(Harry aimed) a hex from the floor at the enormous blond Death Eater who was causing most of the chaos.” – Ch. 28

“And a Death Eater’s dead, he got hit by a Killing Curse that huge blond one was firing off everywhere.” – Ch. 29

“The big Death Eater had just fired off a hex that caused half the ceiling to fall in, and also broke the curse blocking the stairs.” – Ch. 29

All in all, the huge blond DE’s ability to cause chaos is mentioned seven times by four people (Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Lupin) within the space of two chapters. Why is it so important that we’re repeatedly told he was firing jinxes around willy nilly? Because by firing so many spells in random directions and causing so much damage to the tower room, the huge blond DE was easily able to disguise the facts that:

1. The only person we know he successfully cursed was the Death Eater called Gibbon; and he did that using the most difficult and intent-filled curse: Avada Kedavra. Considering the spell was effective in killing its victim, I doubt it was a random, poorly aimed curse that Lupin was able to doge.
2. He took down the barrier leading to the top of the Astronomy Tower, along with half the ceiling.

On an interesting note, he destroyed the barrier just before Snape emerged from the tower with Draco. By leaving the barrier up until then, was he ensuring that Snape could carry out his vow without endangering other Order members? Or was he simply trying to make sure Dumbledore would be killed without interference?

While in the tower room, the huge blond DE’s curses often barely miss their seemingly intended mark.

“...and that massive Death Eater was still firing off jinxes all over the place, they were bouncing off the walls and barely missing us.” – Ch. 29

“(Gibbon) came running back downstairs to rejoin the fight and was hit by a Killing Curse that just missed me.” – Ch. 29

“I saw (Snape) running towards us, but that huge Death Eater’s jinx just missed me right afterward and I ducked.” – Ch. 29

Jo is again repeating phrases, drawing constant attention to his near misses. I am not trying to downplay the importance of Felix Felicis. As Ginny says, if it hadn’t been for that potion the children would’ve been in dire straits. However, less than half of the "good guys" had taken Felix. Ginny’s mention of how the blond DE made so many near misses while expressing her gratitude for the luck potion provides the perfect Rowling-ish cover for mysterious actions.

I believe the blond DE’s near misses were due to more than chance. In fact, I’d bet that a few more random hexes may have connected with a Death Eater or two. For example, Harry never knows who petrified Greyback after the werewolf pounced on him without giving him the chance to raise his wand.

We are only given two instances where the enormous blond Death Eater’s spells hit their obvious target. He fired spell after spell at Hagrid, whose giant heritage is no great secret; it was publicly revealed in GoF. I believe the blond DE knew his spells wouldn’t harm the gamekeeper’s "toughened skin." His goal was merely to keep Hagrid occupied while Snape and Draco fled, just as Snape merely stupefied Professor Flitwick instead of injuring him.

The blond DE’s second instance of firing a spell obviously on target occurred when he set fire to Hagrid’s hut. He was causing chaos again, and effectively taking Hagrid out of the battle before the more vicious Amycus and Alecto caught up. It’s worth noting that his Incendio couldn’t have been that intense. It didn’t cause an instant all-consuming inferno; Fang was barely singed.

Jo again makes the huge blond DE ambiguous when somebody Crucios Harry from behind. Up until that point he and Snape were the only Death Eaters in the area, but when Harry gets up and looks around he sees Amycus and Alecto have just arrived.

JKR has cloaked the suspicious actions of the enormous blond Death Eater with a veil of chaos and distraction. However, she clues us into her disguise by repeatedly calling attention to the chaos he caused.

In this editorial I have listed his actual deeds and tried to see where they might point. We still don’t know his motivation. Does he support the Order and Harry? Does he support Voldemort, making this entire editorial rubbish? Or, more likely, do his loyalties lie with Snape’s loyalties?

If he is loyal to Voldemort (and has really horrible wand aim), he should certainly be fined for all of the damage he caused to Hogwarts property. We can’t let him go around breaking windows and shooting holes in ceilings without some form of payment, right?

You may contact this author at Chelle_phire at excite dot com.

8/3/05

Posted by: Sara