Before the Final Duel in The Deathly Hallows, Harry came back to life, which prompted many Death Eaters to flee Hogwarts.
Why did they do so? Let us paint the scene for you and tell you everything you need to know.
As we are well aware, the Battle of Hogwarts took place on the grounds of the school. Students, teachers and allies of the school for Witchcraft and Wizardry banded together to fight Voldemort and his crusade of Death Eaters.
Below is an excerpt from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 36 (The Flaw in the Plan) whereby his supposedly loyal Death Eaters abandon Voldemort upon the sight of Harry Potter clearly being alive despite Narcissa Malfoy pronouncing him dead only moments earlier.
Voldemort forces Hagrid to carry Harry’s body back, telling someone to put his glasses back on so he’ll be recognisable. Hagrid holds him, sobbing, and moves through the forest. As they make their way to the edge of the forest, Hagrid suddenly shouts to Bane and the other centaurs for refusing to fight. When they reach the grounds where the dementors stand watch, Harry cannot feel their touch any longer, his survival working as a guard against them. Voldemort speaks again to everyone in the school, telling them that Harry was killed while trying to flee and save his own life. He tells them that they should end this fight, and if they come out of the castle and kneel before him, they will be spared. Then he moves forward, Nagini draped around his shoulders, and forces Hagrid to follow. They halt in front of the doors, Death Eaters spread out in a line as the survivors gather on the steps. The first who Harry hears is McGonagall, who shouts “NO!” Then come the voices of Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, even worse. Voldemort orders Hagrid to lay Harry on the ground at his feet, and insists on Harry’s cowardice. Ron exclaims that he beat Voldemort and the survivors start shouting. Voldemort continues with his lie that Harry died while trying to escape……………..
More people come up the front steps, and Harry sees Charlie Weasley and Slughorn, who seem to have gathered reinforcements in the form of the families and friends of every Hogwarts student in the fight, and all the denizens of Hogsmeade. The door to the kitchens blows open and all the house-elves emerge toting kitchen knives and cleavers, Kreacher at the fore, commanding them to fight in Regulus Black’s name. Harry watches the Death Eaters succumb to their sheer numbers, then bolts into the Great Hall!
You can find out why Narcissa lie and proclaimed that Harry was dead here.
Why did the Death Eaters flee when Harry came back to life?
Lord Voldemort’s most ardent followers were the Death Eaters. Witches and wizards constituted the most significant part of the group. They were radical puritan supremacists who practised the Dark Arts with reckless abandon, malice and without regard and/or fear for the wizarding laws.
There are multiple fan speculations circling this scene of abandonment. Let us discuss the more prominent theories.
#1 They were not certain of victory
StackExchange commenter @Obsidian stated that “The Death Eaters were not completely assured that Voldemort would indeed win. When Harry seems dead, many are uncertain about approaching him, despite his appearance of death. This implies that even then, they were not completely convinced of Voldemort’s triumph over him.”
Further elaborating… “The Death Eaters do not Disapparate after Harry reveals himself to be alive in the book, but presumably their motivations for doing so would be similarly rooted in an uncertainty of the outcome. Not knowing who would triumph, those who Disapparated likely chose to flee before they could be killed or sent to Azkaban.”
Death Eaters throughout the course of the books (and movies) have been portrayed as loyal followers to Voldemort, but mostly at an arm’s length in fear for the judgement their fellow magical-blooded peers would invoke.
While it is only a speculation, it would make sense if they (Death Eaters) understood their odds were outmatched and therefore apparated before they would be killed by the opposing side, (similar to the significant number of Death Eaters killed during the initial battle of Hogwarts).
You can find out how the Death Eaters’ name came about here.
#2 Fear of Voldemort
Quora user @Kaitlyn Murphy states that “They were probably scared that Voldemort would turn on them. About 15 minutes before that scene, one of the death eaters just spoke two words after one of the other Horcruxes had been destroyed and Voldemort killed him instantly. Knowing how blindly enraged the deadly dark lord was, they didn’t wanna be anywhere near him…..”
A possible presumption from the Death Eater’s point of view might have been that Voldemort’s next move would have been to retreat once Harry pronounced himself being alive.
Undoubtedly, and visibly, he (Voldemort) was infuriated.
As can be seen throughout the course of the books and vividly portrayed throughout the movies, Voldemort was not a rational being. Acting on impulse and fuelled by rage alone, the Death Eaters likely feared they would be another causality of the Dark Lord merely lashing out at them due to his public defeat (yet again).
#3 Embarrassment for being on the ‘Losing Side’
Quora user @Rofin Andonissamy states “From the beginning, the death-eaters were bound by fear and definitely not by Loyalty! They just wanted to be on the winning side and enjoy the superiority over others, thus they chose to partner up with YOU KNOW WHO!”
Pride is a fickle thing. Death Eaters are known for their superiority complex and maintaining ‘pure blood’ beliefs and ideologies. Bred through years of supposed ‘prestige’ – remaining on the side that is seemingly losing would only bruise their ego and further humiliate them to admit defeat.
A very real possibility would be for them to have Apparated out of sheer humiliation for themselves and their kind for pledging years of loyalty to a losing figure.
#4 Fear for The Boy Who Lived and further repercussions with the Ministry of Magic
Two theories of similar nature have been merged here.
Quora user @Skund Gupta states that a possibility of fleeing could circle around the Ministry of Magic’s newfound appreciation for ‘fighting the good fight’ as opposed to living in fear of Voldemort. As once before, the Death Eaters would have to face serious “prosecution at the hands of the Ministry of Magic.”
On the other hand, Quora user @Honey Vayalur speculates they fled the scene due to fear of Harry Potter who seemingly bests Voldemort at every given opportunity. Fear for their own lives amidst all the death and destruction, they fled.
In concurrence with the Quora user, @Honey Vayalur Reddit user @Palcatraz states that the death eaters clearly lost faith in their cause due to having witnessed with their own eyes, their ‘supreme Dark Lord’ being yet again, beaten by Harry Potter.
The most probable theory, of course, would be the looming threat that Harry now poses to them. The fear that Harry, a child in the eyes of the death eaters that have managed to weaken their Dark Lord as an infant, threatened him as a teenager and cheated death at Voldemort’s hands not once but twice!
If they indeed did feel this fear of losing, their most sound course of action would be to flee the scene and go into hiding for they could easily be killed like their fallen Death Eater companions or imprisoned in Azkaban for the rest of their pitiful lives.
During the final duel, Harry still insisted on using Expelliarmus, and you can find out why he seemed to like this spell so much here
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