Bagman, Severus, and Karkaroff

[lavivi]

I'm nearing the end of the fourth book now as I re-read it, and I've come across something else. It's the graveyard scene - the Death Eaters have arrived, Voldemort's making his speech to them. Now he's walking around slowly, to each one. Some he speaks to, some he does not.

He had reached the largest gap of all, and he stood surveying it with his blank, red eyes, as though he could see people standing there.
"And here we have six missing Death Eaters . . . three dead in my service. One, too cowardly to return ... he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever ... he will be killed, of course . . . and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already reentered my service."
The Death Eaters stirred, and Harry saw their eyes dart sideways at one another through their masks.
"He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it was through his efforts that our young friend arrived here tonight. . . . (pg. 651-52, US ed.)

I think that most have assumed now that the One Too Cowardly to Return is Karkaroff, and the one who Voldemort believes Has Left Forever is Snape. The Faithful Servant is, of course, proved to be Barty Crouch Jr.

But I wonder, now - what about Ludo Bagman? I fully believe now that he's a Death Eater - it's something Ms. Rowling is extremely likely to do, and there's definitely hints. At the least, he may be a sort of unofficial Death Eater, not in the inner circle - without a brand.

But still, I wonder - what if Bagman is the One Who Has Left Forever? He was commentating back at Hogwarts at the time of the Third Task. But then where’s Snape? We could suggest he was one of those Voldemort passed without a word, except for the ending of the hospital scene later on, when Dumbledore gives him the Mysterious Instruction, which I think we can all safely assume now is a request to go back to Voldemort.

So if Snape is the one Voldemort is referring to, the One Who Has Left Forever - perhaps Bagman was there in the graveyard after all. Not much to say once the champions went into the maze - perhaps he was able to get away when the call came. Which is very intriguing - to picture Bagman as one of the hooded Death Eaters in that circle that night, one of those that laughed and pushed Harry away...

Or alternatively - later on, Fred and George say that right after the Third Task, Bagman ran for it (reason given as because he lost his bet with the goblins) (pg. 732, US ed.). Now where did he go? Are the goblins in league with Voldemort? But it says in the fifth book that they were unlikely to join him – they had losses of their own to Voldemort (pg. 85, US ed.). So perhaps Bagman went back to Voldemort to escape the goblins’ vengeance. That seems pretty darn likely to me.

Edited to revise and add more thoughts.

Comments

[lionessgoddess.livejournal.com]

Hem, hem that "inform" is supposed to be "informal". Stupid bloody cold fingers.