First Wizarding War

"Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing... The Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere... panic... confusion... that's how it used to be."

- Sirius Black regarding the First Wizarding War

The First Wizarding War was a major conflict with foundations as early as the 1940s, but officially beginning in 1970 and ending abruptly in 1981. It marked the original "reign" of the Dark Lord Voldemort.

The Dark Lord's rebellion occurred with the help of his Death Eaters, Dark wizards and witches who served him and brought terror to both Muggle and magical innocents. They were opposed by the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation founded by Albus Dumbledore that would play a crucial role in both of Voldemort's defeats.

The First Wizarding War ended on 31 October, 1981, which resulted in Lord Voldemort's first fall and the defeat of his Death Eaters at the hands of the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter.

Rise of the Heir of Slytherin (1920s-1950s)
The notorious Dark Wizard commonly known as "Lord Voldemort" was born Tom Marvolo Riddle on 31 December, 1926, to Tom Riddle Senior, a wealthy Muggle gentleman from an old family of squires considered the most locally prominent but unpopular land gentry within the Yorkshire village of Little Hangleton, and Merope Gaunt, an abused pure-blood witch from a poverty-stricken wizarding family whose mental instability was caused by generations of inbreeding within their pure-blood supremacist ideology. During this time, in the secret wizarding world he had no idea he belonged to, there were new developments in anti-Muggle sentiment. Gellert Grindelwald launched his magical supremacist war on the European mainland and someone, believed to be Cantankerus Nott, published the Pure-Blood Directory, which listed the 28 remaining pure-blood families in Britain. Many of these families considered themselves nobility due to their blood status and looked down on "blood traitors" and "Mudbloods."



Riddle, who had already shown early warning signs of sociopathy in his childhood at a Muggle orphanage in London, was brought into the wizarding world in 1938 by Albus Dumbledore, renowned professor of Transfiguration at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, noticed the boy's apathy and selfishness but otherwise felt no greater concern for his flaws. Riddle began attending school later that year and was sorted into Slytherin House. Finding himself plucked from powerless, parentless poverty and brought into a school of magic where he proved to be naturally gifted, his unhealthy mental state was worsened, though he simultaneously got better at concealing his true self as he began his quest for domination. An exceptionally gifted student, he used his good looks and charm to ingratiate himself with his teachers (with the notable exception of Dumbledore), and classmates. A gang of like-minded Slytherin boys calling themselves the Knights of Walpurgis (consisting of Antonin Dolohov, Nott, Rosier, Mulciber, Avery and Lestrange) all belonged to wealthy pure-blood families and many were older than him, and yet all were taken in by his charismatic leadership. They were involved in a number of nasty incidents during their school years, though Riddle was careful to never become implicated in any wrongdoing and he was generally held to be a model student.

Over time, Riddle grew obsessed with discovering his magical ancestry. He came to the conclusion that his father must have been a wizard because his mother had died, a mysterious and terrifying fate he assumed powerful witches and wizards could avoid. When he could find no trace of any Riddles with magical blood, he was forced to accept that his father was a "filthy Muggle" and that the magically powerful could indeed die. Enraged by this discovery, he rearranged the letters of his own full name ("Tom Marvolo Riddle") to give himself a new one: "I Am Lord Voldemort", which he used among his friends.

He finally found his ancestry in his fourth year when he used his middle name, Marvolo, to discover the Gaunt family. Digging deeper into his heritage, he found that the Gaunts, and therefore Riddle himself, were descended from Salazar Slytherin, the founder of his house. This explained his exceptionally rare Parseltongue ability and made him the "Heir of Slytherin", rumored to be the sole person who could open the legendary Chamber of Secrets. He developed an interest in the relics of the Hogwarts founders and used his charm to get Helena Ravenclaw, better known as "The Grey Lady," the ghost of Ravenclaw House, to reveal the location of her mother Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem: a remote forest in Albania.



However, his most burning obsession remained the Chamber of Secrets, and he spent the majority of his fifth year searching for its hidden entrance which, because it had never been found, most people insisted was nothing but a myth. Finally, towards the end of the school year, he succeeded where countless others had failed and discovered the entrance in a girl's bathroom which led down into the sewers beneath Hogwarts Lake. Entering the chamber, he encountered the millennium-old Basilisk Slytherin had hidden there and his connection to the historical dark wizard was confirmed when it obeyed his commands. He unleashed the beast into Hogwarts to continue Salazar Slytherin's "noble work" to purge the school of Muggle-born students. Several were petrified and, on 13 June, 1943, a 14 year old girl named Myrtle Warren was killed. Because Riddle was responsible, this caused his soul to rip.



Riddle's actions backfired, as this prompted Headmaster Armando Dippet and the Hogwarts Board of Governors to discuss closing the school in the interest of safety. Faced with returning to the Muggle orphanage he so despised, Riddle abandoned the Chamber of Secrets and framed half-giant third year Gryffindor Rubeus Hagrid and his pet acromantula Aragog for the crimes. As a result of this Hagrid was expelled and his wand was snapped. Also Riddle earned an award for special services to the school. With his plot foiled and his fear of death exacerbated by having stared it in the face, he feverishly researched Horcruxes in the Hogwarts Library's Restricted Section and learned of their creation from Secrets of the Darkest Art. Using the rip in his soul caused by his murder of Myrtle, he cast a spell to remove a piece of it and enclose it within his school diary. At the age of 16, he had already engaged in one of the darkest arts and had taken the first steps to ensuring his immortality.



In the summer of 1943, around August, Riddle tracked down his Gaunt family relatives to Little Hangleton, where his maternal uncle Morfin Gaunt gave him a biased account of his father leaving his mother to die and abandoning him to the orphanage. In a desire for revenge, he entered the Riddle House and used the Killing Curse to murder his father alongside his Muggle grandparents, Thomas and Mary. He framed Morfin for the crimes by placing him under the influence of a False Memory Charm. Consequently, Morfin was sent to Azkaban where he eventually died (and, meanwhile, the Riddles' caretaker Frank Bryce was blamed, though not prosecuted, for the murders within the Muggle community). Riddle stole the Gaunts' signet ring (which, unbeknownst to anyone at the time, contained one of the Deathly Hallows: the Resurrection Stone) and began wearing it as a trophy. Shortly afterwards, he returned to Hogwarts for his sixth year and discussed the theoretical possibility of creating six Horcruxes (thus splitting the soul into seven pieces) with Professor Horace Slughorn, the Potions Master and his Head of House, who was taken aback by Riddle's interest in such Dark Magic. Although reluctant at first, Slughorn nonetheless gave him an overview of such an experiment with the promise of keeping their discussion between only them. This apparently gave Riddle what he wanted to hear, and he used the murder of his own father to turn the ring into a presumably unprecedented second Horcrux.

In 1945, Albus Dumbledore, the only person who could see through Riddle's façade and thus the only one he feared, demonstrated his astounding magical mastery by defeating the extremely dangerous dark wizard Grindelwald in a duel. As a result, Dumbledore gained the Elder Wand (another of the Deathly Hallows), Grindelwald was imprisoned for life in his own fortress Nurmengard, and peace was restored to the wizarding communities of continental Europe. Around this time, Riddle graduated from Hogwarts and quickly applied for the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, which had just been vacated by Galatea Merrythought. Headmaster Dippet was one of Riddle's many admirers, though Dumbledore, now a world-famous household name, argued against having Riddle on the staff and Dippet ended up cordially rejecting him on the basis of being too young.



Despite his rejection, Riddle was given many offers, including several positions in the British Ministry of Magic. He turned them all down and began working at Borgin and Burkes, a dirty and disreputable Dark Arts shop in Knockturn Alley. Many lamented the wasted potential of a talented and promising young man and the name Tom Riddle largely faded into obscurity. His employer was none other than Caractacus Burke, and Riddle used his position to learn more about the Dark Arts. Through his work, he formed a one-sided friendship with Hepzibah Smith, a wealthy old antiques collector descended from the Hufflepuff family who was attracted to him. At some point between 1955 and 1961, he visited her on Burke's behalf to negotiate the sale of a goblin-made suit of armour in her possession, and she used this as an opportunity to show the ostensibly trustworthy and handsome Riddle two of her most prized treasures: Helga Hufflepuff's cup and Salazar Slytherin's locket, which she had bought from Burke (who had gotten it from Merope Riddle in the first place). Desiring the relics for the symbolic power of their historical value, he used a little known poison to kill Hepzibah, then framed her house-elf Hokey for the crime by placing her under the influence of another False Memory Charm. As a result, Hokey was convicted of accidental manslaughter and Riddle stole both the cup and locket and disappeared without a trace. He resigned his post at Borgin and Burkes and used the murder of Hepzibah to turn the cup into his third Horcrux. Shortly afterwards, he used the murder of a Muggle tramp to turn the locket into a fourth Horcrux before fleeing the country entirely.

Immersion in the Dark Arts (1950s-1970s)
Now going exclusively by Lord Voldemort, he laid low and travelled around the world. One of his first destinations was Albania, where he retrieved Ravenclaw's diadem from its hiding place in a hollow tree. Using the murder of an Albanian peasant he encountered along the way, he turned it into his fifth Horcrux. Little is known of his activities during this period, though he explored the Dark Arts extensively, studying obscure and arcane magic and consorting with Dark Wizards. He underwent several transformations which made him more powerful and less human, and was occasionally accompanied by his old school friends, the Knights of Walpurgis, who became known as the "Death Eaters".

Voldemort devised a symbol called the Dark Mark (likely visually inspired by the Basilisk and the Chamber of Secrets) which he magically branded onto the forearms of his followers, enabling him to summon them to his side. They began establishing relations with various kinds of dark creatures, including giants and werewolves. Though the Death Eaters were generally even less tolerant of them than wizarding society in general, these creatures were receptive of their violent and destructive goals. Dark activity throughout Britain rose, and Voldemort and his followers began surreptitiously killing Muggles, targeting the poor and homeless whose absences would not be noticed. Voldemort used Necromancy to reanimate their corpses until he had an army of Inferi, which he concealed in the inaccessible seaside cave he had visited in his youth.



Between March 1965 and March 1971, Albus Dumbledore ascended to the post of Headmaster. Voldemort returned to Hogwarts to reapply for the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Unlike last time, it is unlikely that this desire was sincere, and his main goal was to search the castle for the last of the founder's relics, the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, and turn it into his sixth Horcrux, which would complete his goal of splitting his soul into seven pieces. Unsurprisingly, Dumbledore declined to hire him. Perhaps out of spite for the Headmaster, Voldemort placed a jinx on the position, making it so a professor could not hold it for more than one school year. Whatever the reason, this ended up having insidious benefits to his long-term plans, as decades of students (including many of his future enemies) would be stuck with erratic, poor-quality knowledge of Defence Against the Dark Arts.

While in the school, Voldemort also took the opportunity to conceal the diadem in the Room of Requirement. He also hid the ring in the ruins of the Gaunt Shack in Little Hangleton and placed the locket in the cave, guarded by his Inferi and other enchantments. He entrusted the cup into the Gringotts vault of the Lestrange family, as the elder Lestrange was one of his earliest followers whose sons, Rodolphus and Rabastan, and daughter-in-law Bellatrix, soon joined the cause. As for the diary, Voldemort kept it in his own possession. With his secret and safely-hidden Horcruxes insuring him against death and his power growing, the time for Voldemort to carry out his plans grew near.

In the wider British wizarding world, the early actions of the Death Eaters were almost totally unknown and the 1960s were a time when the tide of social progress clashed with the entrenched social order. In 1962, Nobby Leach became the first Muggle-born Minister for Magic, which led to senior members of the Wizengamot resigning in protest. Professor Mordicus Egg published The Philosophy of the Mundane: Why the Muggles Prefer Not to Know in 1963, which posited actual theories about why Muggles continued to be unaware of magic, rather than just assuming them to be stupid, ignorant beasts.



In 1965, the Werewolf Fenrir Greyback killed two Muggle children, avoided prosecution, and broke out of the Ministry of Magic. this lead Lyall Lupin to declare that Werewolves were "soulless, evil, and deserving nothing but death." In revenge, Greyback attacked and infected Lupin's young son Remus. Also Albus Dumbledore, a noted social progressive who believed strongly in the rights of Muggles as well as Muggle-borns and other oppressed minorities, controversially became Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Minister Leach left office for mysterious health reasons in 1968, leading to a conspiracy theory that he had been poisoned by pure-blood supremacist Abraxas Malfoy. He was replaced as Minister for Magic by Eugenia Jenkins, who, like her predecessor, was sympathetic to issues of social justice. Squibs began marching for their rights, which spurred pure-blood supremacists to riot. Throughout the decade, with various minority groups demanding to be treated as equals, many of the old, elite pure-blood houses, to which all of the Death Eaters belonged, increasingly felt that their very way of life was being threatened. Many pure-blood supremacists who did not join the ranks of the Death Eaters nonetheless gave their wholehearted support to Voldemort's cause. At the close of the decade, the situation was ready to erupt.

Dark Rebellion
"Voldemort... this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too –– some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry."

- Rubeus Hagrid regarding how the first war began

It was in this charged climate that, in 1970, Voldemort proclaimed himself the new Dark Lord. With his army of followers and his Horcruxes making him invincible, he launched a revolution against the Ministry of Magic with the intention of toppling it and creating a new world order run by pure-bloods with Muggles kept in bondage and Lord Voldemort himself as the immortal ruler for all time. To achieve these ends, the Death Eaters and their allies (including the particularly destructive Giants) began openly carrying out attacks on Muggles for sport and to sow chaos. Cleaning up these attacks, modifying memories, searching for the perpetrators, and attempting to prevent future attacks occupied more and more of the Ministry's time and attention. As their confidence grew, they began targeting Muggle-born and Blood Traitor witches and wizards as well, torturing and sometimes killing their targets. The elder members of the prominent Bones family were murdered by Voldemort, something which shocked many. Other "inferior" magical beings such as house-elves (who were treated like vermin) and Goblins (a family of which was slaughtered) also suffered under their reign of terror.



With many Death Eaters occupying strategic positions within the Ministry of Magic itself, they used blackmail and the Imperius Curse to expand their influence and destabilise the government, which was desperately trying to keep order and continue to maintain secrecy from the Muggle world. Augustus Rookwood, an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries, managed to set up a particularly successful network of espionage. Minister Jenkins was ill-prepared to lead during wartime, and it seemed that the Ministry was incapable of gaining the upper hand. In response to the growing threat of Lord Voldemort and his minions, Albus Dumbledore formed the Order of the Phoenix to take the fight directly to the Death Eaters. A number of Ministry officials (such as Elphias Doge and the Aurors Alastor Moody and Frank and Alice Longbottom) joined to participate in more secretive, sudden assaults to crush the Dark Rebellion.

Height of the War


The nascent Order initially had very little success, and terror and chaos gripped the populace of wizarding Britain to the point that many began to fear to speak Voldemort's name. He became widely referred to as "He Who Must Not Be Named," or, less formally, "You Know Who". Numerous ordinary witches and wizards lost their lives, and the Death Eaters frequently cast the Dark Mark over the scenes of their murders. To protect the organization, Voldemort ensured that Death Eaters did not know the identities of too many of their fellows, and, to society at large, their identities were completely unknown. Increasing the confusion and paranoia even further, they often placed innocent victims under the Imperius Curse and forced them to carry out their dirty work. Even friends and family members were not above suspicion of one another.

In 1975, Eugenia Jenkins was ousted as Minister for Magic and replaced by Harold Minchum, a hardliner who placed more dementors around Azkaban. The ruthless Bartemius Crouch rose rapidly through the ranks until he became the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Minchum and Crouch began to make headway, though the anonymous and elusive Death Eaters still retained the advantage.

In 1978, Severus Snape graduated from Hogwarts and entered the ranks of the Death Eaters, joining his schoolmates Evan Rosier, Wilkes, Avery, and Mulciber. Likely at Snape's urging, Voldemort attempted to recruit Lily Evans, whose prodigious talents made up for her status as a Muggle-born, along with her Blood Traitor boyfriend James Potter. Naturally, they refused, defying Voldemort for the first time, and were soon married. Around this time, James and his best friend Sirius Black, who had been disowned by the pure-blood supremacist House of Black, were pursued by a trio of Death Eaters. Though they managed to escape, this incident contributed to them joining the Order of the Phoenix, along with Lily and their friends Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.



Voldemort gravitated towards several of his younger recruits who were magically powerful and fanatically loyal. He took Bellatrix Lestrange under his wing, sharing with her his knowledge of the Dark Arts and inspiring in her a delusional attraction bordering on obsession. He entrusted his diary to Lucius Malfoy, with which, because Voldemort did not dare attack Hogwarts directly with Dumbledore as Headmaster, he schemed to use to reopen the Chamber of Secrets, though this did not come to fruition. Severus Snape, a fellow Half-blood with whom he had much in common, became one of his most trusted lieutenants.

In 1979, Regulus Black, the younger brother of Order member Sirius Black, graduated from Hogwarts and joined the Death Eaters. He remained a pure-blood supremacist, but he quickly became disenchanted with the cause's insane and brutal leader. Around this time, Voldemort felt the need to test the defences around his Horcruxes. To make sure Slytherin's locket was secure, he requested the use of Regulus's house-elf Kreacher and then callously left him to die. When Kreacher managed to return home, Regulus deduced that Voldemort had created a Horcrux and attempted to destroy it. This failed and resulted in his violent death at the hands of the Inferi, though he did manage to replace the locket with a fake and entrust the real Horcrux to Kreacher. This minor incident would prove to have major ramifications in the Second Wizarding War.

Despite being in the midst of a war, life went on for those who had not yet become its victims. Under the leadership of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts remained a bastion of magical education. It was suggested after the war that marriages and births increased significantly during these years, as the future was uncertain. Order members James and Lily Potter had a son, Harry, while Frank and Alice Longbottom had Neville. At the same time, Death Eater Lucius Malfoy and his wife Narcissa had Draco, while Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott also had sons.

In 1980, Minister Minchum was removed from office due to his failure to end the war was and replaced with Millicent Bagnold. Not long afterwards, Order member Peter Pettigrew was secretly initiated as a Death Eater and began feeding information on the Order's movements to Voldemort. Members began regarding each other uneasily, and Sirius Black suspected that his friend Remus Lupin, who was frequently undercover among the Werewolves, was a spy. When the entire order gathered for a group photograph in July 1981, no one suspected the truth. Shortly afterwards, due to Pettigrew's betrayal, Death Eaters began killing Order members and the war entered its most desperate phase. Marlene McKinnon was slaughtered alongside her entire family by Travers and several accomplices. Edgar Bones, his wife, and their children were murdered. Fabian and Gideon Prewett fought bravely but were ultimately killed by a group of Death Eaters led by Antonin Dolohov. Dorcas Meadowes was murdered by Voldemort himself. Caradoc Dearborn disappeared and was never found, though he was presumed dead. Benjy Fenwick was killed and so brutally mutilated that only bits of him were recovered.

In response to this brutal onslaught, Barty Crouch issued an edict giving Aurors permission to employ the Unforgivable Curses against their enemies. They initially focused their efforts on resisting the giants, killing many of them and wiping out entire tribes until they forced the survivors to go into hiding. Finally, the Ministry began to identify and apprehend Death Eaters. Auror and Order member Alastor Moody became legendary for his successes, arresting Igor Karkaroff along with many other supporters of the Dark Lord, and killing Evan Rosier when he resisted arrest (losing a chunk of his nose in the process). Wilkes also met his death at the hands of Magical Law Enforcement and Antonin Dolohov, one of Voldemort's earliest followers, was captured and sent to Azkaban.

The Prophecy and the Fall of the Dark Lord
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives..."

- The prophecy of Voldemort's fall

During the worst days of the war, James and Lily Potter lived in Godric's Hollow with their son, Harry. James lent his family heirloom invisibility cloak to Dumbledore, who was curious about its properties. Around this time, Dumbledore met with Sybill Trelawney at the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade regarding the vacant position of Divination professor. During the interview, she made a prophecy about a person who would have the ability to defeat Lord Voldemort. There were two possible candidates, both born in July of 1980 to members of the Order of the Phoenix who had thrice defied the Dark Lord: Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Severus Snape snuck into the tavern and managed to overhear only part of the prophecy before being thrown out by the tavern keeper, Order member Aberforth Dumbledore. He immediately reported what he had heard to Voldemort, who was greatly concerned. He assumed that it meant the Potters' son (a half-blood like himself) and resolved to kill the infant. Dumbledore hired Trelawney so that she would be safe from the Death Eaters.



Complicating Voldemort's plan, Snape still harbored love for Lily Potter, enough that he covertly defected to the Order of the Phoenix so he could tell Dumbledore that Voldemort had marked her and her family for death. Dumbledore bade the Potters go into hiding under the protection of the Fidelius Charm. While James and Lily wanted Sirius Black to be their Secret-Keeper because he was their closest and most trusted friend, it was for exactly those reasons that Sirius claimed Voldemort would suspect him. Instead, he suggested Peter Pettigrew, a "weak, talentless thing" who no one would ever expect. Thus, a traitor became the Potters' Secret-Keeper. No one, not even Dumbledore or Lupin, knew of the switch. Pettigrew quickly told his master that the Potters were hiding in Godric's Hollow. Meanwhile, Dumbledore discovered that James's invisibility cloak was in fact the Cloak of Invisibility, the third of the lengendry Deathly Hallows.



On 31 October, 1981, Voldemort travelled to Godric's Hollow himself. He murdered James when the latter opposed Voldemort unarmed, but offered Lily a chance to save herself if she stepped away from the crib containing her infant son, as Snape had requested that she be spared. Lily refused and Voldemort murdered her before using the Killing Curse on Harry. However, Lily's loving sacrifice gave her son the protection of an ancient magic and the curse backfired, destroying Voldemort's physical body and leaving a lightning-shaped scar on Harry's forehead that a fragment of Voldemort's soul became attached to, inadvertently making Harry a Horcrux.

End of the War
"To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!"

- Celebrations going on at the end of the war and the destiny forced upon the young Harry Potter

Voldemort's body was destroyed, but he did not die. His years of preparation were finally validated when his Horcruxes enabled him to survive, albeit as a powerless mangled soul. He fled the collapsing house to go into hiding. Pettigrew recovered the Dark Lord's wand shortly before Order member Rubeus Hagrid arrived to rescue Harry. That night, news of Voldemort's downfall and apparent death spread like wildfire, with celebrations breaking out all across the country so strenuously that numerous mild violations of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy were noticed by the Muggle media. This was excused by Minister Bagnold, who asserted the war-weary wizarding community's "inalienable right to party."



Touted as "The Boy Who Lived", Harry Potter's status as the first person ever to survive the Killing Curse and the reason for Voldemort's downfall led to him becoming a world famous household name overnight. However, he was also an orphan, and Hagrid took him to Little Whinging, Surrey, where Dumbledore and Order member Minerva McGonagall were waiting. They left Harry at the doorstep of 4 Privet Drive, the residence of his maternal aunt Petunia Dursley and her husband Vernon. Dumbledore left a note with him explaining the circumstances to the Dursleys, most importantly that they must allow Harry to grow up in their home and return there once a year in order to ensure that his mother's protection would continue working, as he knew that Voldemort would someday return and that Harry would be in danger. Order member Arabella Figg, who lived several streets down, accepted the task of keeping watch over Harry and the Dursleys.

Aftermath
"The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait!"

- Bellatrix Lestrange's parting words at her trial



Although Voldemort had been defeated, many Death Eaters were still at large. Peter Pettigrew attempted to go into hiding, but Sirius Black tracked him down and confronted him. Faking his own death, Pettigrew conjured an explosion that killed twelve Muggle bystanders and then transformed into his Animagus form of a rat and escaped. Black was quickly arrested and, as he was universally perceived as a traitor, Death Eater, and mass murderer, Bartemius Crouch sent him to Azakaban without a trial. Other actual Death Eaters, including Travers and Mulciber, were likewise captured and imprisoned, while Dumbledore gave testimony exonerating Snape, who he hired as Potions Master to replace the retiring Horace Slughorn. Fenrir Greyback and the other Werewolves went back underground. The few remaining Giants left the British isles entirely and resettled in the last remaining Giant colony in the world.

The imprisoned Igor Karkaroff gave up Augustus Rookwood, who was arrested and thrown in Azkaban. In exchange, Karkaroff was freed and fled the country, eventually gaining employment as a professor at Durmstrang Institute. The subsequent investigation of Rookwood's spy network led to numerous individuals being questioned (including Ludovic Bagman, Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps, who was found not guilty).

Despite the Ministry crackdown, many Death Eaters were able to walk free. Many innocent people were released from the Imperius Curse following Voldemort's defeat, so some of them used this as an excuse. Others simply used their wealth, power, and influence to avoid punishment for their crimes. Lucius Malfoy, Walden Macnair, Corban Yaxley, Amycus and Alecto Carrow, Avery, Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott were officially considered innocent in the years after the war. Assuming that Voldemort was dead and gone, they simply carried on with their daily lives.



However, not all Death Eaters were content to give up Voldemort's cause. Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan Lestrange, along with Bartemius Crouch's own son, Bartemius Crouch Junior, abducted and interrogated Frank and Alice Longbottom. Believing that they had information on Voldemort's whereabouts, they tortured them with the Cruciatus Curse so severely that they were left permanently mentally disabled. After the Death Eaters were arrested, the Longbottoms were moved to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for long-term care and their infant son Neville was raised by his grandmother Augusta. The horrific attack enraged the public, and Bartemius Crouch Senior sentenced them all, including his son, to life in Azkaban. Bellatrix proudly proclaimed her loyalty and declared that the Dark Lord would return as they were dragged away by the dementors.



Voldemort began hiding in a remote Albanian forest, desperately hoping that one of his followers would find him and restore him to power. Meanwhile, Pettigrew entered the home of the wizarding Weasley family as a pet rat named "Scabbers." At his dying wife's request, Barty Crouch Snr smuggled his son out of Azkaban disguised as his mother, then imprisoned him in their home with the Imperius Curse under the care of his house-elf Winky. After his "son's" death in Azkaban, Crouch's reputation began to falter and his meteoric political career was effectively ended. Voldemort had suffered major setbacks, but the seeds of his eventual return were planted.

Many people, including the man who would become the next Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, believed that Voldemort was truly dead. However, Albus Dumbledore and his supporters from the now disbanded Order of the Phoenix knew that Voldemort would return. As a precaution, he contacted his friend Nicolas Flamel, who agreed to lock up the Philosopher's Stone, one of the few methods by which Voldemort could regain his power, in a Gringotts vault. Severus Snape vowed that he would protect Harry Potter at all costs, as the boy was destined to defeat the Dark Lord once and for all.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter Prequel
 * PS undefined
 * PS F

Notes and references
de2:Erster Zaubererkrieg Primera Guerra Mágica Première guerre des sorciers Ensimmäinen velhosota pt-br:Primeira Guerra Bruxa Pierwsza Wojna Czarodziejów