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"Hey, losers. He isn't here."
Neville Longbottom insulting Death Eaters[src]

Shortly after the Death Eater take-over of the Ministry of Magic, they conducted a raid on the Hogwarts Express. They raided the train in order to capture Harry Potter, who had been branded as Undesirable No. 1.

Three male Death Eaters stopped the train while en route to Hogwarts Castle, in Scotland on 1 September 1997, but found nothing but other Hogwarts students, as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger were (at the time) in hiding at 12 Grimmauld Place.

History[]

Background information[]

Remus Lupin: "Effectively, [Voldemort] is the Minister, but why should he sit behind a desk at the Ministry? His puppet, Thicknesse, is taking care of everyday business, leaving Voldemort free to extend his power beyond the Ministry. Naturally many people have deduced what has happened: There has been such a dramatic change in Ministry policy in the last few days, and many are whispering that Voldemort must be behind it…"
Harry Potter: "And this dramatic change in Ministry policy involves warning the Wizarding world against me instead of Voldemort?"
— Discussion of the Ministry's new regime and policies[src]

During the height of the Second Wizarding War, on 1 August 1997, Lord Voldemort's Death Eater managed to stage a "smooth and virtually silent" coup at the Ministry of Magic, by Imperiusing several high-ranking Ministry officials. Minister Rufus Scrimgeour was killed, and replaced by the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Pius Thicknesse, who was under Death Eater control.[1]

There was a "dramatic change" in Ministry policy following the coup, so that it followed the Death Eaters ideology. Harry Potter, "The Boy Who Lived", was (under the premise of involvement in Albus Dumbledore's murder) decreed "Undesirable No. 1"[1], the price on his head and wand reached, in late March of 1998, two-hundred thousand Galleons.[2]

The raid[]

"My father will hear about this!"
Cormac McLaggen trying to scare the Death Eaters[src]
DH1 Death Eaters inside Hogwarts Express 02

The Death Eaters aboard the train

On 1 September 1997, three male Death Eaters Apparated onto the railway tracks as the Hogwarts Express made its way through the British countryside heading towards Hogwarts Castle. One of them signalled to the conductor to stop the train. Having boarded the train, the three of them was soon crossing the aisles of the student carriages, where they were subject of the students stares and Cormac McLaggen's foolish comment "My father will hear about this", which they ignored. As they reached the end of the train, Neville Longbottom stood to face them, calling them losers and stating that, given the situation, Harry was obviously not there.[3]

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Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 11 (The Bribe)
  2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 23 (Malfoy Manor)
  3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - Chapter 10 (Theft of a Thief)
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