As I know, the Aurors are trained to fight and capture Dark wizards... If they guard Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, how come the Auror Office was compromised over the summer between Book 6 and Book 7? How come the Aurors ceased to fight Voldemort and Death Eaters when they were planning to take over the Ministry of Magic? How come they did nothing to strengthen the security within the Ministry of Magic? Were they becoming scared of Voldemort after Dumbledore's death?
asked Sep 19, 2018 at 14:41
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1That's a very helpful title - thanks!– Au101Commented Sep 19, 2018 at 22:42
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1 Answer
They were probably Imperiused like the rest of the Ministry was.
When the Dark Lord was in the process of taking over the Ministry, he was having its officials Imperiused, so he’d get them all to obey his orders and he could control the Ministry. Yaxley successfully Imperiused the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and as the department that the Auror Office was a subdivision of, its head would likely have contact with the Aurors, in addition to the Minister and heads of other departments.
“Yes – my Lord, that is true – but you know, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Thicknesse has regular contact not only with the Minister himself, but also with the Heads of all the other Ministry departments. It will, I think, be easy, now that we have such a high-ranking official under our control, to subjugate the others, and then they can all work together to bring Scrimgeour down.”
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 1 (The Dark Lord Ascending)
Though their job is to capture Dark wizards, Aurors were not trained to be able to resist the Imperius Curse, as we see Aurors successfully put under the Imperius Curse before. Though he was also locked in a trunk, Mad-Eye Moody, a particularly skilled Auror, was Imperiused.
“Then I packed up Moody’s clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive, under the Imperius Curse.”
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 35 (Veritaserum)
Snape also suggests that Dawlish, another Auror, is known to be susceptible. While it’s possible he’s lying, neither the Dark Lord or the Death Eaters contradict him, which implies it may be true.
“No doubt a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish. It would not be the first time, he is known to be susceptible.”
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 1 (The Dark Lord Ascending)
It’s completely plausible that the Dark Lord could have had most of the Aurors Imperiused.
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Then how come Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphdora Tonks were not imperiused? Both of them still worked for the ministry as well, didn't they? Commented Sep 19, 2018 at 22:43
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1@Ken_To_2018 I’m not sure. Some of the Ministry employees, like Kingsley, Tonks, and Arthur Weasley didn’t seem to ever get Imperiused. Why certain employees weren’t Imperiused isn’t clear. The Dark Lord was able to Imperius enough of them where he could take over the Ministry, but it’s not mentioned why some of them are ‘missed’.– ObsidiaCommented Sep 19, 2018 at 22:53
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They probably only imperiused high-ranked staff members. You only need to control the boss of a department to control all the employers within it (to a certain exent, that's it).– IloneSPCommented Mar 1, 2020 at 1:11