Voldemort's Missing Death Eaters

[Hermione]

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.

This passage is found on p.651 in the US Hardcover version of Book 4.

Anyway, Voldemort says this when he's looking around at his Death Eaters. We know that the faithful Death Eater is Barty Crouch Jr. But what about the other two? I think the one that's too cowardly to return is probably Karkaroff, which leaves the Death Eater who has left Voldemort forever and must be killed. Does that mean Voldemort already knows about Snape turning spy for Dumbledore? I was under the impression that Snape was spying by attending Death Eater meetings and reporting back to Dumbeldore. But if Voldemort knows that Snape is doing this, then why is he letting Snape live? Will Snape be the next one to die? Was Sirius Black the Death Eater that must be killed? Or could there be another Death Eater that we haven't heard about yet?

My head is spinning!!!!

What do you guys think?

[werebane]

i think karkaroff was the one that wouldn treturn b/c he betrayed so many DE

[molli]

yes i think the one who was "too cowardly to return" is karkaroff. and i always thought he was talking about snape when he mentioned the one that has left him forever...

[werebane]

i disagree cuz like i said karkaroff had turned too many death eaters over, and trust me LV knows

[Hermione]

I think what I was asking was, since we're fairly certain that the one who's too cowardly to return is Karkaroff, and that the one who left him for ever is Snape, then how can Snape continue his spying activities, cuz wouldn't Voldemort kill him off right away?

[Mistress Siana]

hm...I've always said that snape being the one lost forever is simlpy too obvious to be true. I've thought about the possibility it's Sirius as well, but after reading book 5, I seriously doubt it.

[Sacred Guardian]

why would you think sirius, we know that he is not a death eater, i'm interested in why you would think that

[gecko]

Couldn't the 'missing' death eater be Pettigrew/Wormtail? He was in close contact with Voldemort it seems, because he told Voldemort himself where Godric's Hollow was and that the Potters lived there. Although it's strange that the rest (james, sirius, remus) never noticed the dark mark on his arm, if he had one.
What do you think?

[Gwared]

He states 6 missing and 3 of those dead. We know Karakoff and Snape were former DE and we also know Snape did not attend the meeting BUT we are unsure if Karakoff did not as he's 'run away' by this point.

If Karakoff is the coward, that leaves the traitor and the faithful. I'm not sure that it specifically references Barty Crouch Jr as the faithful, so maybe it's referencing someone else?

Maybe, however, Snape isn't spying directly but on his old 'haunts' as himself in the shadows or using a potion to disguise himself, in which case he could be the traitor and still live in the circle.

I imagine this point will be made clear next book.

[Gwared]

Sorry about the double post, what I find interesting is that the mark isn't present in his mouse form, also I would imagine that the mark was gained after school and most wizards seem to be permantly dressed in long robes which would cover the mark.