Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Characters/Bellatrix Lestrange
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| Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter - Character | |
| Bellatrix Lestrange | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Hair color | Black |
| Eye color | Dark |
| Related Family | Rodolphus Lestrange, Black Family |
| Loyalty | Lord Voldemort |
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black) is Sirius Black's cousin, and sister of Narcissa Malfoy. She is described as being taller than Harry, with thick, sleek, shining, black hair, a thin mouth, dark, heavily lidded eyes, pale skin, and the Black family's patrician good looks and bearing. However, her looks were somewhat hollowed out after her stay in Azkaban prison. In the film adaptations of the novels, actress Helena Bonham Carter portrays the character.
[edit] Role In The Books
[edit] Goblet of Fire
Although the action referred to takes place before the series starts, it is in this book that we are introduced to Bellatrix, as Harry is told by Sirius Black that she was part of a group that ran with Severus Snape, almost all of whom turned out to be Death Eaters. Harry also witnesses her trial and conviction by means of Dumbledore's pensieve.
Shortly after Lord Voldemort's disappearance, she and three other young Death Eaters (her husband Rodolphus Lestrange, his brother Rabastan Lestrange, and Barty Crouch Jr.) attacked and tortured Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom, using the Cruciatus Curse on them until the two lost most of their mental faculties. All four members of the group were sentenced to imprisonment in Azkaban.
[edit] Order of the Phoenix
A number of times during the cleaning of the house at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, Harry sees a Wizarding photo of Bellatrix. She seems to be one of Kreacher's favorites, as he has retrieved her photo from the trash and has placed it centrally in his sleeping area.
Bellatrix managed to escape in the mass breakout during Harry's fifth school year, and rejoined Lord Voldemort. She was one of the Death Eaters who took part in the Battle at the Ministry, and it was her spell that killed Sirius Black. She escaped the battle shortly after that and ran for the Atrium, with Harry in hot pursuit. When Voldemort appeared at the Ministry in person, Bellatrix was the only Death Eater that he saved; this may have been an accident of location, as Bellatrix was in the Atrium, and by that time Albus Dumbledore had imprisoned the other Death Eaters with an anti-apparation charm in the chamber of the Veil.
[edit] Half-Blood Prince
Bellatrix accompanies her sister Narcissa Malfoy to Spinner’s End, trying to dissuade her all the way. Once there, she first agrees with Severus Snape that Narcissa should not be talking to Snape of things told her by Voldemort, then expresses her dislike of Snape, asking him a number of questions about things that seem to indicate his lack of loyalty. Snape, responding, asks her whether she really thought the Dark Lord had not asked these same questions, and been satisfied with the answers? He then proceeds to answer her questions individually. Where was he when the Dark Lord fell? At Hogwarts, where Voldemort had ordered him to spy on Albus Dumbledore. Why did he not go looking for the Dark Lord after he had fallen? For the same reason many other Death Eaters did not: he thought the Dark Lord was finished. Bellatrix retorts that she had looked for him. Snape sarcastically comments about how "useful" she was while imprisoned in Azkaban, while he had collected sixteen years' worth of information on Dumbledore for Voldemort. Snape continues: Why did he stand between the Dark Lord and the Philosopher's Stone? Because the Dark Lord believed Snape had deserted him for Dumbledore, he had not informed Snape of his partial return, and so Snape was unaware that it was Voldemort that looking for the Stone. He thought Quirrell was searching for it on his own account and, of course, he acted to prevent that. Why did he not respond to the Dark Lord's summons when Voldemort returned? He returned two hours later, at Dumbledore's orders. That way, Dumbledore would continue to believe that Snape was spying on Voldemort for him, rather than the other way around. Bellatrix says she is unaware of any information Snape passed to Voldemort, although she should know: Voldemort says she is his most trusted lieutenant. Snape asks if she still is after the fiasco at the Ministry. And where was he at that battle? On the Dark Lord's orders, he stayed out of it. Did Bellatrix think Dumbledore would not notice if Snape had joined the Death Eaters in that battle? In any event, the information Snape supplied made Emmeline Vance and Sirius Black's deaths possible, and the Dark Lord was satisfied with his information. Why did Snape not kill Harry Potter? Because it was only Dumbledore who was keeping Snape effective as a spy and out of Azkaban. If he killed Potter, he would lose that protection and would be unable to help Voldemort. And that has been what has made him useful to the Dark Lord: Dumbledore's trust in him.
With Bellatrix thus overridden, Snape listens to Narcissa's concerns, saying that she was lucky that he was privy to the plan that Voldemort has for her son Draco. Narcissa asks for his promise to aid Draco, he gives it, but she presses on, asking him to make an Unbreakable Vow. Bellatrix is initially skeptical that he will, but when he agrees, though surprised, she serves as the bonder of the Vow.
[edit] Deathly Hallows
We first see Bellatrix in Malfoy Manor, in council with Lord Voldemort. It appears that she is sitting well down the table, out of Voldemort's favour, in part because of her association with Narcissa Malfoy, who is in disgrace along with all of her family, and in part because of her niece Nymphadora Tonks, who has married the Werewolf, Remus Lupin.
During the escape from Privet Drive, six members of the Order disguise themselves as Harry by means of Polyjuice potion, and each of the resultant Harrys rides with another member of the order as protector. Ron, disguised as Harry, travels with Tonks. Bellatrix singles Tonks out and the two of them duel fiercely; neither Tonks nor Ron is injured. Meanwhile, when Harry first sees Andromeda Tonks, he briefly mistakes her for her sister Bellatrix.
When Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dean Thomas, and Griphook are captured and taken to Malfoy Manor, Bellatrix sees the Sword of Gryffindor and panicking, stops Lucius Malfoy from summoning Voldemort, saying that summoning him before knowing the full story behind the sword could be fatal. In order to determine where the sword came from, she tortures Hermione, who insists under torture that the sword is a fake. She knows that the true Sword is made by goblins, and so sends Draco Malfoy to fetch Griphook, who as a goblin should be able to detect goblin workmanship immediately. Griphook, coached by Harry, reports that the sword is fake. Bellatrix says that Fenrir Greyback, who had brought the Trio in, can now have Hermione. Harry and Ron burst in, and Ron with Wormtail's wand Disarms Bellatrix. Bellatrix now threatens Hermione with a knife, and under that threat, Harry and Ron allow Draco to relieve them of their wands. Dobby, who has arrived to assist thanks to an earlier summons by Harry, now drops the crystal chandelier on Bellatrix. In the confusion, Harry physically wrests the three wands away from Draco and Stuns Fenrir, then tosses one wand to Ron. Ron Apparates away with Hermione to Shell Cottage, and Harry, also Apparating away, sees Bellatrix throw her knife. Arriving at Shell Cottage with Dobby, Harry finds that Bellatrix's thrown knife has hit Dobby, and Dobby dies in Harry's arms.
Harry later determines that Bellatrix's reaction to seeing the sword of Gryffindor was because she feared that it had been removed from her vault at Gringotts. When the Trio, with Griphook, decide that they must break in to Gringotts to retrieve the cup Horcrux, Hermione uses Polyjuice potion to assume Bellatrix's appearance.
Bellatrix is present when Voldemort receives news that her vault has been broken into and the cup Horcrux stolen. She and Lucius Malfoy barely escape Voldemort's literally murderous rage at the news.
When Harry relives Snape's memories in the Pensieve, one of the scenes is of Dumbledore shortly after the ring Horcrux has destroyed his hand. Snape has resuscitated him, and has informed him that the curse is contained, but cannot be stopped; Dumbledore has at most one year of life left. Dumbledore says that he knows Draco Malfoy has been given the task of killing him by Voldemort, and seeks Snape's promise that when Draco has failed, that Snape should do it. Snape demurs, and Dumbledore says that he would much rather Snape do it, than one of the Death Eaters who like to play with their victims, like Fenrir or Bellatrix.
When Harry, having determined that he must be killed by Voldemort before Voldemort can be defeated, confronts him in the Forbidden Forest, Bellatrix is there beside Voldemort, comforting him. After Harry is killed, and returns from the simulacrum of King's Cross, he hears that Bellatrix is trying to resuscitate Voldemort, who apparently fell at the same time Harry did; Voldemort brusquely pushes her away.
Bellatrix is killed by an enraged Molly Weasley with presumably the Killing Curse, after almost hitting Ginny Weasley with a curse, in the final battle. The loss of his staunchest supporter enrages Voldemort, and he attempts to Curse Molly in retaliation, but is stopped by a Shield charm cast by Harry.
[edit] Strengths
We are led to believe that she is quite powerful, magically, as she appears to know many branches of magic, foremost the Dark Arts, of course. She never hesitates to use the Unforgivable Curses, seeing them as being the most powerful. As Albus Dumbledore states: "... dear Bellatrix, who likes to play with her food before she eats it." This, along with her treatment of Neville in the Department of Mysteries, clearly illustrates Bellatrix's lack of morals, as she does not hesitate to torture, or even kill, her opponents. In many ways it is a fearsome strength, since it allows her to do whatever it takes to gain favour in Voldemort's eyes.
[edit] Weaknesses
Her obsessive love for Voldemort.
[edit] Relationships With Other Characters
Bellatrix has long harbored a passion and desire for Lord Voldemort. It is unclear whether she is truly in love with him or merely infatuated with his power, but regardless, her obsessive lust leads her to become one of the most devoted Death Eaters. However, the feelings are not reciprocated, as Voldemort believes love is a weakness.
Bellatrix Lestrange is the sister of Draco Malfoy's mother, Narcissa Malfoy, and both are daughters of Cygnus Black, who is Sirius Black's uncle. It is perhaps a measure of the amount of inbreeding in the "pure-blood" lines that an examination of the Black family tree shows that Bellatrix is, in fact, related distantly to many of the major players in the story: the Weasleys, both directly and via the Prewetts; Tonks; the Longbottoms; the Macmillans; the Crouch family; and even Harry himself.
Bellatrix strongly distrusts Severus Snape.
[edit] Analysis
Bellatrix is presented to us as being, in the eyes of the ordinary Wizarding world, more than slightly insane. We are shown this first in the Pensieve, where we see her screaming defiance at the Wizengamot. In the picture of her that Harry finds (and Kreacher hides away) at Grimmauld Place, Harry remarks on her insane appearance. Of all the Death Eaters in the battle in the Ministry of Magic, she alone has to be restrained from launching an attack on Harry before he has secured the Prophecy, and she is the one who comes up with the idea of torturing Neville, as she had his parents, to get Harry to give up the Prophecy. Interestingly enough, in the scene at Spinner's End, she is more the voice of moderation, trying to keep Narcissa from getting herself into trouble by dealing with Snape against Voldemort's wishes.
