LESTRANGE, Bellatrix

bellatrix lestrange

THE RECORDS

PERSONALITY

Bellatrix Lestrange is not a person that you want to come across in a dark ally. She is brutal, cruel, and she has a certain penchant when it comes to violence. Every problem can surely be solved with it. Any little problem. She's got no respect for the lives of other beings. They don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Bella can have a bit of a problem with obsession. Especially where the Dark Lord is concerned. She considers herself Lord Voldemort's most trusted and loyal follower. He is perhaps one of the only people she has displayed loyalty to, other than the pureblood family members who held the same beliefs that she does.

When it comes to being a leader, Bellatrix knows exactly what to do. She may not have the personality to be the face of anything, like the man she reveres, but she definitely has a way of motivating the troops. The woman demands perfection of those that work underneath her. She does not accept anything less than what was asked - and the only way to advance in her eyes is to do even more. To anticipate what the Dark Lord needs...and the efforts of the opposing wizards and witches. So that one can snuff out those efforts, of course.

Bella is pretty cold emotionally, and it would be very easy to say that Lord Voldemort is the only person that she actually loves. Not even her own husband gets the amount of care and respect she gives her Dark Lord. She doesn't care about other people, their petty problems, or truthfully - whether they live or die. Even family can fall at the deadly end of her wand if they displease her or prove themselves to be traitors.

HISTORY

Bellatrix was the first child of Cygnus Black III and Druella Black. She was from a proud family line that acted their station. In 1951 Pureblood wizards tended to be higher on the scale, but it wasn't a huge social issue. They simple behaved in a superior manner, but it didn't seem to really affect the laws that the Ministry put together. From a young age Bella was taught that she was special. She was better than her peers because she was a Black, and she was pureblood. As she grew older, these beliefs began to sit firmly in her heart. She found herself resistant to seeing half-bloods, muggle borns, and even blood traitors as equal to herself. These convictions would take hold of her and define the rest of her life.

It was no surprise that she ended up in Slytherin when she went to school. By the time she started it was 1962, and Lord Voldemort had been gradated from the famed wizarding school for 17 years. The Death Eater movement was beginning to take hold among the pureblood families, but they were not yet the feared group of witches and wizards that they would become. They were building their ranks - and her parents, of course, were among them. She wasn't really allowed in the inner workings of what was going on, of course, but her parents certainly made it a point to instill the values of the Death Eaters in her. She came to hear stories of this wonderful man, whom her parents referred to as Lord Voldemort. Bella had no way of knowing just how important he would be to her one day. But she knew she wanted to continue on the legacy of her pureblood heritage.

Like her, her sisters Narcissa and Andromeda were sorted into Slytherin. However, one seemed more loyalty to their pureblood roots than the other. As a result, Bella was much closer to Cissa than she was to Dromeda. In school the oldest sister was pretty popular - but hardly because she was nice. She was a bit more like the 'mean girl', only she wasn't girly or focused on fashion or her image. She didn't care about things. Unless it was her image as a pureblood. Bellatrix wouldn't have been caught dead in the company of a muggleborn or half-blood in school. It was like torture when a teacher forced her to work with one. Could there be anything less dignified?

The oldest Black sister graduated in 1969 - just in enough time to fully join the Death Eater movement before it really took its hold. It was in the 1970s when Lord Voldemort began to make himself known to the rest of the wizarding world. It was a time of her life that Bellatrix would always look back on fondly. It was during this time her loyalty to The Dark Lord became unconditional and binding. Andromeda was the next to graduate, but she did not follow the footsteps of her older sister. Instead she married a muggleborn named Ted Tonks and won her family's utter disappointed. Dromeda was chucked out of the family and her place on the family tree was burned away as if she had died. Bellatrix despises her sister, but clings to the relationship she has with Narcissa. The oldest sister doesn't really have the capacity for love - but she understands the benefit of family loyalty. Especially for purebloods.

Bellatrix was married in 1975 - to a man that her parents and Lord Voldemort himself insisted on for her. Perhaps because he knew he himself was a half-blood, and therefore should never be an option for Bellatrix. Perhaps just to rid himself of her affections, though there was nothing that could do that. Never the less, for reasons she never understood The Dark Lord, along with her parents, bid her to marry Rodolphus Lestrange- but she would never deny her leader anything he asked of her. But it was not her husband that she loved or where her loyalties lay.

She had many years of successes as a Death Eater. She was able to make use of her ruthless bloodlust that otherwise would not have a true focus. There is no explaining why some people find themselves driven to the dark side. Bella could never explain it - but she gets unmeasurable joy out of the pain of others. She finds expression in violence - in the most passionate form. The Dark Lord certainly found that useful, and gave Bellatrix a host of entertaining tasks. She considered herself the highest amongst the ranks, and hardly looked at the others as her equals. In the late 70s a man by the name of Severus Snape joined the Death Eaters, but Bellatrix never found it in her black little heart to trust him. There was certainly some amount of jealousy as Voldemort seemed to put his trust in the man, but she knew that trust was misplaced. In 1981 her life was changed forever. Lord Voldemort disappeared after going after some child. Needless to say, the woman was devastated. It seemed like her whole life had come to a screeching halt.

How was she supposed to focus that bloodlust without his protection? Bella flew into rage, depression, and even the small amount of rational thought she had while he was around seemed to vanish. Her husband could no longer control her, but he too was loyal to the Dark Lord. The couple, along with Barty Crouch Jr. and Rabastan Lestrange set out to attack members of the Order of the Phoenix. They were sure that they had something to do with his disappearance. That little baby couldn't possible have had the power to stop their Dark Lord.

Those choices led to their incarceration after they sent Alice and Frank Longbottom to insanity by torturing them with the Cruciatus Curse. Over her time in Azkaban Bellatrix often thought back to those moments. But not with regret...with glee. Their screams were like music to her ears, and they would echo with reverence in her ears for as long as she lived. It always brought a smile to her face to think of their boy visiting them - their minds hardly there. What a beautiful thing she had done in the name of her Dark Lord.

Because of this, and her time in Azkaban - Bella knew herself to be Voldemort's most loyal follower. Her thoughts while she was in prison were bent on him. Why had he not found a way to break her out? Was he testing her? She'd spend as many years in Azkaban for him as she had to...but oh how she dreamed of him breaking her away from the Dementors. They drove her to instantly, the way she had driven the Longbottoms there.

Then, finally, in 1996 - her hopes were finally brought about. Bellatrix, along with several other Death Eaters escaped from Azkaban. The Dark Lord hard returned, and the Dementors rejected their former alliance with the Ministry. It allowed many to escape. Voldemort declared that Bellatrix, Rodolpohus, and Rabastan were faithful members of his inner circle. They were rewarded as the group began to reform. She was given power and praise from the man that she respected more than any other. And although her marriage to her husband was largely because it was a "proper pureblood marriage", she was proud to be married to a man that would sacrifice for The Dark Lord. The more favorably Voldemort looked on Rodolphus Lestrange, the more favorably she looked on her own husband.

in 1998 the Battle of Hogwarts commenced. It was the defining moment for Voldemort, and therefore for Bellatrix. More than once she nearly lost her life in various duels, but she had managed to come out on top. The battle was one, and the muggleborns and half-bloods were put in their place. Once Voldemort took control of Ministry he assigned her to Hogwarts. Truthfully, she argued with him on the subject. She wanted to be the one to execute their enemies - not keep lists. But in the end, she couldn't say no to Voldemort, and it turned out her department got to see a lot more blood than she originally anticipated. After all, the muggleborns on the list tend not to last very long if they discover their magic and attempt to enter the wizarding world. Still, it wasn't exactly what she'd choose to spend her time on. She was also called in to teach dueling closings from time to time, and while spending time at the school with snot nosed little brats was ideal, it did give her a chance to impart her 'wisdom' onto the next set of Death Eaters that was sure to come out of Hogwarts. It also turned out to give her the opportunity to keep her eye on Snape - who she still doesn't trust. Students are likely to find her a bit terrifying, even if they are purebloods with the proper beliefs. She has the air of a woman who didn't mind snapping someone's neck - and that was simply because that is exactly who she is.