“I was and am the Dark Lord’s most loyal servant.”

Bellatrix – “Bella” is a construct of the word “bellum” meaning “war” and “trix” refers to “a woman in power.” Bellatrix is therefore known as the “Female Warrior” and is also the pale yellow star indicating the left shoulder of the constellation Orion, the Great Hunter. (from mugglenet.com)

Lestrange – To be “estranged” means to be “removed from society.” In French, “etrange” means “strange” or “weird.”

“She sat beside her sister, as unlike her in looks, with her dark hair and heavily lidded eyes, as she was in bearing and demeanour; where Narcissa sat rigid and impassive, Bellatrix leaned toward Voldemort, for mere words could not demonstrate her longing for closeness.”

Ever since the movies came out, so many people have fallen in love with Bellatrix Lestrange. While she may be a very interesting character, think about what she’s done for a minute. She tortured Neville’s parents to a point that’s worse than death; they don’t even recognize their own son (I’ll talk about this more when I get to Neville). Then there’s Sirius. While some debate whether Sirius is a father figure or a brother, he is still very important to Harry and Bellatrix takes him away from Harry. Bellatrix also tortures Hermione because she is afraid that Voldemort will be angry because they supposedly got into her vault at Gringotts. One of the things I hate most about Bellatrix is that she killed Dobby. Dobby is wonderful, and the movies haven’t shown just how important he is. I loved him; he did so much for the trio even when they didn’t know it. I cried when he died (the movie didn’t do it justice, but I still did). Bellatrix is a hateful character. Though she married, her true love is Voldemort. If that doesn’t say enough about her character, I don’t know what will.

Why include a character filled with so much hate? Well, unfortunately, Pottermore has yet to finish opening the 2nd book, so we may not find out for a very long time what J.K. Rowling was thinking when she created Bellatrix. She does bring a few things to the table. In the beginning of Half-Blood Prince, Bellatrix is the first character on Voldemort’s side to suggest that Snape may not be completely loyal. This is one of the first times someone suggests Snape may be double agent.

Obviously, Bellatrix doesn’t believe that Snape’s actually on Dumbledore’s side because that would involve betraying Voldemort, aka her one true love. And that brings up another really great point about Bellatrix. She is an obvious foil (contrast) to Molly Weasley, and even to extent Narcissa Malfoy.

Let’s start with Molly. While Bellatrix isn’t a mother, she does love in her own weird and obsessive ways. While Molly cares about everyone she comes into contact with pretty much, Bellatrix only really cares about Voldemort and herself. The only reason she marries Rudolphus is because he is a pure-blood wizard. If she could have, there is no doubt that she would have married Voldemort. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why Bellatrix marries at all. But the main contrast between Molly and Bellatrix is the difference from motherly love and obsessive love. This is probably the reason that Jo had Molly defeat Bellatrix, which, by the way, is one of my favorite scenes, not only in the movie, but in the book as well. Without a doubt, the best Molly Weasley quote is “Not my daughter you bitch!” Jo, you are brilliant.

You may wonder how Bellatrix could be so different from her sister Narcissa, who is also on the side of evil, but, again, it has to do with love. Narcissa is truly concerned when Draco becomes a Death Eater and has to try and kill Dumbledore. Narcissa realizes that Voldemort expects Draco to fail and therefore Narcissa wants Snape to protect Draco. Bellatrix is disgusted with how worried Narcissa is claiming that she would willingly give up her only son to serve Voldemort. Again with the obsession. I’m not sure if you’ve gotten my point yet, but I kind of hate Bellatrix. I mean, I love Helena Bonham Carter and how perfectly she portrays Bellatrix, but I don’t understand why people love her so much.

What about you? What are your thoughts about Bellatrix?

Some quotes from Bellatrix:

“Longbottom, is it? How’s mum and dad?”

“What will happen to your children when I’ve killed you? When mummy’s gone the same way as Freddie?!”

Bellatrix: “You stupid elf! You could have killed me!” Dobby: “Dobby never meant to kill! Dobby only meant to maim, or seriously injure!”

“Cissy, put the boys in the cellar! I’m going to have a conversation with this one, girl to girl.”

“You should be honored Cissy, as should Draco.”

“Potter, you cannot win against me! I was and am the Dark Lord’s most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete!”

“…I don’t trust you, Snape, as you very well know! …Where were you when the Dark Lord fell? Why did you never make any attempt to find him when he vanished? What have you been doing all these years that you’ve lived in Dumbledore’s pocket? Why did you not return at once when the Dark Lord was reborn? Where were you a few weeks ago when we battled to retrieve the prophecy for the Dark Lord? And why, Snape, is Harry Potter still alive, when you have had him at your mercy for the last five years?”

More info on her: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Bellatrix_Lestrange

This picture is from a Harry Potter fan page on Facebook, and it’s actually what inspired me to write this entry: