Bellatrix Lestrange

Bellatrix Lestrange
Harry Potter character

Gender	Female
Hair colour	Black
Eye colour	Dark, heavily lidded
House	Slytherin
Parentage	Pure-blood
Loyalty	Death Eater
Film portrayer	Helen McCrory
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (though her first name was not given until the next book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)

Bellatrix Lestrange is a fictional character from the Harry
Potter books, a Death Eater who is extremely loyal to
Voldemort. She is married to fellow Death
Eater Rodolphus
Lestrange.

Bellatrix's name translates exactly as the feminine of "warrior"
(noun) in Latin, and, like many members of the Black Family, is
named after a star. Bellatrix (also known as Gamma
Orionis) is the name of one of the brightest stars in the
constellation Orion. She is noted to be an extremely handsome woman,
with heavy, shining black hair, dark heavy lidded eyes and refined
features. Bellatrix seems to have inherited the trademark dark good
looks of the Black family, which are especially noticeable in her
cousin Sirius Black.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or
ending details follow.

Bellatrix Lestrange (1951-) was born Bellatrix Black, first
cousin to Sirius and Regulus
Black, and sister to Narcissa Malfoy and Andromeda Tonks. She is a member of the
pureblood Black family which, with the exception of her sister
Andromeda and her cousin Sirius, (and possibly Sirius' brother
Regulus Black after a certain point during his time with them),
sympathizes with the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort. Her parents
are Cygnus Black and Druella Rosier.

Bellatrix became a Death Eater and married Rodolphus Lestrange, brother of Rabastan Lestrange - it should be noted
that the Lestranges are also purebloods and this may have been one
reason why Bellatrix married into the family. One year after
Lord Voldemort's defeat, the three of them
(and presumably Barty Crouch Jr. as well) tried to
discover information about the location of the discorporate spirit
of Lord Voldemort, by using the Cruciatus Curse on
Frank and
Alice
Longbottom. Their victims went insane from the torture, and for
that crime the four of them were convicted to life imprisonment in
Azkaban.

Fourteen years later, she was amongst the imprisoned Death
Eaters who broke out and rejoined Lord
Voldemort. The Lestranges are considered some of Voldemort's
most devoted followers.

Bellatrix Lestrange was in a group of Death
Eaters who tried to steal a prophecy belonging to the Department of Mysteries in the
Ministry of Magic. During that mission she proved to be a fierce
and very skilled fighter by putting the two Aurors Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt out of action and
by escaping Dumbledore after his arrival at the Ministry. She
also murdered Sirius Black in a duel at the Ministry, even
though he was her cousin. She escaped from the Ministry with Lord
Voldemort.

In Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince, Bellatrix tries to keep her sister from
asking Severus Snape to aid and protect Narcissa's
son, Draco Malfoy, as she does not trust Snape. She
shows no sympathy for Narcissa's fears for Draco's safety, boasting
that if she had sons she'd be proud to sacrifice them in service of
the "Dark Lord". Bellatrix is also revealed as skilled at Occlumency, and teaches this art to Draco. On her
way to the meeting with Snape, Lestrange callously kills an
innocent fox, believing the poor animal to be a spy for the
Ministry of Magic. The creature was just trying to scavenge some
rubbish to eat.

Following Black family custom, Bellatrix would have inherited
Number 12 Grimmauld Place and everything in it after Sirius's
passing (as his next of kin). However, Sirius's will indicated that
Harry receive his possessions. To make sure there would be no
dispute over the legal owner of Sirius's property (and prevent the
Order's headquarters from falling into
enemy hands), Kreacher was brought before Harry to see if he was
indeed the house-elf's rightful owner. After Kreacher obeyed a
direct order from Harry, despite his intense disgust for Harry, the
matter was settled - and Bellatrix was denied what would have been
hers by right of kinship and descent had Sirius died
without a will.

To date, Bellatrix, along with the woman called Alecto who was
in the Astronomy Tower when Albus Dumbledore was killed, are the
only female Death Eaters known by name. Narcissa Malfoy may also be
one, though so far she has only shown where her loyalties lie, and
it is not stated outright if she bears the Dark
Mark.

Many fans speculate that there is something romantic going on
between Bellatrix and Lord Voldemort, citing such clues as
Bellatrix's apparent willingness to do anything for his cause as
well as she referring to herself as being the 'closest' to him,
apparently evidenced by the fact that he referred to her by the
nickname 'Bella' in the Department of Mysteries. This is, as far as
anyone can tell, only fanon, and there is really no hard canon evidence to back up any kind of
relationship between them. In fact, Dumbledore speculates in
Half-Blood Prince that Voldemort has probably never had even so
much as a friend, let alone a lover - and likes it that way.

Spoilers
end here.