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Duel between Molly Weasley and Bellatrix Lestrange
Part of the Battle of Hogwarts
Date	2 May, 1998
Location	Great Hall, Hogwarts Castle, Scotland
Result	Molly Weasley kills Bellatrix Lestrange in a duel
Combatants
Molly Weasley	Bellatrix Lestrange
Casualties
	Bellatrix Lestrange

This duel was fought between Molly Weasley and Bellatrix Lestrange, taking place in the Great Hall of Hogwarts Castle after the hour-long halt during the Battle of Hogwarts. Molly Weasley, the matriach of the Weasley family, and Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters and described as his last, best lieutenant, engaged in the duel after the latter nearly killed Molly's daughter, Ginny. After Molly cast a well-aimed lethal spell at Bellatrix, she toppled lifeless to the ground, making Voldemort scream in fury and point his wand at Mrs. Weasley. Harry Potter cast a Shield Charm between the two of them, thus revealling himself and setting the stage for the duel that ended the Second Wizarding War.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Background 1.2 The duel 1.3 Aftermath 2 Behind the scenes 3 Appearances 4 Notes and references

History

Background

After the Battle of Hogwarts recommenced, the arrival of the Hogwarts Centaur herd, Grawp, and the shopkeeps and homeowners of Hogsmeade forced the battle to move inside the Castle, with duellers being forced into the Great Hall by the charging forces.^[1]

Fifty yards away from Lord Voldemort, who duelled against Minerva McGonagall, Horace Slughorn, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Bellatrix Lestrange battled against Hermione Granger, Ginevra Weasley and Luna Lovegood. During the duel, Bellatrix shot a Killing Curse at Ginny, missing her target by an inch. Molly Weasley witnessed it and, enraged at the Death Eater, ran towards her throwing off her cloak to free her arms as Bellatrix roared with laughter at the sight of her new challenger.^[1]

The duel

Molly Weasley started the duel with a quick swipe of her wand. Bellatrix, however, did not take Molly seriously in the least, having started duelling with an expression of derision on her face. As Mrs. Weasley's wand slashed and twisted, Bellatrix's smile faltered and became a snarl, the floor around the two witches' feet becoming hot and cracked with the intensity of their spell-casting. At this point, a few Hogwarts students ran forward to aid Mrs. Weasley, but were dismissed with a "No! Get back! Get back! She is mine!". Bellatrix then started taunting Mrs. Weasley over her son's murder, and gave an exhilarated laugh as her opponent cast the fatal blow that struck Bellatrix squarely in the chest, directly over her heart. Bellatrix's gloating smile froze, her eyes seemed to bulge and then her lifeless body toppled to the ground.^[1]

Aftermath

After she shockingly toppled to the ground, an outraged Voldemort turned on Molly. This prompted Harry Potter to reveal himself, and the final showdown between him and Voldemort ensued. Bellatrix did not live to see the end of the Second Wizarding War and her master's final defeat mere moments later.^[1]

Behind the scenes

• 

  In the second part of the film adaptation of Deathly Hallows, this duel has some noticeable differences:
  • In the film adaptation, Bellatrix throws her arms up as her skin disintegrates, and then she explodes. In the book she just falls over, dead.
  • In the film adaptation, Bellatrix casts a curse at Ginny Weasley, who deflects it using a Shield Charm.
  • Hermione and Luna are also nowhere to be seen, as Hermione is fighting Nagini with Ron.
  • In the film adaptation, the duel takes place atop one of the House tables, instead of on the stone floor, as specified in the book.
  • In the film adaptation, instead of using a lethal curse, Molly used a spell to make Bellatrix's body become sunken and sallow, then uses another curse to blast Bellatrix's body into pieces.
  • In the film adaptation, neither Harry nor Voldemort witness the duel, as they are facing off on the Grand Staircase, the Marble Staircase and later on a set of catwalks by The Quad battlements.
• It has been suggested that this is the collision of two female archetypes, the Mother and the Fury.
• In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, Molly and Kingsley duel Bellatrix on The Quad battlements.
• In the Page to Screen Limited Edition set, there is an image shown indicating an alternate death to Bellatrix, where she is blasted into the wall behind her and laying amongst a pile of crutches.  

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7

Notes and references

Preceded by: Skirmish at the Great Hall Conflicts of the Battle of Hogwarts 2 May, 1998 (5 a.m.) Succeeded by: Voldemort's Last Stand