Lestrange family

Lestrange family
Family heritage
Blood status	Pure-blood
Notable family members	Radolphus Lestrange F. Lestrange R. Lestrange Lestrange Rodolphus Lestrange Rabastan Lestrange Bellatrix Lestrange
Status	Unknown; presumably extinct
Relationships
Related families	Black family Malfoy family Rosier family
Affiliation
House(s)	Slytherin
Loyalty	Death Eaters

"The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!"

— Bellatrix Lestrange declaring her family's loyalty

Lestrange is the surname of an ancient pure-blood wizarding family, and one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. They are related to the Black, Malfoy, Tonks, Lupin, and Rosier families. Bellatrix Black married into the family only because it was expected of her to make a respectable pure-blood marriage.

The Lestranges are a very old and wealthy family with a vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank full of treasure. Like the House of Black many Lestranges practice the Dark Arts and believe in the notion of pure-blood supremacy, they disdain Muggles, Muggle-borns, blood traitors, and in some cases half-bloods.

History

During the First and Second Wizarding Wars, they supported Lord Voldemort and at least a few members of the family were Death Eaters. Voldemort named Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan Lestrange among his most loyal followers, as they were the only Death Eaters who tried to find him after his defeat in 1981 and spent fourteen years in Azkaban because of their loyalty. Bellatrix, in particular, described herself as "the Dark Lord's most loyal servant".

Family members

"The family has, however, eschewed the somewhat dangerous practice of inter-marrying within such a small pool of pure-bloods that they become enfeebled or unstable, unlike a small minority of fanatic families such as the Gaunts and Lestranges, and many a half-blood appears on the Malfoy family tree."

— Description of the Malfoy family

Bellatrix Lestrange, a notorious Death Eater

Wizard(s)	Notes
Radolphus Lestrange	Minister for Magic from 1835 to 1841.
F. Lestrange	A family member who lived in the mid-19th century.
R. Lestrange	A family member who lived in the late mid-19th century.
Lestrange	A classmate of Tom Riddle and one of his earliest Death Eaters; possibly father of Rodolphus and Rabastan.
Rabastan Lestrange	A Death Eater; brother of Rodolphus and the brother-in-law of Bellatrix.
Rodolphus Lestrange	A Death Eater; brother of Rabastan and the husband of Bellatrix.
Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black)	A fanatically loyal Death Eater killed by Molly Weasley during the Battle of Hogwarts; wife of Rodolphus.

Family tree

Lestrange family

House of Black

Rosier family

Radolphus Lestrange (fl. 1835-1841)

F. Lestrange

R. Lestrange

Lestrange (b. 1926)

Cygnus Black III (1938-1992)

Druella Black (née Rosier)

Rabastan Lestrange

Rodolphus Lestrange

Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black) (1951-1998)

Andromeda Tonks (née Black) (b. 1950s)

Narcissa Malfoy (née Black) (b. 1955)

Etymology

The name 'Lestrange' echoes the French phrase l'étrange, literally "the strange one", referring to Bellatrix's mental disability. In Old French, estrange means "foreigner". The surname may allude to English journalist Roger L'Estrange, who was known for opposing religious toleration and for being involved in plots against the government of William and Mary, similar to the Lestranges' intolerance about blood purity and involvement in the Death Eaters organisation.

Behind the scenes

• Although it is pronounced le-STRANGE in the films, the Scholastic Official Website states that it is pronounced la-STRAWNGE.