Lestrange family

Lestrange family
Family heritage
Blood status	Pure-blood
Notable family members	Radolphus Lestrange † F. Lestrange † R. Lestrange † Corvus Lestrange Snr Heloise Lestrange (née Beaufort) Corvus Lestrange Jr Minette Lestrange (née Rosier) M. Lestrange Josette Lestrange Corvus Lestrange III Eglantine Lestrange Corvus Lestrange IV Laurena Lestrange (née Kama) Clarisse Lestrange (née Tremblay) † Leta Lestrange Corvus Lestrange V (adopted as Credence Barebone) Lestrange † Rodolphus Lestrange Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black) † Rabastan Lestrange
Status	Unknown; presumably extinct or soon to be extinct
Relationships
Related families	Black family Malfoy family Rosier family Kama family Barebone family (through adoption)
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 practise 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. Similar to the Gaunt, they are willing to intermarry with cousins to maintain their purity.

History

Three members of the Lestrange family on trial in front of the Council of Magical Law

The Lestrange family, being named in the Pure-Blood Directory as one of the "Sacred Twenty-Eight" Pure-blood families, dates back centuries in the British wizarding community.

The family has produced a Minister for Magic during the 1800s: Radolphus Lestrange took a reactionary position, and attempted to shut down the Department of Mysteries, but was ignored by the Unspeakables and the rest of the Ministry. He resigned after six years in office due to ill health, which was rumoured to be an inability to cope with stress of the office.

During her time at Hogwarts around the 1910s, Leta Lestrange developed a close relationship with fellow student and magical beast enthusiast Newton Scamander. After one of Leta's experiments went wrong and endangered the life of a student, Newt Scamander took the blame and was expelled in her place. She would later cross paths with Newt again.

During the First and Second Wizarding Wars, the Lestranges 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". Bellatrix also had a "secret" relationship with Lord Voldemort and gave birth to a child with him before the Battle of Hogwarts. Bellatrix and Voldemort’s daughter was later named Delphini. As Bellatrix and Voldemort both died in the Battle of Hogwarts, Delphini grew up as an orphan.

Family members

"The family has, however, eschewed the somewhat dangerous practise 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

Blood relatives

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.
Corvus Lestrange Snr	Husband of Heloise Lestrange and father of Corvus Lestrange Jr.
Heloise Lestrange (née Beaufort)	Wife of Corvus Lestrange Snr and mother of Corvus Lestrange Jr.
Corvus Lestrange Jr	Son of Corvus and Heloise Lestrange, and father of M., Josette and Corvus Lestrange III.
Minette Lestrange (née Rosier)	Wife of Corvus Lestrange Jr and mother of M., Josette and Corvus Lestrange III.
M. Lestrange	Oldest child of Corvus and Minette Lestrange and sibling of Josette Lestrange and Corvus Lestrange III.
Josette Lestrange	Daughter of Corvus and Heloise Lestrange and sister of M. and Corvus Lestrange III.
Corvus Lestrange III	Son of Corvus and Minette Lestrange and brother of M. and Josette Lestrange.
Eglantine Lestrange	Wife of Corvus Lestrange III and mother of Corvus Lestrange IV.
Corvus Lestrange IV	Son of Corvus LestrangeEglantine Lestrange, father of Leta Lestrange and biological father of Credence Barebone.
Laurena Lestrange (née Kama)	First wife of Corvus Lestrange IV and mother of Leta Lestrange.
Clarisse Lestrange (née Tremblay)	Second wife of Corvus Lestrange IV and biological mother of Credence Barebone.
Leta Lestrange	Aspiring magizoologist with a "close relationship" with Newton Scamander; daughter of Corvus and Laurena Lestrange, and half-sister of Credence Barebone.
Corvus Lestrange V (Credence Barebone)	Obscurial; son of Corvus and Clarisse Lestrange, and half-brother of Leta Lestrange.
Lestrange	A classmate of Tom Riddle and one of his earliest Death Eaters; possibly father of Rodolphus and Rabastan.
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.
Rabastan Lestrange	A Death Eater; brother of Rodolphus and the brother-in-law of Bellatrix.

Relatives by marriage

Bellatrix Lestrange, a notorious and sadistic Death Eater

Family tree

Radolphus' Bloodline

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)

Corvus' Bloodline

Lestrange family

Rosier family

Corvus Lestrange

Heloise Beaufort

Corvus Lestrange

Minette Rosier

M. Lestrange

Josette Lestrange

Corvus Lestrange

Eglantine Lestrange

Laurena Kama

Corvus Lestrange

Clarisse Tremblay

Leta Lestrange

Corvus Lestrange (adopted Barebone)

Etymology

The name 'Lestrange' echoes the French phrase l'étrange, literally "the strange one", referring to Bellatrix's mental disturbance. 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.
• The Lestrange family tree in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald was written in French, suggesting that the family was from, or has branches in, France.