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Notice: This section contains spoilers from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Delphinus[5] (born late 1997 or early 1998[1]), known by the nickname Delphi, was a half-blood witch, the supposed daughter of Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange.[4]

Being the only child of Voldemort, after the demise of her father, Delphi was the only known living heir of Salazar Slytherin.

Biography

Early life

Delphinus was born in secret as a result of an affair between Bellatrix Lestrange and Lord Voldemort in late 1997 or early 1998.[1][2] On 2 May 1998, when Delphi was only a few months old, her parents were killed in the Battle of Hogwarts.[1][6] Bellatrix's husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, survived the battle,[1] but was presumably sent to Azkaban or forced to go into hiding.

This left the infant Delphi an orphan as her father had been.[1] She was taken in and raised by the Rowle family.[1] Her true parentage was revealed to her by Rodolphus at some point.[1]

She did not attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.[4]

An ambitious plan

At some point, Delphi found Amos Diggory, placing him under a Confundus Charm in order to pass herself off as his niece, Delphi Diggory, and to ensure he did her bidding.

On 31 August 2020,[5][7] Amos Diggory went to Harry Potter and urged him to use a Time-Turner to go back in time to the Triwizard Tournament and save his son, Cedric, who was killed on the orders of Voldemort after winning the event.

Harry refused, but his son, Albus, overheard the conversation and later, along with his friend, Scorpius Malfoy, decided to help the Diggorys to alter history and save Cedric. Albus and Scorpius visited the nursing home where Amos Diggory lived and where Delphi, posing as his niece, pretended to take care of him.

Albus, Scorpius, and Delphi snuck into the Ministry of Magic and stole a Time-Turner. Using the Time-Turner, Albus and Scorpius seriously altered past events, creating an alternative reality. After many attempts, they managed to restore the correct timeline, and decided to destroy Time-Turner on their own, not trusting the Ministry to destroy it.

Albus then sent an owl to Delphi. She arrived to Hogwarts just in time to see how he planned to try to destroy Time-Turner. Albus wanted to apologise to her that they would not be able to go back in time to save Cedric. He and Scorpius explained that in the new reality they had created, Cedric’s Triwizard humiliation had turned him into an angry, bitter young man who became a Death Eater and eventually killed Neville Longbottom, helping to usher in the era of the Dark Lord. Delphi said that Cedric would have understood, suggesting they should destroy the Time-Turner together, and explain to her uncle why Cedric would not be saved.

After Albus handed her the Time-Turner, both boys noticed a black tattoo of a bird on her back. Delphi said it was an Augurey, which reminded her of her childhood as an orphan when she was raised by the Rowle family. The boys realised she was an enemy, but Delphi pulled out a wand and bound them together.

Delphi planned to travel back in time to the point at which Albus had stopped Cedric winning the Triwizard task and thus unwittingly created an alternative timeline where Voldemort won the Second Wizarding War. Albus refused, but she threatened to kill Scorpius. Craig Bowker, another Hogwarts student, rushed up to say that the whole school was looking for them, prompting Delphi to kill him.

Delphi took Albus and Scorpius back in time with her, but they refused to co-operate. As Delphi prepared to kill Scorpius, she was struck from behind by an unsuspecting Cedric Diggory, who thought the scene was simply part of the Triwizard task. He freed the boys before returning to the challenge.

Then Delphi staggered to her feet and picked up the Time-Turner, but Albus and Scorpius managed to grab the device. They raced through time once again, but once they arrived, Delphi destroyed the Time-Turner and flew away.

Albus and Scorpius discovered that they had been transported to 30 October 1981 – the day before Harry Potter’s parents were killed by Voldemort. The boys realised that Delphi intended to stop Voldemort from trying to kill Harry, and thus triggering his own destruction when his Killing Curse rebounded on him due to Lily Potter's sacrifice.

Meanwhile, the boys' parents were looking for them. Ron Weasley told Harry he sad seen Albus with an older girl the night before. Harry thought he must mean Delphi Diggory, Amos’s niece. They went to see Amos, who told them that he never had a niece. The Confundus Charm that Delphi had cast on him had waned.

The adults raced to Delphi’s room and found there evidence that Delphi was in fact Tom Riddle's daughter.

Confrontation

"You will never get to know him. You will always be an orphan. You will never forget that."
— Harry Potter's words to Delphi about her father

Harry, Ginny, Draco, Ron, and Hermione headed back to Godric’s Hollow in 1981 using another Time-Turner in order to help the boys. They found Albus and Scorpius, and all of the hid in a church, from which they could look out for Delphi without being seen.

Harry volunteered to transfigure himself into Voldemort and lead Delphi into a trap. The others planned to wait in the church behind the large wooden doors until Harry was able to lure her inside.

Delphi finally appeared and Harry (disguised as Voldemort) pretended not to know who she was. She explained that she was the child of Tom Riddle and Bellatrix Lestrange.

He told her that together they could become an unstoppable force, but, by that time, the transfiguration had begun to fade. She saw that she was actually speaking to Harry, claiming she had studied him and knew him better than her father did. She locked the doors to prevent the others jumping out to help. Without a wand, Harry was forced to hide beneath a church pew while she attacked him. When Delphi was about to kill him, Albus popped up through a hatch in the floor, throwing a wand to his father. Together, they were able to overpower Delphi.

Delphi begged them to kill her or wipe her mind clean. She confessed that she had only wanted to meet her father and be with him. Albus wanted to kill her to avenge Craig, but Harry and the others stopped him. In a moment of empathy for her, Harry told her that she must learn to live with the fact that she will always be an orphan, as he has.

Delphi was then imprisoned in Azkaban for the murder of Craig.

Magical abilities and skills

  • Parseltongue: Delphi is a Parselmouth, a trait she inherited from her father, Lord Voldemort. She uses Parseltongue code to conceal her room.
  • Flying: Delphi is able to fly without support.

Etymology

The name Delphinus belongs to a constellation in the northern sky.[8] This constellation is said to depict a dolphin, and its name derives from delphinus, the Latin word for the marine mammal.[8] The House of Black, Delphinus's mother's family, had a tradition of naming children after stars and constellations.[9]

In Greek mythology, Delphyne was the name of a female dragon who was appointed by her mother, the earth goddess Gaia, to guard the Pythia, commonly known as the Oracle of Delphi.[10] Some myths describe Delphyne as being a half-maiden, half-snake creature similar to Echidna.[10] This could be a reference to Voldemort's inhuman appearance, and his relationship with Bellatrix Lestrange, a human.

Behind the scenes

Notes and references

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