Rodolphus Lestrange

[h_vic]

Given that we know Bellatrix seemed more devoted to the Dark lord than to her husband, do you think it could still be believable that Rodolphus cared for her?

Also how do you think the relationship between the Lestrange brothers was? Do you think that they were close?

Do we know what happened to Rodolphus by the end of DH? Was he alive, dead, in Azkaban...? Also was he there for the final battle when Bella was killed? How do you think he'd react?

Finally, do we have any idea what he looks like?

Thanks,

~Hannah

[cmwinters]

It's possible that Rodolphus cared for Bellatrix but Jo said that Bella made a respected pure-blood marriage because that's what was expected of her. Chances are good, if he was close to her in the beginning, by the time several years had passed and she showed him no affection, he probably grew to resent her.

The brothers, I think, were probably close, or perhaps Rabastan (who I *believe* is the younger) idolised Rodolphus, because Rabastan was with them when they went to torture the Longbottoms and he appeared to have been nervous about the trial.

Rodolphus and Rabastan broke out of Azkaban when Bellatrix broke out in Order of the Phoenix, but were presumably recaptured at the Department of Mysteries.

But then, Lucius was one of them, and he is out at the beginning of Deathly Hallows, so certainly by that point, the Lestrange brothers were out of prison.

At the end of the battle, he's not mentioned. In fact, the only ones that are mentioned are the Dark Lord (body), Bellatrix (body), the Malfoys (alive), and to a significantly lesser extent, Snape (first a body, then . . . Jo said he wasn't dead ??!! whatever), but since "all was well" it's probably a good bed that such a DEVOTED Death Eater(1) was killed in the battle. Or possibly before it, but didn't live beyond it.

(1)—Rodolphus & Rabastan's father is most likely the Lestrange that went to school with Tom Riddle. So the two of them are most likely second-generation Death Eaters, and they do appear to have been quite fervent to the cause.

Edited to add: Oh, hi, h_vic! I just answered the question without looking to see who posted it. :P *waves*

[king_to_pine]

Given that we know Bellatrix seemed more devoted to the Dark lord than to her husband, do you think it could still be believable that Rodolphus cared for her

I was always under the impression that they were simply married because they were both purebloods, but i could see as completely beleivable that Rodolphus cared for her. As we know virtually nothing about Rodolphus' character, lots of things could be beleivable about their relationship. But if he were to have love for her, the most beleivable scenario for me would be for him to fool himself into beleiving she loved him back. He would be constantly striving to win over her attention and affection from moldy voldy

Also how do you think the relationship between the Lestrange brothers was? Do you think that they were close?

I never imagined too much love within death eater families, as they are expected to devote all their loyalties to voldy without question. If Rodolphus was asked by voldy to kill Rabastian, as a loyal death eater he would be expected to do so. and as a presumably 2nd gen death eater, this would have been factored into their relationship since the beginning, or at leats very early. Under these conditions, they may have not given themselves enough of a chance to get extremely close. Although i'm contradicted in the case of the carrows; who in books 6 and 7 seem to be quite close, although they are presumably 1st gen death eaters

Do we know what happened to Rodolphus by the end of DH? Was he alive, dead, in Azkaban...? Also was he there for the final battle when Bella was killed? How do you think he'd react?

As an apparently loyal death eater i'd expect him to be at the final battle, but as cmwinters said, its mostly left open. As for his reaction, it depends on how you want their relationship to be presented. If he loved her and she loved moldy, and he knew it, his main thought would probably be that he never had her understand his love for her, and never knew if she could love him back.

Finally, do we have any idea what he looks like?

dont think so sorry

[R_Ravenclaw]

Funny, I just wrote a one-shot about Rodolphus. *gazes at siggy and unashamedly loves her own fic*

I can imagine Rodolphus being in love with her. Maybe because creepy Death Eater love triangles are interesting or something, but I like to imagine it that way. He loves her, she resents him because she was the only thing she ever did "wrong" in regards to her love for Voldy. But, really, it could go either way. We really have no idea how he felt about her, though we do know that she didn't care at all for him.

As for appearance, we sort of know how he looks. In GoF (chapter The Pensieve), we're taken to the trial of Crouch, Bella, Rodolphus and Rabastan.

There was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous looking man, whose eyes darted around the crowd…

One of those must be Rabastan and the other has to be Rodolphus. I always pictures Rodolphus to be the nervous-looking one, but you never know.

Relationship between the brothers? No idea. I picture them as not being close, but it never says one way or the other.

It never mentioned whether or not Rodolphus died, but I don't think he did. That's just what I personally want to believe, though. We know he was out of Azkaban, but that's about it.

You can't write how he would react to Bella's dying without first deciding whether or not he cared for her. If he did love her (as I personally believe), then he would probably be angry. And if he had realised she was in love with Voldy but loved her anyway, then I'm sure he would have been terribly sad/angry she was dead, but the part of him that cared so deeply for her would have been partially glad that she never had to go through another time with Voldy not being there. (Remember what happened after he "disappeared" the first time because of baby Harry? It made her torture the Longbottoms. I'm just going to say anyone in love with her wouldn't have wanted to put her through that again!) If he used to love her but had since grown to resent her, it probably would be outward indifference with a bit of internal sadness combined with the mourning of a love that was never meant to be. If it was just an arranged marriage and he didn't remotely care, then I bet it would be almost all indifference. Unless, of course, he still cared about her as a friend, which would still make him care and thus make him angry…

Sorry for that long-winded paragraph. Can you tell that Bella is my third-favourite character?

*hugs Rodolphus* (What? He doesn't get enough love, honestly!)

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Given that we know Bellatrix seemed more devoted to the Dark Lord than to her husband, do you think it could still be believable that Rodolphus cared for her?
I think Rodolphus loves Bellatrix, in his own little dense way. I mean, he was the one who proposed to her, and she probably said yes just to fulfill obligation and so she'd have someone to support her and bail her out of jail when she kills random children and puppies. Okay, sorry about that.

But anyway, I see Rodolphus as incredibly dumb and slow-witted, a big Kronk-like like guy who probably isn't even all that evil and is led into doing all this stuff by his crazy wife. I can see him as one of those infuriatingly slow-witted people who drives Bellatrix absolutely insane (more insane than usual?) He thinks she's pretty and he'll do basically anything for her because he's totally infatuated, but Bellatrix doesn't care about him.

Rodolphus wants to have some kids and be a daddy, but Bellatrix is like, "0_0 NOOOOO THANX..."

Also how do you think the relationship between the Lestrange brothers was? Do you think that they were close?
I see Rabastan as cleverer than Rodolphus but no genius. Growing up, he took advantage of his older brother's idiocy as much as possible. Rodolphus is too dumb to be scared of anything, and he's all big and beefy, but Rabastan is a constantly cowardly and smaller guy, so he also used Rabastan as protection. Rodolphus was always willing to help-- he's fairly easygoing, even when he's on a murder spree-- and he never really noticed that Rabastan was never exactly around to return the favour.

Do we know what happened to Rodolphus by the end of DH? Was he alive, dead, in Azkaban...? Also was he there for the final battle when Bella was killed? How do you think he'd react?
I think he slept late and arrived at the Battle of Hogwarts just in time to watch it end and get arrested. I don't think he actually saw Bellatrix die, but I think he saw her dead body and got really upset, but in a sort of quiet, sullen way. I don't think he ever realized exactly how much Voldemort meant to his wife because again, he's not the shiniest wand at Ollivander's, and he probably thought that what he had with Bellatrix was a normal relationship. He'd be upset about Voldemort, too, even though he never really knew what exactly the Death Eaters was all about.

I think that he was arrested upon entry to the Battle and thrown in Azkaban for life. His cellmate was a brilliant criminal mastermind named Jim who Rodolphus considered his best friend and who was driven absolutely up the wall by Rodolphus. But Rodolphus is so friendly and helpful in his stupid way, he gets out on good behavior after twenty years and spends his old age gardening and raising puppies.

Finally, do we have any idea what he looks like?
I actually always saw him as the thickset, blank-eyed man from the trial. I see him as tall and hulking and fairly bad-smelling with big beefy arms and shaggy black hair. He's got one of those cool beards that traces and accentuates his square jawline and a greenish five-o-clock shadow on the rest of his face. He has great big eyebrows and squinty, confused eyes.

[dragonwings]

Given that we know Bellatrix seemed more devoted to the Dark lord than to her husband, do you think it could still be believable that Rodolphus cared for her?
Probably! There are two, maybe three, main ways we can look at their relationship I think. The first is a marriage of convenience. They need to marry and raise a Pureblooded heir to carry on the legacy/name and it would also mean an alliance between two powerful Pureblooded houses. Because they were raised in that kind of world, I think that they would've thought that their marriage was very sensible and both probably learned how to cope and copulate from their parents while in such a loveless relationship. They might feel a small nip of affection for each other because of maybe some sense of camaraderie or something because of the whole "alliance" thing and maybe some sympathy because of what they were forced to go through and the whole thing were maybe they had the chance to find love with another person and instead, they had to get married. It's just an idea.

The second theory, is that Rodolphus carried a flame for her. Maybe he likes them psychotic, I don't know, but he was a driving force between their marriage while Bellatrix just married him to make her mother happy and to increase her own power and wealth. She would be the Tom Riddle of the relationship there, which is rather ironic if you think about it. Rodolphus would be constantly trying to please her, yet she would remain distant and cold, only performing necessary duties to maintain the facade of "friendship" or "devotion". This is a bit like her relationship to Voldemort. She would be more like Rodolphus to Voldemort, if that made any sense at all!!! LOL I guess if Bella was Voldie and Rodolphus was Bella, then that would be what the relationship was like! Bella would only truly care for Voldemort in this relationship though.

The third, rather implausible theory is that they actually loved each other. Maybe their time in Azkaban dimmed their love or maybe Bellatrix and Rodolphus were so blinded by their quest for power and their love for Voldemort that "they" fell on the wayside. Maybe it was both things that irreparably damaged their relationship! Either way, in this instance, what they were and their love for them just kind of fell by the wayside. Rodolphus copes by moping and Bella just amps up the Volders love.

Also how do you think the relationship between the Lestrange brothers was? Do you think that they were close?
It's possible that they were, but because we don't have that much evidence in the books, it could go either way. I have always had the feeling that Rodolphus was the older of the two and like Schmergo said, he was probably pretty dang slow. But I don't feel that he was just a puppet, probably because puppet people bug me lol. I think that they were close enough. Probably more so when they were children and were still innocent, but if they had built any real bond during their childhood then the chance that that friendship lasted throughout their adult years is also very probable. There might be some suspicion in their relationship (the Slytherin part of their nature) that could've distanced them and caused them to treat the other with more respect. Rodolphus might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, and I do agree with Schmergo that there might have been some brotherly manipulation, but I think that Rodolphus would catch on and not particularly care.

Do we know what happened to Rodolphus by the end of DH? Was he alive, dead, in Azkaban...? Also was he there for the final battle when Bella was killed? How do you think he'd react?
I think that he would be one of the survivors of the Final Battle. I can see him on the side-lines, doing his Death Eater duty, but looking out for himself first and never really placing himself fervently in danger like his wife. I think that he realized that either his wife was going to live or die that night depending on who won the battle because I think that he might have eventually caught on that there are no half-ways with Bellatrix Lestrange. I think that he went to Azkaban and then died there. Two times in Azkaban might have been a little too much for him and, assuming that he loved Bellatrix, the emotional pain he was experiencing would have killed him coupled with the conditions of Azkabans. Dementors or no, prison is depressing!

Finally, do we have any idea what he looks like?
Either he is the thickset guy or the scrawny guy. I have always thought of him as a bigger bloke personally, most older brothers have a bit more muscles and mass then their younger brothers. Even Regulus I think was smaller than Sirius.

[Lola-Louisa]

Given that we know Bellatrix seemed more devoted to the Dark lord than to her husband, do you think it could still be believable that Rodolphus cared for her?

I think they had this love hate relationship, personally. I think they hated eachother but at the same time had a little bit of the *nudge nudge wink wink* going on. Also, if Bella wasn't getting any from Volders, she would need someone to vent her frustrations on in that department, so I think there probably was some passion too.

The theories are that Bellatrix loved Voldy more than Rodolphus, and she probably did, but she'd been married to him for like, twenty-something years, so she probably did love him, no matter how little.

So, I think he loved her deep down, but pretended he hated her and didn't care what she did. I always imagine them as an evil Ron and Hermione, always bickering. There is always something in a relationship that works for people, and the fact they had no children proves that they weren't completely controlled by their parents.

It's kind of difficult, but I do think they cared about eachother. Maybe they had one of those relationships where they were allowed to have others as well as eachother?

Also how do you think the relationship between the Lestrange brothers was? Do you think that they were close?

I always picture them as Crabbe and Goyle a-likes, only with a bit more brains. They're close because they've been pushed together, but under normal circumstances, I think they would have been aquaintances.

Do we know what happened to Rodolphus by the end of DH? Was he alive, dead, in Azkaban...? Also was he there for the final battle when Bella was killed? How do you think he'd react?

I think he got killed either by a giant or by house elves, because it says that's when the Death Eaters over-powered.

However, if he did see Bellatrix die, I think he would be privately distraught. He did spend the majority of his life with her.

Finally, do we have any idea what he looks like?

Well, I always imagine the Lestrange brothers looking stereotypically french, because of their last name. But Bellatrix was very pretty when she was younger, so Rodolphus probably was not a Danny Devito look alike.

Now I have my own question:

If it is allowed, could you ask me questions while I pretend to be Rodolphus? I need to get inside his mind for the story I'm writing.

Thanks x

[fg_weasley]

Oh, I love what has already been said in this thread, and much of it I agree with. I do have a few more questions, though.

Was Rodolphus older or younger than Bellatrix? And either way, by how much? Generally speaking.

What do you think were Rodolphus' worst memories?

It has been said that Rodolphus may have had feelings for his wife despite the fact that she did not return them, and that perhaps this lack led to bitterness on his part. It has also been theorized that perhaps they had the sort of relationship that 'allowed others'. What is your take on this? Could Rodolphus have had an affair? If he did, what would be Bella's reaction? Or would she have one at all?

Given that we can assume that Rodolphus and Rabastan were second generation Death Eaters, how might his and his brother's childhood have been? Might it have been much like the Blacks, or otherwise? More intense, perhaps?

Any speculation on parental relations? Or how Rodolphus might have acted in his school years? Was he popular, did he have girlfriends? What might he have excelled at, and what might he have failed?

Erm. I think thats all the questions I have for now. Thanks in advance!

[hugs]

xox
nikki

[fruitandextranutcase]

Hey!

Was Rodolphus older or younger than Bellatrix? And either way, by how much? Generally speaking.

I think that he was probably older, but this is possibly because I have this freaky "the guy has to be older than the girl" thing going on. I don't think he would be older by that much, either. It doesn't really matter, though, because I get the distinct feeling that Bellatrix would be wearing the figurative trousers in the relationship.

What do you think were Rodolphus' worst memories?

Probably things like getting thrown in Azkaban, etc, etc. Unlike Bellatrix, I don't think he was riding the crazy train, but he just went along with his wife and brother for funsies. Maybe he was abused as a child, and that's why he didn't mind a) marrying Bellatrix and b) torturing the Longbottoms to insanity. Or something along those lines, anyway.

It has been said that Rodolphus may have had feelings for his wife despite the fact that she did not return them, and that perhaps this lack led to bitterness on his part. It has also been theorized that perhaps they had the sort of relationship that 'allowed others'. What is your take on this? Could Rodolphus have had an affair? If he did, what would be Bella's reaction? Or would she have one at all?

I get the vibes that this was a marriage of convenience, but I think that Rodolphus must have loved Bellatrix to go along with her crazy killing sprees. Bellatrix, however, I think as not one for commitment, except when it came to her creepy hero-worship-bordering-on-stalking for Voldemort. I can imagine her not caring one teensy bit about Rodolphus having an affair, because she's all over her Voldy-kins, even when her husband's around. I would imagine that Rodolphus, being the typical domineering male, would expect complete fidelity, though, so he becomes embittered. Maybe he would vent his feelings by killing someone, or goes into a pub one night, seeking the solace of Firewhisky... and then chances upon a beautiful, mysterious stranger who enchants him into changing his ways... and then some other plotzy things happen, like him trying to escape his Death Eaterhood and stuff... and then he can finally be with the one he truly loves. But then - she DIES! *dramatic music*

Ahem. Sorry about the verbal plotting back there. Anyway...

Given that we can assume that Rodolphus and Rabastan were second generation Death Eaters, how might his and his brother's childhood have been? Might it have been much like the Blacks, or otherwise? More intense, perhaps?

Well, I've already said that maybe they were neglected or abused as children, but that's just my first take on the matter. I think that their childhood would probably be quite like the Blacks'. I always get the idea that Rodolphus was his mother's favourite, but his father didn't care much about either of them other than that they made good, respectable pureblood marriages and carried on the Lestrange bloodline. Although, wasn't their father a first-generation Death Eater? Maybe they would have been raised with Voldemort-glorifying stories and things like that. So yes, I think their childhood would have been fairly intense. I picture them in a Grimmauld Place-ish house, dark and dusty and quite scary, really. Not your ideal childhood, then.

Any speculation on parental relations? Or how Rodolphus might have acted in his school years? Was he popular, did he have girlfriends? What might he have excelled at, and what might he have failed?

I picture Rodolphus as quite the ladies' man, actually. He had to be up to Bellatrix's standards, after all. I think he would have acted out a lot and felt superior over his teachers, despite his near-perfect grades. Maybe he would have made Rabastan do his homework for him? I can just imagine that. I think he would have been a dab hand at Potions and Transfiguration, but not so brilliant at "soft" subjects like Charms and Herbology.

Oh, and before I go...

I think that he was arrested upon entry to the Battle and thrown in Azkaban for life. His cellmate was a brilliant criminal mastermind named Jim who Rodolphus considered his best friend and who was driven absolutely up the wall by Rodolphus. But Rodolphus is so friendly and helpful in his stupid way, he gets out on good behavior after twenty years and spends his old age gardening and raising puppies.

-- Schmerg_the_Impaler

This made me laugh like a hyena on hyena tablets! That would make a brilliant one-shot. There could be drunken dementors playing Connect 4, potato waffles, cell block tangos... Pure awesome!

(By the way, Schmerg_the_Impaler, I read all of your Potter's Pentagon fics and they crack me up. Much like a brazil nut, in fact. Eagerly awaiting the next update!!! )

[Sagen]

I love Rodolphus!

Given that we know Bellatrix seemed more devoted to the Dark lord than to her husband, do you think it could still be believable that Rodolphus cared for her?
I do think that Rodolphus loved Bella. I think that he was undyingly in love with her. I don’t think she loved him back though, probably didn’t even care for/about him. She seems like she only married him because of the whole pure-blood thing.

Also how do you think the relationship between the Lestrange brothers was? Do you think that they were close?
I have two opinions on that.
1) I think that in their relationship, Rabastan was kinda the boss. I always saw Rabastan as the younger one and Rodolphus was kind of a pushover.
2) Rabastan is younger, but looks up to Rodolphus but Rodolphus thinks nothing of Rabastan. He treats him like any older brother would treat a younger brother.

Do we know what happened to Rodolphus by the end of DH? Was he alive, dead, in Azkaban...? Also was he there for the final battle when Bella was killed? How do you think he'd react?
I think that he lived. I think that he wasn’t right there when Bella died but I think that he was at Hogwarts. I think that he would be totally broken-hearted and take his own life. I think he loved her A LOT.

Finally, do we have any idea what he looks like?
Between the two descriptions at the trial I think that he would have been the scrawny one. But in my own mind I think that (in school) he would be jock-ish, but not total. I think that he had gray or blue eyes and black hair. He had a kind-ish face that could turn very easily into an angry face.

Was Rodolphus older or younger than Bellatrix? And either way, by how much? Generally speaking.
I think that he was older then Bella. Probably a couple months - two years older.

What do you think were Rodolphus' worst memories?
Bella dying would be his worst one I think. Then Azkaban.

It has been said that Rodolphus may have had feelings for his wife despite the fact that she did not return them, and that perhaps this lack led to bitterness on his part. It has also been theorized that perhaps they had the sort of relationship that 'allowed others'. What is your take on this? Could Rodolphus have had an affair? If he did, what would be Bella's reaction? Or would she have one at all?
I’m still gonna go with my loving Rodolphus. I do think that if Bella wanted to be with another, he would let her. Anything to make Bella happy. Though I think that every time she would leave to go to her lover, he would drink away his pain in the dark. I don’t think that he could have an affair for himself. I think that Bella would be happy about this, although she doesn’t love him any/that much. Mostly because she seems very possessive and a tad on the jealous side.

Given that we can assume that Rodolphus and Rabastan were second generation Death Eaters, how might his and his brother's childhood have been? Might it have been much like the Blacks, or otherwise? More intense, perhaps?
I think it was rough. I mean having Death Eater parents wouldn’t be easy. As fruitandextranutcase has said, I think that they would have had an abusive childhood. I think that it would have had more of an effect on Rabastan then Rodolphus, though. I also think that it could have been like the Blacks’. I think that they were only abused when their father was in a bad mood but other than that I think that they were quite spoiled. For some reason I can see Rabastan as Mr and Mrs Lestrange’s pride and joy (the one they show off to all their friends. In this scenario I see Rodolphus as his mother’s favourite.

Any speculation on parental relations? Or how Rodolphus might have acted in his school years? Was he popular, did he have girlfriends? What might he have excelled at, and what might he have failed?
I think that Rodolphus was closer to his mother then his father, but he didn’t hate his father. I think that if he was abused by his father he would hate him for it but also he would think that it was his fault. I think that he would have acted stuck up (around his friends and others), but loving towards Bella.

Peace,
Gen