Rodolphus Lestrange
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Name Rodolphus Lestrange
Age 44
Blood Status Pureblood
House Affiliation Slytherin
Wartime Role Death Eater
Current Affiliation Death Eater
Occupation Death Eater
Sexual Orientation Bi-Sexual
Portrayed by John Mitchell (Glamorized)

Rodolphus Lestrange, stands at an average 6'0", but his presence, immediately noticeable in any room, causes him to seem taller. His neatly trimmed short brown hair is straight with a slight wave around his forehead. The piercing blue eyes and the strong jaw line give Lestrange an intimidating, serious look, no matter the occasion. He keeps that jaw clean shaven at all times, pairing the look with nothing but the finest robes.

His near obsessive need to be the picture of perfection has rendered him muscular, from both a rigorous daily workout and many years of Quidditch training. The one flaw in his masterpiece is a small cluster of scars on the right side of his chest. Bellatrix managed to strike him with a vase following a particularly volatile argument one evening.

Personality and Behaviour:

Even in his middle age, Rodolphus has retained much of the boyish charm that aided his endeavors throughout his school days. However, with age comes much wisdom and the man molded the juvenile abilities into a refined subtle ability to coerce and manipulate without effort. You may think you're running the show, but, Lestrange's well placed comments edge their way into your thinking. His policy is "When you're trying to get your way, it helps to always know your way is the best." His air of confidence gives people the impression of a natural tendency to lead, and he often finds himself in charge. There is almost nothing to stop Lestrange from doing as he pleases. The only person Rodolphus has never coerced, and could never coerce, was his wife.

He knew he always came in second place to their Lord, that never stopped him from loving Bellatrix. Since her fall during the Battle of Hogwarts, and their loss in the war, Rodolphus has become depressed. The desperation to get out of Azkaban was his only motivation for escaping. He now spends his days moping around the house and reading. Wondering though he believed in the cause, was the result even worth it.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

Rodolphus is confident man to say the least, going off of his intelligence and wit to keep alive. He considers himself a jack of all trades, master of none.

Weaknesses

Rodolphus always let his emotions get the better of him, from losing his temper to fighting harder to get revenge, it'd always had been a mark against him. Though he had done well at Hogwarts, most of the lessons didn't stick with him over time.

Personal History

The Lestranges are an old Pureblood family, coming from old money and enough prestige to survive through anything. Growing up in Lestrange Manor was near to heaven. Rodolphus had it all, and he knew it. He had a doting, loving Mother who played with him at every opportunity and never hid her affection and care, a reserved, respectable Father who descended every so often to remind him to uphold the family name at every turn, and house elves who catered to his every whim…For the first five years. Then his younger brother, Rabastan, was born.

As expected, Rodolphus received his Hogwarts' letter and,on September 1st, 1960, he and his Father made their way to Platform 9 ¾ for his first trip on the Hogwarts' Express. At the school, he was immediately Sorted into Slytherin, the House each of his ancestors had been Sorted into since the first Lestrange set foot in the school. Rodolphus, always looking for how to best serve himself, immediately began allying himself to the older, purer families in Slytherin.

Rodolphus easily made the House Quidditch team as one of the Beaters. Rodolphus immediately saw this as the opportunity it was and began currying favour with the purer, more respectable witches in his House and Year. They, accordingly, fell all over themselves to spend time with him, and consequently, not with the other boys in his year and beyond. He manages to cause a mild amount of mayhem in his Transfiguration class one day, half way through the year, by intentionally misunderstanding the directions given. The serpent is eventually discovered and captured in the Hufflepuff Fourth Year girls' dorm.

After witnessing Bellatrix Black's handiwork on a half-breed, Rodolphus became determined to be noticed by her. He spent much of his time devising new methods for winning her attention. Easily bored, Rodolphus' many in-class pursuits earned him numerous detentions. The most memorable of these was during his Third Year, where, in an attempt to gain Bellatrix's favour, Rodolphus left several muggleborn students suspended by their underwear in the Great Hall with a message "For the Dark Mistress' amusement." All while taking an Ancient Runes exam.

By this point, the entire female population of Hogwarts collectively swooned whenever he entered a room, and he distained them all for it. The teachers loved his charisma but thought he could have tried harder in class. He figured it didn't matter, because so long as he got all his OWLs and NEWTs, they couldn't complain. Quidditch still consumed most of his time, along with frequent owls from his father reminding him to make the right allies and to set his sights on being in a position to court Bellatrix, if that was who he still desired.

During his Fifth year, Rodolphus was so immersed in Slytherin's internal politics that his brother's arrival and sub-sequential Sorting into Slytherin hardly registered. However, he was not so immersed that he didn't manage to acceptably pass all of his OWLs. There was the traditional jockeying for positions of power within Slytherin, but, a few key people, who had wielded much of the power within Slytherin had graduated that past year or the year before. This left a sort of vacuum in the power structure, and a wide open space for Rodolphus to claim a good portion of influence.

Rodolphus managed to maintain his influential status in the House over the summer, and returned to much of the same. He could tolerate his classes a bit more now, NEWT level classes finally presented a challenge for him, but, he still managed to make mischief at every turn. Nothing would get him to admit it, but, his was the explosion that coloured Lucius Malfoy's hair crimson and gold for a month. A good joke was a good joke, no matter who it affected.

That winter, he returned home and was immediately consumed with attending meetings to arrange the marriage between the Black and Lestrange families. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, both families being pure as far back as could be recorded and having considerable influence. A clause in the contract, unnecessary as far as Rodolphus was concerned, dictated that Rodolphus would have to court Bellatrix and win her hand before graduating Hogwarts. He was confident this would be a challenge, but one not unmet.

Realising his impending departure, Rodolphus begins to instruct his younger brother, Rabastan, in the ways of wielding power and influence within the Slytherin House, and within Hogwarts as a whole. He does not know if his brother is capable, but, he's a Lestrange and thus must be able to uphold the name. All of his free time is spent courting Bellatrix, his father removing him from the school on more than one occasion to escort her to one function or another.

Between his classes, preparing for NEWTs (which he did little of), Bellatrix and Quidditch, Rodolphus was constantly in motion. He passed his NEWTs and began to prepare to aid his father with ensuring the Lestrange family was well situated in the years to come. Every chance he got, he would send a gift or a note to Bellatrix, not too often so as to not appear desperate. She would accompany him to Hogsmeade on occasion, with a chaperone of course, and always left him guessing upon her departure. Being the self-assured man he was, Rodolphus was certain he would win her hand.

By the Leaving Feast, Bellatrix had still not officially given her hand to Rodolphus. He was concerned, it would be a terrible blow if he did not manage to win this marriage. It was a good arrangement for the families, and…He thought he might love her. That day, as he made his way to the Great Hall, Rodolphus resigned himself to the idea that, perhaps, he had finally lost. And he had lost the only pursuit that mattered. Dejected, but refusing to show it to anyone, he took his place at the top of the table and waited for Dumbledore's prattling speech. A first year Gryffindor girl gasped and pointed in the air above Rodolphus' head. He rolled his eyes, she probably just saw a ghost, and did not look up.

Moments later, a large black owl landed gracefully on the table in front of Rodolphus and looked at him indignantly. Rodolphus raised an eyebrow, not recognising the owl and took the parchment from it's leg. The single roll of paper was tied neatly with a dark jade ribbon, the seal was a large gothic "B." He maintained complete control over his facial expressions as he opened the parchment. "Rodolphus- You may consider my hand won, we are to be married in the winter. Do not think for a moment I would hesitate to end this if you do not measure up. -Bellatrix" There was his answer, the magnificent witch would be his. His confidence returned, he had no doubt he could be exactly who she expected him to be.

On the evening of his 18th birthday, Rodolphus takes the Dark Mark and enters into Voldemort's cause whole-heartedly. Seven years at Hogwarts was more than enough to convince him, if he hadn't already been completely certain, that the world needed to be purified. Mudbloods and blood-traitors serve no purpose except to taint the world with their exsistance.
Voldemort immediately puts him to good use, having him go out and recruit young pureblooded wizards and witches to the cause. Those deemed most worthy, and useful, are also invited to take the Dark Mark, and become Death Eaters. Rodolphus, aware of his usefulness and convinced of Voldemort's vision for the world, rises quickly in the ranks, becoming a member of the coveted Inner Circle.

Also during this time, Rodolphus continues courting Bellatrix. A year and a half after graduating Hogwarts, Rodolphus and Bellatrix are married. Their marriage was a good, strong marriage, uniting two of the oldest pureblood families, once again, and cementing their alliance.

Nothing seemed to sway Bellatrix's convictions for their Lord, and so, even after the Dark Lord's apparent demise, the two of them and what Death Eaters were left loyal to the cause spent their every waking second scouring the wizarding world for some sign of their leader.
This search eventually led Rodolphus, Bellatrix, his brother and Barty Crouch Jr. to Frank and Alice Longbottom. Convinced the Aurors knew of the Dark Lord's whereabouts, the four tortured the Longbottoms. The Longbottoms proved to be both a dead-end and the Lestranges' undoing. After torturing them to insanity, the four became careless and were caught, tried and given life-sentences in Azkaban.

Azkaban was exactly what everyone had always warned. Cold, dark, dank and full of soul-sucking dementors. Rodolphus couldn't take it; he needed out. He'd call for Bellatrix, railing against the door of his cell, demanding they take him to see her. As if they cared; as if he had rights.

There was no news in Azkaban; prisoners didn't get to know what was going on outside the damning walls of the fortress. So, when the dementors assisted in their escape, he was slightly stunned. Moments later, Bella had made her way to him and crowed something about the Dark Lord remembering his faithful servants.

The pair had quickly left the fortress, knowing they would never return. Rodolphus followed Bella back to the Dark Lord, the fervor in her eyes enough for the both of them when they kneeled before his robes once more. The Lord was pleased with their continued loyalty to him over the years and assured them of their place in his new regime.

Rodolphus was highly amused, watching the exchange between the Dark Lord and Malfoy Senior. Even Crabbe and Goyle Senior weren't stupid enough to assume the Lord would replace anyone's wand with his own. Perhaps he had misjudged Malfoy all those years ago. More likely, he was becoming addled in his old age. Of course, with Malfoy wandless, that meant he and Bellatrix would carry the brunt of the important fighting on their shoulders. No matter, it was nothing they couldn't handle, together.

He loved reliving the battle at that dreadful blood-traitor's wedding. It was a truly welcome home-coming present, those screams, the blood everywhere. Rodolphus idly wondered when he became so enamoured with fighting and death, and decided it was not an unwelcome aspect of his life. The only regret he had of that fight was being unable to dispatch any of the "Golden Trio." Golden, perhaps fool's gold, anyway.

Ah, the illustrious Trio. Greyback delivered the vermin to his beloved Bellatrix soon after the battle at the wedding. Scared, sniveling, wretched bunch they were. And these were the ones sent to defeat the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters? The Light side must have gone round the twist, sending children to clean up after the adults. But, Bellatrix put them in their place, tortured that nasty Mudblood until she begged for death. Of course she did; Bella never failed to do as she pleased. The Dark Lord would be pleased with her, no doubt.
It would have been perfect, the torture, having that wretched Harry Potter to hand over to the Dark Lord…If not for that Weasley blood-traitor who dared to Disarm Bellatrix. Rodolphus would have that boy's blood on his hands if it took forever. Decorum be damned, the whelp had overstepped a line he couldn't step back from.

The week before the battle, Rodolphus and Bellatrix spent side by side, roaming the English countryside. Each small village they stopped in, five in all, curiously ceased to exist by the next evening. Rodolphus' bloodlust could not be sated; he itched to be on the battlefield by the time they returned to the Dark Lord's side.

This is what he had missed about the previous years of the Dark Lord's reign. Terrorizing, killing, torturing, all by his beloved wife's side. It was all he could do to regain his composure and wait for the battle to begin.

The battle was truly glorious. That was until Bellatrix fell, struck down by that damned muggle sympathizer. It had stunned him to say the least, of everything that happened during the rise and fall of their Lord, Bellatrix dying was the last thing he'd ever imagine happening. That had thrown him for a loop, truly losing his will to fight. It wasn't long after that he'd been captured and sent back to the same place he swore he'd never go back to.

A few months after his original incarceration, he escaped, he wasn't as worn out as his first trip to Azkaban. The lack of Dementors made life more interesting, but then again, it made it easier to escape. He made his way through the country, traveling by night to avoid re-capture.

Rodolphus now spends his days wandering the former Lestrange vacation home, thinking about what had happened over the course of the last few years. Though slowly he is beginning to pull himself out of the severe depression he was in. He is starting to venture out of the house more, staying close to the home so he's not seen.

Misc. Information:

OWLs and NEWTs:

OWLs:
Ancient Runes: A
Astronomy: EE
Charms: A
DADA: O
Herbology: EE
History of Magic: O
Potions: O
Transfiguration: EE

NEWTs:
Astronomy: A
DADA: O
History of Magic: EE
Potions: EE

Wand Type

7 inch Gaboon Ebony wand with Dragon Heart String

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