#i. meta: rodolphus lestrange.

[sugarsnappeases]

gnawwww rawrr rawr give me more rodolphus meta i am starving

hello my beloved atlas thanks so much for asking i will try my level best to satiate your hunger ❤️

i think we should talk about voldemort actually. i think it’s time. so. as i said yesterday, i think rodolphus (and also antonin) were both some of the earlier people to join the death eaters (around 1970, when tom comes back to england and like. soft launches his war). to me, rodolphus works his way up the ranks very quickly. like he’s determined, and ambitious, and when he sets his mind to a task he gets it done one way or another. and he’s set his mind to the task of voldemort’s cause (he also started off pretty high in the ranks just bc of his family name and connections etc)

tom likes him bc of the aforementioned characteristics but also bc he’s like. solid. strong. reliable. he knows what he’s about. he’s someone that could be put in a bit of leadership position in the death eaters (bc as i said before. he’s basically a poster boy for them, like in all aspects of his life even if he complains about or disagrees with certain things he’ll still ultimately follow through and obey the expectations or orders)

i think he and tom meet through family. in the hbp pensieve memories, a lestrange is mentioned specifically by surname in the slug club meeting. i don’t think this is rodolphus’ father, bc i have Opinions about tom’s gang back at hogwarts and whether the heirs of the pureblood houses would ever have been able to fall in line with someone who they had known in first year as a shabby, no-name orphan w an unknown blood status. but i think maybe this lestrange is an uncle? or something of the sort to rod and rab and when rodolphus takes over as lord, this uncle falls under his jurisdiction or whatever and mentions it to rod when tom gets back to england or something like that

and rodolphus takes his responsibilities as lord very seriously so he’s investigating everything that his family is involved in, he’s setting up a meeting w tom. i reckon the uncle isn’t a very high level death eater but he tells tom that his nephew, the lord lestrange wants to meet and it happens fairly quickly after that. for tom, it’s a good point of entry into the younger generation of pureblood society, the ones who, unlike some of their parents, didn’t know him before he became lord voldemort, the ones that he can much more easily turn into a part of his army.

and rodolphus goes. obviously. he goes and meets tom and they chat and they see very eye to eye. tom is very good at appealing exactly to what his interlocutor desires and its no different w rodo, he’s investigated a little pre-meeting, figured out what rodolphus wants and leans into it while they talk. and rodo sees a release, something he can use as an outlet for all the emotions that he has to keep under the surface. and he also obvs sees it as like. an important task, the destruction and removal of muggleborns from his beautiful pureblood society, a worthy cause.

in the first war, i think rodo has a lot of power within the death eaters. he was basically the first in his generation to join up so through him people like lucius and the carrows and obvs bella and also importantly rabastan all join up as well (and this is another thing. to me rab isn’t made for fighting. he hates getting his hands dirty. he should be at the club. like genuinely. and i mean club in the sense of a gentleman’s club or something of the like. but he joins bc of rodolphus). he’s the first link to the new gen death eaters which eventually leads to the likes of barty evan and reg as well

and obvs during the first war, lucius sort of acts as right hand man (this is another thing that i can go in to) and i think rodolphus is the left hand. if that makes sense. he’s got the family name and the connections and the sociopolitical power but he’s also got the drive and the slightly twisted desires, the thirst for violence that tom would’ve absolutely fed on and nurtured and expanded until it consumed him whole. until the death eaters, by dint of being a release or something of the sort, become the most important part of his life. become the sort of thing that he would sacrifice his life for (in terms of azkaban being that life sacrifice).

like seriously. he goes to azkaban THREE times for voldemort. THREE TIMES. and he remains loyal to the very end. he never even wavers in it. and that’s very important to me. he is very important to me i think about him far too much.

[saintsenara]

Literary style (rich prose, use of narrative techniques, etc.); strong adherence to the principle of charity (diversity of perspectives/everyone is given the fairest possible shot); thematic focus on death and its effects on the living (particularly, grief); thematic focus on gender; devastating one-liners; emphatically correct Ron Weasley takes; Voldemort having a thing for mirror sex.

thanks so much, pal!

sex/gender/death are in an exclusive triad over here, but what i most appreciate you drawing out here is the principle of charity in writing [also the subject of this meta: fandom is like medicine].

I've seen a lot of posts from villain-enjoyers recently taking against the idea of redemption. and i do get this - there's been such a move in many fandom spaces against any sort of moral complexity in characterisation that i understand the impulse to say fuck it, and enjoy your favourite horrible people as horrible people.

but i do also think that this rejection of theme of redemption often misunderstands the reading that we all owe our blorbos. i think there's a tendency to believe that redemption would require some sort of damascene extraordinariness which would result in the character in question becoming neutered - perfect and soft and lacking the bite which led to us becoming interested in them in the first place.

but not so. redemption can be small, ordinary. it can be accidental. it can sneak up on you. it can exist in some areas of your lives and not others. sometimes little chips of redemption are gradually carved by bringing the man whose parents you murdered cups of tea - and maybe that's not enough to redeem you fully, and maybe it shouldn't be, but it's something - and by him being charitable enough to understand what happened in your life which led you down the path of evil.

one of the real issues with the harry potter fandom [and this is why i am so frequently on my soapbox about how we need to think about the narrative conventions of the series, and how it wants us to do this and how we should work against it] is that far too many people involved in it find themselves on sides. maybe they identify as gryffindors, and therefore fail to offer any of the other houses the nuance they extend to their favourite characters. maybe they think the villains get a bad showing in the series, so they bash the heroes. maybe they loathe a specific character, or ship, or subfandom, and so they dismiss anyone who writes within those confines.

but this is an error. every single character - just like every single person alive - can be interesting and worthy of exploration and worthy of the chance to transcend their canon [and fanon - catch me defending molly weasley against both sirius and percy nation like it's my paid employment] evils if we just give them the chance.

and i'm not just saying this because i have been recently forced to become fascinated by rodolphus lestrange...

i hadn't deeped before now that the 'lord voldemort enjoys watching himself get fucked in a mirror' thing had turned up in more than one piece... and all i have to say is...

[attention-seeking behaviour here]

[siriusly-sapphic]

thoughts on nobleflower i need to know i have so much in my brain

Oh oh oh! Yes!

Okay so I'm a little sick and my thoughts about anything Narcissa femslash related are usually already all over the place so? Bear with me while I type this on my phone?

First: let me establish the specific setting. Since I tend to mess about with Narcissa's age a little depending on the ship bc the canon Black family tree is a right mess that I've decided I can do whatever I want with. For alicissa tho, I tend to just go with Narcissa being 4/5 years older than the marauders, and Alice being like a year older than Narcissa.

And as for any Narcissa headcanon I have, I'm writing this with the idea of trans!narcissa in mind, though it works very similarly if you imagine her as cis. If you want more context for how I see trans!narcissa in canon compliant settings, I have a 7K meta post here but it's not necessary for this (I just like linking it).

Also we're going with some canon compliancy here. No happy endings today.

So.

Alicissa is one of those ships that, for me, starts out genuinely cute. Like... dorcissa starts out as denial and rivalry, narlily can end cute but starts messy. Alicissa starts sweet. It starts hopeful.

It starts in an icecream shop.

I'd say it starts the summer before Narcissa's 5th year, which is the time I headcanon she comes out as trans and has begun her transition. Which means 1. She is quite terrified of making 'another' mistake to embarrass her family and 2. The scariest moments of her life have just been blasted over Witch Weekly and the Daily Prophet. She is scared, she's being very brave about it, and she gets mean when she's nervous. (Well. Meaner than usual.)

Alice has a type of girl she loves and that type is brave and mean and a little sassy.

So you know, when Narcissa comes into Florean Fortescue's, ignores all the stares she gets, and gets snappy when Alice teases her about mint-chocolate chip being the worst flavour to order.... what choice does she really have except to fall in love right then and there?

And I think on Narcissa's side, developing any crush on a girl will always come with a bit of angst. Because from the moment she transitions, she has a very clear path in mind of what to do and what to be in order to make her family proud of them again. (I could go into more detail, but honestly for that if you're interested see the meta linked above.) And dating girls... not a part of that plan.

But she wants to.

And Alice makes it easier to be brave.

They're prefects in different years and different houses and they're good at keeping secrets and Narcissa can get Kingsley, the head boy, to move the prefect schedule so that she and Alice have rounds together. (She knows that Kingsley's into Rodolphus Lestrange like no other, and like I said. She can be a little mean.)

And I think that for that first year. The first two years, even, when they’re still at school and life hasn't gotten quite so tainted with war yet? They're happy. And they're cute. And it feels good. Like it can last.

It can't. Obviously.

One headcanon is that Narcissa starts struggling in school bc yknow she's going through some shit, and maybe there's a subject or two she's never been a natural at and is now falling behind in, and it just so happens that Alice is really good at that. So they can meet publicly in the library while Alice tutors her and Narcissa struggles to get over her embarrassment for needing a tutor.

Narcissa has only ever missed one quidditch game (she hates the game, but her best friends are the Lestrange brothers (oh yes that gets painful later) and they play on the team, sonshe has to go). That's the game Alice convinces her to come into the Gryffindor common room while everyone is gone and they make out in front of the fireplace.

They almost get caught. Narcissa avoids her for about a week. They never take that risk again.

And then the war. Alice graduates first, and I see her as being quite determined to make a difference in the war and unsure how to do it. Obviously the Order is a very secret organisation, and she doesn't know about it immediately, so she becomes an auror.

That's also where she meets her future husband Frank Longbottom (bless that man).

Meanwhile Narcissa is a seventh year, her best friends are losing their parents and are drowning in it and she is trying to balance NEWTs and helping the Lestrange twins and the ever important thing of Not Disappointing Her Parents (Again).

I think, however unjustly so, she starts blaming it on Alice for leaving. Which is obviously not actually Alice's fault bc that's just how gradustion works, but it's easier to blame a girl with who it never could've worked out (and maybe shouldn't have worked out as long as it did), than it is to realise that this is just a shitty collection of circumstances. Or worse, to blame her family. She can never blame her family. (She feels she owes her family too much to blame them)

So by the time Narcissa graduates, she's planning an engagement with Rabastan Lestrange that will fall through soon enough and she hasn't told Alice about yet. Alice, at that point, is an auror who's working together with Frank and feels so very betrayed when she does find out about Narcissa's engagement.

It's one of those things that has always been inevitable. But that Alice couldn't help but secretly hope wouldn't happen anyway.

And I think that's where it goes wrong.

Because Alice tells her not to marry Rabastan, around the same time that Rabastan is trying very hard to destroy everything good in his life because grief isn't kind, and Narcissa is the best damn thing to have happened to him. Druella Black ("you should do better than a miserable second son"), Alice Fortescue ("just get away from all of it"), and Rabastan Lestrange ("why are we bothering anyway?") himself, all tell her to break off an engagement that brought her SO much joy when it became reality.

And so Narcissa decides to hate all of them for it.

Except she can’t. Obviously. But she decides she does anyway.

Because Druella is still the mother she wants to be proud of her, and Rabastan is still her best friend who she wants to protect, and Alice is still the first person she ever really fell in love with. She can’t hate them. But she wants to.

But I think that strains alicissa's relationship a lot. Because it shows that Narcissa isn't just mean, she can be cruel and delusional. And it makes it clear that it doesn’t really matter how much Narcissa loves Alice (because she does. She really does.) Because as brave as Narcissa can be, she's a scared young woman who seeks to protect herself. And protecting herself in pureblood society means marrying a suitable pureblood wizard. It doesn’t mean running away with a halfblood witch and hoping life turns out alright.

Narcissa has always protected herself by planning ahead and following her plan. Alice doesn’t fit into that. And Alice isn't the type of woman who will wait around to see if Narcissa's plans change.

So when Narcissa gets engaged to Lucius Malfoy, and her happy and perfect smile is all over the Daily Prophet, Alice accepts Frank's invitation for a date.

And for a while that's that.

There's some looks, because Frank is a Longbottom and while he's on his way to become a traitor, his great aunt was a Black and he still gets invited to notable pureblood events. Not for long, but long enough. There are some strained conversations and longing glances and even, once or twice, guilt-ridden hookups when their respective husbands are out.

Alice feels a whole lot more terrible about that than Narcissa does. She loves Frank. I swear she does.

Alice is a renowned auror and joins the Order and is a genuine danger to any death eater who comes her way. Narcissa is terrified every day that her husband might die at her lover's hands — or god forbid the other way around.

Alice grows to hate Narcissa during that war. Because how dare she attend charity galas to safekeep the victims of a war, when she damn well knows it's her friends and family waging that war. The hypocrisy and the cruelty too much.

Alice likes her women brave and a little mean. Not cowardly and cruel.

They become mothers around the same time. Two months apart. When they’re both pregnant, they see each other occasionally in the same maternity shops and healer waiting rooms. There's a kinship there and this very strong desire for a closer bond, that ultimately can't withstand the hatred and the mistrust that the war and Narcissa's choices have brought upon them.

And then the war is over.

Narcissa and Lucius manage to escape any time in azkaban. Alice and Frank can finally settle and mourn their loved ones. All four of them can look at these beautiful young boys in their arms and hope with all their might that their lives will be easier.

(It’s unclear when the attack on the Longbottoms happened. We know it happened after the war, and we know it happened when people had just begun feeling safe again. We know there was enough time for Crouch sr to start greying by the time the Lestranges were put on trial.)

But that wrecks Narcissa.

I wanna say that Alice and Narcissa stopped actively seeing each other when the war ended. Alice doesn't want to have an affair when she is genuinely happily married and she has a son. Maybe she's trying for a second child.

But Narcissa’s best friends in the world. The family I tend to describe as "what the Potters and James were to Sirius, the Lestranges and Rodolphus were to Narcissa". And her sister. Two of whom knew just how fucking important Alice Fortescue was to Narcissa, once upon a time.

I genuinely don't think Narcissa believed it, when the Lestranges were first accused of that crime. I don't think she wanted to believe them capable of it. And when it turned out to be true.... I have so many thoughts about that connection I could fill another and longer post. But it wrecks her.

Narcissa only visits Alice once.

It's under the guise of "seeing what her sister has done, to put it behind her". Augusta Longbottom is there, in absolute pieces because her only son is gone. Neville is there, Draco's age. Alice doesn't recognise her. Narcissa thinks it might be better that way.

Narcissa just really doesn't belong there. And she doesn't belong there because of her own choices, her own mistakes. And I think that realisation breaks her even further.

Only one of them remembere what they used to be, and Narcissa selfishly wishes that it wasn't her.

Okay and this is getting long so. The rest is just little moments of pain. Draco writing home about how stupid this Longbottom kid is? The absolute guilt of knowing her darling boy is bullying the son of the woman Narcissa loved most? Post war, when maybe Neville is old enough to want to know more about Alice and find out that there aren’t many people alive who remember Alice when she was young. But Narcissa does.

And don't even get me started on the Lestranges escaping Azkaban. That's agony right there. I have no time. But also I have SO many thoughts and all of them heard more than the other so one day I'll inflict them on others.

This became so long I'm sorry lmao, but I hope you like the thoughts. This is why happier fix it AUs exists.

[sofoulandfairaday]

I know you’re not a big fan of CC, but I adore your takes and meta, so, how do you imagine Delphi and how would you improve her character?

Or headcanons, to put it more simply hshshs

Errr not an easy question, actually. I'm going to imagine two different scenarios for this because this character is such a blank slate that she could be taken anywhere.

Scenario n°1 - Bella&Vold die (follows canon)

Delphi was a Dark Magic experiment that Vold&Bella did for whatever reason. Either that or she was an accident (the more I think about it, though, I'm starting to believe that maybe Vold wanted to involve her in some kind of magic experiment, maybe even to get a new body/get a better grasp on immortality and he needed his own child's flesh - think Abraham and his sacrifice to God, just twisted)

They just don't have the time to do it. The Battle of Hogwarts happens suddenly when Vold realizes that Harry & Co. have the Cup, so there is just no time. We all know what happens.

In the aftermath, Lucius/Narcissa/Rodolphus/whoever tells Harry (not the Ministry, Harry specifically) about Delphi, in exchange for a better plea deal. It's up to Harry to decide what to do.

Harry (who is the same character as he was in the books, not that weird OC that has his name in CC) has a little crisis: he doesn't know what to do with this information. His first impulse is "oh no, oh God, Bellatrix and Voldemort's lovechild, let it die". I think he would tell Ron and Hermione, and Dumbledore's portrait. He also tells Andromeda (together with Narcissa - *insert their complicated reunion HERE*)

After much reflection and discussion (and Dumbledore's help, and the fact that Harry is an empath with a huge heart in canon), he would come to the conclusion that they cannot fail this child: they cannot have another Tom Riddle, shunned and abandoned by the world. They cannot let another monster be born out of neglect.

Andromeda still hates Bellatrix and she has Teddy (she needs time to love her daughter's murderer's child), Narcissa&the Malfoys have their trials going on (also hated Bellatrix and Vold by the end), Hermione has to go back to Hogwarts, so Harry & Ron raise her ???

It's mostly Kreacher, in truth. They all stay at 12 Grimmauld Place.

It takes years for all the adults in her life to check their fucking biases, but in the end, they all have a hand in raising her: Malfoys, Tonkses, and the Golden Trio. Draco likes her especially.

They keep her identity hidden for her own safety (and even just to give her a fair chance at life). They say she was Rodolphus' secret niece or something. She still has access to a part of the Lestrange fortune.

Speaking of Rodolphus, he is horrified that the girl doesn't know who her parents are (they decide they'll only tell Delphi when she's a little older), and he asks for visitation rights for years. Finally, they grant them to him for good conduct, with the promise that he'll be supervised and won't try anything funny (like prophecies or time-turners, which just do not exist in this version).

Delphi isn't stupid, though. She's incredibly magically talented, looks like Bellatrix & Tom Riddle (Rod might have cried the first time he saw her), she's a Slytherin, she can speak Parseltongue (her biggest secret, no one outside of her closest family knows) - she starts having suspicions at the age of 9. She finally asks Harry, one day, when she is 13. He tells her that he would have liked to wait, but that he never wanted to hide it from her - yes, your parents were Tom Riddle and Bellatrix Lestrange.

Of course, she knows who these people were. What they did, even just to some of the people who are closest to her (Andromeda, Hermione). She denounces their actions, and yet she feels an ache for the family she'll never know.

She'll also never be able to claim her own surname out in the open - she'd be lynched in the streets.

She starts asking about them. She always has to preface it with"I know who they were, but". Harry understands. Oh, no one understands better than him. And while Ron&Hermione don't know much, Harry tells Delphi all he's gathered on the Dark Lord in those years, especially when he was still young, bright, Tom Riddle.

Andromeda is still very hesitant to talk about Bellatrix, but Narcissa likes to show her old photograph albums, and talk about her childhood, and Rodolphus never shuts up about Bella. They tell her how talented she was, how bright, how powerful, how passionate.

They tell her how she had been conceived as a Dark Magic experiment, her father never really paid her much mind, but how her mother couldn't help but get attached - even though she fought it, even though He told her not to. She couldn't help but love that part of Him that was in her. Rodolphus had adored that child too, from the beginning.

She has always been loved, from the start. She does not become Tom Riddle 2.0

Her parents were horrible people, but they were people. She was going to be just like them: powerful, ambitious, determined, studious, the best.

I feel like she would become a teacher, like her father had half-wanted to do, many many years before. Maybe not at Hogwarts, maybe even in higher education, but she would become extremely respected in her field and is remembered as a researcher and a great witch.

Rita Skeeter or whoever tries to come out with a theory about "Voldemort's secret child" when she's 30 or around that age. She's already so respected (not to mention, Harry Potter's goddaughter) that she is able to just laugh it off. "Even if I was, suck my dick" is basically what she says (in more elegant terms, of course).

She does have her parent's temper, though. And, just like Harry, her mother's eyes.

I also like to think that she took care of Rod in his old age, after he gets finally released from Azkaban (<3). In his deathbed delirium, he sees Bellatrix and dies in a Snape-way, happily.

Scenario n°2 - Voldemort wins AU

First of all, I guess it really depends on whether Bella dies. And I'm sorry to say that Delphi's survival chances increase if Bella does die (because there's something just so heartbreaking about Vold not being able to kill Bellatrix's daughter now that she's gone, now that she's the only part of her left).

Also, now he does need a new second in command. He can find another way to reach immortality but Bella's magical skill cannot go to waste.

Who raises her?

Errr

Do the Malfoys still betray Voldemort? If they do, which leads to Bellatrix's death, they are soooo fucked. There is no way they survive.

So Rodolphus, maybe? I'm going with him.

Voldemort isn't father of the year, guys. He's hateful and bigoted and utterly unaffectionate. Also, he misses Bella, although he'd never admit to it. He never talks about her. Ever. In his twisted, dark, mind he hates her for leaving him, for letting herself get killed, for dying. She betrayed and failed him.

Rodolphus, in all his grief, cannot shut up about her. As soon as Delphi musters the courage to ask him, Pandora's box opens and she learns everything and anything about her.

I don't know how her personality evolves in this scenario. I can't imagine her being particularly stable. She vows to become like her mother, better than her mother even. She failed her father, in the end, but Delphi won't (I imagine she also thinks of Voldemort's word as Gospel).

Vold trains her, of course, as he did Bella.

He cannot help but notice her and Delphi's similarities, but also their differences. Delphi is more subtle, quieter. Like Bella, she's naturally skilled at offensive magic. Unlike Bella, she's cold. Sharper. Hides her emotions more. She's reserved, and flighty. And yet, she craves his approval just like her mother did.

She grows up quite lonely, with no friends, possibly a tad socially awkward.

I think she'd have a hard time dealing with people outside her comfort zone, but also nobody would ever treat her like they would a normal person, they'd always be too afraid. It probably gets lonely.

She would call herself either Gaunt or Black, I feel. Voldemort wouldn't like her having the Lestrange name, Rodolphus' name, but all three are pureblood houses with no heirs, so at least one of them has to be picked up again (also, unless the Malfoys have some distant cousins tucked away somewhere, they're also gone)

I never really know what to make of Voldemort wins!AUs because these characters, to me, are somewhat doomed by the narrative. There is no happiness for them, even when they win. Voldemort is so full of rage that, once England is at his feet, Harry Potter is dead, he realises just how empty immortality is. A black pit even deeper than death and yet he knows that he cannot die, because he cannot feel guilt for his crimes, and therefore if he were to pass on to the next life, there would simply be no next life. His soul is destroyed, it's eternal nothingness. So he's fucked himself, basically.

Rod dies, eventually, and she mourns him deeply. She cannot bring herself to realise that he was more of a father to her than her own father but she feels his absence, and only understands how much she took him for granted when he's no longer there.

She and her father have this weird attraction/repulsion relationship where he wants to have her close but then cannot stand it when she is. She is at the same time too much of Bellatrix and too little of Bellatrix.

Much more depressed than in the other version of events. Her father is an immortal God who can't love her or be close to her in any way that matters, she's mostly alone (when she's an adult, it's by choice, because she just can't stand other people). She's immensely powerful, much more than her other self, but it just means nothing.

Loves her mother much less, in this scenario. She is too obsessed with Vold to really care about her (much like in the original play).

I cannot really imagine a happier future if Bellatrix had lived, because I feel like Voldemort would have even less need for Delphi. I could write a very long post about why it makes absolutely no sense for either of these characters to choose to have children, so this is the best I have.

I think that Bella would have loved her daughter but never more than the Dark Lord - and that in itself is tragic.

I'm sorry if these suck, I've tried my best.

[knowshisowna]

META | the relationship between rod & bella.

one thing i feel like i don’t talk about enough on this blog is the actual relationship between rodolphus and bellatrix. not the perceived relationship , not the one crafted and solidified for them , not the one on paper. no , the real and raw relationship they share between the two of them when no one else is around , when no one else is watching. because it is one of the most important relationships not only to rodolphus but to rabastan and the death eaters as a whole.

first and foremost , they are as close to close friends as either of them can imagine , more so even than rodolphus and antonin although their relationships do not at all look alike and not just physically. bella and rod grew up together , and while he is substantially older , they learned from one another. they didn’t get along at first probably. they are at two opposite ends of a vast scale , and there was a lot of push and pull to start. he was order , and she was chaos. limits had to be tested. lines had to be drawn. and some things had to give.

of course , him being older and a lover of organization , this clashed with a reckless little girl’s idea of fun , but they grew to respect each other , or at the very least each other’s abilities. it was evident to everyone how formidable they could be together under the right circumstances , circumstances tom himself manufactured. and a union between the two of them would offer them both the freedom few others could say they had without upsetting tradition. bella wouldn’t have to bare children , and rodolphus wouldn’t have to worry for his home.

the marriage is of course more to the benefit of tom , but it benefits the two of them as well because at the time of the union , they had the same ambitions. they wanted the same things , and they were focused on the same goals. bella is still up in arms about it , but more so about the marriage itself and the fact that not even she , protege of voldemort , is able to evade the horrid tradition. but she and rod are still friends. and more importantly , they are partners and allies. they aren’t focused on raising a family , they’re focused on raising an army , and whatever may come of that , the foundation still holds. 

and in his canon verse , rod becomes comfortable in his role. he gets to do what he wants , bella gets to do what she wants , and they both reap the benefits of being in tom’s inner circle although those benefits differ between the two. and eventually they grow to love each other , which bella is still bitter about lmao , but it isn’t a love that looks like any other. they aren’t overly romantic and head over heels or anything , but they care for one another. they look out for one another. they worry about getting the both of them home. and they call the other out on their bullshit always. 

most of all , they’re honest with each other and with themselves. tom and bella will always take precedence for bella , and the brothers lestrange will always take precedence for rod ( and narcissa takes precedence for both , but anyway ) , and they have a comfortable understanding. they trust and respect each other , and while they can still be selfish , they accept that about each other.

[archopv-blog]

were there any death eaters who would have helped regulus if he'd asked? anyone in his family?

META QUESTIONS !!! | always accepting. 

so i’ve had this in my inbox for two months , and i am so sorry , but also , i had time to actually consider it , and now i can offer a complete list of those who would have helped regulus if he would have asked.

now let me preface this with saying that the chances of regulus ever asking for help outright is slim to none because first , he would have only wanted to ask sirius and his pride would never allow him to do that. second , his pride in general would have barred him from seeking out help in any capacity from anyone. however , if any of these people would have found out , they would have , at the very least , NOT allowed him to get captured and killed by voldemort. 

in order from most likely to help him betray voldemort to... least likely to turn him in i guess. 

EVAN

evan has his doubts from day one about joining voldemort. his father has mapped out his life for him , and his mother has no spine. evan is terrified of oblivion , of being another body forgotten in the mud at the end of it all. he is going to die nameless , and he hates the idea. if his cousin would have come to him , or if he had been conscious enough to see what reg was doing , he would have helped him. he would have realized that not only was he not alone in his feelings of disenchantment but there was also a way to make a name for himself. now while he doesn’t think much of muggles / muggleborns / etc. , he doesn’t believe in blatant genocide , and he doesn’t think voldemort is best for them. so he would help reg if sought out.  

RABASTAN

now if evan helps , this is a given. evan is his best friend. he loves evan to death and where evan goes , he goes. even if evan weren’t involved though, rabastan wouldn’t let regulus get killed. he’s family , and truth be told , rab doesn’t care which way the war goes. he’s been undermined and downplayed and ostracized and taunted by the entire society. his own parents have constantly and consistently alienated and emasculated him. he’s down for some revenge.

RODOLPHUS

once again , while rodolphus is dedicated and devoted to the cause and believes in it fully , his family always has and always will come first. that includes both rabastan and the black family. now rodolphus is not going to outright help regulus. he will not play along or aid him directly. however , if he thought regulus was in danger of being discovered or if he believed he was on the verge of getting himself killed , rodolphus is going to intervene. with the amount of time regulus spends in the lestrange house leading up to and after his initiation into the group , rodolphus becomes overtly protective of him. he will not hurt children if he can help it. that is rodolphus’s code , and he will certainly not let the children in his family get killed. he was the one person not all that comfortable with regulus joining so young , but he could hardly stop it. regardless he looks out for him always , and he would be in regulus’s ear a lot , both trying to persuade him to abandon his efforts but also ensuring he keeps himself safe. he does not want to see regulus dead. that is more important to him than anything. 

BARTY

for barty , this would be the hardest. regulus is his friend, his closest friend probably especially after joining. now , barty is so fucking dedicated to the cause. mostly out of spite for his father , but it is ingrained in him. he is fucking ready to die for this shit. if he found out what regulus was up to , it would send him into a goddamn spiral because one, he doesn’t want to see his best friend dead. but two , his loyalty has been completely and irrevocably entrusted to voldemort. so i think he would constantly be wrestling with this , but he wouldn’t be able to turn regulus in. if there is one thing barty knows how to do , it is keep a secret. now obviously if you get on his bad side or provoke him , he can weaponize a secret so fast and ruin your whole life , but he does know how to keep one safe. but he isn’t going to actively help. 

BONUS : NARCISSA 

bubbles and i talked briefly about this before but while narcissa has her own views of shit , she loves her cousins and would not have let him die. she would have followed his little ass into that cave and dragged him out and taken him home. that’s just the facts. whether she believes in what he’s doing or not , she is going to have his back and that’s what i can say about that. 

[artemisia-black]

Bellatrix's Villain origin story

Following on from my meta I wanted to give Bellatrix, a villain origin story that is more nuanced than her simply being ‘insane’.

Note: I’ve changed a few cannon things like her father only being 13 when she was born and given her a birthday (she’s a scorpio like her cousin Sirius)

Part one

Bellatrix’s father Cygnus Black, was a man who was keenly aware of his position as the first-born son of the secondary branch of the Black family. He had always felt second best to his meek cousin Orion and longed to best him by being the first to secure the family line. An accomplishment that would be rewarded by gold and political office. To achieve his end, he married Druella Rosier, a beautiful witch with a good name, in a lavish ceremony which took place three days after his graduation from Hogwarts.

His new bride, was also keenly aware of her position as the only daughter of a family whose only asset was a respectable name. And although Druella had initially set her sights on Orion, she lacked the dowry and charm to secure him, so she married Cygnus instead (a match that her father still considered a coup).

After their honeymoon, Cygnus spent long hours at the Black family estate currying favour with Arcturus Black the titular head of the family, only returning home to deal with his marital duties.

Finally, after three years of marriage Druella fell pregnant and the couple basked in their collective dreams of glory and power. A dream that hinged on the baby having a penis. However, they were sorely disappointed.

Bellatrix Black was born in the drawing room of her parent’s Wiltshire house, on a cold November day, only to be met with the cold-disappointment of both her parents.

After being given a traditional Black family name, the infant girl was handed to a Nanny while her parents returned to the task at hand.

Her early childhood was characterised by loneliness and Bellatrix would often find herself retreating into a vivid fantasy world where she would slay dragons and complete quests. A fantasy which contrasted starkly to the small, featureless nursery to which she was often confined.

By age seven, she had two sisters and with the birth of her cousin Sirius, her parents' tenuous marriage began to fail completely.

Blazing rows would erupt between Cygnus and Druella. Rows which were so loud, they could be heard throughout the cavernous rooms of the manor. Cygnus would increasingly spend his days drunk, berating his wife and daughters for the misery his life had become. And on many occasions, singling out Bellatrix as the useless wretch who had cost him the glory that was his birth right as a Black. An opinion which was the only point of agreement between her parents.

A few weeks after the birth of her cousin Regulus, Cygnus moved his mistress into the property while regularly threatening his wife and children with destitution should they dare report it to Arcturus or their Grandfather Pollux .

Bellatrix was a precocious child and she used books as a means to fill the void inside her. The void where her parent’s love should have been. She read voraciously, and soon realised that her father was wrong. She was not a useless wretch but a member of nature’s nobility. A superior being who was born to rule over others as was the natural order. And Bellatrix, spent many hours recounting her readings to her sisters, as they cowered together during yet another row between his father and their mother, or their father and current mistress.

At age 11, she was sent to stay at the Black family seat in Kent. Here she was taught how to behave in a manner befitting her last name as she prepared for school.

At age 12, Bellatrix attended Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Slytherin house.

Transfiguration and Potions were a joy to her. She sat next to Rodolphus Lestrange in Defence Against the Dark Arts class, where they developed an immediate hatred for each other. In time, she grew to hate her inferior, vapid classmates.

She was a talented student and far surpassed every one in her year, yet she was keenly aware (as her mother before her) that her purpose in life was to make a good pureblood marriage and be her husband’s brood mare.

And the wild thing inside her chafed against this, she longed to make her mark on the world, and finally prove she was not a useless wretch.

At age 16, Bellatrix's beauty blossomed, and although she showed no interest in boys, it was not long before her parents arranged her marriage to Rodolphus Lestrange in exchange for a hefty dowry. The day Bellatrix was called into her father's study and told she would marry was the only time he ever expressed pride in her. Although it was a pride, rooted in her ability to bear children.

At age 18, Bellatrix and Rodolphus were married in a lavish ceremony attended by the more important branch of the family. And for the first time ever, Bellatrix truly understood what it meant to be a woman in this world. The walls seemed to close in on her as she observed the deference given to her cousin Sirius. A mere boy wielded more power than she could ever hope too. Despite her prodigious talent she would never escape the confines of her sex.

[warriorlid14]

More Ron Meta

So, something I've been thinking about lately that I've never heard talked about is that Ron is very efficient on his own without the rest of the trio. The main two examples of this are:

1. That one time he led the silver trio out of a sticky situation in Umbridge's office.

2. And most telling: escaping the Snatchers. He was on 5-to-1 odds and still escaped. Now, he kinda tells us what happens and there's no reason to think he's lying, but I do think he's not telling us the whole story because he was gone the entire night. Even if it was as quick of an encounter as he made it out to be and he landed a few miles off, it still shouldn't have taken all night to find the other two. So I'm led to believe the encounter lasted longer than he said, BUT ANYWAY. Even if he wasn't. Still successfully manipulated them and escaped on 5-to-1 odds with his life and stole one of their wands.

But even with those being the main two examples, we still see more of it throughout the rest of the series.

1. The chess game. Sure, the other two were there, but this was an entirely Ron operation.

2. Staging a rescue operation with Fred and George in CoS.

3. The DoM when the groups were separated. We don't see this one at ALL besides Luna telling us how Ron and Ginny got injured. But we do know that they were being chased by 4 death eaters, and there's no way they simply outran them because of Ginny's broken ankle and Ron's loopiness. So they must've disabled them in some manner or outmaneuvered them or distracted them or SOMETHING. I so wish we could've seen this.

3. Dueling Bellatrix Lestrange AND Rodolphus Lestrange AND at least one other death eater with Tonks. Tonks tells us they didn't get Bellatrix but that they really hurt Rodolphus and that Ron stunned one of them straight on. I'm assuming it isnt Rodolphus he stunned cuz the death eater in question probably fell to their death. Oops. So at least three, two of them being in Voldemort's inner circle and great duelers.

4. Taking down Fenrir Greyback with Neville. The most notoriously evil werewolf in the series. These badass boys.

5. Also dueling some unnamed death eater at the end of HBP.

Now I'm not by any means saying that he works better without Harry and Hermione. But it's interesting how a lot of his more badass moments are apart from them. And I don't know it it's his inferiority complex or some sort of groupthink thing going on and him going "well, they're my awesome friends, who are smart and I trust them, so I'll just follow their lead", but I so wish we could've see more of his leadership/fighting/ability to finesse his way out if situations on screen.

[archivednimueries]

i want a meta on uhh habits agent nim has prior to barty and rodolphus , and also habits she picks up after encountering one or both of them

 a l w a y s a c c e p t i n g  ➟  meta stuff and things

// @knowshisown

Prior to being put on Barty’s case and meeting Dr. Lestrange for the first time, Nim is very compulsive about going out of her way to not be compulsive, if that makes any sense? She does everything in the way that it should be done. She keeps a meticulous house, a meticulous schedule, and a meticulous life.

In her younger and teenage years, she learned very quickly that being a pretty young thing was both a power and a weakness, both a weapon and target for use. So, for the ‘man’s world’ that she tried to enter, she made every effort to create a balance. Pretty but not too pretty. Memorable but not exactly striking. Her hair is always clean and brushed to a shine ( she actually follows the 200 stroke rule ) but her makeup is minimal. Her clothes are fine and pressed and oh so practical but all of her actual tailored things are stuck in the back of the closet waiting for a rainy day that never comes. She cares enough but not enough to be considered vain. ( Even though she actually kind of is ngl ) When she goes out with ‘the boys’ she knocks back a single beer, but all she keeps at her house is wine. She never touches the hard stuff; she doesn’t like to lose control. 

She also takes her work home with her. During her time with Barty and Rodolphus, you can find pages from their respective case files and pictures from their crime scenes plastered on her walls. They’re even in her bathroom and taped above her bed. She’s immersive and methodical and she probably gets in too deep.

When she’s angry she chews/bites the inside of her cheek. She’s made it such an art form at this point that only the truly perceptive can see the clench in her jaw when she does it. When she’s insulted she smiles a bright and toothy grin that doesn’t quite reach her eyes, but boy does it bare her teeth! Even when she’s not talking she’s seared the habit of keeping her mouth parted at all times into her muscle memory. Almost inviting, but definitely never dire. When she’s lost in thought she’ll sometimes start moving her fingers against a horizontal surface as if she were plucking the vertical strings of her harp. She almost always wears her hair down, like a curtain or a shield. If she’s flustered she’ll braid it into a plait. The only time she puts it up is when she’s in hardcore problem-solving mode, little wispy tendrils falling haphazardly here and there. 

This is probably the first thing that changes after her introduction to Rodolphus. She picks up on the fact that his eyes trail to the lower half of her face and the curve of her throat and she begins to wear her hair up as a result. It starts by her watching herself in the mirror, turning her head this way and that to see what the appeal is. She begins looking at herself through her own lens rather than the lens of the world. After all, Rodolphus can wear an inmate’s uniform and still look as though he’s stepped out of a Paris fashion show. Who is she really fooling and what should she care about who is intimidated by her? Maybe, just maybe, she likes being intimidating.

After allowing Rod to quite literally infiltrate her life, she also picks up some other habits. Although she’s always been witty with quips and retorts, some of her returns in exchanges take on more bite. Having your brain picked every other day and being asked to be open, honest, and intimate to a fault, can bring out the edge in a person. This has proven both an interesting turn of events and something of a prickling thorn to her superiors and colleagues. It’s hard to be soft and ingratiating when your mind is currently being meshed with not one, but two serial killers. 

Which is to say, definitively, that Barty also has an impact on Nim’s life. For the longest time after their first encounter, she can’t stop touching the cut on her neck. She almost hopes it will scar if only to remind her to always be on guard. Touching it serves to keep her angry because anger is good in this instance. Anger motivates. The carelessness that she exhibited before won’t happen again; it can’t happen again. She starts being hyperaware — not only of the stinging from the cut but of each little sound and movement. Barty really is the constructor of his own death. She might not have known what to pick up on in the dark that second time around if it weren’t for him.

Barty is also the instigator of Nim’s desire to actually live and not just see each day through to its conclusion. After the initial home invasion, she starts playing with and paying attention to knives more. She’d never had much interest in them before and honestly, they’re not used extensively in training. 

Other little habits that Nim picks up are being able to tell the different notes of a person’s cologne or perfume, a deeper interest in Greek philosophy ( my girl was staunchly Roman before ), an oral fixation, and getting the last word in conversations.

[coe-lilium]

HP Tag

Been a while since I’ve done one of these, thanks to @autumn-of-ilvermorny for tagging, it was fun :D

What is your name? Not specified if IRL or “tumblr”, I’ll go by tumblr so coe will do. How old are you? 25 What House(s) are you in? Hufflepuff and Thunderbird (Gryffindor on old Pottermore, re-sorted with the new one, love the Gryffs but puff is more accurate) What kind of blog do you run? Mainly Harry Potter (with a good chunk of it being Cursed Child or me ranting at the latest fandom bullshit), Star Wars and the Fate series/franchise. Fan art and meta/ramblings. Tumblr also inform me that I’m one of the three tumblr blogging the most about Delphi /whatshersurnameJo/, im quite proud of it. There’s also a bit of history and epic content, if you dig.  Your Patronus? A horse, but I don’t remember what kind.  Your Pottermore House results? In order, Gryffindor, then Hufflepuff and Thunderbird. Which book is your favorite? Uhm... Chamber, Prince and DH. I re-read DH every summer, so. Haven’t yet pinned down why, exactly, but the resurrection stone and its scene resonate with me more every year so maybe it’s that. Which film is your favorite: Of all the franchise? Fantastic Beasts. Within the proper HP’s... Chamber and DH 1+2, even if I have my problems with the latest. Which book is your least favorite? PoA. It’s the most “Marauders centric” one and I’m really not interested in them, sorry. Which is your least favorite movie? HBP. Really, what was that? Where is my Gaunt content? I still feel robbed. What is your favorite quote? Don’t have one in particular. Favorite Potter? Harry. I’ll probably appreciate Albus more when I’ll get older. Favorite Weasley? Molly, Ron and Ginny? I can’t choose. Favorite Malfoy? ScorpiusScorpiusScorpius... did I said Scorpius? I also like a lot of  “fanfic Abraxas” (especially this one). Favorite Black? Sirius, but now I’ve developed an interest for Andromeda. And Orion and Cygnus are people I love to look for in fics even if they’re just names in canon.  Favorite Marauder? No interest in them at all, sorry. Favorite Golden Trio member? Ron Favorite Silver Trio member? Neville Favorite Female character? In a “I will protect it” and “Im absolutely fascinated with it” way, Delphi and Isolt Sayre. I wish there was more about them/things went differently, but Im glad they exist.  Favorite male character? I’ve got a trio here, Harry, Dumbledore and Diary!crux Riddle.  Favorite Professor? McGonagall and Snape. I wouldn’t set a foot in Snape’s class for all the riches in the world but he is a fascinating character. Favorite House? Tough one. Contrary to what can appear, I do love Slytherin members, especially if not woobified, and I’ve got a fascination with the family itself. If we’re talking about values tho, then Puff and Gryffindor.  What character do you dislike the most? Umbridge, closely followed by Marvolo Gaunt before and Rodolphus Lestrange and Euphemia Rowle now. I absolutely despise all of them.  What ships are your favorite? I like all the canon ones (plus Scorbus). And for “fic only” ships which I do like and read... well. Riddle and Hermione. Or Ginny. Sorry, but I like conflict and hell, if the writer stay true to canon characterization you will drow in conflict. Reading about Hermione hexing the shit out of the smug asshole is a soothing experience.  Is there a movie that you liked more than the book? Nope. But there may be one, if they ever decide to give us a CC movie/s.  If you could make your own House, what would be the traits? Oh, I really shouldn’t be trusted with the creation of a House, believe me.  What would your Amortentia smell like? Clay tablets, middle ages original parchment, moss, figures  Which do you prefer - (I suppose the question was “animal”?) cat cat cat cat cat Which is your favorite Harry Potter Era? The 40′! and without a single doubt. I almost read fics set only in that era. I do love Weasley Girl, Harry Potter and the Natural 20 and Crosswinds of Fate set in the Golden Trio Era but two of them are massive AUs and the last is a Fate crossover so not everybody’s cup of tea. After TCC I’m in dire need of “Delphi is found long before being 22yo and helped″ AU’s, so Im also entering the Next Gen Era.  

‘bout tagging... @charlotte-bird? Im curious

[saintsenara]

hello! welcome!

i’m eithne (she/her) and i write as asenora on ao3 [you can find out why i chose this pen-name here]. i'm thrilled that you're here!

please feel free to reach out to me. my ask box is open and you can also find me on: ao3 | discord | reddit

i'm a northern irish millennial harry potter fan-fiction writer who writes for multiple ships and characters. the masterpost of my writing is here, or you can browse:

by ship | by character | by era | metas

fics i recommend can be found here

things i have to say about writing can be found here

my current works in progress are:

one year in every ten

harry potter/tom riddle explicit | 200k words and counting no major warnings apply

a decade on from the battle of hogwarts, after ten years of the wizarding world thinking it’s safe, a serial killer emerges, leaving a trail of dead women in his wake. each of the bodies bears a gruesome, encoded message for the aurors… a message which - once unscrambled - claims the dark lord has risen again. in the face of the mystery, the order of the phoenix is hastily reformed, ron is stoic, hermione is scared, ginny is getting very good at putting on a brave face, death eaters who were never caught are getting ready to crawl out of the woodwork, and the ministry of magic has plenty of secrets of its own for kingsley to worry about… all harry wants is to distract himself from a marriage falling apart at the seams. all lord voldemort wants is to get out of the horrible place between life and death. so much so that he’s willing to agree to help his old enemy solve the case. or so he claims.

masterpost

scylla and charybdis

severus snape/lord voldemort explicit | 15k words and counting graphic depictions of violence | major character death

severus snape is looking for somewhere - anywhere - to belong. he makes the wrong choice.

masterpost

subluxation

rodolphus lestrange/percy weasley mature | 10k words and counting major character death

percy grows up surrounded by a happy family; yet his belonging is not total. percy leaves his family for the ministry of magic, but the dislocation is not total. percy stays in his job once the ministry is seized by the death eaters, and his resistance is not total. percy returns to his family in the shadow of grief, so his readmittance is not total.

percy falls in love. and that is total.

the war of the roses

sirius black/severus snape explicit | 7.5k words and counting no major warnings apply

a butterfly flaps its wings and sirius does not go to the department of mysteries. what follows from that twist of fate is a story about the long, destructive shadow of a schoolboy rivalry; a story about surviving, and how surviving is sometimes more difficult than dying; a story about the fragility of beauty, the gentleness of hope, and the value of choice.

it is also a love story.

masterpost

[knowshisowna]

RODOLPHUS META | his alliances. | DO NOT REBLOG !!!

despite his place in tom’s army and how inevitable it seemed , rodolphus did in fact weigh the options of either remaining neutral or even going up against tom if ever he threatened rodolphus’s well being or that of his family. rodolphus was never willing to die for tom riddle. that was never part of any plan that he had. if he had to fight his way out , so be it. he barely wanted to kill for the guy , so dying for him wasn’t going to happen. really and truly , the only person rodolphus would die for without thinking twice is rabastan. that’s just that. everyone else has a point system. now granted , bella does have a great advantage , but there still would be some hesitation on his part if he felt that she was doing something that was , from the start , against his better judgment or hers. especially if she enters a situation where she was willing to die for tom , he won’t be the one to jump in the way.

at the end of the day though , rodolphus understands he is in the best possible position to protect his family. once again , after the war , he weighs the options again. he knows bella won’t ever leave. she is so far gone , but he sees his brother’s reluctance , and he wonders if it’s best they sit it out. but he decides against it , not only because of draco which is why rabastan stays , but also because rodolphus truly believed the dark lord would win this time around. the odds were far better now , but he did have his doubts about voldemort’s ability to kill harry. none of them still understood how voldemort was defeated in the first place , and rodolphus could also see that the dark lord himself was not tom anymore. he was weaker , more belligerent , more reckless in a way. but rodolphus believed in their ability to overcome the shortcomings , and if he were to sit out and voldemort managed to edge out the adversary , the lestranges may be targeted. 

rodolphus saw igor karkaroff die. and while he may have believed he could take any one of the death eaters save his wife , the idea of having to fight bella to the death was not at all motivating. still , it’s not until after dumbledore dies that his place is solidified because he understands that while draco may be relieved of his initial duty , it doesn’t mean he’s out. which is the best way to remind rodolphus that none of them are out. OUT is not an option. at least not alive. and he would be risking the lives of his brother , his nephew , and narcissa if he tried leaving because he wasn’t going anywhere without them. 

[knowshisowna]

THE BROTHERS LESTRANGE. 

the two possess and encompass both conflicting and complementing ideals , always at odds and in conjunction with one another. 

RABASTAN , THE CHAOS. 

impulsive but not entirely reckless. sociopathic tendencies. can feel and express most extremes of the range of human emotion , most notably joy and pain. sensitive , not always sensible. empathetic but not entirely expressive. a “ misery loves company / hurt like i hurt ” killer , categorizing victims independent of blood and social status. molded by his mother’s cruel tongue and his father’s keen negligence , only sheltered by rodolphus’s impervious compassion for him. despite this , he has never been at odds but has always been in competition with his brother due to the structure of the lestrange home. when together , rabastan’s need for chaos flows into rodolphus just as rodolphus’s need for order and control flows into rabastan. they are more powerful together than apart for this reason. 

RODOLPHUS , THE CALCULATION. 

born and bred to lead , a natural conduit of control , a source of immense power in and of himself. raised as the only son and true heir of the house lestrange , groomed to be a predecessor of the dark lord himself if ever the chance for a coup were to present itself as his father suspected it might due to his knowledge of voldemort’s blood status. a leader by birth and blood , never by choice. his desire for power is exceeded by the responsibility of such aspirations. family first , always , blood or bound. rabastan will always be his top priority. tends to feed off of his brother’s chaotic energy but hides such inhibitions beneath a well sculpted mask. known for his unnerving composure and the innate inability of others to break through it. unshakable , invulnerable —beyond the influence of bellatrix and the need to appease voldemort— he promotes morale and inspires loyalty. he does not need fear to draw these , and for that , he is both a great ally and a formidable opponent. beyond that , his bond with rabastan has always added another layer to his ability.

[archopv-blog]

talk 2 me about rodolphous + tom riddle

i wouldn’t say that there is anything inherently special regarding rod’s relationship with tom riddle as far as their own interpersonal connection goes. there is a very deep ( and very unspoken ) respect for one another , one that is only conveyed in just how much tom trusts him with. he is , technically , the first death eater. the first to be recruited , the first to be brought into the fold even before the complete transition from the Knights of Walpurgis. tom riddle has a large hand in his last few years of education , in his setup following hogwarts , and in his marriage. 

tom was a driving force behind the union between bellatrix and rodolphus , and all of it was very strategic. rodolphus understood that. he understood that tom wanted to position himself to be first in bella’s life , the cause second , her husband after that. rodolphus made that easy because he was the cause. and he would never expect bella to provide the standard pureblood home that someone else may have. rodolphus was born in a matriarchal hierarchy of a home. he knows better. and tom trusted that. 

beyond that , tom knows how dependable rodolphus is. he knows how reliable he is. and he knows how strong a hand he leads with. he sees the dynamic within rodolphus’s friend group. he witnesses how he is able to sway ideologies and earn loyalties. tom never points that out , never gives rodolphus any strict instructions , but he trusted in rodolphus’s ability and desire to do so anyway, which he didn’t short him on. 

that’s really the gist of it. they aren’t close. they aren’t friends. rodolphus does not receive the kind of special attentions bella does nor does he have the type of relationship that his father or abraxas does , but he and tom often have a very basic understanding of what is to happen next. overall though , it must be understood that tom’s primary focus was not the war. it wasn’t the extermination of muggleborns or any of that. he wanted eternal life , and he fixated on that , so he delegated a lot during the first war , and a lot of it was either handed to or delivered by rodolphus and , by circumstance , antonin. tom may not trust him as friends do but he trusted in his ability to get shit done , and honestly , rodolphus wanted nothing more than that. 

and truly, the idea that this regime was being led by a halfblood would never in a million years sit all the way right with rodolphus so he would take what he needed to succeed and leave it at that. he would never want to be in tom riddle’s place though , and that is evident. he is a practiced occlumens ,but he has let tom read every little thought to ever cross his mind if tom so pleased. and that is why tom had no qualms about giving him so much of the reigns when necessary , because rodolphus was never a threat to him. he never would be. and even if he didn’t always agree with or understand tom’s decisions , rodolphus isn’t foolish. he knows tom riddle is no mere man , and he wouldn’t think to try him.

[archopv-blog]

rodolphous + leadership

meta questions ! / always accepting. 

IT’S IN HIS BLOOD. He was born to lead. He was the eldest child of the Knights. He was born strong. His mother had an easy birth. He didn’t cry when he was born. He looked his father straight in the eye. Antares called it a message. Antares called it a prayer. It was a sign of respect, of pride, of the absence of fear. He believes that to this day. His firstborn son was born to lead, never to be led.

Now that’s saying something considering the fact that the first thing Antares does is sell his son’s loyalties to Tom Riddle ( a whole other ask which you also sent so I’ll try to skirt that relationship here ), but Antares still believed that even under these circumstances, it would be Rodolphus who would command the forces, who would lead the pack.

Simply put, Antares understood one thing about Tom Riddle that no one was willing to admit: He didn’t give a damn about their society or their beliefs. He wasn’t waging war for the sake of their cause. He was using their cause to control them. Antares understood that, and while it did not change his vision or view of the times, it did push him to ensure that Rodolphus was ready for the inevitable, and that was to be the finisher. If Tom Riddle abandoned them in any capacity, Rodolphus would be poised to continue the goal. And if need be, he’d run over Tom Riddle to do so.

Now Rodolphus didn’t believe in any of that. He didn’t want to be the face of the movement. He didn’t want to rule the world or any of that. He wasn’t interested in that. He had a legacy to protect. He had a family to sustain. And that is where his leadership thrives. It thrives with his wife, being the conscience she doesn’t have, the sense she sometimes tries to bypass, the calculation in her chaos. It thrives with his brother, the anchor in a storm, the assurance amidst confusion, the stern hand in times of self-destruction. That is who he cares about. That is what he’s willing to fight for. He comes out of the other side of his father’s shadow quite quickly, but he is far more formidable than even he realizes.

Now it’s relatively logical that Bellatrix is integral to most of the largest movements in Voldemort’s regime. There is no doubt she is the most important wand in Voldemort’s army. No one would doubt that. You would be foolish to doubt that. She carries out the most potent assassinations, the most crucial missions, the dirtiest work. Yet she is never without him, the wand at her back. He leads from behind. He takes control from the bird’s eye view. He is silent, observant, sleek as a shadow and very dangerous. But they trust him. Just about every death eater trusts him to be sensible, to be logical, to be strategic. He does it without fail, and on top of that, he ensures every member of his family is well and taken care of.

Granted, there are things he cannot control. But he rarely shows his emotions. He is stone. He is iron. He doesn’t budge in his convictions, and he sets the bar very high. HE SETS AN EXAMPLE. He is the gentleman. He is the cutthroat. He is the good man, and he is the great man. He is the angel of mercy. He is the devil in disguise. There is not a thing he can’t do, meaning he can lead anyone and everyone to water.

But his leadership and its effectiveness is deeply ingrained in mutual trust and respect, mainly between him and Tom, him and Bella, and him and Rabastan. He infiltrates ministry.  He sways his best friend, a ministry unspeakable, to spy for them. He commands loyalty. Voldemort instills fear. Rodolphus gains trust. He has no blind followers. Every loyalty he has, he has earned, and that makes him the most prominent leader.

[knowshisowna]

the thing about rodolphus is that his facade is so perfect. smooth , without seam or fissure , he can look you in the face and tell you the most beautiful lie , and you would be none the wiser. more so , you wouldn’t just believe it , you would WANT TO. the lestrange family has long since been well respected and highly admired in europe , but their views on purity were more of a rug in their bedrooms than a fountain in front of the house. they had far more intriguing and intellectual investments to busy people with , and in truth , while antares has always had a very stark view on people of impure blood , he is , at his roots , an entertainer. he and nadya are hosts above all else , and their connections extend beyond the wizarding world and on up to european royalty and foreign diplomats. their events and occasions are legendary , and antares bred his son to be , first and foremost , an icon. from that , rodolphus molded himself into something akin to both mother and father although it never overshadows who he has become in his own right. he is smooth. he doesn’t have fear. his emotional range is limited to begin with. he is constantly forced to take small doses of emotions and interpret them in his own way , and when necessary , he has to manually modify and magnify these emotions so that he can properly display them. this is true of the full spectrum , but he does it so well. one would never think he was in any way insincere. it is why he becomes so dangerous within the ministry , so efficient in his reconnaissance. he wears the best mask ,  and it isn’t the one fitted for him by tom. this one , he tailored himself.