What did Bellatrix Lestrange do to Hermione?

Speaking of these two female characters from our favorite Harry Potter series, we could say that in this case, we have a battle between the brains of Hermione Granger and the raw power and madness that is Bellatrix Lestrange. It matters who’s going to be a winner, but the fight between these two extremely powerful characters is at least very interesting, for sure.

Bellatrix Lestrange tortured Hermione and engraved the word “Mudblood” into her skin.

If you want to know what it looks like, what the reasons for this act were, and what’s behind the hatred of Bellatrix and her supporters, you are very welcome to discover it. Hope you enjoy it! 

What did Bellatrix Lestrange do to Hermione?

Before answering this question, let us remind you what preceded this event.

The famous trio Harry, Hermione, and Ron were still on a secret mission – the search for the Horcruxes which will make their greatest enemy Voldemort mortal, till his final destruction. Harry accidentally triggered the Taboo curse (a powerful spell which designates a word as a key to revealing the speaker’s location) on Voldemort’s name and the trio was surrounded by a gang of Snatchers, led by the infamous werewolf Fenrir Greyback.

Snatchers had disarmed and captured them, demanding their true identities. Harry, Hermione, and Ron gave them false names – Harry became Vernon Dudley, Ron Stan Shunpike, and Barney Weasley as well, and finally, Hermione told them she was Penelope Clearwater. Fenrir may have been believed this story but he discovered Hermione’s photo in Daily Prophet – the description in it was very clear: “the Mudblood who is known to be traveling with Harry Potter”, so he decided to bring them to Malfoy Manor instead of the Ministry of Magic. 

The three guests, not welcome at all, came finally to Malfoy Manor where they were greeted by Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, Draco’s parents. Unsure of their identities, Narcissa called her beloved son Draco to identify them as his colleagues.

Despite being obvious who they were, Draco Malfoy was reluctant to reveal their names. Goodness, this was the time when I really liked this young man. But then, “Bella” entered the scene.

When she spotted Godric Gryffindor’s Sword among the seized items held by the prisoners, she ordered to take them down to the dungeons, except Hermione.

Bellatrix began to torture Hermione, using the Cruciatus Curse, again and again, demanding the answer where did they get the famous sword. 

Since the movies are not and can’t be as detailed as the novels are, there was a small change in the movie “Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 1”. Besides, we saw Bellatrix carve the word “Mudblood” into Hermione’s arm. Severely tortured and in pain, Hermione will keep telling Bellatrix that the sword is not real but an ordinary copy, which will later be confirmed by Griphook at Harry’s request.

Why did Bellatrix write “Mudblood” on Hermione?

Hermione Granger’s character is everything that Bellatrix is not and Bella hated it from the bottom of her heart. Hermione was a Muggleborn with no right to the magic she possessed, nor the right to education. 

This hatred against Muggleborn dates from the time of Gellert Grindelwald, who wanted to establish a new world order in which wise and powerful wizards would rule the whole wizarding world over the Muggles. 

Both Grindelwald and Voldemort were compared to Adolf Hitler, as they both carried out ethnic cleansing on their rise to power. J. K. Rowling once confirmed that it’s no coincidence that the Wizarding War is temporally located during World War II.

All that fear and hatred Bellatrix had in her and other people had for her, made her even more sadistic. Not only did she torture Hermione with the Cruciatous Curse, in the end, but she also carved a word into Hermione’s flesh – a word that she has been tormented with since she found out she was a witch at 11 years old.

Every time she looked at it, it would remind her of Lord Voldemort and his followers who consider those who are different unworthy creatures of dirt, deeming them less worthy and deserving of magic at all.

The term “Mudblood” is definitely not used politely – it is highly offensive and vulgar, far different from the simple “Muggle” term. We remember when Draco Malfoy first called Hermione a Mudblood, he was nearly attacked by several members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and was nearly cursed by Ronald Weasley. Even Lord Voldemort used it as the Ministry of Magic propaganda.

Did Hermione turn into Bellatrix?

Oh, yes, she did!

Hermione turned into Bellatrix using the Polyjuice Potion (potion that allows the drinker to assume the form of someone else) which helped her and her friends to break into the Gringotts Wizarding Bank.

With a little help from Griphook, a former employee of the bank (in exchange for Godric Gryffindor’s Sword), the trio sneaked in Gringotts in order to steal one of Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes (Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup) from the vault belonging to Lestrange family.  

One good thing came out of Hermione being tortured by Bellatrix. Fortunately, Hermione picked up Bellatrix’s single, long, coarse, black hair from her own sweater which she had been wearing at Malfoy Manor.

Did Bellatrix kill Hermione? 

Bellatrix didn’t kill Hermione but a real question should be WHY she didn’t do that.

It is well known Bellatrix tortured many Muggle-born and killed them as well, for her own amusement. These are the kind of people who become the prey that she wants to hunt and play with. As the famous Death Eater, she’s devoted to her master Lord Voldemort which she wants to satisfy at all costs.  

One thing is certain – she would be more than happy to end Hermione’s life but she didn’t get the chance. 

It is a known fact that until the events of the book “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, Hermione was not so popular that she would be worth it for the Death Eaters to deal with. It was only when she refused to attend the Muggle-born registration commission and became an indispensable companion of Harry Potter, that the alarm rang in Voldemort’s supporters’ heads.

When Bellatrix and Hermione came face to face in the room of prophecies, in the Ministry of magic, Bellatrix was much more preoccupied with retrieving the prophecy and handing it to her beloved Dark Lord.

At Malfoy Manor, Bellatrix had a great opportunity to kill Hermione who was literally saved by Godric Gryffindor’s sword. Because of her own greed, she decided to torture her instead, to extract all the relevant information, otherwise, Hermione would hardly be able to leave Malfoy Manor.

Finally, in the Battle of Hogwarts, Bellatrix almost managed to get rid of Hermione once and for all. Hermione, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood together in the duel did not live up to the crazy Bella, but fortunately, no one counted on Molly Weasley – her mother’s love and strength, causing the downfall of one of the most sadistic Death Eaters.

Conclusion

Bellatrix Lestrange is the psychotic, sadistic, ruthless pureblood witch, hopelessly devoted to her master. For us, she is simply the best villain in the Harry Potter series. Also, the decision that Helena Bonham Carter embodied the character of this egocentric and arrogant witch is the best acting choice for a movie series about the most famous wizard of all time.

Since Godric Gryffindor’s sword was the item that she chose to defend with her life, she had to deal with three kids to get all the information she needed about it. 

Because Harry Potter was untouchable and he should have been left only to the Dark Lord,  she had to decide who would be of greater use to obtain such information. Would it be the “pureblood” or the “mudblood” person? 

Of course, she picked up the weak, pathetic, and worthless mudblood who would be easier to torture and to extort the confession. 

Fortunately for Hermione, this “brilliant” plan of her’s failed.