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In Harry Potter and the Cursed Child we come to know that:

Voldemort has a child born from Bellatrix Lestrange. My question is: Why did Voldemort select Bellatrix Lestrange to have his child? Why not any another female Death Eater, like Narcissa Malfoy?

captainsac
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  • Related: http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/95152/were-the-lestranges-particularly-rich/145579#145579 (the title is misleading) – Mithical Jan 05 '17 at 16:04
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    Because the play is nonsense. – ibid Jan 05 '17 at 21:52
  • @Valorum: http://meta.scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/968/what-is-the-policy-for-spoilers – DBPriGuy Jan 06 '17 at 16:35
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    Quote: "Avoid spoilers completely in the title. This doesn't mean using [REDACTED] or silly things like that, it means coming up with another way to summarise the question." @Valorum: Therefore I believe you are correct that the title should remain unspoilered – DBPriGuy Jan 06 '17 at 16:35

3 Answers3

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I don't think we're ever given a reason for why Bellatrix is chosen in the play, but...

Think about it logically. We know that Voldemort wouldn't have had the child out of love or passion - this is Voldemort we're talking about, a man who only cares about achieving immortality. From that perspective, the only reason he could want to have a child is to help him towards that goal (which almost worked in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) - therefore, who better to choose as the mother than his most loyal and devoted supporter?

Bellatrix LeStrange is devoted to both him and his cause to the point where she would do literally anything for him. Narcissa Malfoy, on the other hand, wasn't even a Death Eater herself - she was simply the wife of one of Voldemort's more useful, influential supporters. Logically, why risk losing the Malfoys as an ally (I can't imagine Lucius being happy about Voldemort sleeping with his wife) when Bellatrix can do the same job?

Dr R Dizzle
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    Do we even know that Voldemort intended to have a child? It wouldn't be totally out-of-character for Voldemort to reward a loyal follower (and Bellatrix obviously wants it), and, well...accidents do happen – Jason Baker Jan 05 '17 at 14:33
  • @JasonBaker We don't know that Delphini was intended, but I can't see any other reason that Voldemort would engage in... that kind of activity. – Dr R Dizzle Jan 05 '17 at 15:02
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    @Dr R Dizzle Why not? Nothing about Voldemort implies he's not capable of having sexual urges, even if he is incapable of making an emotional connection. It wouldn't at all be out of character for him to use his followers to satisfy his urges just as he uses them for pretty much anything else, and Bellatrix, being reliable, probably was the best fit for the job in his mind. – Oskuro Jan 05 '17 at 15:32
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    @Oskuro I just can't imagine Voldemort, a man who has done everything possible to escape his humanity, his vulnerability and his mortality, lowering himself to that base level unless it was for a damn good reason. – Dr R Dizzle Jan 05 '17 at 16:01
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    @Dr R Dizzle But Voldemort is a very base creature! His main motivation is fear of death, and he is quite prone to outbursts of anger. The novels, of course, do not delve into his (or anyone's) sexuality, but it wouldn't be out of character for him to indulge in those instincts too, particularly in a sadistic way. In essence, he does as he likes, so if the mood strikes him, why not? Of course it might've been part of a more complicated plan, but doing it just for his own pleasure is not out of line for him either. – Oskuro Jan 05 '17 at 16:07
  • @DrRDizzle - I view him as a similarly sociopathic figure to Charles Manson, who engaged in "that kind of activity" as much as he could. In fact, prostitution of his followers was a constant feature in his career. – T.E.D. Jan 05 '17 at 20:49
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    @DrRDizzle Actually, umm, do we know for sure that Voldy did engage in that kind of activity? My memory of that (abominable) play is (thankfully) hazy, but I don't remember anything explicitly (pun intended) stated. Did Voldy use his wand or his ... wand? – Deepak Jan 06 '17 at 07:46
  • @Deepak (The play is great). We don't find out the details of Delphini's conception, all we know is that her parents are Bellatrix and Voldemort. Literally everything else is guesswork, until someone can find a Word of God answer, which I suspect doesn't exist. – Dr R Dizzle Jan 06 '17 at 09:02
  • I can't imagine Rodolphus Lestrange being happy about Voldemort sleeping with his wife neither. – Oriol Jan 06 '17 at 21:51
  • @DrRDizzle: we don't know whether Voldemort had sexual desire, but having some would not lower him. Sex isn't dirtier than hunger or thirst. – Taladris Jan 02 '19 at 14:48
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Based off of my answer here.

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Voldemort says:

"The Lestranges should be here," said Voldemort quietly.
"But they are entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me... When Azkaban is broken open, the Lestranges will be honored beyond their dreams. (etc)
-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 33: The Death Eaters

Honored beyond their dreams. Would Bellatrix have ever thought that she could have the honor of bearing The Dark Lord's child?

To sum up, because she was faithful and she had been promised a reward.

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Mithical
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  • I don't mind admitting that this is probably the best answer here so far, as it's the only one that contains anything that could be considered evidence. +1 – Dr R Dizzle Jan 06 '17 at 12:13
  • @DrRDizzle thanks, you make some valid points too, I upvoted. – Mithical Jan 06 '17 at 13:03
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Theorizing here, from Hagrid's wager that Harry would be a "Thumpin' good" wizard based on his parentage, we can surmise that magical ability is at least somewhat genetic.

Narcissa never displayed in the books any raw magical talent, in fact based on her station (wife of an obscenely rich person), and her behavior (lack of interest in husbands affairs, only interested in the welfare of her son) we could guess she's something like a trophy wife. Bellatrix on the other hand has quite often displayed her proclivity for curses and dark magic, something Voldemort would probably want in his offspring.

Sidney
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    I hadn't thought about it before, but "trophy wife" would definitely be supported by the name "Narcissa". – Matt Gutting Jan 05 '17 at 18:40
  • Also there's a chance that Voldemort believed in blood purity more than Hagrid did. That would, from his standpoint, make siring children with strong witches pretty solid way of ensuring what wizardry doesn't die off, although that would be probably leaved for more peaceful times. – Daerdemandt Jan 05 '17 at 18:53
  • @Daerdemandt Don't forget that Voldemort was a half-blood :) If he truly cared about blood purity, he wouldn't procreate - rather, he'd support others, "actual" pure bloods. – Luaan Jan 06 '17 at 10:36
  • @Luaan only if they prove themselves stronger than Voldemort himself. He's pureblood enough to be Slytherin's heir and he's quite strong. I think that there's significant number of wizards who believe in blood purity as in "parents' magical prowess is a good predictor of child's, even if he gets raised by someone else", like Hagrid does, not "squib with good heritage is mightier than muggleborn wizard". Going by sheer power, Voldemort is pretty strong. – Daerdemandt Jan 06 '17 at 10:48
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    @Daerdemandt Yes, but that's just saying "blood purity is bogus". Selecting for strong wizards is quite a different thing. And we have no idea why Voldemort is strong - it might very well be that he got a kickstart with the secrets in the eponymous "Chamber of Secrets". Indeed, we don't know what makes a strong wizard - it seems that most strong wizards are also practicing all the time and building up skill and knowledge. Harry only really starts getting powerful when he launches his "extra curriculars"; otherwise, he's rather mediocre at both study and craft. – Luaan Jan 06 '17 at 11:04
  • @Luaan saying that "strong wizard = strong blood" is not really bogus. One who subscribes for this belief would see selecting for strong blood as selecting for strong wizards and vice versa. Tom was a distinguished student even before the Chamber - by the way, generations before him failed at finding it. Harry shows extraordinary talents the moment he gets his hands on a broom, with 0 preparation, contrasting his inherited power with Draco's skill and knowledge. – Daerdemandt Jan 06 '17 at 16:11
  • @Daerdemandt Yes, it is. That's just simple logic - if you can be strong wizard without having strong blood (Voldemort), the relationship doesn't hold. If you can be a bad wizard while having strong blood (Narcissa), it doesn't hold. And Voldemort was the heir of Slytherin, pure blood or not - it required being a Parselmouth, which is very rare. And we don't really know when he opened the chamber - it might have been long before his first kill. And while he was a great student, that's quite far from "only Dumbledore stands a chance". And I don't think broom riding has anything with magic :) – Luaan Jan 06 '17 at 16:16
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    @Luaan you seem to fail at looking at the situation from blood purist's mindset. Imagine that you have work horses. Some are strong, some are not. Some random alterations happen, but in general offspring of strong horses is stronger than offspring of weak horses. If you want to have strongest horses in the next generations, you have to breed your strong horses among themselves. If you have a strong horse, it's a good sign that its offspring would also be strong. Comparing student Tom to Dumbledore at height of his power is nice. As for broom riding without magic, you can try it yourself. – Daerdemandt Jan 06 '17 at 16:28
  • @MattGutting Funny you should say that ... – Rand al'Thor Jun 02 '17 at 09:15