How Molly Weasley Killed Bellatrix Lestrange - Soyo Theory

In today’s video, we are going to talk about how the loving, caring mother Molly Weasley killed a powerful witch, named Bellatrix Lestrange. In a book series praising maternal love and family, Molly Weasley is the character which best embodies these themes. She is the ultimate matriarch, extending her love, kindness and generosity to Harry besides her already large brood of seven children. The Weasley family are not rich, to say the least, and yet none of the children are actually missing anything. It is therefore no wonder that Harry holds the Weasleys in such high esteem and regards them with affection: they are the family he never had. On the other hand, there is much to say about the portrayal of Bellatrix, little of it positive. She describes herself as Voldemort’s most faithful follower, proud of not denying her connection to him after his first downfall and constantly trying to earn his trust and appreciation. It quickly becomes obvious that, unfortunately for many characters, her magical power matches her sadistic tendencies, proven by her victories against many of the good characters. She is arguably the most powerful female character, with the exception perhaps of Minerva McGonagall. The Deathly Hallows reveals another piece in the puzzle of this character, that piece being her attraction to none other than Voldemort. While many call her feelings love, the book never portrays it as being more than lust combined with devotion and a desire to achieve power. It is most likely therefore that Rowling refers to this “love” as perverse. It is a power hungry love, based on lust and shared ideals, very much unlike the love other characters feel. This aspect of Bellatrix’s character is very important and Rowling only shares it with her readers in the last book because it is what she needs to do in order to properly set up the duel between Molly and Bellatrix. It is the last nail in Bellatrix’s coffin. Let’s take a closer look at the event in the book. «... Harry’s attention was diverted as a Killing Curse shot so close to Ginny that she missed death by an inch— He changed course, running at Bellatrix rather than Voldemort, but before he had gone a few steps he was knocked sideways. “NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!” Mrs. Weasley threw off her cloak as she ran, freeing her arms. Bellatrix spun on the spot, roaring with laughter at the sight of her new challenger. “OUT OF MY WAY!” shouted Mrs. Weasley to the three girls, and with a swipe of her wand she began to duel. Harry watched with terror and elation as Molly Weasley’s wand slashed and twisted, and Bellatrix Lestrange’s smile faltered and became a snarl. Jets of light flew from both wands, the floor around the witches’ feet became hot and cracked; both women were fighting to kill.» «What will happen to your children when I’ve killed you?” taunted Bellatrix, as mad as her master, capering as Molly’s curses danced around her. “When Mummy’s gone the same way as Freddie?” “You — will — never — touch — our — children — again!” screamed Mrs. Weasley. Bellatrix laughed, the same exhilarated laugh her cousin Sirius had given as he toppled backward through the veil, and suddenly Harry knew what was going to happen before it did. Molly’s curse soared beneath Bellatrix’s outstretched arm and hit her squarely in the chest, directly over her heart. Bellatrix’s gloating smile froze, her eyes began to bulge: For the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened, and then she toppled, and the watching crowd roared, and Voldemort screamed.» JK Rowling stated during her interview in Carnegie Hall that Molly was simply talented enough and also had the power of love on her side. «... I always knew Molly was going to finish her off. I think there was some speculation that Neville would do it, because Neville obviously has a particular reason to hate Bellatrix. So, there were lots of options for Bellatrix, but I never deviated. I wanted it to be Molly, and I wanted it to be Molly for two reasons. The first reason was I always saw Molly as a very good witch but someone whose light is necessarily hidden under a bushel, because she is in the kitchen a lot and she has had to raise, among others, Fred and George which is like, enough... I wanted Molly to have her moment and to show that because a woman had dedicated herself to her family does not mean that she doesn't have a lot of other talents. Second reason: It was the meeting of two kinds of - if you call what Bellatrix feels for Voldemort - love, I guess we'll call it love, she has a kind of obsession with him, it's a very sick obsession ... and I wanted to match that kind of obsession with maternal love... the power that you give someone by loving them. So, Molly was really an amazing exemplar of maternal love. ... There was something very satisfying about putting those two women together.»