Bellatrix Lestrange, Pensieve, August 1st 1980
Name: Bellatrix Lestrange
Date: August 1st, 1980
Format: Pensieve memory
Relevance: This relates to Bellatrix Lestrange's disposal of her cousin's body after she murdered him by administering a fatal dose of sleeping potion. The quality of the memory suggests it was extracted shortly after creation and never replaced. Study of the memory compared with details from the era confirm that the flat at which Bellatrix left Regulus's corpse was the one belonging to Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.
The memory begins in a fog: grey and formless.
You hear voices whispering about princesses and stars, and then silence. The silence stretches on until you hear the tapping of a knife on the rim of a bowl, and you find yourself in a kitchen. The air is thick and warm with the fragrance of cooking. Bellatrix is leaning over a fresh batch of biscuits. She's biting her lip in concentration as she ices the biscuits with a pale pink glaze. On the table are several other plates of freshly baked biscuits.
With the last biscuit iced, she stands back to examine her work. She nods to herself and, with a flick of her wand, sends the plates into the air. They hover obediently before her as she unties her pinny. You follow her out of the kitchen and up the stairs, into her bedroom, a room full of darkness. The curtains are drawn back from the window and the moon is high in the sky, but there are no stars.
Bellatrix lights a candle, illuminating the plates that dance about her like hummingbirds in slow motion, and the body of Regulus on the bed. She gestures the plates to settle then sits down beside Regulus's body. If you look closely, you can see how white his skin is. Cold. Dead.
Bellatrix picks up a biscuit and smiles at Regulus.
"Now, darling, try this. Just a little bite for Bella." She presses the biscuit to his lips as she talks. "It's a recipe from a book I found in that little shop run by Madam Griselda, just at the corner of Knockturn Alley. I did wonder why a cookbook should end up in such a place, but I'm sure if you have a taste, you'll see why. They're positively sinful. I don't know if it's the vanilla essence or the black orchid petals that does it, but they're-"
She breaks off with a frown. She pushes the biscuit a little more firmly to Regulus's mouth.
"Don't be stubborn, magpie. I made these for you and you should just have a little nibble. You'd feel better if you did."
When he still doesn't eat, she drops the biscuit onto the plate again and sits back. She watches Regulus's body for such a long time, so still and so intently, that you begin to wonder if the memory has frozen. It is only the guttering light of the candle as the shadows it casts ripple on the walls that tell you time has not stopped.
Bellatrix lets out a soft moan and brings her fingers to her mouth. She begins to gnaw at her fingertips, until the flesh is dark red and dimpled with the marks of her teeth. A line of blood sluggishly rolls down her wrist and she stops chewing in order to trace its flow. As a drop forms, she catches it with her tongue, licking away the blood and then wiping her hand on her skirts.
A look of sudden deviousness crosses her face and she leans forward to her bedside table. She opens the drawer and withdraws a small pair of silver scissors. Spreading the blades apart, she then lifts Regulus's arm and tugs the sleeve back to expose his arm.
Very carefully, and an inch below his Dark Mark, she cuts a small incision with the scissors. She stares at the cut and then presses her lips to it. You can hear the sound of her sucking, loud and fierce. When she lifts her head and her dark hair falls away from her face, you can see her smile is bloodstained.
She whispers something too quiet for you to hear and then springs into a flurry of activity. Regulus's sleeve is tugged back down and the scissors replaced in the drawer. One plate of biscuits is overturned as Bellatrix takes out her cloak from the wardrobe and wraps herself in it. She pulls the hood up and then crawls onto the bed.
Holding onto Regulus, she cracks into nothing.
When the dizziness of Apparation washes away, you find yourself in the corridor outside an apartment. Bellatrix is panting at the exertion of the spell and the weight of Regulus's body as he sags against her. She slumps him against the door, her movements frantic and shaky. She pulls his cloak about him and ties the ribbon in a tidy bow about his neck.
She startles at the sound of a dog barking in a distance and begins to back away from the body. Abruptly, she stops, staring at the corpse she has left huddled on the ground. She hurries back and kneels beside him. Running her hands over his face, she smoothes his hair back and kisses him chastely on the lips, her eyes sinking shut for a second.
You hear the dog bark again and she falls backwards. Her eyes are fixed on Regulus, even as she drags her body back on her elbows. She staggers to her feet and hurtles down the stairwell. You hurry after her as she runs down the street. Her figure wavers unsteadily and you think she might fall at any second. You try to follow her but the fog is coming down.
She disappears into a world swamped in grey. The memory ends.
Date: August 1st, 1980
Format: Pensieve memory
Relevance: This relates to Bellatrix Lestrange's disposal of her cousin's body after she murdered him by administering a fatal dose of sleeping potion. The quality of the memory suggests it was extracted shortly after creation and never replaced. Study of the memory compared with details from the era confirm that the flat at which Bellatrix left Regulus's corpse was the one belonging to Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.
The memory begins in a fog: grey and formless.
You hear voices whispering about princesses and stars, and then silence. The silence stretches on until you hear the tapping of a knife on the rim of a bowl, and you find yourself in a kitchen. The air is thick and warm with the fragrance of cooking. Bellatrix is leaning over a fresh batch of biscuits. She's biting her lip in concentration as she ices the biscuits with a pale pink glaze. On the table are several other plates of freshly baked biscuits.
With the last biscuit iced, she stands back to examine her work. She nods to herself and, with a flick of her wand, sends the plates into the air. They hover obediently before her as she unties her pinny. You follow her out of the kitchen and up the stairs, into her bedroom, a room full of darkness. The curtains are drawn back from the window and the moon is high in the sky, but there are no stars.
Bellatrix lights a candle, illuminating the plates that dance about her like hummingbirds in slow motion, and the body of Regulus on the bed. She gestures the plates to settle then sits down beside Regulus's body. If you look closely, you can see how white his skin is. Cold. Dead.
Bellatrix picks up a biscuit and smiles at Regulus.
"Now, darling, try this. Just a little bite for Bella." She presses the biscuit to his lips as she talks. "It's a recipe from a book I found in that little shop run by Madam Griselda, just at the corner of Knockturn Alley. I did wonder why a cookbook should end up in such a place, but I'm sure if you have a taste, you'll see why. They're positively sinful. I don't know if it's the vanilla essence or the black orchid petals that does it, but they're-"
She breaks off with a frown. She pushes the biscuit a little more firmly to Regulus's mouth.
"Don't be stubborn, magpie. I made these for you and you should just have a little nibble. You'd feel better if you did."
When he still doesn't eat, she drops the biscuit onto the plate again and sits back. She watches Regulus's body for such a long time, so still and so intently, that you begin to wonder if the memory has frozen. It is only the guttering light of the candle as the shadows it casts ripple on the walls that tell you time has not stopped.
Bellatrix lets out a soft moan and brings her fingers to her mouth. She begins to gnaw at her fingertips, until the flesh is dark red and dimpled with the marks of her teeth. A line of blood sluggishly rolls down her wrist and she stops chewing in order to trace its flow. As a drop forms, she catches it with her tongue, licking away the blood and then wiping her hand on her skirts.
A look of sudden deviousness crosses her face and she leans forward to her bedside table. She opens the drawer and withdraws a small pair of silver scissors. Spreading the blades apart, she then lifts Regulus's arm and tugs the sleeve back to expose his arm.
Very carefully, and an inch below his Dark Mark, she cuts a small incision with the scissors. She stares at the cut and then presses her lips to it. You can hear the sound of her sucking, loud and fierce. When she lifts her head and her dark hair falls away from her face, you can see her smile is bloodstained.
She whispers something too quiet for you to hear and then springs into a flurry of activity. Regulus's sleeve is tugged back down and the scissors replaced in the drawer. One plate of biscuits is overturned as Bellatrix takes out her cloak from the wardrobe and wraps herself in it. She pulls the hood up and then crawls onto the bed.
Holding onto Regulus, she cracks into nothing.
When the dizziness of Apparation washes away, you find yourself in the corridor outside an apartment. Bellatrix is panting at the exertion of the spell and the weight of Regulus's body as he sags against her. She slumps him against the door, her movements frantic and shaky. She pulls his cloak about him and ties the ribbon in a tidy bow about his neck.
She startles at the sound of a dog barking in a distance and begins to back away from the body. Abruptly, she stops, staring at the corpse she has left huddled on the ground. She hurries back and kneels beside him. Running her hands over his face, she smoothes his hair back and kisses him chastely on the lips, her eyes sinking shut for a second.
You hear the dog bark again and she falls backwards. Her eyes are fixed on Regulus, even as she drags her body back on her elbows. She staggers to her feet and hurtles down the stairwell. You hurry after her as she runs down the street. Her figure wavers unsteadily and you think she might fall at any second. You try to follow her but the fog is coming down.
She disappears into a world swamped in grey. The memory ends.