Rabastan Lestrange was a Pure-blood wizard, an important Death Eater, and a very loyal servant to Lord Voldemort. His brother Rodolphus Lestrange and his sister-in-law Bellatrix Lestrange were also very ardent worshippers of Lord Voldemort. Rabastan Lestrange was one among the four Death Eaters who tortured the Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom after the disappearance of Lord Voldemort. The other three were Rodolphus, Bellatrix, and Barty Crouch Jr. They were all sent to Azkaban prison after they were sentenced for life by the Wizengamot. Frank and Alice Longbottom were permanently incapacitated and kept in the St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Early Life
Rabastan Lestrange was born in the Lestrange family in Great Britain. The Lestrange family was one of the Sacred Twenty Eight families that had been Pure-blooded since its inception. The Lestranges were pure-blood fanatics and supporters of the Dark Wizard Lord Voldemort after he came to power. Rabastan had an elder brother named Rodolphus Lestrange, who was a Death Eater and one of the most important members of Lord Voldemort’s inner circle.
Rabastan Lestrange went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after he was eleven years old and was sorted into Slytherin house. It is highly likely that he met several future Death Eaters in Hogwarts and became a Death Eater during his time at Hogwarts. Some of them possibly include Avery, Severus Snape, Barty Crouch Jnr, and Crabbe Snr. However, he was not on the list of a small group of Slytherins mentioned by Sirius Black. It is possible that some of the young Death Eaters, like Rabastan, attended Hogwarts later. His elder brother Rodolphus eventually married Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black), and she too was a Death Eater. Rabastan was very loyal to the Dark Lord and committed a lot of crimes early in his life as a Death Eater.
Death Eater
Rabastan Lestrange was one of the most loyal Death Eaters and a very important follower of Tom Riddle, who later came to be known as Lord Voldemort. Like his brother Rodolphus and Rodolphus’s wife Bellatrix, Rabastan was very keen on being a Death Eater and representing Lord Voldemort in his cause. Rabastan fought alongside Voldemort and his Death Eaters in both the First Wizarding War and the Second Wizarding War. He was imprisoned in Azkaban several times, and he broke out along with the others many times. He fought in several battles of the Second Wizarding War against the Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of the Phoenix.
When Harry Potter used Albus Dumbledore’s Pensieve and Professor Dumbledore made Harry visit Horace Slughorn’s memories of talking to Tom Riddle and his friends, Slughorn talks to a Lestrange. However, it is very likely that Slughorn is talking to the father or an uncle of Rodolphus and Rabastan, as none of the Lestrange brothers were classmates of Tom Riddle and studied at Hogwarts much later.
First Wizarding War
Rabastan Lestrange committed a lot of atrocities during the First Wizarding War for Lord Voldemort. One of the most gruesome of them was his involvement in the permanent incapacitation of Alice Longbottom and Frank Longbottom. He, along with his brother Rodolphus Lestrange, sister-in-law Bellatrix Lestrange and Barty Crouch Jr tortured the Longbottoms with the Cruciatus Curse after Lord Voldemort’s disappearance in hopes of finding out his whereabouts. This earned the four of them the title of Lord Voldemort’s most loyal servants among Lord Voldemort’s Death Eaters.
However, after Voldemort’s first downfall, they were among the group of Death Eaters who were sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban by the Wizengamot for the torture of Alice and Frank Longbottom.
Second Wizarding War
Rabastan Lestrange remained in Azkaban prison for a very long time but was reunited with his master Lord Voldemort after the Dementors joined forces with Voldemort and helped several inmates in Azkaban break out of prison. The Azkaban break-out happened around the time of the final events of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, immediately after Voldemort came back to his physical form.
Rabastan continued to help the cause of Lord Voldemort through Dark Arts after he broke out of prison. He took part in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in order to retrieve the Prophecy about Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort and fought against the Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of the Phoenix. He was one of the Death Eaters present in the Time Room where Harry, Hermione and Neville were hiding when another Death Eater’s head fell into a Bell Jar and then started turning into a baby’s head. It is possible that this Death Eater was Rabastan’s fellow Death Eater Crabbe Snr.
It is very likely that Rabastan took part in the other battles that took place during the Second Wizarding War, including the Battle at the Astronomy Tower, which took place in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Albus Dumbledore was killed by Severus Snape on that particular night. Rabastan also fought in the Battle of the Seven Potters and finally, the Battle of Hogwarts. He was either killed or arrested and imprisoned in Azkaban again after the defeat of Lord Voldemort.
Rabastan – A Misguided Follower
The story of Rabastan Lestrange is a clear reminder of how one could lead a completely misguided path in life when they follow someone with power blindly. Not only is Rabastan’s choice of committing atrocities evil, but also his penchant to follow his brother Rodolphus and by extension, Lord Voldemort. It is essential to be loyal to one’s loved ones and family, but if it comes at the cost of a meaningless value one sets up for himself, he would probably be better off not following his loved ones or being loyal to them.
Rabastan never exhibited qualities of hatred and the will to kill Muggles and Muggle-born witches and wizards, except for the extended implication that he had to because his family believed in that cause. This is a common approach adopted by many misguided individuals, which almost always leads to a world filled with people who cannot think for themselves, but will go to any extent to spread hate and cause trauma in the lives of innocent people.
FAQs
What happened to Rabastan Lestrange?
It is not very clear what happened to Rabastan Lestrange after the Battle of Hogwarts. It is highly likely that he was arrested and sentenced to life at Azkaban prison. He was one of the most important Death Eaters in the ranks of Lord Voldemort and since there is no mention of his death during the Battle of Hogwarts, the only other possibilities are that he was arrested or he escaped and went into hiding.
Are Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange twins?
No, Rabastan and Rodolphus are not twins. One of the reasons this is highly likely is because when Sirius Black mentioned a group of young Slytherins who would later become Death Eaters, he did mention Rodolphus but not Rabastan. Furthermore, Rabastan is believed to have attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry long after Rodolphus, making him younger than the latter.
Who played Rabastan Lestrange?
The role of Rabastan Lestrange in the Harry Potter movie adaptations was played by British actor Richard Trinder. He is seen fighting against Dumbledore’s Army and, later, the Order of the Phoenix in the Department of Mysteries. He also holds Ginny Weasley hostage with a wand aimed at her when the members of Dumbledore’s Army are captured, and Lucius Malfoy reasons with Harry Potter to give him the prophecy he procured from the shelf.
