Some truly mind-bending twists and turns happen in the Harry Potter series. Sometimes they even happen outside of the books and movies in the form of surprising revelations from author J.K. Rowling, like Dumbledore’s orientation. After following Harry’s journey for seven years, we leave the protagonists on Platform 9 3/4 as they drop off their kids and move on from the traumas of war. As it turns out, contrary to what Rowling wrote, all was not well for our favorite witches and wizards.
In one of the most astounding and controversial turn of events, Voldemort and Bellatrix had a liaison in secret while all the drama of the original books raged on during the Second Wizarding War. The result? A secret daughter who would come back to haunt Harry just when he thought he’d finally left all his demons behind. Delphini is first introduced in the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which centers on Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy. In a misguided attempt to save Cedric Diggory’s life, the kids go back in time and mess with major events, creating alternate timelines that wreak havoc on their own reality.
The following list draws from TheCursed Child. There are also some inevitable spoilers from the original books and movies.If the revelation that Bellatrix and Voldemort had a kid is enough to make your head spin, you might want to keep the secrets until you get a chance to catch up, or brace yourself for more unexpected twists.
Here are 20 Wild Things Only Potterheads Know About Voldemort’s Daughter.
She Was Born In Malfoy Manor
Malfoy Manor is perhaps best known as the Malfoys’ house and Voldemort’s headquarters during the Second World War, where his Death Eater minions congregated. The Malfoy family wasn’t all too happy about having their house co-opted, but Bellatrix emphasized to the Malfoys that Voldemort’s presence at the Manor was the highest honor they could receive.
The property was also used to imprison some of Voldemort’s enemies, including the golden trio and Luna Lovegood.
However, it’s also the birthplace of Delphini, Voldemort and Bellatrix’s daughter. Of course, that then begs the question: how many of Voldemort’s Death Eaters knew of Delphini’s existence? It’d take one amazing Concealment Charm to hide a shrieking infant.
Bellatrix’s husband Was Apparently Okay With The Affair
As if Bellatrix’s secret pregnancy with Voldemort’s child wasn’t crazy enough, there’s the matter of Bellatrix’s marriage to another man, Rodolphus Lestrange. Although not much is known about Bellatrix and Rodolphus’ marriage, Rodolphus seems pretty chill about his wife having an affair with his boss in The Cursed Child.
Considering how fanatical both families are about maintaining blood purity, it’s not too outlandish to assume that their union was more of an obligation to uphold tradition. Much like Bellatrix, Rodolphus was also a loyal Death Eater, so perhaps he was happy that Bellatrix was pregnant with Delphini, viewing the continuation of the Dark Lord’s legacy as an honor, rather than a betrayal of trust from his wife.
She’s An Orphan
Much like Harry and Teddy Lupin, Delphini grows up as an orphan because both of her parents passed away during the Battle of Hogwarts. Unlike Teddy, however, she grows up without a loving support system. Rodolphus was sent to Azkaban, leaving Delphini in the care of Euphemia Rowle.
Sure, she had a roof over her head, but Rowle only took care of her in exchange for a hefty amount of gold.
In fact, Delphini got her alias “the Auguery” during her time with Rowle. Rowle kept one of those mystical birds in a cage, and interpreted its constant wails as proof that Delphini would meet a “sticky end.” Not exactly the most encouraging foster parent one could have.
She Didn’t Go To Hogwarts
Rowling has established that there are multiple wizarding schools in the Harry Potter universe, and students typically attend the school in their part of the world. There’s Ilvermorny in North America, Castelobruxo in South America, and of course, Hogwarts in the Scotland Highlands, attended by mostly UK children.
However, Delphini didn’t go to Hogwarts, despite having spent her life in Great Britain. As a result, she’d grown up with limited contact to kids her age, and had to spend time with an imaginary friend instead. Of course, many of us have had imaginary friends at some point, but Delphini claims to have made her first friend at the age of fourteen because of her isolation.
She’s Still Amazing At Magic
Attending Hogwarts isn’t mandatory, and there are plenty of witches and wizards who achieved greatness despite not having attending the prestigious institution. It’s no surprise then that Delphini is an accomplished witch by the time the events of The Cursed Child roll around. She’s not just accomplished— she kicks some major butt.
It’s a scary thought, given her allegiance to her father Lord Voldemort.
Despite not having had a formal education, she holds her own against four experienced adults, including Hermione and Harry, who’d become Minister for Magic and the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Thankfully, the gang ends up apprehending Delphini, but not without a lot of hardship while facing down her immense talent.
She Can Do Wandless Magic
If you’re still waiting on your Hogwarts acceptance letter, chances are you’re also daydreaming about Diagon Alley, picking up books for school and—of course—your brand new wand from Ollivanders. As it turns out, wands aren’t strictly necessary for performing magic. In fact, many people outside of Europe don’t rely on wands at all.
Instead, wands are simply tools to help witches and wizards channel their magical abilities, and wandless magic is generally considered an advanced skill in Europe. Delphini never attended a wizarding school, but she’s shown to perform wandless magic in The Cursed Child, locking some doors as she faces down Harry.
She Didn’t Know Her True Heritage Growing Up
Having spent most of us life with his Muggle aunt and uncle, Harry didn’t know his true lineage until he turned eleven. In a similar vein, Delphini didn’t know about her parents until later in life, even though she knew she was a witch. She spent most of her life under the indifferent care of Euphemia Rowle until her stepfather Rodolphus left Azkaban (either released or escaped) and found her to tell her about her true heritage—that she was the daughter of Bellatrix and Voldemort.
After finding out about her identity, Delphini embarked upon a quest to bring Voldemort back by any means necessary.
The revelation scene isn’t portrayed in the play, but it must’ve been quite a moment for young Delphini.
She Pretends To Be Cedric Diggory’s Cousin
Delphini’s full name is unknown, and she’s never officially used the surnames Lestrange or Riddle in canon. However, she does take on the alias of Delphini Diggory as part of her plot to bring back her parents.
Delphini finds Amos Diggory, Cedric’s father, and performs a Confundus Charm on him so she can pretend to be his niece. Her manipulation of Amos sets the events of The Cursed Child in motion. Amos begs Harry to use a Time-Turner to go back in time and save his son, who’d passed during the Triwizard Tournament. Harry refuses, but Albus, Scorpius, and Delphi steal the Time-Turner in a misguided attempt to help Amos. Eventually things go sideways, and when Harry, Ginny, and Draco mention Delphini, Amos insists that he doesn’t have a niece.
She Has A Tattoo
Tattoos have long been unfairly associated with evildoers. Even in the Harry Potter franchise, the most prominent example of a tattoo is the Dark Mark, a sign of Death Eaters’ allegiance to Voldemort.
Delphini isn’t really a Death Eater and doesn’t have a Dark Mark, but she does have a tattoo of her own.
When Albus and Scorpius first notice the tattoo on the back of her neck, Delphini explains that it’s a reminder of her childhood, since Rowle had kept one of the mournful birds as a pet. The tattoo also causes the boys to realize Delphini’s true allegiance because of the beast’s prominence in the alternate timeine in which Voldemort wins the Second Wizarding War.
She Is Motivated By Loneliness
As Hagrid points out to Harry early on in the original books, people follow Voldemort’s footsteps for a whole variety of reasons. Some joined the Dark Lord’s ranks out of fear, while others stood by his side to quench their thirst for power. Delphini, on the other hand, tries to prevent Voldemort from ever passing away because grows up without a loving family and wants to meet the father she has never known.
As gut-wrenching a reason as that is, it certainly doesn’t justify Delphini’s cruel methods as he attempts to bring back one of the evillest wizards of all time. However, Harry does empathize with her upon her confession, and urges her to accept her reality and move on like he has.
She Inherits Her Parents’ Ruthlessness
Delphini might not have ever known her birth parents, but she seems to have inherited their sadistic streak. She’s quick to perform Unforgivable Curses, and doesn’t hesitate to end the life of Craig Bowker Jr., a Hogwarts student who has the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Being raised in isolation didn’t exactly help tone down Delphini’s ruthlessness
Of course, just because your parents are Dark Witches or Wizards doesn’t mean you’re doomed to walk the same path. Look at Sirius Black, for example—h e came from a long line of blood purists and the vast majority of his family supported Voldemort. Yet he fought vehemently for the Order of the Phoenix until his last breath
She Gets Attacked By Cedric
Delphini does a pretty good job at pretending to be Amos’s niece, helping Albus and Scorpius steal a Time-Turner so they can save her “cousin” Cedric from ever losing his life that fateful night at the Little Hangleton graveyard. The plan is to prevent Cedric from winning the Triwizard Tournament and reaching the portkey. They go back in time several times, and on one attempt, Cedric actually ends up attacking Delphini.
When Delphini’s cover is blown, she takes Albus and Scorpius hostage and force them to go back in time with her. Luckily, they run into Cedric, who helps free the boys and get the Time-Turner back, thinking this was all part of a task for the Triwizard Tournament.
Harry Tricks Her Into Believing He’s Voldemort
In one last attempt to prevent Voldemort’s passing, Delphini goes back all the way to October 30th, 1981 in order to convince Voldemort not to make an attempt on Harry’s life. If Voldemort doesn’t attack Harry, his curse wouldn’t rebound on himself because of Lily’s sacrifice, thus keeping Voldemort alive. However, Harry, Ginny, Draco and Hermione join the fray and return to 1981, with Harry transfiguring himself into Voldemort as bait for Delphini.
Harry does a spot-on impression of the Dark Lord—courtesy of his mental connection to Voldemort, perhaps.
He manages to trick Delphini into thinking he’s her father. Unfortunately, the transfiguration begins to fade, and not even Harry’s superior acting skills can compensate for that.
She Almost Ends Harry’s Life
Since he was a child, Harry has been famous in the Wizarding World for being the Boy Who Lived. He goes on to survive multiple attempts on his life by Voldemort throughout his adolescence. That said, his luck almost runs out when he’s an adult in The Cursed Child.
Delphini traps Harry in St. Jerome’s Church in Godric’s Hollow by locking all the doors, forcing him to hide under a church pew without a wand as she goes on the offensive. All of Harry’s friends are stuck outside the building, and Delphi comes close to ending his life. Fortunately, Albus comes to his father’s rescue and throws a wand to him, joining forces to defeat Delphini.
She Begs To Have Her Mind Wiped
When Harry and Albus finally apprehend Delphini, she begs the father and son to either end her life or perform a Memory Charm on her to wipe away all her memories of the incident. Albus is more than happy to oblige with her request, wanting to take her life in revenge for Craig Bowker Jr.
Harry stops his son from committing the irreversible act.
Instead, Harry empathizes with Delphini’s loneliness and desire to be reunited with her birth family. He obviously doesn’t let her go, but he does leave Delphini with some words of wisdom. She has to learn to live with the reality of being an orphan instead of constantly trying to run from the truth.
She Ends Up In Azkaban
As soon as Harry and the gang save the day, they hand Delphini over to the Magical authorities. To nobody’s surprise, Delphini is found guilty and locked up in Azkaban for her crimes, much like her mother Bellatrix and stepfather Rodolphus.
It’s unknown how long her prison sentence is, but it’s sure to be unpleasant, to say the least. Azkaban was originally home to a sorcerer named Ekrizdis who practiced the Dark Arts, luring Muggles to his island to torment for sport. Eventually Damocles Rowle—yes, like Euphemia Rowle—decided to use the building as a wizarding prison, keeping the Dementors there as guards in exchange for a steady supply of souls to feed on.
She Claims To Know Harry Better Than Voldemort Did
When Harry disguises himself as Voldemort to meet with Delphini in St. Jerome’s Church, Delphini is initially convinced that he’s really Voldemort. However, she begins to realize that it’s actually Harry himself as the spell begins to fade.
She has apparently spent a lot of time studying Harry.
She claims to know him better than Voldemort ever did. Given how inextricably intertwined Voldemort and Harry’s fates are, it’s no surprise that someone as obsessed with Voldemort as Delphini is would read up on Harry as well. Sure, she does fall for Harry’s disguise at first, but given how easily she’s able to hold her own against Harry even though she’s much younger, maybe her studies have paid off.
She’s A Parselmouth
In the Wizarding World, proficiency in Parseltongue, the language of serpents, is viewed as an omen due to its association with Salazar Slytherin. It’s largely an inherited skillset, so it’s no surprise that Delphini is also a Parselmouth, having gained the ability through her father, Voldemort. Much like how the Chamber of Secrets can only be opened by speaking a password in Parseltongue, Delphini conceals her room by using a code in the serpentine language, further ensuring the security of her secrets.
We don’t know how fluent Dephini is, but since she’s able to actively harness Parseltongue to hide her room, it’s safe to assume she’s really good at it.
She Can Fly Unsupported
One central magical law is that wizards can only fly with help from enchanted objects or by turning into animals capable of flight. However, much to the surprise of the Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort is able to fly unsupported during the Battle of the Seven Potters. Snape is later shown to possess the same skill, presumably taught to him by the Dark Lord.
This is yet another testament to Delphini’s immense skill as a witch.
Neither Voldemort nor Snape is around to teach her the secret to unsupported flight, so how does she learn in the first place? To top it all off, she doesn’t have any formal schooling!
Harry Thinks She’s “The Ultimate Horcrux”
A Horcrux is such a taboo object that even Magick Moste Evile, an in-universe Dark Arts reference book, refuses to reveal any details. It’s an object containing a piece of a Dark wizard or witch’s soul in order to gain immortality. The most famous user of Horcrux’s is probably Voldemort, who made seven Horcruxes out of both inanimate objects and living beings– an unprecedented feat.
It’s telling then that Harry, who once carried a piece of Voldemort’s soul, calls Delphini “The Ultimate Horcrux.” While she isn’t a Horcrux in the literal sense of the term, her existence allows Voldemort’s legacy to continue even after his passing. Even though she never met her father, Delphini utilizes similar ruthless tactics as Voldemort and is eager to revive him.
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