The final duel betweenMolly Weasley and Bellatrix Lestrangeis one of the most iconic moments in theHarry Potterseries, with the opposing witches being respectively played by Julie Walters and Helena Bonham Carter in the movie adaptations. Bellatrix is one of the biggest and most despicable villains in theHarry Potterfranchise — aterrible character who we love anyway— and her death needed to be a grand affair, with several characters who could have suitably killed her. Molly, meanwhile, acts as a comforting maternal figure throughout the saga, making this display of her ferocious side very satisfying.
The duel during thefinal part of the Battle of Hogwartswas meant to create a contrast between Molly’s protective mother’s love and Bellatrix’s violent zealotry. However,it has also prompted a fair amount of debate about what spell Molly actually uses to kill Bellatrix,when it is apparently not the straightforward killing curse ofAvada Kedavra. The problems withHarry Potter’s world-building include gaps in the magic system, withlethal spells besidesAvada Kedavranot being properly explained. However, fans have taken it upon themselves to make sense of this, with some different options as it pertains to Molly’s killing blow.
5Stunning Spell To The Heart
Molly May Have Just Used A Common Spell Very Effectively
The most popular and most likely explanation is thatMolly simply wielded the frequently-used stunning spell (incantationstupefy) and hit Bellatrix in a more deadly spotand with enough strength that it killed her. The final moments of the duel between Molly and Bellatrix read as:
“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 seemed 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.”
Striking her in this way could have potentially stopped her heart (maybe someone could have even restarted it if they understood some aspects of Muggle medicine). It is a plot point in theHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenixnovel that Professor McGonagall is hit in the chest with multiple stunning spells, and the school nurse remarks that she was lucky it didn’t kill her. Thus, stunning can be lethal in some cases.
4Dark Charm Intensified By Strong Emotions
AReddituser theorizes that Molly could have used a dark charm, one which we may have even seen before, which was made stronger by Molly’s emotions of rage and grief at that moment. This same principle could also apply to her using the stunning charm. Fred is killed in the first half of the battle, andMolly rushes into this duel, demanding that everyone else let her fight Bellatrix alone, because Bellatrix has just nearly killed Ginny.This is actually a moment of very intense emotions in many ways defined by a mother’s love, and it makes sense if that affected the magic.
3Freezing And/Or Disintegrating Charm
The Deathly Hallows Movie When With Something More Visual
The movie altered Bellatrix’s death slightly into something more visually dramatic. In the book, Molly hits her in the chest, and she simply goes down. In the movie, Molly seems to petrify Bellatrix and then blasts her into dust — which does indeed look cool.It has been determined that Molly either used the hardening spellDuroor the freezing spellInmobulusand then an unnamed disintegration spell. This makes sense for the movie; in the book, she might have used a similar spell that killed Bellatrix by freezing her (perhaps a vital organ rather than her entire body).
2Dolohov’s “Purple” Curse
Hermione Was Once Almost Killed By A Specialized Curse
Also repeatedly referenced in discussions of Molly/Bellatrix is the fact that Hermione was almost killed by Dolohov in the Department of Mysteries inOrder of the Phoenix, with a curse that has a similar effect of simply causing her to collapse and which led to a long recovery.The spell, cast by Death Eater Antonin Dolohov, is only described as being “purple,“and Hermione apparently narrowly avoids death. If Molly was familiar with this spell and cast it under slightly different circumstances, it also could have been what she used to kill Bellatrix.
1Curse That Paralyzes The Heart
There Are Many Other Curses We Don’t Know About With Different Effects
Finally,it is implied that there are many, many spells that exist in theHarry Potteruniverse which it would have been awkward to list in the text,but Molly is well-studied and has an arsenal at her disposal when she faces Bellatrix. Fans have actually proposed some fairly creative ideas when it comes to what Molly’s spell actually did. A user onQuorasays: “Perhaps there are curses that can paralyze the heart, freeze the lungs, or suck oxygen out from the victim’s bloodstream.”
Again, the curse in some way affecting Bellatrix’s heart seems most congruous with her falling to the ground, instantly dead. This scene also establishes that Molly knows her magic and can handle herself in a duel, and she knows any number of useful spells. Whether it would have been better forHarry Potterto explain this is subjective, but the scene remains famous just the same.
