Bedilia Grimalkin

Bedilia Grimalkin
Biographical information
Blood status	Pure-blood or half-blood
Marital status	Married
Also known as	Madam Grimalkin (by Jacob's sibling)
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Hair colour	White
Eye colour	Blue
Skin colour	Light
Relationship information
Family members	Antoine Grimalkin (husband)
Romances	Antoine Grimalkin
Magical characteristics
Wand	Unknown length, wood, and core (hers) Unknown length, wood, and core (Antoine's)
Affiliation
Loyalty	Lord Voldemort Death Eaters (formerly) Grimalkin family

"For many like Bedilia Grimalkin, the wounds of the past never fully heal."

— Albus Dumbledore speaking about Bedilia

Bedilia Grimalkin was a powerful Dark witch and Death Eater who fought during the First Wizarding War alongside her husband, Antoine Grimalkin. However, she had to flee Great Britain after the Death Eaters discovered the couple weren't as fanatical about wizarding supremacy as the rest of the Death Eaters.

Biography

Bedilia lived in Godric's Hollow with her husband, Antoine. During the First Wizarding War, they announced their support of Lord Voldemort and joined the Death Eaters. At some point during the war, Antoine invented the Frequensting, a variation of the Stinging Jinx which caused everyone affected by it to be constantly afflicted with an ever more painful stinging in their mind. During the war, the couple, based in Godric's Hollow, would travel to wizarding settlements and cast the curse over all the inhabitants, rendering them almost incapable of fighting. The curse was so widespread that almost everyone who survived the war had been affected by it. Antoine taught Bedilia how to cast the curse, which required constant attention. However, Voldemort and the other Death Eaters didn't approve of the curse due to its use of the gramophone, a Muggle invention, as one of the key parts to casting it. The pair were ostracised from the Death Eaters, barely escaping with their lives. At the end of the war, Antoine was captured by the British Ministry of Magic, with the help of information given to them by Albus Dumbledore, and placed into Azkaban, while Bedilia fled the country.

Whilst in hiding, Bedilia spent years learning about her husband's curse and how to amplify its power. Finally succeeding years later, Bedilia returned to Godric's Hollow and began to cast the Frequensting again, which caused the curse to activate in those that had been cursed with it before as well as spread to new people. Jacob's sibling began to investigate, getting afflicted with the curse themselves. They eventually encountered Bedilia, who told them of her plan to attack her old enemies as well as her former Death Eater allies and invited Jacob's sibling to join them after being defeated in a duel by them. Jacob's sibling refused, and Bedilia left. Aware of who she was, the Ministry sent a squad of Hit Wizards to comb the village, but Bedilia easily defeated them. She encountered Jacob's sibling again, this time with their friend Penny Haywood by their side, however she chose not to fight them. Jacob's sibling secretly followed her to the hiding spot of Antoine's cursed gramophone, St Jerome's graveyard, but Bedilia discovered them. She gave them one last chance to surrender, but Jacob's sibling refused. At precisely that moment, Jacob's sibling was afflicted with the curse and was left vulnerable. Bedilia used this opportunity to attempt to kill Jacob's sibling, and was mid way through casting the Killing Curse when she was stopped by Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, and Minerva McGonagall. Snape took her to the Ministry, where she was imprisoned in Azkaban, and Dumbledore and Jacob's sibling broke the protective enchantments on the cursed gramophone, which allowed them to stop the curse altogether.

Magical abilities and skills

"Were it not for Dumbledore, my husband and I might have been able to take over the magical world all on our own! A weapon like the Frequensting is proof of our limitless potential!"

— Bedilia boasting to Jacob's sibling

• Dark Arts: Bedilia, like her husband, was an extremely formidable user of the Dark Arts. Although not the genius her husband was, she was able to reverse-engineer the Frequensting from what her husband had told her and his left over theories, and even managed to modify it. She was able to modify it to, as she put it, 'turn the volume up', which allowed her to target individuals afflicted with the curse and incapacitate them. Aside from this, she was also proficient in numerous basic spells like the Knockback Jinx, Blasting Curse, and the Fire-Making Spell. She was also able to cast the Killing Curse, one of the Unforgivable Curses.
• Duelling: Bedilia was a prodigious duellist. Whilst using an wand that didn't have an allegiance to her (her husband's), she was able to duel Jacob's sibling, an extremely skilled duellist, to a standstill. When using her own wand, she was able to easily defeat a squad of five Hit Wizards from the British Ministry of Magic and swiftly deal with Jacob's sibling and Penny Haywood.

Possessions

• Cursed gramophone: She owned this cursed gramophone which was the key to casting the Frequensting curse. Anyone who heard the song it played would become afflicted with the curse, and every time the song looped the curse would increase in intensity. Bedilia carried the gramophone around hidden in a pram so as to not attract attention.
• Wands: Bedilia owned both her own wand and her husband's. Although she was not the master of her husband's wand, she was skilled enough to be able to use it to duel Jacob's sibling to a standstill.

Relationships

Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters

"The Dark Lord was too ignorant to recognise my husband's potential."

— Bedilia talking about Lord Voldemort

Lord Voldemort, Bedilia's former master

Bedilia's relationship with Lord Voldemort and the other Death Eaters was a complicated one. Neither she, nor her husband, was as fanatical about wizarding supremacy as the rest of the organisation. Although she clearly saw Muggles as inferior, unlike most other Death Eaters and indeed most other wizards, she acknowledged that Muggles had created some worthwhile inventions. She claimed that her husband had managed to perfectly merge Muggle science with magic, something which she was clearly proud of but which the other Death Eaters presumably took as a sign of weakness and inferiority. Although they had been formidable members of the Death Eaters, and were two of the most feared by the wizarding population for their use of the Frequensting, their acceptance of Muggle inventions was enough to turn the Death Eaters against them. Bedilia claimed they were ostracised, then forced to flee for their lives after Voldemort discovered how their invention worked. Although still a supporter of the Death Eater ideals and continuing to perform attacks with the Frequensting even after the war ended, Bedilia eventually renounced the Death Eaters and began to target them as well as the members of the Order of the Phoenix for revenge when she returned to Great Britain.

Etymology

Bedilia is likely a variation of Bedelia, which is an Irish name connected to Brigid and means 'strength'.

Grimalkin or greymalkin is an archaic word for a cat, stemming from the words 'grey' and 'malkin'. Scottish legends talk about a fairy cat called Greymalkin, and the two words became bynames for witch in the early modern period.

Behind the scenes

• Bedilia is the first Death Eater originating in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery to be seen in person.
  • She is additionally the second person in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery to attempt to cast the Killing Curse, with the first being Patricia Rakepick

Appearances

• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (First appearance)