Corvus Lestrange was a French wizard and a member of the pure-blood Lestrange family. He was the son of Corvus Lestrange and Clarisse Tremblay. He died as an infant when the ship carrying him and his half-sister, Leta, to America sank in the Atlantic Ocean. Leta swapped Corvus with another child because she said she didn't want to hear him cry anymore.[1]
Biography
Before his birth Corvus' father had made an enemy out of Yusuf Kama, the son of Lestrange's first wife Laurena and older half-brother of Leta. Yusuf had taken a vow to kill the person Lestrange loved most as revenge for Laurena's death, which was Corvus. Corvus' father entrusted him and Leta to Irma Dugard, a half elf servant, to take them to America. Irma's weak magic would make them untraceable, but during the trip over the sea, the ship sank. Leta had, unaware of the commotion before it was too late, switched her half-brother with another baby who was travelling with his aunt. The aunt picked up Corvus from her cabin, not noticing the switch, and ended up in another boat than Leta, Irma and the nephew, which got turned over by a wave during a storm causing her to lose her grip on Corvus, so he would sink into the sea and drown. Leta never told anyone of the switch resulting in that the other child was given up for adoption in Corvus's place.[1]
Postmortem
With Corvus' death Yusuf Kama's vow became void, but he was unaware of it until 1927.[1]
Leta confronting a Boggart taking on the image of Corvus drowning
As a result of Corvus' death, Leta's fear is him drowning, reflected by the form a Boggart would take when she confronted one. The guilt she felt over her role in his death would plague Leta for the rest of her life, leaving her with feelings of intense self-loathing that left her childhood an isolated and unhappy one, the one exception to that being her friendship with Newt Scamander.[1]
Etymology
"Corvus" is Latin for "raven", probably from the Greek κόραξ (korax, "raven"). Corvus is the family name of medium to large black birds including crows, ravens, jackdaws and the like. This is thus an allusion to the Dark nature of the Lestrange family, as such birds (particularly ravens) have often been harbingers of doom in folklore.[3]
Behind the scenes
- Since Credence was switched with Corvus, the birthday on Credence's adoption certificate November 9th 1904 (if it is a legit information) would be Corvus' birthday. However it questionable, since the ship sank in 1901, meaning that the boys should have been born in that year instead. But there is a possibility that Irma Dugard falsified the birthday as an attempt to further conceal the child from Yusuf Kama.
- In 1901, no ocean liner was reported to have sunk[citation needed] with the exception of the SS City of Rio de Janeiro, which sank on 22 February 1901. This happened while making the passage from Hong Kong to San Francisco, sinking in San Francisco Bay after hitting a submerged reef upon entering the bay. Since the fate of SS City of Rio de Janero does not fit the details given in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald of a ship making the passage from Europe to America and sinking in the Atlantic rather than the Pacific, the death of Corvus Lestrange does not appear based on an actual historical incident.
Appearances
- Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay (First appearance) (Appears in flashback(s))
- Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Appears in flashback(s))
- The Archive of Magic: The Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald