Warning! Spoilers ahead for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Fantastic Beasts 3 is definitely affected by Leta Lestrange's death, here's the Lestrange family tree explained with references to Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The second Fantastic Beasts movie spent a lot of time exploring the branches and flowers of the Lestrange family tree - but its twists and turns can be confusing. In the movie, the orphaned Obscurial Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) suspects that his true identity is Corvus Lestrange, and he goes to Paris in search of his mother. Meanwhile, Leta Lestrange (Zoë Kravitz) is hiding a dark secret about what actually happened to her baby brother, Corvus.
J.K. Rowling is known for creating vast lineages for the pureblooded families in both Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts. The role that the Lestrange family plays in the Fantastic Beasts franchise is an unexpected one, considering Bellatrix was the only Lestrange featured in the HP movies. Leta's unfortunate death will have major after-effects as the prequels move forward into The Secrets of Dumbledore, and the movies feature more Lestranges than ever before in the form of Yusuf Kama, Leta Lestrange, and even baby Corvus.
Since Theseus Scamander is a part of Dumbledore's new army in The Secrets of Dumbledore, there's no doubt that Leta Lestrange's passing will color her fiance's motives and actions. Yusuf Kama was related to Leta as well, and he too is part of Dumbledore's new team. She was also a close friend to protagonist Newt Scamander, and he was affected heavily by her death. In addition to this, Leta's relationship with Newt does cause some tension, beneath the surface, between him and Tina Goldstein. The Crimes of Grindelwald leaves a lot of unanswered questions about the Lestrange family tree, that hopefully can be answered in The Secrets of Dumbledore. Leta Lestrange's relation to Bellatrix and the role of the Lestrange family aren't really expanded upon in great detail. Here's a deeper dive into the Lestrange family tree.
Who Are The Lestranges? A Breakdown Of The Lestrange Family Tree
Two families play a key role in the revelations leading up to Fantastic Beasts 3: the Kama family and the Lestrange family. Yusuf Kama has been added to Dumbledore's team to fight Grindelwald in The Secrets of Dumbledore, and there's no doubt his origins will come into play during the third movie. The Kamas are a family of Senegalese witches and wizards, and Yusuf Kama (William Nadylam) is the man Tina meets in Paris, who tells her about the prophecies of Tycho Dodonus. Yusuf is the son of Mustafa Kama and Laurena Kama, and his mother Laurena was bewitched and stolen away by Corvus Lestrange IV in the Lestrange family tree.
The Lestrange family tree is as follows: Leta is the daughter of Corvus IV and Laurena, making The Secrets of Dumbledore fighter Yusuf her half-brother. In Fantastic Beasts 2, the baby Corvus Lestrange V, who tragically drowned at sea, is also Leta's half-brother. During a trip across the Atlantic with servant Irma Dugard (Danielle Hugues), Leta grew annoyed by her brother's constant wailing and decided to swap him with another baby on the ship, revealing the dark secret that leads to her death. That baby was actually Aurelius Dumbledore, aka Credence Barebone, who leads Grindelwald's army in The Secrets of Dumbledore. When the ship sank in a terrible storm, Corvus Lestrange V drowned, but Aurelius Dumbledore was rescued along with Irma and Leta. Aurelius - still believed to be Corvus - was sent to an orphanage, where his name was changed to Credence Barebone. Laurena died giving birth to Leta, so Corvus IV took a new wife, Eglantine, who gave birth to Corvus V, Leta's half-brother whom she inadvertently drowned and who Credence believes he is.
There's no doubt in The Secrets of Dumbledore that Yusuf Kama would take the murder of his half-sister to heart, and he could be seeking vengeance against Grindelwald for this. In conclusion, Leta and Yusuf shared the same mother, while Leta and the deceased baby Corvus shared the same father who is Corvus Lestrange IV. A visual representation of the connections can be seen above in the Lestrange family tree as seen in The Crimes of Grindelwald.
How Has The Lestrange Family Shaped The Events In Fantastic Beasts 3?
The Lestrange's labyrinthine family tree directly fuels the events of Fantastic Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Mustafa Kama (Yusuf's father) was grief-stricken and furious when Corvus Lestrange IV stole his wife, so on his deathbed, he made Yusuf swear an Unbreakable Vow to kill the person Corvus IV loved most in the world. Fortunately for Leta, Corvus IV didn't love his daughter, but he did love his son. So, Yusuf was in Paris trying to track down Credence Barebone, whom he believed is the lost baby Corvus V, so he could kill him and fulfill his Unbreakable Vow. The Crimes of Grindelwald explains that Yusuf's initial target is already dead.
Unfortunately, Leta dies in the end, and there's no doubt that the aftershocks of her demise will ring forth in The Secrets of Dumbledore. Her death affects Kama, who tried to do everything he could to avenge his family lineage. Since Leta is a part of that, he probably joined Dumbledore's team (similar to Dumbledore's army from Order of the Phoenix) for the sole reason of seeking vengeance against Grindelwald. Not only is Yusuf Kama affected by Leta Lestrange's death (and the Lestrange family tree in general) but so are Theseus and Newt. Leta's passing only fuels Theseus' need for revenge, which is probably what sparks his agreement to join Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts 3. This would explain why a Ministry official would be involved with Albus at all, as the Hogwarts Headmaster and the Ministry famously do not get along. It's yet to be seen how Newt will be affected in Fantastic Beasts 3 by the Lestrange family, but it will probably be similar to Theseus' journey.
How Is Leta Lestrange Related To Bellatrix?
Leta Lestrange is distantly related (though not by blood) to Bellatrix Lestrange, who was played by Helena Bonham-Carter in the Harry Potter movies. Bellatrix was born Bellatrix Black and was Sirius Black's cousin, but she joined the Lestrange family when she married Rodolphus Lestrange, who hails from a different branch of the family tree. So, Leta and Bellatrix's husband Rodolphus would be very distant cousins. Since Corvus IV (Leta's father) and Leta were the last members of the Lestrange line, it can be ascertained that somewhere in the Lestrange family tree, Rodolphus' parents were cousins (or something similar) to Leta's father. Rodolphus' branch on the Lestrange family tree resided in Britain, whereas Corvus IV died in Paris during the 1920s. The issue is that the Lestrange family tree presented in the Fantastic Beasts franchise only covers the Parisian members of the family, and Rodolphus' parentage hasn't been revealed by J.K. Rowling.
Why Does Leta Lestrange Die?
Leta Lestrange dies at the very end The Crimes of Grindelwald. Her death was a mixture of self-sacrifice, suicide for her shame over her secret, and Grindelwald's actions. During Grindelwald's rally at the Lestrange Mausoleum, Leta tries to distract Grindelwald to save Newt and Theseus. She uses a spell that breaks his magical skull and is eventually incinerated by his blue flames. There was a chance for Leta to get away, though minute, and her actions could be seen as a result of her shame. After all, her boggart is Corvus' drowning body, and she never admitted what she did until she absolutely had to. Obviously, this tightly held secret caused her great pain over the years, and it was doubtful she was willing to go on after telling the truth.
Her death will surely affect The Secrets of Dumbledore, as the Lestrange family tree has a lot to do with Yusuf Kama's character and his motivations. Her connection to Newt and Theseus is also personal, so they won't take Grindelwald's actions lightly going forward. The twists and turns regarding the Lestranges were haphazardly introduced during Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Hopefully, they can be better explained in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, as the pureblood family plays a big role in the franchise.