"The Animagus Black!"

[msbeadsley]

No: HPFGUIDX 79975

Jen Reese: << So Bellatrix was trying to offer this to Voldemort in 
lieu of the broken prophecy, hoping to stave off punishment. But, 
then it doesn't explain why she didn't just tell him Sirius was dead 
instead of that they fought. She'd want credit for that. >>

wildfire_517: << Maybe the DEs know something we don't.  Maybe she 
really thought Sirius wasn't dead.  Maybe there is a way to come back 
from the other side of the veil.  Or maybe she was babbling because 
she was shocked her master was there and she really didn't know what 
she was saying. Personally, I hope it's the first option, but I have 
a hunch it's the second one. >>

Bellatrix seemed to me like a kid trying to avoid a swat, you know, a 
kid's voice goes up in pitch and volume and intensity and he talks 
*real* fast (not to mention canting buttocks forward or twisting to 
keep the backside out of range), trying to avert or get out of range 
of the blow.  <Ouch, too evocative...>

Jen Reese: << OK, Second theory: During the three times the Potters 
defied Voldemort, Sirius assumed his animagus form to help them, and 
that's the only way Voldemort really knows him. Perhaps he doesn't 
even know his real name, so Bellatrix has to refer to him that way so 
LV will know who she's talking about. >>
 
wildfire_517: << While this one might possibly work, I would have to 
think that the information passed to LV by Wormtail would include the 
fact that certain members of the OotP were unregistered Animagi, 
including Black.  Plus, Sirius explains why he had the Potters switch 
secretkeepers by saying that he hoped LV would come after him and 
leave PP alone.  That, to me, implies that LV knew who he was, and LV 
doesn't seem like a person who would go into a potential battle 
without knowing as much as possible about his opponents, which would 
include knowing Sirius' Animagus abilities. >>

IMO, Bellatrix, ever the obedient servant, parrots back whatever 
terms her master uses, and Voldemort has referred to Sirius as "the 
Animagus Black" since Wormtail finked as secret keeper.  Voldemort 
thinks of people in terms of their strengths and weaknesses and how 
he can counteract the first and exploit the second; it makes sense 
that his name for an enemy would have a built-in reminder of any 
unusual abilities.

Sandy, aka "msbeadsley"