Bellatrix's speech patterns (Was: Sirius/Tonks)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 93788

Kathy wrote:
One of the most confusing statements in Oop, for me, was when
Bellatrix says that she was busy fighting the Animagus Black. <snip>

Allie wrote: 
I took that to mean, "I was busy fighting Black, who is an
Animagus." <snip>

Kathy responded:
That is exactly what I always assumed it meant, but it still bothered
me until I looked at it in the following manner. Although I have no
proof, it still makes a little more sence to me that Bella is
referring to Black's Animagus as a form not his own. So, instead of
Bella just saying I was busy fighting Black, she was basically saying
I was fighting someone who looked like Black.(the Tonks theory grew
from there) Even if it may not have been Tonks, I still feel that it
wasn't Sirius <snip>

Carol:
Since I've already pointed out that an animagus form is by definition
an animal, not a person, and Sirius's animagus form is a black dog,
let me try another tack. Bellatrix is stating that she is fighting
"the animagus Black," not fighting someone who has taken on the
animagus Black's form. So I think that Allie's reading, "I was
fighting Black, who is an animagus," is correct. But let's explore a
little further to figure out why she expressed the idea as she did,
instead of saying what we might expect under the circumstances, "I was
 fighting my cousin Sirius," or "I was fighting Sirius Black" if she
doesn't want to acknowledge the relationship.

I think what we should look at here is speech patterns. Bellatrix has
several different ways of speaking: Haughty formality in the Pensieve
scene, where she behaves like a wrongly imprisoned queen; baby talk to
taunt Harry; her normal speech pattern; and the speech she uses in
addressing Voldemort. 

Here are some illustrations to show what I mean.

Pattern 1, haughty formality: "The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch!
 throw us into Azkaban, we will wait! He will rise again and will come
for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone
were faithful! We alone tried to find him!" (GoF Am. ed. 595-96) Note
the cadences here and the rhetorical repetition. I can't decide
wherher it sounds more like a biblical passage or something out of
Shakespeare (without the "thees" and "thous").

Pattern 2, her normal speech: "You hear him? *You hear him?* Giving
instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting
us!" (OoP Am. ed. 782). This passage, addressed to Malfoy, is normal
(if very angry) colloquial English and sounds no different from what
any other character might say in a similar mood. Malfoy's response,
"Oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix," is the same sort of
ordinary English, only calmer. this pattern shows up again when she's
fighting Harry: " What did you come after me for, then? I thought you
were here to avenge my dear cousin!" (810).

Pattern 3, mocking baby talk: "The little baby woke up fwightened and
for what it dweamed was twoo" (OoP Am. ed. 782). No explanation
necessary; she's obviously mocking the "little baby" who dares to
confront her and her fellow Death Eaters.

Pattern 4, extremely formal, almost medieval speech patterns, used
exclusively for addressing Voldemort: "Master, I am sorry. I knew not.
 I was fighting the Animagus Black! Master, you should know--"  "But
Master, he [Dumbledore] is here--he is below--" (OoP Am. ed. 812) "I
knew not" and "the animagus Black" are not Bellatrix's normal mode of
speaking. They are reflections of her veneration for Voldemort, her
Master.

"The Animagus Black," addressed to Voldemort, is part of the servile,
antiquated speech pattern that LV, as a "lord" with medieval
tendencies, expects from his servants. (The DEs in the graveyeard
scene in GoF use a similar style. But to Harry she speaks of Sirius as
"my dear cousin"--informal, sarcastic, ordinary English.

It's clear from the "dear cousin" speech and from another remark by
Bellatrix that she knows full well who she was fighting: "Aaaaah. . .
Did you *love* him, little baby Potter?" (810) She could only be
referring to Sirius, and letting him know that she knows about their
godfather/godson relationship.

To sum up, I don't think we need to assume that Bellatrix means
anything more than the literal meaning of her stilted phrase. She
could have said, "I was fighting my cousin Sirius," but that's not the
right style for a DE addressing Voldemort, and in any case, she's
probably as ashamed of the relationship as Sirius was. And as someone
else has already pointed out, she wanted to leave Harry in no doubt
that she knew about Sirius's "big disguise," as he himself expressed
it earlier.

Carol