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Let's Make This Straight: Could Molly Weasley Actually Defeat Bellatrix in a Fair Duel?

Let's Make This Straight: Could Molly Weasley Actually Defeat Bellatrix in a Fair Duel?
Image credit: Legion-Media

Finding plot holes and plot armor moments and wildly arguing about them is somewhat of a sport among Harry Potter fans.

It has to do since there's no access to quidditch, but deep inside we all know we would've preferred playing tag with bludgers to online debates about the Time Turner paradox by a large margin.

But let's get back to the point.

One of the more popular topics for discussion is the good old "who would win in a fight." Most of these debates are hypothetical, but one does stand out since it actually happened in Harry Potter: the duel of Molly Weasley and Bellatrix Lestrange.

Many fans (especially those leaning to the Dark side) have been calling the outcome of the duel nonsense: how could a simple housewife defeat the most notorious dark witch with a double-digit body count?

Today, we'll tell you exactly how. Let's begin.

She was a talented witch

People assume Molly was a simple housewife because that's the life she chose, but consider this: she was both a member of the Slug Club at Hogwarts, though neither rich nor famous, and a core member of the Order of Phoenix right after school.

She was from a powerful family

The Dark Lord and his fans, both real and fictional, largely assume that bloodline has a lot to do with one's magical abilities.

Even if it was true, Molly was born a Prewett, a daughter of a powerful pureblood family known for being mighty wizards.

She was a dangerous duelist

As her duel with Bellatrix begins, Molly declines help from others twice and sets the dueling pace so fast even Bellatrix has to adapt to keep up with it, and she fights to kill.

Considering her Order experience during the First Wizarding War, this makes a lot of sense.

She used the right moment

During the duel, Bellatrix made the same mistake her cousin Sirius had made two years prior: for a split second, she decided to clown about.

And just like Bellatrix used that moment to finish Sirius, Molly used it to put an end to Bellatrix, showing that, apart from everything else, she was quick and sharp enough to use an opportunity when she saw it.

She was motivated

This is the point that some people see as the only explanation, though it's just a small fraction of it.

But still, knowing Molly, it's hard to believe that she wasn't double-motivated to kill Bellatrix after seeing her try to hurt her only daughter. This must've fired her up, and, paired with Molly's outstanding magical skills, this was Bellatrix's doom.