The Lestrange family was one of the oldest pure-blood families in Britain. Harry knew that much.
What Harry and the others did not know was that they also had a branch in France.
Of course, Harry and the others had actually misunderstood things a little. They had it backward: the British Lestrange family was a branch of the French family. After all, although Britain was now one of the countries with the most flourishing wizarding cultures, when it came to national history, the present British aristocracy did not really have much standing.
Still, in a sense, Harry and the others' understanding could not exactly be called wrong.
Although the French Lestrange family was the clan's true main line, its members had all died. The family's most direct bloodline was now in Britain instead.
Namely, the brothers Rodolphus and Rabastan mentioned earlier.
There were still people with the surname Lestrange in other European countries, including France, but none of them were pure-blood anymore. Yes, the French Lestrange family, like its British counterpart, had held pure blood in extremely high regard.
Children who were not pure-blood were not recognized as members of the family.
The British Lestrange family's manor had been sealed by the Ministry of Magic long ago, after Voldemort's downfall, when the Lestranges were arrested for continuing to brutally torture the Longbottoms.
Although Rodolphus and the others had escaped from Azkaban, they had never managed to get the Ministry of Magic to unseal the manor.
Of course, breaking the seal by force was possible. Even if Rodolphus and the others could not do it, Voldemort certainly could. But doing so would have been pointless.
The Death Eaters needed somewhere to hide, not a hideout where their presence would be detected the moment they entered.
In France, meanwhile, Lestrange Manor had