Whose character is immediately painted quite vividly - the worship of Voldemort, the unstable mind, the violence and sadism. And her killing Sirius and giving Harry lessons on how to use the unforgivable curses make clear that she is now undeniably Voldemort's right hand, even if he treats her like crap regardless, as he does with all his DEs.

Lucius Malfoy is probably a wiser choice for mission leader than Bellatrix, what with him not being insane, but one does get the feeling he's in over his head - this is the only time he'll see actual action as a DE, not counting his sneaky Imperius curses, and he makes a giant mess of it. Dolochov or Avery might have been better choices.

The Aurors in combat: a rather less than impressive performance, all things considered, apart from the ever-capable Kingsley Shacklebolt.