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Cygnus Black II

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Cygnus Black
Biographical information
Born

1889[1]

Died

1943[1] (age 54)

Blood status

Pure-blood[1]

Physical description
Species

Human[1]

Gender

Male[1]

Family information
Family members
Affiliation
House

possibly Slytherin

Loyalty

House of Black[1]

.

Cygnus Black (1889 - 1943) was the third son of Phineas Nigellus Black and Ursula Flint. He married Violetta Bulstrode and the couple had four children: Pollux, Cassiopeia, Marius, and Dorea Black. Marius was disowned for being a Squib. Through Pollux, Cygnus is the grandfather of Cygnus Black III and Walburga Black, making him the great-grandfather of Bellatrix Lestrange, Andromeda Tonks, Narcissa Malfoy, and Sirius and Regulus Black II. Through Dorea, Cygnus is related to the Potter family.[1]

[edit] Behind the scenes

  • Based on a statement by Horace Slughorn, Cygnus may have been a member of the Slytherin House. However, he attended Hogwarts c. 1900 - 1907, when Slughorn wasn´t Potions teacher.
  • If Cygnus' daughter Dorea is Harry Potter's grandmother, Cygnus is his paternal great-grandfather.
  • On the film version of the Black family tree, there was no picture of Cygnus, only his and his wife's names. This is corrected on the family tree visible on the DVD2 of the film version Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
  • Cygnus was possibly named after Cygnus Black I, an early member of the House of Black, who was his possible grandfather. His grandson was also named Cygnus.
  • It is worth noting that Cygnus's father, Phineas Nigellus Black, was forty-two years old when he had Cygnus. Most House of Black members have their children at considerably young ages, e.g. Pollux Black was thirteen when he had his daughter, Walburga Black. It is likely that both of these issues are mathematical errors by J.K. Rowling, for there are many errors in the family tree and Rowling has also admitted that "math is not her strong suit."

[edit] Etymology

Like many other members of the House of Black, Cygnus is named after a constellation. Cygnus is a northern constellation known as the Swan or the Northern Cross. It was named for several swans which appear in Greek mythology, including the one Zeus transformed into to seduce Leda, the form Orpheus took after his death, and a son of the god Apollo who was turned into a swan after his murder. The name is derived from the Greek κύκνος, kyknos, meaning "swan".

[edit] Notes and references