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Cygnus Black (1938-1992) was a pure-blood wizard and member of the noble Black family. He was a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Slytherin.

Biography

Bellatrix Black Family Tree 2

Cygnus' dauther Bellatrix Lestrange on the family tree

Cygnus was born in 1938, the youngest son of Pollux Black and Irma Crabbe and brother of Walburga and Alphard, who was later blasted off the family tapestry.

He married Druella Rosier, and the couple had three daughters: Bellatrix, the eldest, in 1951, Andromeda, the middle child, in 1953, and Narcissa Black, the youngest child, in 1955.[3] Andromeda was disowned for marrying a Muggle-born wizard, Ted Tonks. All the family but Sirius subsequently shunned her.[4] Through his disowned daughter and his youngest daughter, Cygnus is the grandfather of Nymphadora Tonks and Draco Malfoy, respectively, and is also the great-grandfather of Teddy Lupin and Scorpius Malfoy, respectively.

He died in 1992.

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".

Behind the scenes

  • Cygnus and his wife were likely in Slytherin house like the rest of the family.
  • Cygnus was named after his paternal grandfather. There was also Cygnus I, an early member of the House of Black.
  • If James Potter was the son of Dorea and Charlus Potter, Cygnus would be the first cousin of James.
  • If Cygnus was truly born in 1938, than he would've been considerably young when his eldest daughter Bellatrix was born in 1951; this means that, like his father, Cygnus had a child at 13. It's possible that both are errors, as J. K. Rowling stated that math isn't her strong suit, and the Black Family Tapestry has other similar errors.

Appearances

Notes and references

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 Black family tree
  2. In Chapter 4 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Horace Slughorn states: "The whole Black family had been in my house, but Sirius ended up in Gryffindor!" This implies that all Blacks except Sirius were Sorted into Slytherin while Slughorn was Head of House. Cygnus, born in 1938, presumably attended Hogwarts c. 1950 to 1957, and thus would have been a student of Slughorn, who was stated to have begun teaching at Hogwarts around the same time as Albus Dumbledore in Chapter 5 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, in 1938 or earlier. Sirius Black also states "My whole family have been in Slytherin" and in Chapter 23 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, confirming that at least those Blacks closely related to Sirius were in Slytherin.
  3. Black Family tree
  4. Bellatrix says in Deathly Hallows: "We – Narcissa and I – have never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood." This suggests that the family as a whole refused to see Andromeda after her marriage and disownment.
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