Changes: House of Black

Revision as of 05:08, 17 July 2008

BlackTapestryHarrySirius — Sirius Black in front of the Black family tapestry with Harry Potter.

"Any time the family produced someone halfway decent they were disowned."

— Sirius Black on his family^[src]

The House of Black is one of the largest and oldest pure-blood wizarding families in Britain. Many wizarding families in Britain are distantly related to the House of Black. The Black Family Tree is displayed in the drawing room of the family home at 12 Grimmauld Place on an intricate tapestry. It starts in the Middle Ages and shows the dominant line of the family up to the present day.

By the late twentieth century, the House of Black became extinct in the male line with the deaths of Sirius and Regulus Black, neither of whom had children. The female line is still extant through the Malfoy family and Teddy Lupin, though the latter descends from a Black who was disowned.

History

Siriusveil — Sirius Black being pushed to his death by a curse of his cousin's.

The Black family traces its origin back to the Middle Ages. They claim to have entirely magical ancestry, but as Sirius Black informed his godson Harry Potter, no truly pure-blood family existed by the twentieth centuries. The pure-blood families like the Blacks simply removed Muggles and Squibs from their family trees. The family places a great importance on blood purity, considering themselves akin to royalty in the wizarding world and disdaining Muggles and Muggle-borns. The family motto, which can be found on the family crest, is Toujours Pur, which means "Always Pure" in French.

Because of their views, a large number of the Black family members practice the Dark Arts and supported Lord Voldemort during the First and Second Wizarding Wars. A few Blacks became Death Eaters, while many others never took the Dark Mark but believed in the "purification" of the wizarding world nevertheless. A few members of the family, however, disagreed with the traditional views of their family; Sirius Black, for example, joined the Order of the Phoenix, as did Nymphadora Tonks, a distaff member of the Black family. Both were murdered by their cousin Bellatrix in battle. With Sirius's death, the male line of the Black family ended.

Family Tree

Legend: Names in grey were removed from the tree by Walburga Black. The published tree does not contain descendants of side branches of the family. See also:

Another Version of Black Family Tree, which shows the Blacks are additionally related to the families Longbottom, Weasley, Flint, Rosier, Macmillan, Yaxley, Prewett, Crabbe, and Crouch.
HP Lexicon Tree.

"Blasted Off"

File:Siriusburn.jpg

Sirius' burn mark on the Black family tree.

The original tree described from Grimmauld Place was subject to some magical interference. According to Sirius Black, his mother Walburga blasted names of "blood traitors" off the tapestry without hesitation. The Black family motto of 'Toujours Pur' (forever pure) was followed assiduously by family members; any who disagreed with the notion of blood purity or married Muggles or people of different blood statuses were disowned and blasted off the family tree, as were any Squibs. Thus, family members that remain on the tapestry can be assumed to have married fellow pure-bloods. Some even married their own cousins; Walburga and Orion Black, for instance, were second cousins. Generations of this practice resulted in inbreeding, which in turn has caused problems such as low fertility and mental instability.

Etymology

Most Black family members are named after stars or constellations. For example, the star Sirius is in the constellation Canis Major (the dog). What's more, Sirius Black, an Animagus, could morph at will into a black dog named Padfoot. Another example is Bellatrix, the third brightest star in the constellation Orion, which is also the name of Sirius's father and Bellatrix's uncle. Cygnus and Andromeda are also constellations, and Regulus and Arcturus are stars as well.

Behind the scenes

A hand drawn copy of the most recent section of the tree was donated to a charity auction for Book Aid by J. K. Rowling, in February 2006. The drawing was purchased on behalf of Daniel Radcliffe for £30,000.
Another version of the tree appeared in the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film).

@@ Line 77: / Line 77: @@
 *[[Ted Tonks]] - husband of [[Andromeda Black]]
 *[[Lucius Malfoy]] - husband of [[Narcissa Black]]
+===Distant Relatives===
+*[[James Potter I]] - son of [[Dorea Black]]
 *[[Lily Evans]] - wife of [[James Potter I]]
+*[[Harry Potter]] - son of [[James Potter I]]
+*[[Arthur Weasley]] - son of [[Cedrella Black]]
+*[[Molly Prewett|Molly Weasley]] - wife of [[Arthur Weasley]]
+*[[Gideon Prewett]] - brother of [[Molly Prewett|Molly Weasley]]
+*[[Fabian Prewett]] - brother of [[Molly Prewett|Molly Weasley]]
+*[[Bill Weasley]] - son of [[Arthur Weasley]]
+*[[Charlie Weasley]] - son of [[Arthur Weasley]]
+*[[Percy Weasley]] - son of [[Arthur Weasley]]
+*[[Fred Weasley]] - son of [[Arthur Weasley]]
+*[[George Weasley]] - son of [[Arthur Weasley]]
+*[[Angelina Johnson]] - wife of [[George Weasley]]
+*[[Fred Weasley II]] - son of [[George Weasley]]
+*[[Roxanne Weasley]] - daughter of [[George Weasley]]
+*[[Ron Weasley]] - son of [[Arthur Weasley]]
+*[[Hermione Granger]] - wife of [[Ron Weasley]]
+*[[Hugo Weasley]] - son of [[Ron Weasley]]
+*[[Rose Weasley]] - daughter of [[Ron Weasley]]
+*[[Ginny Weasley]] - daughter of [[Arthur Weasley]] and wife of [[Harry Potter]]
+*[[James Sirius Potter|James Potter II]] - son of [[Harry Potter]]
+*[[Albus Severus Potter]] - son of [[Hary Potter]]
+*[[Lily Luna Potter]] - daughter of [[Harry Potter]]
+*[[Astoria Greengrass]] - wife of [[Draco Malfoy]]
+*[[Scorpius Malfoy]] - son of [[Draco Malfoy]]
+*[[Vincent Crabbe]] - distant relative
+*[[Gregory Goyle]] - distant relative
+*[[Augusta Longbottom]] - distant relative
+*[[Alice Longbottom]] - distant relative
+*[[Frank Longbottom]] - distant relative
+*Neville Longbottom]] - distant relative
+*[[Barty Crouch Sr]] - distant relative
+*[[Barty Crouch Jr.]] - distant relative
+*[[Marcus Flint]] - distant relative
+*[[Marvolo Gaunt]] - distant relative
+*[[Morfin Gaunt]] - distant relative
+*[[Merope Gaunt]] - distant relative
+*[[Daphne Greengrass]] - distnat relative
+*[[Victor Krum]] - distant relative
+*[[Ernie MacMillan]] - distant relative
+*[[Theodore Nott]] - distant relative
+*[[Eileen Prince]] - distant relative
+*[[Evan Rosier]] - distant relative
+*[[Salazar Slytherin]] - distant ancestor
 Thus, the Blacks are related to the [[Flint family|Flint]], [[Gamp family|Gamp]], [[Bulstrode family|Bulstrode]], [[Burke family|Burke]], [[Yaxley family|Yaxley]], [[Macmillan family|Macmillan]], [[Crabbe family|Crabbe]], [[Potter]], [[Longbottom]], [[Weasley]], [[Crouch family|Crouch]], [[Prewett family|Prewett]], [[Rosier family|Rosier]], [[Lestrange family|Lestange]], and [[Malfoy]] families.