Orion Black
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| Orion Black | |
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Human[1] |
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Male[1] |
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- Harry: "Were — were your parents Death Eaters as well?"
- Sirius: "No, no, but believe me, they thought Voldemort had the right idea, they were all for the purification of the wizarding race, getting rid of Muggle-borns and having pure-bloods in charge… I bet my parents thought Regulus was a right little hero for joining up at first."
- — Sirius Black to Harry Potter on his family’s views[src]
Orion Black (1929 - 1979) was a pure-blood wizard and the eldest son of Arcturus Black III and Melania Macmillan. He married his second cousin, Walburga Black, and the couple had two sons: Sirius and Regulus Black.[1]
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[edit] Biography
Orion attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the 1940s and was sorted into Slytherin house[2], like most members of the House of Black. At some point, he married his second cousin Walburga Black, and the two lived at the traditional family home of 12 Grimmauld Place in London, England. Orion was responsible for protecting the house with as much magical defences as he could.
Orion and his wife, like many members of the Black family, believed strongly in blood purity. To this end, they disowned their older son Sirius when he expressed different views, leading to Sirius moving in with the Potter family and Walburga burning his name off the family tapestry when he was sixteen years old.
Orion and Walburga favoured their younger son, Regulus, and approved when he joined the Death Eaters. Though they were not members of the organisation themselves, they agreed with Lord Voldemort's values and goals. However, according to Sirius, they became dismayed when they realised how far Voldemort was willing to go to achieve his aims; this may have been the reason behind Orion strengthening his home's magical defences during the height of the First Wizarding War.[3]
Both Orion and his son Regulus died in 1979[1].
[edit] Etymology
Orion, like many members of the House of Black, is named for a constellation. Orion is a very prominent constellation, known as the Hunter. Contemporary astronomical imagery has Orion next to the "river" Eridanus and two hunting dogs, one of which contains the star Sirius, the name of Orion Black's older son. In Greek mythology, Orion was a giant huntsman who angered the gods, and was subsequently killed by the great scorpion after which the constellation Scorpius is named.
[edit] Behind the scenes
- Orion and Walburga's disillusionment with the Death Eater organisation, Regulus' defection from the group, Orion's strengthening of his house's defences, and his and his son's death all coincide.
[edit] Notes and references
- ↑ 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 1.24 1.25 Black family tree
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 In Chapter 4 of 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. Orion, born in 1929, presumably attended Hogwarts c. 1940 to 1947, 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 Half-Blood Prince, in 1938 or earlier. Sirius Black also states "My whole family have been in Slytherin" and in Chapter 23 of Deathly Hallows, confirming that at least those Blacks closely related to Sirius were in Slytherin.
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
