Walburga Black's portrait

Portrait of Walburga Black
Biographical information
Born	1925
Died	1985 (aged 60)
Blood status	Pure-blood
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Hair colour	Grey
Family information
Family members	Pollux Black (father) † Irma Crabbe (mother) Alphard Black (brother) † Cygnus Black III (brother) † Orion Black (husband/second cousin) † Sirius Black (son/second cousin once removed) † Regulus Black (son/second cousin once removed) † Cygnus Black II (paternal grandfather) † Violetta Bulstrode (paternal grandmother) Lucretia Black (sister-in-law/second cousin) † Ignatius Prewett (brother-in-law/ second cousin-in-law) Druella Rosier (sister-in-law) Bellatrix Lestrange (niece) † Andromeda Tonks (niece) Narcissa Malfoy (niece) Cassiopeia Black (aunt) † Marius Black (uncle) Dorea Black (aunt) † Charlus Potter (uncle) † Araminta Meliflua (cousin) Melania Macmillan (mother-in-law/first cousin-in-law once removed) Arcturus Black (father-in-law/first-cousin-once-removed) Black family
Affiliation
House	Slytherin
Loyalty	Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vilness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers--"

— The portrait screaming when Nymphadora Tonks knocks over the umbrella stand with a crash

The life-sized portrait of Walburga Black is a realistic painting hanging at 12 Grimmauld Place, which, during Walburga's lifetime was her and her husband's house and the house that she presumably grew up in. Walburga was the mother of Sirius Black and Regulus Black and the matriach of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black pure-blood family.

Description

Walburga Black

'Walburga Black (1925 – 1985) was a pure-blood witch, the daughter of Pollux Black and Irma Crabbe and sister of Alphard and Cygnus. Walburga was probably raised in Grimmauld Place, since she called it the "House of my fathers". She married her second cousin Orion Black, thus her married name was the same as her maiden name, and had two children, Sirius and Regulus Black. She died in 1985.

The Portrait

"The moth-eaten velvet curtains Harry had passed earlier had flown apart, but there no was no door behind them, For a split second, Harry thought he was looking through a window, a window behind which an old woman in a black cap was screaming and screaming as though she was being tortured -- then realized it was simply a life-size portrait, but the most realistic, and the most unpleasant, he had ever seen in his life. "

— Harry's first experience with the portrait of Walburga Black

Walburga's portrait remained magically fixed to the wall in the hallway of her family home, using a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas. The picture, which was covered in moth-eaten velvet curtains when inactive, showed an insane old woman, prone to screaming insults at anyone who disturbed the portrait. If any loud noise was made in the house, such as ringing the doorbell, Walburga's portrait would scream and scream about the filthy and scum living in her sacred, pure-blood family's house.

Kreacher polishing Walburga's portrait frame.

"The old woman was drooling, her eyes were rolling, the yellowing skin of her face stretched taut as she screamed, and all along the hall behind them, the other portraits awake and began to yell too, so that Harry actually screwed up his eyes at the noise and clapped his hands over his ears. Lupin and Mrs. Weasley drated forward and tried to tug the curtains shut over the old woman, but they would not close and she screeched louder than ever, brandishing clawed hands as though trying to tear at their faces"

— Description of Walburga Black's portrait screaming

This happened several times when the Order of the Phoenix use Grimmauld Place as their headquarters after her death, and they tried unsuccessfully to remove the portrait for quite sometime. She survived the deaths of her family, but the destruction of it may account for her final madness. After their deaths, she was alone in the house except for the family house-elf, Kreacher, who seemed equally deranged due to his parroting her beliefs, until Harry Potter came to know and treat him better one year after inheriting him.

"Hello, Harry, I see you've met my mother"

— Sirius Black grimly introduces the portrait of Walburga to Harry

Beliefs

The portrait of Walburga had the exact same beliefs as the living Walburga Black. She was obsessed with blood purity, and her portrait would often scream insults at blood traitors, half-bloods, or muggle-born wizards. She had little affection for her son, Sirius Black as he was viewed as a blood traitor by the Black family but appeared to have a fairly good relationship with Sirius' younger brother, Regulus and was proud of him when he joined the Death Eaters. Although she was not a Death Eater herself, she was convinced that Voldemort was doing the right thing by trying to eliminate Muggles and bringing wizards and witches out of hiding. Walburga was kind to her house elf, Kreacher who shared her views on blood purity. Kreacher was very loyal to her.

Behind the scenes

• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Walburga's portrait was not heard screaming, but she could be heard muttering behind her curtain, and Kreacher still talked about the "scum" in 12 Grimmauld Place, such as "Mudbloods" and "Blood-traitors".
• On the tapestry from the film, Walburga and Orion are depicted together, and their heads looking in different ways, although they are in marriage. This is likely because both Walburga and Orion were born into the House of Black.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)'
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)