12 Grimmauld Place
The House of Black which was one of the most prestigious family in the British wizarding world held residence at 12 Grimmauld Place for centuries.
Extensive security measures and protective magic was casted on 12 Grimmauld Place so it was the perfect location for the Order of the Pheonix headquarters. Sirius Black was the last remaining heir for the House of Black and he kindly offered it to Dumbledore to use it as headquarters for the Order of the Pheonix.
Kreacher who was the house-elf that long served the House of Black despite his hates against his master Sirius Black served him as Sirius Black was still his master. Kreacher was very loyal to the House of Black so Kreacher didn’t like Sirius Black who was originally denounced from his family.
12 Grimmauld Place was casted with a fidelius charm with Albus Dumbledore as the Secret Keeper for additional security measures. Despite the reputation of the House of Black, 12 Grimmauld Place was somehow very dirty and not cleaned with a miserable atmosphere.
Characteristics of the House of Black
The House of Black was one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight and it was one of the most prestigious pure-blood wizarding families in Great Britain. Wealth, power, history were all keywords for the House of Black.
Also all members of the House of Black were famous for their great looks within the House of Black. Members of the House of Black were all described as handsome or gorgeous.
The iconic dark hair and dark eyes of the House of Black attracted many others. Arthur Weasley’s mother(Ron Weasley’s grandmother) was Cedrella Black and the looks of Cedrella Black were inherited to the Weasley family giving them the good looks.
The House of Black traditionally strongly claimed pure-blood wizard superiority and proscribed muggles and squibs. Almost all members of the House of Black were sorted to Slytherin House but Sirius Black was an outlaw of the House of Black and became a Gryffindor House which his family thought was a disgrace.
The House of Black’s motto was ‘Toujours Pur’ which was in French that mean ‘Always Pure’. Many House of Black members were great supporters for Lord Voldemort as they believed Lord Voldemort would claim pure-blood superiority although there were aspects of Lord Voldemort that even House of Black members who joined as Death Eaters totally disagreed.
Outcasts of the House of Black
Andromeda Black was sister of Bellatrix Black and Narcissa Black but Andromeda Black fell in love with a muggle born wizard Ted Tonks. Ted Tonks and Andromeda Black’s daughter is Nymphadora Tonks.
The House of Black erased Andromeda Black from the House of Black tree for this marriage. Bellatrix Black would later marry Rodolphus Lestrange and became most known as Bellatrix Lestrange, the loyal lieutenant of Voldemort. Narcissa Black would marry Lucius Malfoy and became known as Narcissa Malfoy who was Draco Malfoy’s mother.
So, Draco Malfoy had the blood of the House of Black as well. Sirius Black would support muggles and muggle-born wizards and witches. Sirius Black denied pure blood wizard superiority and even was sorted to Gryffindor House which was against the usual tradition of the House of Black being sorted to Slytherin House.
Sirius Black was banished from his family later on and his name was erased from the House of Black tree as well. However, he became the heir of the House of Black because all of the other male House of Black members including Sirus Black’s brother Regulus Arcturus Black has died.
House of Black Family Tree
The House of Black named themselves over the stars. Along with their power, wealth, reputation, good looks and all kinds of qualities, the House of Black considered themselves royal or noble and honored themselves by naming them over the constellation.
For example, Arcturus Black III was named after the Arcturus start which is the fourth brightest star to earth., Phineas Nigellus Black was the former headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He remains in the trunk of the House of Black Tree.
Sirius Black’s father was Orion Black who married Walburga Black (Sirius Black’s mother) Both gave birth to Sirius Black and Regulus Black.
Sirius Black’s uncle Cygnus Black III married Irma Black and gave birth to Narcissa Black, Bellatrix Black and Andromeda Black. Narcissa Black would give birth to Draco Malfoy and named him after the Draco constellation following her family tradition.
Sirius Black was named after the Canis Major also known as the Dog constellation which hints the Sirius Black’s animagus form as the dog. Sirius Black’s uncle Alphard Black helped Sirius Black when he was denounced by the Black family and branded a bloodtraitor. As a result, Sirius Black’s mother Walburga Black removed Alphard Black from the family tree.
Bellatrix Lestrange
Bellatrix Lestrange or Bella Lestrange was the eldest of Andromeda Black(Tonks) and Narcissa Black(Malfoy) and was the cousin of Sirius Black and Regulus Black. Bellatrix Lestrange was a Slytherin House student during her school years and she became one of the most fanatic lieutenants of Lord Voldemort.
Bellatrix Lestrange was eager to kill her sister Andromeda Tonks and Nymphadora Tonks as she considered them as the disgrace of the House of Black and filthy blood.
Bella Lestrange was also eager to kill Sirius Black for the same reason. Bellatrix Lestrange married Rodolphus Lestrange who was another loyal death eater.
Along with Rabastan Lestrange, Rodolphus’s brother and Bartemius Crouch Junior, Bellatrix Lestrange tortured Neville Longbottom’s parents Frank Longbottom and Alice Longbottom who were members of the Order of the Pheonix to insanity.
All four were sentenced to Azkaban for using the Cruciatus Curse on Neville’s parents to torture them until insanity. Bellatrix Lestrange was one of the witches that escaped Azkaban by Lord Voldemort’s mass breakout.
This news awakened the talent within Neville Longbottom. Eventually, Bellatrix Lestrange murders Sirius Black by pushing him over the veil in the Death Chamber of the Ministry of Magic’.
Only Bellatrix Lestrange successfully escaped the Ministry of Magic with Lord Voldemort after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries while the other death eaters were sentenced to Azkaban.
Kreacher – House elf of the House of Black
Kreacher was the house elf for the Black Family. He was especially loyal to Sirius Black’s brother Regulus Black and Sirius Black’s mother Walburga Black.
After their death, Kreacher was forced to serve Sirius Black which Kreacher hated. Kreacher was loyal to pure-blood wizards by the influence of Walburga and Regulus.
Even though the House of Black were radical pure-blood wizard supremist, they did care and love Kreacher as well. Sirius Black and Kreacher mutually hated each other.
After Sirius Black became the only Black Family male left, Kreacher was forced to serve him but Kreacher cunningly followed Sirius Black’s order but took them literally and cleverly disobeyed Sirius Black.
Sirius Black treated Kreacher with cruelty and by this point, the other wizards and witches were also uncomfortable and kept distance from him.
Albus Dumbledore would warn Sirius Black that Kreacher is also as sensitive as humans and he also deserves respect but Sirius Black never took Dumbledore’s advice seriously.
Kreacher secretly informs Bellatrix Lestrange that Sirius Black was Harry Potter’s god father which caused the tragic death of Sirius Black. However, Kreacher plays a pivotal role later on and is one of the characters that portray the main theme of Harry Potter though.
Two-way Mirror
The Two-way mirror was a pair of mirrors that were connected and allowed those who possess each of the Two-way mirror to communicate.
James Potter and Sirius Black used the two-way mirrors whenever they were separated by detention and during the vacations.
Sirius Black gave James Potter’s two-way mirror to Harry Potter as a gift when he started to get lessons in Occlumency from Snape. Sirius Black informed Harry Potter to open it if Snape is up to something but Harry didn’t open the two-way mirror until Sirius Black’s death.
Thus, if Harry Potter opened Sirius Black’s death, he would have been able to detect Voldemort’s trap by using Harry’s dream against him as Voldemort showed visions of Sirius Black tortured to Harry Potter which was a decoy.
