Sirius Black
Sirius Black | |
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Harry Potter character | |
First appearance | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999) |
Last appearance | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007) |
Created by | J. K. Rowling |
Portrayed by |
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Voiced by |
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In-universe information | |
Full name | Sirius Black III |
Alias | Padfoot |
Affiliation | Order of the Phoenix |
Family |
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Relatives |
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Nationality | British |
Gryffindor | |
Born | 3 November 1959 |
Died | 18 June 1996 |
Sirius Black is a fictional character in
Character background
Sirius Black is the last heir of the House of Black, a once notable Pure-blood Wizarding family. His parents, Orion and Walburga Black, were both Blacks by birth and second cousins. Sirius had a younger brother, Regulus Arcturus Black, and three older cousins: Bellatrix Lestrange, Andromeda Tonks (his favourite cousin and mother of Nymphadora Tonks), and Narcissa Malfoy (mother of Draco Malfoy). In line with the Black family tradition of naming children after stars and constellations, Sirius was named after the Dog Star. Sirius's early life proved unhappy; he had come to hate most of his relatives, in particular his mother. He rejected his family's pure-blood elitism and reverence for the Dark Arts. At Hogwarts, rather than be sorted into Slytherin like the rest of his family, Sirius was placed in Gryffindor.
In contrast to his home life, Sirius greatly enjoyed life at Hogwarts, where he was inseparable from his best friend,
Sirius left home at the age of sixteen and took refuge with James and his parents. His outraged mother burned his name off the family tree. Sirius' Uncle Alphard left him a large inheritance, causing Sirius' mother to also remove Alphard's name. He was left financially independent by his uncle's generous bequest. After leaving school, Sirius fought against
When the Potters became aware that Harry was Voldemort's specific target,
After giving his motorbike to
Appearances
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Twelve years into his sentence, Sirius sees a picture of the
Towards the end of the novel, Harry, Ron, and Hermione confront Sirius and Harry nearly kills him; however, Lupin's timely intervention stops Harry. Lupin, who has learned that Sirius is innocent, is reunited in friendship with him. Pettigrew is unmasked, and, most importantly, Harry stops Sirius and Lupin from murdering Pettigrew, arguing that his father would not want his friends to commit murder. Harry begins to view Sirius as a surrogate father, although events swiftly turn against him again – Pettigrew escapes, and Sirius is captured by the dementors at Hogwarts and sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss, a fate worse than death. Harry and Hermione help him escape with
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Sirius flees Europe – to somewhere tropical, Harry believes – beyond the
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Sirius takes refuge in his ancient family home at
Sirius acts as a father figure to Harry throughout the book. Fun-loving, bold, and reckless, he encourages Harry to oppose Umbridge and her reforms and strongly approves of Harry starting the secret defensive tutorial group for students,
With his growing power, Voldemort implants a false vision into Harry's mind that Sirius is captive and under torture at the
The Order battles the Death Eaters in the "Death Chamber". During a frenzied duel with Bellatrix, Sirius taunts her for failing to harm him. Bellatrix strikes Sirius with a curse, sending him backwards into the veil and to his death. Overcome with grief and rage, Harry tries – and fails – to get revenge on Bellatrix, only to be interrupted by Voldemort's arrival. After a short duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore, Voldemort flees, but not before being seen by the
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
As stated by J. K. Rowling during the BBC Paxman interview, 2003, Sirius is "definitely dead."
Sirius makes his final appearance in
Rowling revealed a family tree in the J. K. Rowling Documentary on ITV concerning all of the grandchildren of the
Harry Potter prequel
Sirius and James are the protagonists of an 800-word story set three years before Harry's birth.[5] The two friends are riding Sirius's motorbike and are chased by two Muggle policemen for breaking the speed limit. The policemen attempt to arrest them when three Death Eaters on broomsticks fly down towards them. Sirius and James use the police car as a barrier and the Death Eaters crash into it. In the end, they escape from the policemen flying on the motorbike.
Portrayals within films
Though Sirius appears several times during Goblet of Fire, the character appears very briefly in the
Just as in the book, Sirius returns via the Resurrection Stone in The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 alongside James, Lily and Remus right before Harry enters the Forbidden Forest to face Voldemort. The character is referenced for the final time in the last scene, where it is revealed that Harry and Ginny's first born son was named after both James and Sirius.[10]
Attributes
Outward appearance
Sirius is described as a tall man with long, black hair and grey eyes.[11] Several times during the series, Sirius is stated to be very good-looking[12][13] and "carelessly handsome"[14] prior to his imprisonment; Harry also noted that as a teenager, Sirius always had a slightly spoiled, haughty look on his face. His long years in Azkaban made his face gaunt, and lack of grooming resulted in long, dirty hair and yellow teeth. Harry's first impression of Sirius is of a corpse.[15]
Personality
As a student at Hogwarts, Sirius was well-known for being a troublemaker, and once mentioned to Harry that he, James, Lupin, and Pettigrew "were all idiots."[16] He once stated that he had never been appointed a prefect as he always spent too much time in detention with James.[17] Sirius is protective of Harry, but also encourages him to take unwise risks and sometimes - inappropriately - acts with him as he used to with James.[18] On this, the author commented that "what Harry craves is a father."[19] Rowling has stated that though she likes Sirius, "I do not think he is wholly wonderful."[20] According to her, despite being brave and loyal, Sirius is also reckless, embittered, and "slightly unbalanced by his long stay in Azkaban."[20] When asked if Harry has a godmother, Rowling replied that "Sirius was always too busy being a big rebel to get married."[21]
Unlike his parents and brother, Sirius detested the Dark Arts and did not believe in the so-called purity of blood. Rowling has said that Sirius has also proven to "be very good at spouting bits of excellent personal philosophy, but he does not always live up to them." This primarily has to do with his treatment of Kreacher the house-elf; because Kreacher was a reminder to Sirius of the home he had always hated (and also due to Kreacher's parading of the attitudes and views of Sirius's parents), Sirius is hateful to Kreacher and consistently mistreats him. This in turn comes back to haunt him, as Kreacher eventually betrays Sirius to Voldemort, leading to Sirius's death. Rowling has also stated that unlike Lupin, who is the same age as Sirius and appears more mature in nature, Sirius never really grew up, as he was placed in Azkaban during his early twenties and therefore had not had a very normal adult life. Despite all of this, Rowling states that Sirius's "redeeming quality is the affection that he is capable of feeling. He loved James like a brother and went on to transfer this attachment to Harry."[20][22]
Magical ability
Sirius was described as a powerful wizard by Minerva McGonagall, his former teacher.
Sirius became an
Family
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Notes:
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Most of the members of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black were advocates of blood purity, and many were involved with the
The Blacks intermarried with several other pure-blood families, including the families of known Dark (or at least, malicious) wizards such as Bulstrode, Crabbe, Flint, Lestrange, Malfoy, Rosier, and Yaxley, but also non-Dark families such as Crouch, Longbottom, Macmillan, Potter, Prewett, and Weasley. This was done to ensure that pure-bloods would last in the years to come. That is why most of the pure-blood families are interrelated; because their ancestors married other pure-bloods. The last several generations of Blacks all trace their ancestry back to
The family tree is described in the fifth book, but it came more directly to public attention in January 2006 when the author donated a version she had hand-drawn to a Book Aid International charity auction. The tree shows the members of one of the oldest
The following names are members of the family who have been stricken from the family tree tapestry chronicling their common blood for various reasons:
- Isla Black of the first generation shown was disowned for marrying Bob Hitchens, a Muggle.
- Phineas Black of the second generation shown was disowned for supporting Muggle rights.
- Marius Black, third generation son of Cygnus and Violetta Black (née Violetta Bulstrode), was disowned as he was a Squib.
- Cedrella Black, also third generation and cousin of Marius, was disowned for marrying a blood traitor, Septimus Weasley.
- Alphard Black of the fourth generation shown was posthumously disowned for leaving gold in his will to his "runaway nephew", Sirius Black.
- Sirius Black of the fifth generation shown, ran away from home and was subsequently removed.
- Andromeda Black, cousin of Sirius, was disowned for marrying Muggle-Born Ted Tonks.
Reception
Sirius is often regarded as one of the best characters in the Harry Potter lore, as well as often being recognised as Harry's most notable father-figure. IGN ranked Sirius as the 8th best character in the Harry Potter universe stating, "it's the father/son relationship that begins to develop between Sirius and Harry that endears the character to us."[24] Separately, WatchMojo.com placed Sirius as the 4th best character in the franchise, again citing his fatherly relationship with Harry as a highpoint of praise.[25] The character's untimely death in Order of the Phoenix is often regarded as one of the most emotional and heartbreaking moments of the series.[26]
References
- ^ "Things you may not have noticed about Sirius Black". Wizarding World. 2017-11-06. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ^ "FULL transcript of JK's OOTP interview". BBC News. 2003-06-19.
- ^ "J.K.Rowling Official Site". www.jkrowling.com. Archived from the original on 2006-03-16.
- ^ J.K.Rowling - A Year In The Life; James Runcie; Independent Television (ITV); 2007
- ^ "JK's story card: a prequel to Potter". Waterstone's. 12 June 2008.
- ^ Coventry Evening Telegraph. May 28, 2004.
- ^ Newsround. 2004-05-28. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
- ^ Vaughan, Johnny; Henry, Lenny (2004). Head to Shrunken Head (DVD). Warner Bros. Pictures.
- ^ Sirius in the movies, from HPL
- ^ Steele, Amanda (2020-01-10). "10 Most Heroic Things Sirius Black Did". Screenrant. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
- ^ J.K.Rowling Official Site
- ^ [HP3], chapter 11
- ^ [HP5], chapter 28
- ^ [HP7], chapter 10
- ^ [HP3], chapter 17
- ^ [HP5], chapter 29
- ^ [HP6], chapter 24
- ^ [HP5], chapter 17
- ^ "The Leaky Cauldron and MN Interview Joanne Kathleen Rowling – Part 2". The Leaky Cauldron. 28 July 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ a b c Do you like Sirius Black?
- ^ J K Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival
- ^ "The wisest things in the nicest way: Our favourite Sirius Black quotes that will echo forever". Indulge Express. 2020-03-23. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
- ^ "Potter star buys Rowling document". BBC News 24. 22 February 2006. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
- ^ "Top 25 Harry Potter Characters". IGN. 2018-11-12. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ "Top 10 Harry Potter Characters". YouTube. WatchMojo. 2014-07-05. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ Lealos, Shawn (2019-06-28). "Harry Potter: The 10 Most Heartbreaking Deaths". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
External links
- Sirius Black on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki
- Sirius Black at the Harry Potter Lexicon
- Sirius Black at Harry Potter Fan Zone
- Rowling on Sirius Black