BORN : 27 March 1960
DIED : 31 Oktober 1981 at the age of 21 ; murdered by LORD VOLDEMORT at godric’s hallow
EYE COLOR : Hazel; wore glasses
HAIR COLOR : Black, untidy, sticks up in the back; at 15, he had a habit of deliberately messing it up even further to make it look windswept, as though he'd just gotten off his broom.
IN THE MIRROR OF ERISED : "the tall, thin, black-haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up in the back, just as Harry's did."
MANNER : bold, confident; at age 15, he was arrogant and somewhat cruel.
ANCESTRY : Both his mother and father were wizards. Either his mother or father were fairly direct descendents of Ignotus Peverell, the original owner of the Invisibility Cloak Deathly Hallow; other than that, JKR has said that James's parents are not terribly important to the story.
MOTHER : Died between 1978 and 1981. She was elderly, even by wizarding standards, and died from a wizarding illness. There is “nothing sinister” about her death .
FATHER : Died between 1978 and 1981. He was elderly, even by wizarding standards, and died from a wizarding illness. There is “nothing sinister” about his death .
WIFE : Lily (Evans) Potter; killed 31 Oct 1981 by Lord Voldemort at Godric's Hollow. Lily and James were married very quietly sometime between summer of 1978 and fall of 1979. Sirius Black was their best man.
SIBLINGS : None, though Sirius Black ran away from home and moved in with the Potters after his sixth year at Hogwarts .
CHILDHOOD : According to JKR, James was "very pampered." His elderly parents "had-him-late-in-life-so-he's-an-extra-treasure, as often happens, I think." Family circumstances: The Potters were extremely wealthy; James did not need to have a well-paying job.
WAND : Mahogany, 11 inches, pliable (excellent for transfiguration) .
Other devices: Invisibility cloak; Marauder's Map, created in last 2 years at Hogwarts .
Organizations & affiliations: Order of the Phoenix; Gryffindor Quidditch team Chaser .
CAREER : According to JKR, "James inherited plenty of money, so he didn't need a well-paid profession." . Both he and Lily defied Voldemort (he wanted them to be Death Eaters -) and became fulltime members of the Order of the Phoenix after they finished school .
FIELD : Transfiguration .
ANIMAGUS : Stag (unregistered Animagus) since his fifth year at Hogwarts .
Gringotts' Vault : 687 .
PROFILE
The father of Harry Potter, and nearly identical to him in appearance except with hazel eyes . He was a descendant of Ignotus Peverell and the only child of wealthy, elderly parents, who were very kind and who both died shortly after he left Hogwarts . James was a “pampered” child , and could be cocky and somewhat cruel in his childhood . He “deflated his head a bit” his seventh year, was named Head Boy, and started dating Lily Evans, who he later married . He was twenty when his son, Harry, was born on July 31, 1980.
At Hogwarts, James was very popular; he was a Quidditch chaser and rather liked to show off . He was best friends with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew; they were known for mischief and dubbed themselves the “Marauders” . When they learned that Lupin was a werewolf, James, Sirius, and Peter set out to become Animagi so they could join him; they succeeded in their fifth year ; James earned the nickname “Prongs” because his Animagus form was a stag .
As popular as he was, James also had a bitter enemy at Hogwarts: Severus Snape. Sirius and Lupin attributed Snape’s attitude toward James to jealousy , though it was true that James started bullying Snape from the moment they met, mocking him and calling him “Snivellus” . However, when Sirius played a joke on Snape and sent him toward Lupin in his werewolf form, James stepped up and saved his life . Snape’s resulting life debt to James only made him hate James all the more , and when James ended up dating and marrying Lily – who Snape had loved his entire life – it sealed Snape’s hatred for good .
A lifelong despiser of the Dark Arts, James was extremely loyal to Dumbledore and fought fulltime for the Order of the Phoenix against Voldemort . Together he and Lily defied Voldemort three times, but a prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney marked Harry for death, and Voldemort came after the Potters . They were tipped off and used the Fidelius Charm to hide themselves, but James put his faith in the wrong person – his old friend Peter Pettigrew – and was betrayed . Voldemort killed him and Lily on October 31, 1981, in their borrowed cottage at Godric's Hollow .
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
LILY EVANS POTTER
“I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid”
--Lily Potter
BORN : 30 January 1960 .
DIED : 31 October 1981 at the age of 21.
EYES : brilliant green and almond-shaped, like those of her only son .
HAIR : dark red, long and thick .
Distinguishing features : very pretty.
ANCESTRY : Muggle-born witch .
MOTHER : A Muggle, died before 1981.
FATHER : A Muggle, died before 1981.
HUSBAND : James Potter; they married very quietly sometime between summer of 1978 and fall of 1979. Sirius Black was their best man. James was killed the same night as Lily, 31 October 1981, by Lord Voldemort at Godric’s Hollow.
SIBLINGS : An older sister (DH33), Petunia (Evans) Dursley.
CHILDHOOD : Near Spinners End in a rundown industrial area of Northern England. According to Petunia, their parents were delighted to discover that Lily was a witch.
AFFILIATION : Slug Club, Order of the Phoenix.
WAND : Willow, 10 1/4", swishy (nice wand for charm work) .
SKILLS : Charms, possibly , or Potions . According to Horace Slughorn, Lily had an "intuitive grasp of potion-making."
UNUSUAL ABBILITIES : one of the few members of the Order of the Phoenix to defy Voldemort personally three times and survive.
Gringotts' Vault: 687 .
PROFILE
The mother of Harry Potter, who shared with Harry the most striking aspect of her appearance, her brilliant green, almond-shaped eyes . Lily was born to a Muggle family and grew up with her sister, Petunia, not far from Spinner’s End.
When she was 8 or 9 years old, Lily met an odd, intense neighborhood boy named Severus Snape. It was through Severus that Lily discovered that she was a witch , a fact which allowed her to attend Hogwarts and made her parents very proud , though Petunia was quite jealous.
As young girls, Lily and Petunia were very close; however, once Lily was invited to Hogwarts and Petunia told she couldn’t attend, a rift grew between them that never healed. Lily’s best friend soon became Severus Snape, even though he was a Slytherin, and fascinated by the Dark Arts. Lily and Severus remained friends until it became clear to her at the end of their fifth year that he had been seduced by Voldemort's notion of pureblood supremacy. At Hogwarts, she also met James Potter, a very popular and talented student who was thought to be "the height of cool" -- except by Lily, who considered him to be conceited and was disgusted by his rather trigger-happy attitude toward jinxing people. For his part, by the end of their fifth year James was very taken with Lily. Though Lily didn’t know it, Snape was deeply in love with her, and his heart broken when she started dating James in her seventh year .
Lily was considered by her teachers to be “bright,” “vivacious,” and a very gifted witch, especially at Potions . She was Head Girl of Hogwarts her seventh year , and also very pretty . Dumbledore believed that though Harry looked very much like James, his deepest nature was one he had inherited from Lily, along with the color of his eyes .
After finishing Hogwarts, joined the Order of the Phoenix, together with James' three closest friends: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Reckoned among the best of Dumbledore's loyal supporters in the first war against Voldemort, Lily and James were remarkable in that they defied Voldemort personally on three occasions and escaped each time, though narrowly . Lily and James probably married during the summer or fall of 1979. Lily did not see her sister Petunia after graduation, although some minimal contact appears to have existed between the sisters .
A prophecy made in the fall of 1979 by Sybill Trelawney changed everything when it was partially overheard by Severus Snape and reported to Voldemort. The prophecy foretold the birth of a boy "with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord" at the end of July, so as soon as Lily became pregnant the Potters went into hiding . Voldemort waited to see what children were born, and began planning the murder of the Potter family . Snape got wind of this and begged Voldemort to spare Lily, though he could not trust his assurances. Snape realized that in order to really protect his precious Lily, he needed Dumbledore's help. Snape altered his own life and Voldemort's when he offered Dumbledore his complete allegiance and informed the Headmaster that the Potters would be attacked soon by Voldemort himself.
However, even Dumbledore could not guard against treachery. When Voldemort arrived at Godric's Hollow on October 31, 1981, he quickly killed James, and headed for Harry's cot. The Dark Lord remembered Snape's pleas, but Lily would not stand aside. She shielded her child with her body and Voldemort was forced to kill her. Her sacrifice unexpectedly created "old magic" protection for her son that could ward off even an Avada Kedavra curse, so when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, his spell rebounded on him and destroyed his body. Lily's sacrificial magic was so deep and strong that Harry was given the tools he needed to live under his mother’s protection for sixteen years, and eventually defeat Voldemort for good. Voldemort had created the very menace he was seeking to destroy .
After the deaths of Lily and James, Dumbledore stepped in, setting aside the legal arrangements the Potters had made for Harry's care. (Since Sirius Black was almost immediately condemned to Azkaban without trial, however, changes would have been required in any case.) Dumbledore, feeling that Harry's physical safety from Voldemort overrode any other consideration, chose the course he considered right over what would have been easier for him to live with: arranging for the strongest possible magical protection over the child rather than a loving home for him. Dumbledore cast a charm to reinforce the protection Harry gained from the shedding of his mother's blood as long as Harry lived with someone of that blood. Ironically, this made the Dursleys -- otherwise unfit as guardians in any other sense for the child -- the only possible guardians to seal the charm and thus help keep the boy alive .
--Lily Potter
BORN : 30 January 1960 .
DIED : 31 October 1981 at the age of 21.
EYES : brilliant green and almond-shaped, like those of her only son .
HAIR : dark red, long and thick .
Distinguishing features : very pretty.
ANCESTRY : Muggle-born witch .
MOTHER : A Muggle, died before 1981.
FATHER : A Muggle, died before 1981.
HUSBAND : James Potter; they married very quietly sometime between summer of 1978 and fall of 1979. Sirius Black was their best man. James was killed the same night as Lily, 31 October 1981, by Lord Voldemort at Godric’s Hollow.
SIBLINGS : An older sister (DH33), Petunia (Evans) Dursley.
CHILDHOOD : Near Spinners End in a rundown industrial area of Northern England. According to Petunia, their parents were delighted to discover that Lily was a witch.
AFFILIATION : Slug Club, Order of the Phoenix.
WAND : Willow, 10 1/4", swishy (nice wand for charm work) .
SKILLS : Charms, possibly , or Potions . According to Horace Slughorn, Lily had an "intuitive grasp of potion-making."
UNUSUAL ABBILITIES : one of the few members of the Order of the Phoenix to defy Voldemort personally three times and survive.
Gringotts' Vault: 687 .
PROFILE
The mother of Harry Potter, who shared with Harry the most striking aspect of her appearance, her brilliant green, almond-shaped eyes . Lily was born to a Muggle family and grew up with her sister, Petunia, not far from Spinner’s End.
When she was 8 or 9 years old, Lily met an odd, intense neighborhood boy named Severus Snape. It was through Severus that Lily discovered that she was a witch , a fact which allowed her to attend Hogwarts and made her parents very proud , though Petunia was quite jealous.
As young girls, Lily and Petunia were very close; however, once Lily was invited to Hogwarts and Petunia told she couldn’t attend, a rift grew between them that never healed. Lily’s best friend soon became Severus Snape, even though he was a Slytherin, and fascinated by the Dark Arts. Lily and Severus remained friends until it became clear to her at the end of their fifth year that he had been seduced by Voldemort's notion of pureblood supremacy. At Hogwarts, she also met James Potter, a very popular and talented student who was thought to be "the height of cool" -- except by Lily, who considered him to be conceited and was disgusted by his rather trigger-happy attitude toward jinxing people. For his part, by the end of their fifth year James was very taken with Lily. Though Lily didn’t know it, Snape was deeply in love with her, and his heart broken when she started dating James in her seventh year .
Lily was considered by her teachers to be “bright,” “vivacious,” and a very gifted witch, especially at Potions . She was Head Girl of Hogwarts her seventh year , and also very pretty . Dumbledore believed that though Harry looked very much like James, his deepest nature was one he had inherited from Lily, along with the color of his eyes .
After finishing Hogwarts, joined the Order of the Phoenix, together with James' three closest friends: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Reckoned among the best of Dumbledore's loyal supporters in the first war against Voldemort, Lily and James were remarkable in that they defied Voldemort personally on three occasions and escaped each time, though narrowly . Lily and James probably married during the summer or fall of 1979. Lily did not see her sister Petunia after graduation, although some minimal contact appears to have existed between the sisters .
A prophecy made in the fall of 1979 by Sybill Trelawney changed everything when it was partially overheard by Severus Snape and reported to Voldemort. The prophecy foretold the birth of a boy "with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord" at the end of July, so as soon as Lily became pregnant the Potters went into hiding . Voldemort waited to see what children were born, and began planning the murder of the Potter family . Snape got wind of this and begged Voldemort to spare Lily, though he could not trust his assurances. Snape realized that in order to really protect his precious Lily, he needed Dumbledore's help. Snape altered his own life and Voldemort's when he offered Dumbledore his complete allegiance and informed the Headmaster that the Potters would be attacked soon by Voldemort himself.
However, even Dumbledore could not guard against treachery. When Voldemort arrived at Godric's Hollow on October 31, 1981, he quickly killed James, and headed for Harry's cot. The Dark Lord remembered Snape's pleas, but Lily would not stand aside. She shielded her child with her body and Voldemort was forced to kill her. Her sacrifice unexpectedly created "old magic" protection for her son that could ward off even an Avada Kedavra curse, so when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, his spell rebounded on him and destroyed his body. Lily's sacrificial magic was so deep and strong that Harry was given the tools he needed to live under his mother’s protection for sixteen years, and eventually defeat Voldemort for good. Voldemort had created the very menace he was seeking to destroy .
After the deaths of Lily and James, Dumbledore stepped in, setting aside the legal arrangements the Potters had made for Harry's care. (Since Sirius Black was almost immediately condemned to Azkaban without trial, however, changes would have been required in any case.) Dumbledore, feeling that Harry's physical safety from Voldemort overrode any other consideration, chose the course he considered right over what would have been easier for him to live with: arranging for the strongest possible magical protection over the child rather than a loving home for him. Dumbledore cast a charm to reinforce the protection Harry gained from the shedding of his mother's blood as long as Harry lived with someone of that blood. Ironically, this made the Dursleys -- otherwise unfit as guardians in any other sense for the child -- the only possible guardians to seal the charm and thus help keep the boy alive .
FRANK AND ALICE LONGBOTTOM
Aurors, popular in the Wizarding World, who fought valiantly against Voldemort and his supporters during the 1970s. Frank and Alice were captured by Death Eaters shortly after the fall of Voldemort (late 1981). They were subjected to the Cruciatus Curse in an attempt to force them to tell where the defeated Dark Lord had fled to. The torture drove them insane and are now at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries in Ward 49. They do not even recognize family members. Frank and Alice were members of the original Order of the Phoenix .
Alice is a round-faced woman; her son Neville looks a lot like her, though by the mid-1990s her hair is wispy and gray. She does realize that Neville is someone she likes and gives him Drooble's Best Blowing Gum wrappers for gifts. Gran, Frank's mother, thinks of them as rubbish, but we get the feeling that Neville would save every single one if he could .
Alice is a round-faced woman; her son Neville looks a lot like her, though by the mid-1990s her hair is wispy and gray. She does realize that Neville is someone she likes and gives him Drooble's Best Blowing Gum wrappers for gifts. Gran, Frank's mother, thinks of them as rubbish, but we get the feeling that Neville would save every single one if he could .
REGULUS ARCTUS BLACK
"I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret."
--Regulus Black in his note to Voldemort.
BORN : 1961
DIED : 1979
NAME MEANING
Regulus = Latin for 'the little king;' the brightest star in the constellation Leo. Regulus was also the family name of Marcus Atilius Regulus, a Roman naval commander who was legendary for his heroic self- sacrifice .
Arcturus = Latin for 'bear guardian;' the fourth brightest star in the night sky, whose rising and setting was thought by the Romans to foretell tempestuous weather.
ANCESTRY : Pure-blood.
FAMILY IN GENERAL : "The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black" dating to at least the Middle Ages ; descendent of Phineas Nigellus Black, a Hogwarts Headmaster. Parents convinced that to be a 'Black' made you "practically royal." Black family members tend to be named for constellations.
MOTHER : Walburga Black (1925-1985); her portrait is permanently mounted in the hallway of the Black family home.
FATHER : Orion Black (1929-1979)
GRAND PARENTS : Arcturus (1901-1991) and Melania (McMillan) Black, and Pollux (1912-1990) and Irma (Crabbe) Black. Both sets of Sirius's grandparents were direct descendents of Phineas Nigellus Black. One of his grandfathers (either Arcturus or Pollux) was awarded Order of Merlin 1st Class for "Services to the Ministry" .
AUNTS,UNCLES : Most notably Uncle Alphard, who left Sirius money, and Aunt Elladora who started the tradition of beheading house-elves when they were too old to carry tea trays.
COUSINS : Narcissa (Black) Malfoy, Andromeda (Black) Tonks, Bellatrix (Black) Lestrange. Arthur Weasley is a second cousin once removed. Distantly related to Molly Weasley.
SIBLINGS : Sirius Black (c.1960-1996).
PROFILE
Regulus was the younger brother of Sirius Black. Unlike Sirius, Regulus was favored by their parents because he shared their overweening pride in their heritage and their belief in pure-blood supremacy; indeed, Regulus became one of Voldemort's Death Eaters around 1977 at the age of sixteen.
Sirius thought that Regulus was killed by Death Eaters because he panicked and tried to leave. In reality, Regulus began to have a change of heart when he saw first hand what the Dark Lord was doing.
In 1979, Voldemort demanded the use of a house-elf, and Regulus sent Kreacher, a family elf that he was very fond of. However, the elf was left behind to die by Voldemort on the secret island in the sea cave where he’d hidden the locket Horcrux. Regulus had commanded Kreacher to come back, however, so the elf was compelled to return. The story Kreacher told was the last straw and Regulus became determined to destroy Voldemort.
From arrogant hints the Dark Lord had dropped, Regulus figured out what the locket was. Regulus ordered the elf to return to the island with him, substituted a fake horcrux for the real one, then told Kreacher to take the locket and destroy it. Regulus, who had drunk the potion in the stone basin to get to the locket, was attacked and drowned by the Inferi in the underground lake . He had forbidden Kreacher to tell anyone in the family what had happened, so they would be protected by not knowing. He is the infamous “R.A.B.”
Jo tells us "Regulus got in a little too deep. Like Draco. He was attracted to it [Voldemort's power], but the reality of what it meant was way too much to handle."
--Regulus Black in his note to Voldemort.
BORN : 1961
DIED : 1979
NAME MEANING
Regulus = Latin for 'the little king;' the brightest star in the constellation Leo. Regulus was also the family name of Marcus Atilius Regulus, a Roman naval commander who was legendary for his heroic self- sacrifice .
Arcturus = Latin for 'bear guardian;' the fourth brightest star in the night sky, whose rising and setting was thought by the Romans to foretell tempestuous weather.
ANCESTRY : Pure-blood.
FAMILY IN GENERAL : "The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black" dating to at least the Middle Ages ; descendent of Phineas Nigellus Black, a Hogwarts Headmaster. Parents convinced that to be a 'Black' made you "practically royal." Black family members tend to be named for constellations.
MOTHER : Walburga Black (1925-1985); her portrait is permanently mounted in the hallway of the Black family home.
FATHER : Orion Black (1929-1979)
GRAND PARENTS : Arcturus (1901-1991) and Melania (McMillan) Black, and Pollux (1912-1990) and Irma (Crabbe) Black. Both sets of Sirius's grandparents were direct descendents of Phineas Nigellus Black. One of his grandfathers (either Arcturus or Pollux) was awarded Order of Merlin 1st Class for "Services to the Ministry" .
AUNTS,UNCLES : Most notably Uncle Alphard, who left Sirius money, and Aunt Elladora who started the tradition of beheading house-elves when they were too old to carry tea trays.
COUSINS : Narcissa (Black) Malfoy, Andromeda (Black) Tonks, Bellatrix (Black) Lestrange. Arthur Weasley is a second cousin once removed. Distantly related to Molly Weasley.
SIBLINGS : Sirius Black (c.1960-1996).
PROFILE
Regulus was the younger brother of Sirius Black. Unlike Sirius, Regulus was favored by their parents because he shared their overweening pride in their heritage and their belief in pure-blood supremacy; indeed, Regulus became one of Voldemort's Death Eaters around 1977 at the age of sixteen.
Sirius thought that Regulus was killed by Death Eaters because he panicked and tried to leave. In reality, Regulus began to have a change of heart when he saw first hand what the Dark Lord was doing.
In 1979, Voldemort demanded the use of a house-elf, and Regulus sent Kreacher, a family elf that he was very fond of. However, the elf was left behind to die by Voldemort on the secret island in the sea cave where he’d hidden the locket Horcrux. Regulus had commanded Kreacher to come back, however, so the elf was compelled to return. The story Kreacher told was the last straw and Regulus became determined to destroy Voldemort.
From arrogant hints the Dark Lord had dropped, Regulus figured out what the locket was. Regulus ordered the elf to return to the island with him, substituted a fake horcrux for the real one, then told Kreacher to take the locket and destroy it. Regulus, who had drunk the potion in the stone basin to get to the locket, was attacked and drowned by the Inferi in the underground lake . He had forbidden Kreacher to tell anyone in the family what had happened, so they would be protected by not knowing. He is the infamous “R.A.B.”
Jo tells us "Regulus got in a little too deep. Like Draco. He was attracted to it [Voldemort's power], but the reality of what it meant was way too much to handle."
Cedric Diggory
"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."
--Albus Dumbledore
BORN : Sept. or Oct. 1977
DIED : June 24, 1995
-Hufflepuff 1989-1995-
PROFILE
Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy with gray eyes. He is quite tall and the quiet type .In 1993, when he was a Fifth Year, he took over as Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff House Quidditch team. He was a very good student and a prefect. In 1994, he took Cho Chang to the Yule Ball and they were romantically involved .
Cedric was selected by the Goblet of Fire to represent Hogwarts in the Triwizard Tournament , which indicates that he was also well on his way to becoming a powerful wizard. He competed honorably and did well, finally tying Harry Potter for the Triwizard Cup. However, he was killed by Wormtail on Voldemort's command when the Cup turned out to be a Portkey taking them to a lonely graveyard .
--Albus Dumbledore
BORN : Sept. or Oct. 1977
DIED : June 24, 1995
-Hufflepuff 1989-1995-
PROFILE
Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy with gray eyes. He is quite tall and the quiet type .In 1993, when he was a Fifth Year, he took over as Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff House Quidditch team. He was a very good student and a prefect. In 1994, he took Cho Chang to the Yule Ball and they were romantically involved .
Cedric was selected by the Goblet of Fire to represent Hogwarts in the Triwizard Tournament , which indicates that he was also well on his way to becoming a powerful wizard. He competed honorably and did well, finally tying Harry Potter for the Triwizard Cup. However, he was killed by Wormtail on Voldemort's command when the Cup turned out to be a Portkey taking them to a lonely graveyard .
Sirius Black
"You are -- truly your father’s son, Harry...."
--Sirius Black
BIRTH NAME : Sirius Black.
Sirius=seirios (Greek) meaning "burning;" Sirius=the "Dog Star," the brightest one in the Canis Major ("Great Dog") constellation; a pun on the fact that he can change into a big black dog.
OTHER NAMES : "Snuffles" and "Padfoot" ."Padfoot" refers to his Animagus form; it is also the name that residents of central/northern England (i.e. Staffordshire, Yorkshire) have for the magical black dogs of their legends/fears. Usually, Padfoots guard churchyards or certain roads; are said to roam the countryside at night; tend to be larger than ordinary dogs; can vanish instantly or fade slowly away while standing still, yet can run extremely quickly; typically described as having huge and "blazing" eyes; tend to be silent. Because of their association with graveyards, scholars once believed the black dog form was the preferred form of the Devil, and are usually considered an omen of death, and are, thus, also called the Grim .
BORN : 1959 or 1960
DIED : June 1996; killed by his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange whose spell knocked him through an ancient, veiled archway in the Department of Mysteries (OP35). Sirius left all his possessions to Harry in his will .
EYE COLOR : Gray and "fathomless" .
HAIR COLOR : Black: tended to let it grow long when he was depressed and wore it short when things go well .
BUILD : tall , and since Azkaban very thin .
Distinguishing features : very good-looking -- the aristocratic, somewhat haughty Black good looks -- when he's eating enough, but of late years the characteristic gauntness of an ex-inmate of Azkaban, which takes a long time to fade entirely ; laugh like a bark.
As a young man: "Sirius was lounging in his chair at his ease, tilting it back on two legs. He was very good-looking; his dark hair fell into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance."
After Azkaban : "A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. His eyes were fixed on Harry."
ANCESTRY : Pure-blood.
FAMILY IN GENERAL : "The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black" dating to at least the Middle Ages; descendent of Phineas Nigellus Black, a Hogwarts Headmaster. Parents convinced that to be a 'Black' made you "practically royal." Disowned by his mother (and blasted off the family tapestry) for his rejection of the family’s belief in pure-blood supremacy. Black family members tend to be named for constellations.
CHILDHOOD : At 16 Sirius "had enough" of his parents' "pure-blood mania" and ran away to live with James Potter’s parents. At 17, bought a house of his own with money from Uncle Alphard .
ADDRESS : number twelve Grimmauld Place, London.
MOTHER : Walburga Black (1925-1985); her portrait is permanently mounted in the hallway of the Black family home.
FATHER : Orion Black (1929-1979)
SIBLINGS : Regulus Arcturus Black (1961-1979)
GRANDPARENTS : Arcturus (1901-1991) and Melania (McMillan) Black, and Pollux (1912-1990) and Irma (Crabbe) Black. Both sets of Sirius's grandparents were direct descendents of Phineas Nigellus Black. One of his grandfathers (either Arcturus or Pollux) was awarded Order of Merlin 1st Class for "Services to the Ministry" .
AUNTS,UNCLE : Uncle Alphard, who left Sirius money and Aunt Elladora who started the tradition of beheading house-elves when they were too old to carry tea trays.
COUSINS : Narcissa (Black) Malfoy, Andromeda (Black) Tonks, Bellatrix (Black) Lestrange. Andromeda’s daughter is Nymphadora Tonks, and Narcissa’s son is Draco Malfoy. Arthur Weasley is a second cousin once removed. Andromeda was his favorite cousin . Distantly related to Molly Weasley.
FAMILY MOTTO: Toujours pur (French for "always pure") .
FAMILY CREST : is mentioned in OP6 but not described; however, Rowling drew it on her Black Family Tree. It shows a shield with hounds rampant emblazoned with a chevron, 2 five-pointed stars and a short sword.
ADDITIONAL INFO : Sirius was Best Man at the Potter’s wedding and Harry’s godfather.
PROFILE
James Potter’s closest friend, Harry Potter’s godfather and an Animagus, Sirius Black was falsely accused of betrayal and murder and imprisoned in Azkaban.
Sirius Black was the elder of two boys born to an aristocratic family that was fiercely proud of its pureblood status and vehemently anti-Muggle. Unlike his younger brother Regulus and just about all of his ancestors, Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor and rejected his family’s belief in pure-blood supremacy. By the time he was sixteen, he had completely severed ties with his family and was literally blasted off of the Black family tree. Ironically, two members of the family he so reviled proved to be far braver than he thought.
At Hogwarts, Sirius became close friends with fellow Gryffindors James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus J. Lupin, a werewolf. To keep Remus company in his werewolf state, the three other boys secretly became Animagi during their fifth year. Given his name, it was probably no surprise that Sirius’s Animagus form was a large black dog. At each full moon, the Marauders: Padfoot (Sirius), Prongs (James), Moony (Lupin) and Wormtail (Pettigrew) explored the school, its grounds, and even the Forbidden Forest and recorded what they learned in a magical map they called the Marauder's Map .
After finishing Hogwarts, Sirius and the other three Marauders joined Dumbledore’s Order of the Phoenix, a small group of wizards and witches fighting to stop Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters’ reign of terror. During these desperate times, James Potter and Lily Evans married and started their family, unaware that a prophecy would cut their lives short. Soon after the death of James and Lily Potter, Sirius was framed by his old friend Peter Pettigrew for their betrayal and the murder of twelve Muggles during his attempt to escape Ministry law enforcement.
Twelve years later, Sirius escaped from Azkaban and convinced Harry and the Order of the Phoenix of his innocence; however, he was forced to remain a fugitive because there was no viable proof. This second captivity seems to have been more corrosive than Azkaban. Sirius chafed at his forced inaction. Harry longed for Sirius to be the father figure he craved, but Sirius seemed often more interested in regaining the camaraderie and urgency of his glory days.
Sirius was killed by his cousin Bellatrix in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries; his body fell through a mysterious veiled arch and could not be recovered .
In his youth, Sirius was good-looking in an elegant, casual way with dark hair and gray eyes; after his imprisonment he is often described as looking gaunt and unkempt.
--Sirius Black
BIRTH NAME : Sirius Black.
Sirius=seirios (Greek) meaning "burning;" Sirius=the "Dog Star," the brightest one in the Canis Major ("Great Dog") constellation; a pun on the fact that he can change into a big black dog.
OTHER NAMES : "Snuffles" and "Padfoot" ."Padfoot" refers to his Animagus form; it is also the name that residents of central/northern England (i.e. Staffordshire, Yorkshire) have for the magical black dogs of their legends/fears. Usually, Padfoots guard churchyards or certain roads; are said to roam the countryside at night; tend to be larger than ordinary dogs; can vanish instantly or fade slowly away while standing still, yet can run extremely quickly; typically described as having huge and "blazing" eyes; tend to be silent. Because of their association with graveyards, scholars once believed the black dog form was the preferred form of the Devil, and are usually considered an omen of death, and are, thus, also called the Grim .
BORN : 1959 or 1960
DIED : June 1996; killed by his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange whose spell knocked him through an ancient, veiled archway in the Department of Mysteries (OP35). Sirius left all his possessions to Harry in his will .
EYE COLOR : Gray and "fathomless" .
HAIR COLOR : Black: tended to let it grow long when he was depressed and wore it short when things go well .
BUILD : tall , and since Azkaban very thin .
Distinguishing features : very good-looking -- the aristocratic, somewhat haughty Black good looks -- when he's eating enough, but of late years the characteristic gauntness of an ex-inmate of Azkaban, which takes a long time to fade entirely ; laugh like a bark.
As a young man: "Sirius was lounging in his chair at his ease, tilting it back on two legs. He was very good-looking; his dark hair fell into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance."
After Azkaban : "A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. His eyes were fixed on Harry."
ANCESTRY : Pure-blood.
FAMILY IN GENERAL : "The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black" dating to at least the Middle Ages; descendent of Phineas Nigellus Black, a Hogwarts Headmaster. Parents convinced that to be a 'Black' made you "practically royal." Disowned by his mother (and blasted off the family tapestry) for his rejection of the family’s belief in pure-blood supremacy. Black family members tend to be named for constellations.
CHILDHOOD : At 16 Sirius "had enough" of his parents' "pure-blood mania" and ran away to live with James Potter’s parents. At 17, bought a house of his own with money from Uncle Alphard .
ADDRESS : number twelve Grimmauld Place, London.
MOTHER : Walburga Black (1925-1985); her portrait is permanently mounted in the hallway of the Black family home.
FATHER : Orion Black (1929-1979)
SIBLINGS : Regulus Arcturus Black (1961-1979)
GRANDPARENTS : Arcturus (1901-1991) and Melania (McMillan) Black, and Pollux (1912-1990) and Irma (Crabbe) Black. Both sets of Sirius's grandparents were direct descendents of Phineas Nigellus Black. One of his grandfathers (either Arcturus or Pollux) was awarded Order of Merlin 1st Class for "Services to the Ministry" .
AUNTS,UNCLE : Uncle Alphard, who left Sirius money and Aunt Elladora who started the tradition of beheading house-elves when they were too old to carry tea trays.
COUSINS : Narcissa (Black) Malfoy, Andromeda (Black) Tonks, Bellatrix (Black) Lestrange. Andromeda’s daughter is Nymphadora Tonks, and Narcissa’s son is Draco Malfoy. Arthur Weasley is a second cousin once removed. Andromeda was his favorite cousin . Distantly related to Molly Weasley.
FAMILY MOTTO: Toujours pur (French for "always pure") .
FAMILY CREST : is mentioned in OP6 but not described; however, Rowling drew it on her Black Family Tree. It shows a shield with hounds rampant emblazoned with a chevron, 2 five-pointed stars and a short sword.
ADDITIONAL INFO : Sirius was Best Man at the Potter’s wedding and Harry’s godfather.
PROFILE
James Potter’s closest friend, Harry Potter’s godfather and an Animagus, Sirius Black was falsely accused of betrayal and murder and imprisoned in Azkaban.
Sirius Black was the elder of two boys born to an aristocratic family that was fiercely proud of its pureblood status and vehemently anti-Muggle. Unlike his younger brother Regulus and just about all of his ancestors, Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor and rejected his family’s belief in pure-blood supremacy. By the time he was sixteen, he had completely severed ties with his family and was literally blasted off of the Black family tree. Ironically, two members of the family he so reviled proved to be far braver than he thought.
At Hogwarts, Sirius became close friends with fellow Gryffindors James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus J. Lupin, a werewolf. To keep Remus company in his werewolf state, the three other boys secretly became Animagi during their fifth year. Given his name, it was probably no surprise that Sirius’s Animagus form was a large black dog. At each full moon, the Marauders: Padfoot (Sirius), Prongs (James), Moony (Lupin) and Wormtail (Pettigrew) explored the school, its grounds, and even the Forbidden Forest and recorded what they learned in a magical map they called the Marauder's Map .
After finishing Hogwarts, Sirius and the other three Marauders joined Dumbledore’s Order of the Phoenix, a small group of wizards and witches fighting to stop Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters’ reign of terror. During these desperate times, James Potter and Lily Evans married and started their family, unaware that a prophecy would cut their lives short. Soon after the death of James and Lily Potter, Sirius was framed by his old friend Peter Pettigrew for their betrayal and the murder of twelve Muggles during his attempt to escape Ministry law enforcement.
Twelve years later, Sirius escaped from Azkaban and convinced Harry and the Order of the Phoenix of his innocence; however, he was forced to remain a fugitive because there was no viable proof. This second captivity seems to have been more corrosive than Azkaban. Sirius chafed at his forced inaction. Harry longed for Sirius to be the father figure he craved, but Sirius seemed often more interested in regaining the camaraderie and urgency of his glory days.
Sirius was killed by his cousin Bellatrix in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries; his body fell through a mysterious veiled arch and could not be recovered .
In his youth, Sirius was good-looking in an elegant, casual way with dark hair and gray eyes; after his imprisonment he is often described as looking gaunt and unkempt.
Albus Dumbledore
"It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
-- Albus Dumbledore
Birth name : Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore .
Other names: Voldemort refers to him as "that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles" .
Birthdate : 1881 , probably in July or August. This date supercedes Jo's statement in 2001 that Dumbledore was "about 150 years old" (Blue Nose Day) and fits better with the dates that appear in Book 7. Regarding his month of birth, Rita says that Dumbledore was “nearing” his 18th birthday when he left Hogwarts in June, but was still 17 when he met Grindelwald . Basically, at some point during Grindelwald’s stay at Godric’s Hollow Dumbledore turned 18, so the month of his birth appears to be July or August.
Deathdate : June, 1997 (when he was killed by Severus Snape), but 1996 according to Rowling's Wizard of the Month declaration .
Regarding the date of Dumbledore's death:
Is the "1996" date from Rowling's website a typo, or intentional? We're hoping that Rowling will let us know. Readers are asking why the Lexicon has not changed its official dates to 1996, and our answer has nothing to do with disrespect to Jo or the world she created. Our answer is that a 1996 date has dire implications for the oldest law Jo set for her Wizarding World.
What are the implications? Let's say Dumbledore truly died at some point in 1996. He appears alive to everyone at Hogwarts until the end of Book 6 (firmly 1996-97 according to Rowling), so he would have had to be revived well enough (without dark magic) that a withered hand and reduced energy were the only observable results. So, a 1996 death goes against Jo’s most immutable rule of all: Magic cannot raise the truly dead.
We know the consistency of underlying rules of her world is vital to Jo; she says so in interview after interview. But her most important rule is that death is final, and a death date of 1996 for Dumbledore would violate that law. When you weigh Jo's rules and the whole of Book 6 against the possibility of a simple numerical mistake, I think it makes more sense to believe that the 1996 is simply a typo that will be corrected some day. –Lisa
Ancestry : Half-blood (his mother Kendra was Muggle-born) .
Mother : Kendra Dumbledore, accidently killed in 1899 by her 14-year-old daughter Ariana, who was mentally unstable.
Father : Percival Dumbledore, imprisoned c.1890 at Azkaban for an attack on Muggles when Albus was about 10 years old.
Siblings : Younger brother Aberforth (born 1883 or 1884) and sister Ariana (born 1884 or 1885, died 1899); both brothers are haunted by their sister's accidental death .
Location of childhood home: Mould-on-the-Wold until the attack on his sister, then Godric's Hollow.
Relationships : Fell in love with Gellert Grindelwald when Albus was 17, but was “terribly let down by him” when he realized what Gellert was capable of .
Pet : Fawkes, a phoenix.
-- Albus Dumbledore
Birth name : Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore .
Other names: Voldemort refers to him as "that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles" .
Birthdate : 1881 , probably in July or August. This date supercedes Jo's statement in 2001 that Dumbledore was "about 150 years old" (Blue Nose Day) and fits better with the dates that appear in Book 7. Regarding his month of birth, Rita says that Dumbledore was “nearing” his 18th birthday when he left Hogwarts in June, but was still 17 when he met Grindelwald . Basically, at some point during Grindelwald’s stay at Godric’s Hollow Dumbledore turned 18, so the month of his birth appears to be July or August.
Deathdate : June, 1997 (when he was killed by Severus Snape), but 1996 according to Rowling's Wizard of the Month declaration .
Regarding the date of Dumbledore's death:
Is the "1996" date from Rowling's website a typo, or intentional? We're hoping that Rowling will let us know. Readers are asking why the Lexicon has not changed its official dates to 1996, and our answer has nothing to do with disrespect to Jo or the world she created. Our answer is that a 1996 date has dire implications for the oldest law Jo set for her Wizarding World.
What are the implications? Let's say Dumbledore truly died at some point in 1996. He appears alive to everyone at Hogwarts until the end of Book 6 (firmly 1996-97 according to Rowling), so he would have had to be revived well enough (without dark magic) that a withered hand and reduced energy were the only observable results. So, a 1996 death goes against Jo’s most immutable rule of all: Magic cannot raise the truly dead.
We know the consistency of underlying rules of her world is vital to Jo; she says so in interview after interview. But her most important rule is that death is final, and a death date of 1996 for Dumbledore would violate that law. When you weigh Jo's rules and the whole of Book 6 against the possibility of a simple numerical mistake, I think it makes more sense to believe that the 1996 is simply a typo that will be corrected some day. –Lisa
Ancestry : Half-blood (his mother Kendra was Muggle-born) .
Mother : Kendra Dumbledore, accidently killed in 1899 by her 14-year-old daughter Ariana, who was mentally unstable.
Father : Percival Dumbledore, imprisoned c.1890 at Azkaban for an attack on Muggles when Albus was about 10 years old.
Siblings : Younger brother Aberforth (born 1883 or 1884) and sister Ariana (born 1884 or 1885, died 1899); both brothers are haunted by their sister's accidental death .
Location of childhood home: Mould-on-the-Wold until the attack on his sister, then Godric's Hollow.
Relationships : Fell in love with Gellert Grindelwald when Albus was 17, but was “terribly let down by him” when he realized what Gellert was capable of .
Pet : Fawkes, a phoenix.
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