Movies - Sirius Black

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Sirius Black

	Movies - Sirius Black

Sirius Black is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of novels. He is played in the film adaptations by Gary Oldman.

Biography

Sirius Black (1959-June 1996) was first mentioned briefly in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as a wizard who lent Hagrid a flying motorcycle shortly after Lord Voldemort killed James and Lily Potter. His character becomes prominent in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where he is the eponymous prisoner.

Family and Friends

At the time of the Harry Potter story, Sirius is the last scion of The House of Black. His parents, Orion Black and Walburga Black, were second cousins and both were Blacks by birth. The name "Sirius" appears to be a traditional name in the Black family; another tradition is to have family members named after stars.

Sirius is also related to Andromeda Black Tonks, his favorite cousin (mother of Nymphadora Tonks), and to Andromeda's terrorist sisters, Bellatrix Lestrange (who later murders Sirius) and Narcissa Malfoy. Narcissa and Bellatrix were praised by the Blacks for marrying into "respectable" pureblood families, while Andromeda was disowned for marrying Ted Tonks, a Muggle born wizard. Sirius's younger brother, Regulus Black, was also praised for joining Lord Voldemort's terrorist organization, the Death Eaters. When Regulus found that he couldn't bring himself to commit violent acts, although he agreed with the fanatical pureblood ideology, he was murdered by another Death Eater on Voldemort's orders. Sirius and Andromeda were anomalies in the Black clan - they did not approve of the terrible acts committed in the name of blood purity, and - like their uncle Alphard - were removed from the official family tree for being "blood traitors". Sirius was considerably ashamed of his family, and knew nothing but unhappiness at home.

Sirius was best friends with James Potter, Harry's father, and was also friends with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. When the group discovered that Lupin was a werewolf, they studied secretly to become Animagi in solidarity with Lupin, to keep him company during his transformations. (Lupin was not compelled to attack non-humans when transformed.) In Sirius's Animagus form he was a large black dog, earning him the nickname "Padfoot."

At the age of sixteen, Sirius ran away from home to live with the Potter family, disgracing his family and prompting the removal of his name from the Black family tree tapestry (a fate shared by any Black family member his parents didn't like). Alphard Black, Walburga's brother, sympathized with his young nephew and left him a great deal of money. Walburga then removed Alphard's name from the official family tree.

When James married Lily Evans, Sirius was his best man at the wedding and later became Harry's godfather.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Sirius's family sympathized with Lord Voldemort's desires to "cleanse" the Wizarding world of non-purebloods, and his younger brother Regulus joined the Death Eaters.

When the Potters went into hiding from Voldemort, they wanted to make Sirius their Secret-Keeper, but at the last minute he convinced them to appoint Pettigrew to the task instead, since no one would suspect such a move. Pettigrew immediately betrayed the Potters to Voldemort, and during the subsequent confrontation with Sirius, caused an explosion to fake his own death, killing twelve nearby Muggle bystanders in the process. Sirius was left framed for Pettigrew's "murder" and those of the bystanders, as well as the Potters' betrayal. In light of the overwhelming evidence against him, his guilt was assumed so completely (in particular by the ruthless Barty Crouch) that he was sent straight to Azkaban without trial and imprisoned there for twelve years, during which he endured relentless mental torture at the hands of the Azkaban guards.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Sirius Black ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Sirius Black; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Movies - Sirius Black

Biography

Family and Friends

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay