Sirius Black

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Sirius Black is a fictional character in J.K. Rowling’s series of Harry Potter books. He belong to the Black family, a prominent pure – blood wizarding family. His parents were Orion and Walburga Black. He had a brother Regulus, who joined the Death Eaters but was later killed on Voldemort’s orders when he tried to back out.

Sirius Black’s best friend was James Potter, father of Harry. Other members of his group of friends were Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. When they found out that Lupin was a werworlf, they studied and became Animagi, albeit illegally as they were not registered. Sirius’s Animagus form was a great black dog and hence it earned him the nickname “Padfoot”.

When Sirius turned sixteen, he ran away from home and stayed with the Potters, which caused the removal of his name by his parents, from the Black family tree. He was the best man at the wedding of James and Lily. He was also made Godfather to their son, Harry Potter.

Assumed Guilty

When James and Lily went into hiding, they wanted to make Sirius their Secret Keeper but he convinced them to use Peter Pettigrew. Pettigrew betrayed them to Voldemort resulting in the death of James and Lily. In a confrontation with Sirius, Pettigrew faked his own death by causing an explosion that killed twelve muggle bystanders also. Sirius, being the survivor at the scene of crime was convicted for the murder of Pettigrew and the muggles. He was sentenced to Azkaban by Barty Crouch, without a trial.

Escape and Redemption

Sirius managed to retain his sanity at Azkaban and broke out years later by turning into a dog. He was on the run as Dementors and Ministry Officials were on the look – out. He was captured at Hogworts but Harry, on being convinced of his innocence, helped him to escape on a Hippogriff, Buckbeak.

Harry began to regard him as a father – figure and frequently turned to him for advice. As Sirius was still being searched for, by the Ministry, he met Harry in the guise of a dog. Harry, Ron and Hermione used to call him “Snuffles” if they discussed him in public to avoid detection.

In ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’, Sirius lends his house at Grimmauld Place to be used as Headquarters for the Order. He was confined to the house as the Ministry were still looking for him. On one occasion he went to see Harry off to the station, disguised as a dog, which may have been recognized by Lucius or Draco Malfoy.

Voldemort lured Harry to the Department of Mysteries by making him believe that Sirius was being tortured there. On hearing this, Sirius and other Order members went to aid Harry in the fight against the Death Eaters. Bellatrix Lestrange killed Sirius in the ensuing fight. When he fell through the curtain separating life and death, he was still laughing.

Sirius left Harry a sizable inheritance, which included the house and a “decent amount of gold” among other things.