Wizard
Blood status and prejudice

Arcturus Black (1884)

Arcturus Black (1884) was the son of Phineas Nigellus Black and Ursula Flint (BFT).

Family

His daughter Cedrella (which sounds like "Cinderella") was disowned and blasted off the Family Tapestry.

 

Black Family Crest, after design by J.K.Rowling.Ancestry: mostly pure-blood; descendants of mixed blood are not recognized by the family.
Family in general: "The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black" (OP6); Sirius' parents were convinced that to be a 'Black' made you "practically royal."
Family crest is mentioned in OP6 but not described; however, Rowling drew it on her Black Family Tree. It shows a shield with greyhounds rampant charged with a chevron, 2 five-pointed stars and a short sword. In the formal language of heraldry, it is: "Sable, a chevron between two mullets in chief and a sword in base, argent." (Thanks to Richard for the terminology).
Family motto: Toujours pur ("always pure" in French) (from tapestry in OP6 and BFT).
Tapestry: a tapestry exists at number twelve Grimmauld Place that has, according to Kreacher, been in the family for seven centuries (OP6). On it the family's births, marriages and deaths are embroidered with gold thread; family members who have been disowned have been "blasted" from the fabric (a small burn like a cigarette burn is where their name is).
Important sources of information on the Black family: OP4 where we meet the portrait of Sirius' mother; OP6 where Sirius explains the Black family tapestry to Harry, and the Black Family Tree, a hand-drawn tree that Rowling donated to Book Aid International in January of 2006. We believe that this tree is meant to represent a portion of the tapestry.

Arcturus Black (1884)
Gender Male
Birth
Death
Species / Race Wizard
Blood Status Pure blood
School Hogwarts - Slytherin
Family Groups Black family

Commentary

Pensieve (Comments)

Tags: family family tree fathers tapestry

Editors: and