The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

The House of Black was one of the largest, oldest, and wealthiest pure-blood wizarding families in Great Britain, and one of the “Sacred Twenty-Eight”. The family had a deeply ingrained belief in pure-blood supremacy and held a strong disdain for Muggle-borns, Muggles, Squibs, and so-called “blood traitors”. Their family motto, Toujours Pur (French for “Always Pure”), reflected this obsession. A great number of their members were sorted into Slytherin house at Hogwarts and many, most notably Bellatrix Lestrange, became followers of Lord Voldemort. By the end of the Second Wizarding War, the direct male line of the family had become extinct.

The Black family traced its lineage back to the Middle Ages. Over the centuries, they amassed considerable wealth and influence within the wizarding world, primarily by upholding their strict pure-blood ideals. The family maintained its purity by disowning any member who did not conform to their values. This practice involved “blasting” the individual's name from the family's genealogical tapestry. Members were disowned for various reasons, such as marrying Muggles, Muggle-borns, or blood traitors, or for showing any sympathy towards them. Notable disowned members include Andromeda Tonks for marrying the Muggle-born Ted Tonks, and Sirius Black for rejecting his family's ideology and being sorted into Gryffindor. The family's fervent belief in blood purity led many members to practice and support the Dark Arts. During the First Wizarding War and Second Wizarding War, several Blacks, including Bellatrix Lestrange and Regulus Black, became Death Eaters. However, Regulus ultimately turned against Lord Voldemort, and Sirius dedicated his life to fighting him as a member of the Order of the Phoenix. The family's direct male line ended with the deaths of Sirius Black in 1996 and Regulus Black in 1979, leaving the Black family name to continue only through female descendants, such as the Malfoy family.

The defining characteristic of the Black family was their fanatical obsession with blood purity. This ideology fostered an immense arrogance and a belief in their inherent superiority over other witches, wizards, and especially non-magical people. They considered any association with Muggles or Muggle-borns to be a deep betrayal of their heritage. Physically, many members of the family were described as having dark hair and aristocratic, often handsome or beautiful, features. A certain haughtiness or air of disdain was also a common personality trait, which even Sirius Black admitted to possessing. The family's practice of marrying their cousins to maintain blood purity likely contributed to instability and cruelty in later generations, as seen in figures like Walburga Black and Bellatrix Lestrange.

• Number 12, Grimmauld Place: The ancestral home of the Black family, located in London. The house was protected by numerous enchantments, including the Fidelius Charm, and was filled with dark artifacts and heirlooms. It later served as the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix.
• Kreacher: A loyal house-elf who served the Black family for generations. He was deeply indoctrinated with the family's pure-blood ideology and was fiercely devoted to his “mistress,” Walburga Black, and to Regulus Black.
• Salazar Slytherin's Locket: A priceless heirloom that had been in the Black family's possession for years. Unbeknownst to them, it was one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes.
• The Black Family Tapestry: A magical, enchanted tapestry in Grimmauld Place that detailed the Black family's lineage dating back to the Middle Ages. It featured burn marks where disowned family members had been removed.
• Valuable Artifacts: The house at Grimmauld Place was filled with numerous valuable and dangerous objects, including silver goblets bearing the family crest, a music box that played a sinister tune, and various items containing Dark Magic.

• Phineas Nigellus Black: A former Slytherin Headmaster of Hogwarts, widely considered the least popular headmaster the school ever had. His enchanted portrait continued to serve subsequent headmasters and assisted Harry Potter.
• Walburga Black and Orion Black: The parents of Sirius and Regulus Black. Walburga's life-size portrait remained at Number 12, Grimmauld Place after her death, shrieking insults at anyone who disturbed it.
• Sirius Black: The last male heir of the Black family. He rejected his family's values, was sorted into Gryffindor, and became a member of the Order of the Phoenix. He was Harry Potter's godfather and was tragically killed by his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange.
• Regulus Arcturus Black (R.A.B.): Sirius's younger brother. Initially a Death Eater, he became disillusioned with Lord Voldemort and sacrificed his life in an attempt to destroy the locket Horcrux.
• Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black): A sadistic and fanatically loyal Death Eater. She was one of Voldemort's most powerful and trusted followers.
• Andromeda Tonks (née Black): Sister of Bellatrix and Narcissa. She was disowned for marrying the Muggle-born wizard Ted Tonks and was the mother of Nymphadora Tonks.
• Narcissa Malfoy (née Black): Sister of Bellatrix and Andromeda. She married into the wealthy Malfoy family and was the mother of Draco Malfoy.

The family name, Black, is associated with darkness, malevolence, and death, reflecting the family's deep connection to the Dark Arts. Many members of the family were named after stars and constellations, a tradition that emphasized their lofty and “celestial” view of themselves. Examples include Sirius (the Dog Star), Regulus (a star in the Leo constellation), Bellatrix (a star in the Orion constellation), Andromeda (a constellation), and Cygnus (a constellation).

J.K. Rowling drew a detailed Black Family Tree by hand for a charity auction, which was later released to the public. This family tree revealed many more members of the family and confirmed their blood relationships to other prominent wizarding families, including the Potters, Weasleys, Longbottoms, and Crouches, illustrating the interconnectedness of the old pure-blood lines (J.K. Rowling). The film adaptation of *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix* featured a prominent depiction of the Black Family Tapestry in Grimmauld Place (film).