49 Fun Facts About Sirius Black

What is Sirius Black's relationship to Harry Potter?

Godfather: James and Lily chose him when Harry was born. On the very night he proves his innocence to Harry, he asks whether Harry would like to leave the Dursleys and live with him.

In which book is Sirius first mentioned, as the lender of a flying motorbike?

Philosopher's Stone, sold as Sorcerer's Stone in the US: Hagrid names him in chapter one as the bike's owner. An early draft gave Sirius a whole scene there, cut down to that one mention.

Which code name does Sirius ask Harry, Ron and Hermione to use when they talk about him?

Snuffles is the name he asks for in Goblet of Fire, because he is still a wanted man and anyone at Hogwarts might overhear them. Nobody listening would connect so silly a pet name with a fugitive.

What of Sirius's dead mother still screams at visitors to the family home?

Her portrait is stuck fast to the hall wall, so the Order has to creep past it rather than set her off. She and her husband Orion were second cousins, both born Blacks.

What was the name of Sirius's younger brother?

Regulus Arcturus Black is the R.A.B. of the fake locket. Sirius died thinking his brother had simply lost his nerve, never learning that he had turned on Voldemort and died for it.

Which of his three cousins was Sirius's favourite?

Andromeda Tonks broke with the family much as he did: she married Ted Tonks, a Muggle-born wizard, and their daughter Nymphadora grew up to join the Order of the Phoenix.

The Black family names its children after what?

Stars and constellations: his father was Orion and his grandfathers Arcturus and Pollux. The first Sirius Black died as a boy, and his brother, a future Hogwarts headmaster, gave the name to his own son; the runaway was the third.

Which Hogwarts house was Sirius sorted into, breaking with the rest of his family?

Gryffindor, where almost every other Black had been a Slytherin. He rubbed it in at home by covering his bedroom walls with his house's banners, stuck on so firmly that his parents could never take them down.

Which enchanted object did Sirius and his three closest friends make while they were students at Hogwarts?

The Marauder's Map shows everyone inside Hogwarts by name. Years later it shows Lupin a man who is supposed to be dead, Peter Pettigrew, which is how the truth about Sirius starts to come out.

Why did Sirius, James and Peter secretly become Animagi?

To keep a werewolf friend company: as animals they could safely stay beside Lupin at full moon. It took them the best part of three years to learn how, and none of them ever registered with the Ministry.

Whom does Sirius attack on Halloween for refusing to let him into a Hogwarts tower?

The Fat Lady: he slashes her canvas when she will not open up without the password. Her stand-in, Sir Cadogan, the only painting willing to take the job, later lets Sirius straight in because he reads out a stolen list of passwords.

What nickname do Sirius's closest school friends call him?

Padfoot comes from the shape he takes as an Animagus, as do Prongs and Wormtail. Only Moony is different: Lupin's name points to something he never chose.

What did Sirius's mother burn his name off when he ran away?

Tapestry: the Blacks' family tree was woven into one, and she burned off anyone who broke with their pure-blood creed. At sixteen he moved in with James Potter's parents, who treated him as a second son.

Which relative left Sirius a large inheritance that made him financially independent?

His Uncle Alphard, his mother's brother, left him enough gold to set up a home of his own at seventeen. From then on the runaway never needed anything from his parents again.

What role did Sirius play at James and Lily's wedding?

Best man, and barely out of school when he stood up beside James. That closeness is why, when the Potters were betrayed a few years later, he was the friend everyone blamed.

Which spell hid the Potters and required a Secret Keeper?

The Fidelius Charm seals a secret inside one living person. While that Secret Keeper stayed silent, Voldemort could have pressed his nose to the Potters' window and still not have found them.

Why did Sirius urge the Potters to make Pettigrew their Secret Keeper instead?

As a bluff to fool Voldemort: Sirius was the obvious choice and expected to be hunted, so he put forward a friend nobody would suspect. That friend was already Voldemort's spy inside the Order.

Which body part did Pettigrew leave behind when he framed Sirius for murder?

A finger, cut off by his own hand before he blew the street apart and fled into the sewer as a rat. With a crowd of witnesses to the blast, nobody thought to look for a living Pettigrew.

Who sent Sirius to Azkaban without a trial?

Barty Crouch Sr, then head of magical law enforcement, had him locked up without a hearing. Sirius later said Crouch had become as ruthless and cruel as many of the Dark wizards he was hunting.

What did Sirius spot on the front page of the Daily Prophet that drove him to escape?

Scabbers on Ron Weasley's shoulder, in a family photo: Sirius knew the rat at once as Pettigrew. The newspaper had been handed to him by the Minister for Magic himself, during an inspection of the prison.

How did Sirius physically get out of his Azkaban cell?

He slipped through the bars as a thin dog: years of prison had starved him gaunt enough to fit between them, and the Dementors could barely sense an animal's simpler mind going past.

Which omen of death does Harry mistake the dog-form Sirius for?

The Grim is a giant spectral dog said to haunt churchyards, and Professor Trelawney also finds it in Harry's teacup. After that, every glimpse of the stray watching him looks like her prediction coming true.

Which cat befriends Sirius and helps him hunt the traitor Pettigrew?

Crookshanks, who is half-Kneazle, could tell at once that the big stray was no ordinary dog. He went on to steal a list of passwords from Neville so that Sirius could get into the castle.

What does Sirius anonymously send Harry for Christmas in his third year?

A Firebolt, ordered in Harry's name but paid for out of Sirius's own Gringotts vault. McGonagall confiscated it on the spot, fearing the wanted man had sent it jinxed.

What does Sirius give Harry so they can talk in secret, a gift Harry leaves unopened until too late?

A two-way mirror, one of a pair he and James had used to talk when apart at school. Harry left the parcel unopened so as not to tempt Sirius out of hiding, and found it only after he had died.

What sentence is Sirius given after his capture at Hogwarts?

The Dementor's Kiss sucks out the soul and leaves the body alive, a fate called worse than death. Harry and Hermione free him first, and he flies off on a hippogriff that had also been condemned.

Where does Sirius hide while near Hogsmeade in Goblet of Fire?

A cave in the hills, shared with Buckbeak, where he lived mostly on rats. An early draft was kinder: a dog-loving witch called Mopsy took the stray in, until she was cut from the book.

Which magazine claimed that Sirius was really Stubby Boardman, a retired pop singer?

The Quibbler ran it as a scoop: its witness swore the man could not be the killer because he had been having dinner with her that night. The singer had quit after being hit on the ear by a turnip.

What is the address of the Black family home Sirius turns into Order headquarters?

Number 12 Grimmauld Place came to him as the last of the Blacks, and he handed the house he had once run away from to the Order. With a manhunt on, he then could not set foot outside it.

What is the name of the Black family house-elf Sirius mistreats?

Kreacher took a snapped 'get out' from Sirius as leave to quit the house altogether. He went straight to Narcissa Malfoy and began passing on whatever he could about his master.

Who spots Sirius's dog disguise on the platform at King's Cross in Order of the Phoenix?

Lucius Malfoy and his son Draco both knew the dog for who he was, and Draco taunted Harry about it on the train. The sighting brought fresh warnings, and Sirius was shut indoors again.

Which Order member rebukes Sirius for treating Harry as though he were James?

Molly Weasley tells him bluntly that Harry is not his dead best friend. Rowling drew the same line: Harry craved a father, but Sirius, jailed at about twenty-two, came out more of a pal than a parent.

What lures Harry to the Department of Mysteries in Order of the Phoenix?

A false vision of Sirius being tortured, planted in Harry's mind by Voldemort. Sirius was safe at home the whole time, and it was coming to Harry's rescue that cost him his life.

Who kills Sirius?

Bellatrix Lestrange is his own cousin, and he is taunting her for failing to land a hit when her curse strikes him. Rowling said that writing the scene left her in tears in her kitchen.

Through what does Sirius fall to his death?

A veil hanging in an ancient stone archway: he falls through it and there is no body to recover. Harry and Luna can both hear voices whispering just behind it.

Which classmate did a teenage Sirius trick into heading for the Shrieking Shack, a prank that nearly killed him?

Severus Snape would have died if James Potter had not gone after him and pulled him back. Snape never forgave either of them, insisting James had only been saving his own skin.

Where is the Resurrection Stone hidden when Sirius makes his final appearance?

Inside the golden Snitch, which opens for Harry only as he walks out to die. Sirius appears beside him with Harry's parents and promises that dying is quicker and easier than falling asleep.

What does Harry name his first son?

James Sirius carries the names of Harry's father and of Sirius, and the boy lived up to both: Rowling's guess was that he sneaked a prized heirloom out of his father's desk, a troublemaker in their tradition.

Who chases Sirius and James in Rowling's 800-word prequel story?

Two Muggle policemen corner them for speeding. Rowling wrote the story by hand on a single card for a charity auction, where it sold for £25,000, and the card was later stolen in a burglary.

Which Christmas gift from Sirius can open any lock and undo any knot?

A penknife, with an attachment for every lock and knot. Harry later tries it on a sealed door in the Department of Mysteries, and the door wins: the blade melts away.

Which word did Gary Oldman use in 2023 for his own performance as Sirius?

Mediocre was his verdict on his own acting, and it made headlines. At Cannes the next year he said he meant no slight on the films: he is hypercritical of all his work, and being satisfied would be the death of him.

Whose idea were Sirius's tattoos in the Prisoner of Azkaban film?

Alfonso Cuarón, the film's director, came up with the tattoos, Oldman told the BBC; the books never mention any. Oldman's own contribution was turning up with long hair and a beard.

What did Gary Oldman say he might have done had he read ahead before playing Sirius?

Approached the role differently, he said in 2024: he had started with only Prisoner of Azkaban to go on, 'one book in the library of Sirius Black'.

How does Sirius appear in the Goblet of Fire film?

As a face in the hearth of Harry's common room, with Oldman supplying the voice. The novel has Sirius writing, hiding nearby and meeting Harry in person; the film cuts all of it down to that one scene.

Which pet does Sirius give Ron at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban?

A tiny owl brings Sirius's letter to the train, and he tells Ron to keep the bird, since Ron has just lost a pet because of him. Ginny names the excitable creature Pigwidgeon.

What colour are Sirius's eyes in the books?

Grey eyes went with the careless good looks of his youth. After twelve years in Azkaban, Harry's first sight of him is a face so wasted that it might have belonged to a corpse.

Why, according to Sirius, was he never made a prefect?

Too much time in detention with James, he tells Harry. He was a known troublemaker at school, and when Harry later asks him about those days he admits that he and his friends were idiots.

Why did Rowling say Sirius never married?

Too busy being a rebel, she told an Edinburgh festival audience in 2004. Sirius was in prison by about twenty-two and never did settle down.

Which actor paid £30,000 at auction for Rowling's hand-drawn Black family tree?

Daniel Radcliffe was 16, and his mother did the bidding for him at the Book Aid International sale. He went home with a handwritten history of Sirius's family.