When thinking of Harry Potter as a family Christmas movie, a few particular scenes come to mind. There’s Harry receiving the invisibility cloak for Christmas in the first film, and Ron wearing one of many Weasley sweaters. There’s the Great Hall decorated out with multiple Christmas trees, and the Yule Ball which takes place over the holiday in the fourth movie. In the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry and company spend the holiday at 12 Grimmauld Place, the ancestral home of the Black family, now owned by his godfather Sirius Black. While the movies use this opportunity to go into a little bit of the Black family history, they also leave out some interesting details from the books.
Here are ten things you might not know about Sirius’s home and family if you only ever watched the films.
The Black Family Motto
Did you know that the “Noble and Ancient House of Black” has a family motto? It’s not something Sirius would want many people to hear, and it’s certainly not something he supports or believes in, but that doesn’t change the fact that the motto exists nonetheless. “Toujours pur,” the motto simply states, meaning, “Always pure.”
While Sirius does mention his family’s obsession with pureblood status on film, it certainly does not go into the incredible detail that exists around his ancestors’ obsession.
The Sacred 28
The pureblood obsession runs deep in the Black family, and they pride themselves especially as being known as one of the “Sacred 28.” That means, as of the 1930s, the Blacks were known as one of the 28 remaining families in England that could, in fact, claim to still have pureblood genetic lines.
By the time Sirius takes over as keeper of the family home, he claims that no families are really pureblood anymore, but you never would have heard his parents or most of the other member families of the Sacred 28 admit such a thing. A few other families who used to be one of the Sacred 28 consist of The Malfoys, Crouches, Longbottoms, Lestranges, Ollivanders, and Weasleys.
Relatives
Given their pureblood obsession, it makes sense that the Blacks were also related to many of the other “pureblood” families. Not only does The Noble House of Black have relations amongst the Malfoys and the Lestranges, but also the Weasley, Tonks, and Prewett families. They can also call one Hogwarts Headmaster, Phineas Nigellus Black, family. Phineas is technically the great-great-grandfather to Sirius. While his portrait does make an appearance in the Harry Potter films, he isn’t mentioned by name. Read the books if you’d like to see Phineas’s headmaster portrait talk to Dumbledore, Sirius, and Harry himself.
First Cousins
Not all relations, like Phineas above, are little known names in the movies. The Black family actually ties together some of the stars of the story as well. Nymphadora Tonks, the quirky Auror herself, whose mother was Andromeda Black/Tonks, is actually first cousins with one, Draco Malfoy.
That’s right, though it’s never mentioned on screen, Tonks and Draco are first cousins, their mothers having been two out of three Black sisters, alongside Bellatrix Black/Lestrange. That’s quite a combination and explains exactly why holidays were not always celebrated together in the more recent history of the family.
Disowned
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius shows Harry the Black Family Tree, which takes up an entire wall within Grimmauld Place.
He points out his own branch, where his likeness has been burned off by his mother, due to his disagreeing with the family beliefs and running away. Sirius, however, was not the only Black family member to be disowned (and thus removed from the family tree). Nymphadora Tonks’ mother, Andromeda Black/Tonks was also disowned by the family when she married Edward Tonks, a muggle-born wizard, and a Hufflepuff. Sirius also admits that Andromeda was always his favorite cousin.
Muggle Hunting
A less admirable family member was Araminta Meliflua, first cousin to Sirius’ mother, Walburga. Araminta was famous, both in the family and outside of it, for wanting to legalize muggle hunting. She even spoke to the minister of magic about the idea many, many years ago. While the fandom respects Andromeda Tonks for many reasons, (never explored in the movies, of course) it is easy to see that she did not have much competition when it came to be called Sirius’ “favorite cousin.”
Walburga’s Portrait
When Harry enters Grimmauld Place for the first time on screen he spots Sirius down the dark hall. In the books it is the portrait of Sirius’s mother that greets him, screaming from its place on the wall. Walburga’s portrait is particularly loud and disagreeable, shouting all sorts of insults at the “mudbloods and blood traitors” using her home as headquarters. Her portrait even has curtains that are pulled over it to help muffle her screaming and keep her from watching the “blood traitors” taking over her property. As Sirius tells Harry, “Charming woman.”
House Elf Heads
Besides the tapestry of the Black Family Tree and Walburga’s portrait, number 12 Grimmauld Place was also known for decorating its corridors with the heads of the house-elves that had served the family. Kreacher, in the books, makes it clear he wants nothing less than this honor once he kicks the bucket.
The practice was gruesome and, thankfully, uncommon and particular to the Black Family. One can be relieved that not even Dobby’s service to the Malfoys would have ended in this particular way had Harry not helped to free him.
End of the Male Line
With the death of Sirius, at the hands of his aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange, the male line of the House of Black, is ended.
Sirius’ brother, Regulus, perished some years before when it was discovered he was no longer loyal to the Death Eaters. The Black Family line is only present through the survivors that remain of Sirius’ cousins, in particular, Draco Malfoy and Teddy Lupin.
The name of the great and noble ancient house, however, comes to an end when Sirius falls through the veil in the Department of Mysteries while trying to protect his godson.
Inheritance
As Sirius’ godson and, as Sirius was the last member of the Black family line, Harry inherits not only number 12 Grimmauld Place from Sirius, but also what remains of the Black Family fortune as well.
It’s never specified how much he inherits upon Sirius’s death, but there were enough galleons in the vault for Sirius to secretly purchase Harry the very expensive Firebolt broomstick in Harry’s third year while on the run. It is probably safe to say the amount left to Harry was not insignificant.
