As Black As They're Painted? Trivia Quiz

Answer: He was the least popular Headmaster of Hogwarts

We first learn this interesting tidbit about Phineas Nigellus Black in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" when Sirius talks to Harry about his family tree at 12 Grimmauld Place. We also encounter Sirius's great-great-grandfather (or, rather, his portrait) himself more than once over the course of the later books.

Phineas Nigellus may indeed have been the least popular Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry due to his great dislike of students, whom he considered to be obstinate, selfish and capricious. It's possible, though, that he might have felt a little warmer towards the students in his own house, Slytherin, whom he described as "brave, but not stupid".

From his various remarks and his use of the offensive term "Mudblood" in relation to Muggle-born wizards, we can infer that Phineas Nigellus shared his family's views on blood purity. It is further substantiated by the fact that he disowned his own son, Phineas, for supporting Muggle rights.

On the other hand, however begrudgingly he might have done it, in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" he did help Harry, Ron and Hermione on several occasions by providing them with necessary information, and also by assisting Snape in his plan to pass the Gryffindor sword on to them. Also, despite his apparent dislike of his great-great-grandson Sirius, he was visibly upset by his premature death at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange earlier in the series.

Verdict: Not completely black-hearted but with darker tendencies - perhaps light charcoal.

Answer: His trousers

The "snogging" part may have been an exaggeration on Sirius's part, as he was not overly fond of his family's house-elf. Kreacher, however, was visibly upset when Sirius threw away his father's ring during the house cleaning at 12 Grimmauld Place a little later in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix".

Only a few facts are known about Orion Black from the books: similarly to the majority of the members of the Black family, he was a staunch supporter of blood purity in wizarding families, and had no qualms about disowning his son, Sirius, for not sharing these values. He also at first approved of Voldemort's ideas regarding "the purification of the wizarding race", although he was not so far gone as to approve of his methods. It can be inferred from the books that he withdrew his support of the Death Eaters once Voldemort showed what he was truly about.

Another little tidbit that can be learned about Orion Black from the books is that he may have been quite proficient in defensive magic, as during his residence there he protected his family home of 12 Grimmauld Place with "every security measure known to Wizard-kind".

Verdict: Quite black-hearted, but with some redeeming qualities - let's say dark charcoal.

Answer: Dolores Umbridge

Although Harry Potter never met Sirius's mother in person, he was quite familiar with her pure-blood mania thanks to the portrait of her that hung at 12 Grimmauld Place and was prone to shout insults at anyone whom she considered unworthy to enter her family's home (the list was quite long and included half-bloods, Muggle-born wizards, "blood traitors" and basically anyone not in the pure-blood elite).

She also had a habit of removing anyone deemed unworthy from the Black family tree displayed in the hall of 12 Grimmauld Place, and personally blasted her elder son's name from the tapestry when he ran away from home at sixteen.

Similarly to her husband Orion, who was also her second cousin, she wasn't ready to fully support Voldemort once she realized to what lengths he was prepared to go to get power. She also seemed to be quite fond of her younger son, Regulus, and it was his premature death that might have driven her to insanity in the last years of her life.

Verdict: Perhaps a little darker than her husband, but still not totally black-hearted.

Answer: Pass a Ministry Bill making Muggle-hunting legal

Sirius Black's talk about his family tree in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was a gold mine of information on various members of the House of Black, including his mother's cousin Araminta Meliflua, who came up with the infamous idea of legalizing Muggle-hunting. Unfortunately, we know nothing more of Araminta Meliflua and thus are not able to judge whether she had any redeeming qualities that would allow us to at least partially excuse her pure-blood obsession. Therefore, on the basis of her known actions he must conclude that her heart was as black as her name.

Interestingly, although mentioned in the books, Araminta Meliflua does not appear on the hand-drawn Black family tree that J.K. Rowling donated to Book Aid International in January 2006, which has led to some speculation within the fandom as to how exactly she is related to the Black family.

Her name is no less mysterious than her heritage. Meliflua most probably derives from the Latin mellifluus, "flowing like honey", but the origin of the name Araminta is less clear. It may have been coined by Sir John Vanbrugh in his work "The Confederacy" in 1705, however, as it also appears in the 1693 play "The Old Bachelor" by William Congreve, it may well stem from a different source.

Verdict: Heart as black as night.

Answer: Left money in his will to his disowned nephew

Sirius's uncle Alphard died about a year after his nephew ran away from home, and his will allowed Sirius to become independent at the age of seventeen. For his actions uncle Alphard was posthumously burned off the family tapestry by Sirius's mother Walburga.

Similarly to (possibly his cousin) Araminta Meliflua, Alphard Black was mentioned just once and only briefly in the course of the books, and thus we cannot be sure whether his kindness towards his nephew was a one-time act, or whether empathy, rebelliousness and other qualities his action suggests were the true hallmarks of his character. His nephew seemed to think quite well of him, therefore the latter is more likely.

His name also suggests that J.K. Rowling meant him to be a generally positive character. Like the majority of the members of the House of Black, Alphard Black was named after a star, specifically the brightest star in the constellation Hydra. Its name can be translated from Arabic as "the solitary one", which could suggest that Alphard was meant to stand apart from the rest of his family. This star has also been dubbed "the heart of the snake" by the astronomer Tycho Brahe, which could also be an allusion to the fact that he possessed some of the good qualities, such as kindness and compassion, that the rest of his family lacked.

Verdict: From what we know of him - his heart was whiter than white.

Answer: Standing trial for her crimes

Bellatrix is probably the most notorious member of the House of Black and the only one who, despite her strong presence in the later books, never demonstrated any redeeming qualities that could at least in part atone for her crimes.

She was the most loyal and proud supporter of Voldemort, and, unlike the majority of other former Death Eaters, considered it an honor to go to Azkaban for him after his initial downfall. It was during her trial shortly after the end of the First Wizarding War, which Harry witnessed in Dumbledore's Pensieve in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", that he he saw her for the first time.

She was responsible, among others, for the deaths of at least two members of her family - her cousin Sirius Black and her niece Nymphadora Tonks, as well as for torturing Neville Longbottom's parents into permanent insanity. And the Longbottoms may not have been the only victims of Bellatrix that suffered such a fate, as she was especially fond of the Cruciatus Curse and used it on more than a few occasions throughout the books.

To be fair to her, she did seem to have some warm feelings towards her sister, Narcissa, and her nephew Draco, however, she wouldn't have hesitated to sacrifice either of them in the service of her Lord, with whom she was obsessively in love.

Verdict: As much a black-hearted villain as they come.

Answer: Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions

Although very close to her sister Bellatrix, Narcissa never shared her penchant for violence and cruelty. Like most of her family, she supported the philosophy of blood purity in wizarding families, however, she never personally joined the Death Eaters. Her beliefs were mainly manifested through her contemptuous attitude towards those of "impure blood". The episode at Madam Malkin's, although its roots go a little deeper, is a typical example of her attitude - she insulted the store owner by saying that she wouldn't frequent the shop again because of the kind of "scum" that shops there (meaning Harry, Ron and Hermione, none of whom could satisfy her notion of pure-blood elite).

She was fiercely devoted to her family, appeared to have an affectionate relationship with her husband Lucius and adored her son Draco. She later became completely disillusioned with Voldemort and his organization when he threatened her son in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", first going behind his back in persuading Severus Snape to make an Unbreakable Vow to look after Draco, and finally betraying Voldemort at the end of the series by lying to him about Harry's death.

Verdict: Not a black-hearted villain at all, at most in the vicinity of middle-to-dark grays.

Answer: She closely resembled her sister Bellatrix in appearance

Andromeda Tonks is featured least prominently of the three Black sisters in the books, and appeared herself only once early in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". The similarity of appearance between Andromeda and her elder sister Bellatrix, especially in low light, was such that Harry was ready to attack her the first time he saw her. However, once he looked at her better, he realized that she had lighter hair and kinder eyes.

Despite their familial resemblance, Andromeda didn't share her sister's ideas on blood purity, and preferred to marry her love Ted Tonks instead of making a "respectable pure-blood marriage" that was expected of her. It appears that Andromeda and her husband didn't join the Order of the Phoenix, however, they were sympathetic towards the organization and even allowed their home to be used as one of the safe houses for the Order. They also never revealed any information about the Order when interrogated and tortured by the Death Eaters later in the series.

After the deaths of most of her family during the Second Wizarding War, Andromeda took care, with the help of his godfather Harry Potter, of her grandson Teddy Lupin.

Verdict: Definitely a positive character with minor flaws - probably light ash-gray.

Answer: Seeker

Regulus Black was a complex personality who was never fully understood either by his brother or his parents. In his early years he was a perfect son of the House of Black, proud of his heritage, ready to uphold his family traditions and a strong believer in pure-blood supremacy. He was a fan of Lord Voldemort for many years and cherished the dream of becoming a Death Eater, which he realized at the age of sixteen.

However, similarly to his parents, Regulus soon became disillusioned with his idol once he showed his true colors. The final straw came when Voldemort asked him for the use of the family house-elf, Kreacher, for testing the defenses around his Horcrux, and subsequently left him to die. Regulus, who had great affection for Kreacher, decided to leave the Death Eaters for good and destroy the Horcrux in the process. He knew that it was a suicide mission, and he forbade Kreacher to tell anyone, including his brother, about the circumstances of his death to protect them from the Death Eaters. Thus, in his last selfless act he managed to at least partially redeem his past actions and showed himself to be a much more decent man than his brother, most probably, had ever believed him to be.

Verdict: He started off very dark but improved considerably later in life - thus he remains snugly in the mid-grays.

Answer: The Forbidden Forest

The last time Harry talked to his godfather was after his death, when he summoned the shadow of him with the help of the Resurrection Stone on his way to sacrifice himself to Lord Voldemort, along with his mother, father and Remus Lupin (at the end of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"). Sirius assured him that dying was not painful and promised to stay with him until the end.

Sirius Black may have been one of the most likable characters in the "Harry Potter" series, however, he was far from perfect. Especially during his schooldays he was quite arrogant and unsympathetic to others, especially to the people he disliked. His enjoyed playing pranks on others, which sometimes bordered on bullying or could result in serious harm (it's particularly relevant to the pranks he played on Severus Snape). Later in life he quite often proved to be reckless and immature, and sometimes driven by his explosive temper to actions that he would probably later regret.

On the other hand, he was brave and selfless in his desire to protect those he loved. A lot of his reckless actions stemmed from his reluctance to let others risk their lives while he remained behind in safety. Spending almost a third of his life in Azkaban must also have negatively affected his emotional development and might have been the cause of his persistent immaturity. Overall, he was a good person, but, in J.K. Rowling's words, "not wholly wonderful" (http://www.accio-quote.org/jkrwebsite.html).

Verdict: Not a villain, but far from perfect - light to mid-grays.