Sirius Black: A Quiz

Answer: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

When Rubeus Hagrid goes to retrieve baby Harry Potter from his parents' destroyed house, he meets a grieved Sirius Black. Sirius gives his flying motorcycle to Hagrid, saying that he won't need it anymore. Although we only hear about this from Hagrid, it is the first mention of Sirius in the Harry Potter series.

Answer: On television

Harry sees a picture of Sirius on the Muggle news. At the time, he doesn't know that Sirius is an escapee of Azkaban, the wizard prison.

Answer: Armed and extremely dangerous

Anybody who could escape from a wizard prison would probably be considered extremely dangerous!

Answer: A Firebolt racing broom

Sirius spends a great deal of money to buy the the top-of-the-line model after learning that Harry's Nimbus 2000 was destroyed by the Whomping Willow following a horrible Quidditch match.

Answer: Padfoot, because he can transform into a big, black dog

Sirius is also the name of the "Dog Star", so his name, literally translated, is Black Dog! As for his cohorts, Professor Remus Lupin is Moony, because he is a werewolf. (Lupin is Latin for wolf, and Remus and his twin brother Romulus were nursed by a she-wolf in Roman mythology, so his name is also very fitting.) James Potter (father of Harry and best friend of Sirius) is Prongs, because he can turn into a stag with huge antlers (which is also Harry's protective Patronus). Peter Pettigrew is Wormtail, because he can turn into a rat.

He turns out to be Scabbers, the pet of Harry's best friend Ron Weasley.

Answer: Peter Pettigrew

It's a long story about how Pettigrew betrayed his friends. In a nutshell, he gave Lord Voldemort the necessary information for him to kill the Potters. The Dark Lord's attack on baby Harry Potter backfires, though. Sirius and Pettigrew face off afterwards. Peter sets up his friend by killing a dozen Muggles as a distraction, then cutting off his own finger, and going into rat form to escape by sewer. Sirius feels responsible for the deaths of Lily and James Potter, so he doesn't put up much of a fight when taken to Azkaban. Twelve years later, he sees Peter/Scabbers on the front page of The Daily Prophet with the Weasley family in Egypt.

He escapes from Azkaban in his dog form, and heads for Hogwarts, knowing that Peter the traitor will be there with Ron Weasley.

Answer: On Buckbeak, the hippogriff

The invisibility cloak is unavailable at the time. As Hermione constantly reminds everyone, you can't Disapparate on school grounds. The Dementor's Kiss is not performed, of course, or else we would have no mention of Sirius after this. Harry and Hermione rescue both man and hippogriff using the Time-Turner. Harry is disappointed that he has to say good-bye to his godfather (yes, his godfather!), but it is clearly better that he go into hiding instead of being caught by the Ministry again.

Answer: Severus Snape

James Potter was Sirius' best friend, Lucius Malfoy was and still is a deceitful sneak, and Hagrid has only disliked Sirius under false pretenses. Snape hated Sirius (and almost everyone else) when they went to school, but in his defense, he had a hard life, which only got worse.

Answer: Narcissa Malfoy, Phineas Nigellus, Arthur Weasley

Narcissa is Sirius' cousin, Phineas his great-great-grandfather, Arthur his second cousin once removed. The other choices contain three people at least partly Muggle-born (Hermione, Dean, and Nymphadora), Narcissa's sisters (Andromeda and Bellatrix), Sirius' brother (Regulus), a half-breed (Hagrid, the half-giant), Sirius' second cousin (Araminta), and his cousin by marriage (Molly).

The whole concept of "pure blood" is pure garbage, as we all know!

Answer: Bellatrix Lestrange

Yes, the one responsible for Sirius' death is his evil cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. As they duel in the Department of Mysteries, she hits him with a powerful Stunning Spell that knocks him through an archway, which seemingly kills him. Bellatrix followed in her cousin's footsteps by escaping from Azkaban, although she had help from Voldemort.

The reason she was in the prison was because she and three other Death Eaters tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom (parents of Neville) into insanity with the Cruciatus Curse.