Arcturus Orion Black III (12 December, 1901 - 27 February, 1991) was an English pure-blood wizard, the first-born son and heir to Sirius Arcturus Black, also known as Sirius Black II, and Hesper Pretoria Black (née Gamp). He was born in London, England, and christened in the music room of Black Manor in Tisbury, Wiltshire, England, on 14 December, 1901. He had two younger siblings, the first being a younger sister, Lycoris Black, and the second being a younger brother, Regulus Black (also known as Regulus Black III).
Arcturus attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1913 to 1920, and married Melania E. Macmillan, daughter of Ambrose Macmillan II and Blodwen Macmillan (née Carrow), in 1923. He became the father to two children, Lucretia (b. 1925) and Orion (b. 1929), and succeeded his father as Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black in 1952. He was head of the family for a period of 39 years, until his death in 1991.
Biography[]
Early life (1901-1912)[]
Arcturus was born on 12 December, 1901, to Sirius Black II and his wife Hesper Black (née Gamp) in London, England. He was believed to have been born in Grimmauld Place, the ancestral home of the male line of Blacks, the house sitting in Islington borough since the mid-18th century.
Arcturus enjoyed a very social childhood. He was instructed in the ways of his Noble House, and studied several languages, including French, German, Latin, and Gobbledegook. He learned calligraphy, astronomy, and many other subjects in his early childhood. That being said, he was also a very socialised child. His parents often hosted get-togethers at No. 12 and were often invited to other pure-bloods' homes.
Arcturus and his younger brother, Regulus, photographed in 1914.
On his mother’s side, Arcturus had a total of twenty first cousins. This was because the Most Ancient House of Gamp produced eight children that lived to adulthood, the last of which being his mother, Hesper, seven of which being girls.
Among Arcturus, Lycoris, and Regulus’s other maternal cousins were sisters Philippa and Boudica Tremblay (b. 1902 and 1904, respectively). They were the daughters of Hesper Black’s sister Millicent (b. 1870) and husband Rufus Tremblay. The Tremblays were most well known as an important French wizarding family. However, Rufus was a member of the English branch, which was believed to have broken off from the main French line in the late 1780s. Philippa and Boudica spent a lot of time with the Black siblings as they grew up, and were both sorted into Slytherin. They were very welcome with the Blacks.
Hesper Gamp Black’s second oldest sister was Hannah Gamp (1871-1956), who married a Scottish pureblood wizard by the name of Cyril MacDougal. They had two children that survived to adulthood, Moira MacDougal (1895-1939) and Florus MacDougal (1901-1982). Moira MacDougal was named after the third Gamp daughter, Moira Gamp, who died young of dragon pox.
Hesper Gamp Black’s fourth oldest sister was Marian (1873-1955), who married an English pureblood wizard, Amos Davies (1874-1948). They had two children together, Reginald (b. 1901) and Beatrix (b. 1902), both of which were sorted into Ravenclaw.
Hesper Gamp Black’s fifth oldest sister, Henrietta (1874-1960) married a pureblood English wizard by the name of Gresham Goshawk (1874-1968). The Goshawks were known to be very poor, as well as traditionally Ravenclaw, like the Davies, though the Davies had more wealth to their name. The Gamps attempted to reject the match at first, but Henrietta insisted, and together they had five children, which included Claribel (b. 1899), Griselda (b. 1900), Muriel (b. 1901), Gresham Jr (b. 1903), and Alban (b. 1904). The Blacks did not consort with the Goshawks often, and the children ignored each other at school, causing rifts, despite all five of them being sorted into Slytherin.
Hesper Gamp Black’s sixth oldest sister was Gwendoline Gamp (1875-1949), who married Aberforth Marchbanks (1875-1968). Together they had three children, Magdalene (b. 1895), Jemima (b. 1899), and Hugh (b. 1901). The Gamps disapproved of the Marchbanks’ traditionally light magical practices. The Blacks did not consort with them often. However, once the two daughters were sorted into Gryffindor and Hugh was sorted into Hufflepuff, they were shunned entirely.
Hesper Gamp Black’s closest sister was the one born the year before her- Martha, born 2 Jul 1878. She married a half-blood, which wasn’t entirely frowned upon by the Gamps, due to Martha’s low place among the family, being the second to youngest daughter. However, Edmund Moore (1876-1922) and his daughters, Clara (b. 1899) and Louise (b. 1902) were shunned by the Blacks.
On his father's side of the family, Arcturus had around seven cousins, not including the children of Phineas Nigellus Black II, who was disowned for his progressive beliefs about muggle-borns around the time that Arcturus was born. They included the children of Arcturus's uncle, Cygnus Black II, Pollux (b. 1902), Cassiopeia (b. 1913), Marius (b. 1914), and Dorea (b. 1920). Through his uncle, Arcturus Black II (Arcturus's namesake and his father's closest brother), he had three. They were Callidora (b. 1915) and twins Cedrella and Charis (b. 1919).
It is believed that Arcturus's closest friends in childhood consisted of Philippa Tremblay and her younger sister, Boudica, who was reportedly close to his younger sister Lycoris. He reportedly also spent a lot of time with Hugh Marchbanks (b. 1901), who was the son of his aunt Gwendoline. However, his childhood best friend was Pollux (b. 1902).
Hogwarts years (1913-1920)[]
Arcturus received his Hogwarts letter in the summer of 1913. He was believed to have purchased a wand made of elm and dragon heartstring at Ollivander's Wand Shop some time before attending. He boarded the Hogwarts Express in London with his cousin Pollux, who would be a first year as well, and they shared a compartment with their cousin Louise Moore, who was also a first year. Louise reportedly planned to make Slytherin to prove to her aunt Hesper that she was worth spending time with, because she was a half-blood.
Arcturus with his little cousin, Cassiopeia, in 1915.
Arcturus was sorted into Slytherin House with his cousin Pollux, while his cousin Louise was, inevitably, put into Hufflepuff. They hoped to remain friends but as they aged, Louise and the rest of her family were shunned from the Blacks, and they refused to consort with each other. Arcturus shared a dormitory with Ivor Greengrass, Cyrus Macmillan, and his cousin Pollux. Arcturus became close with Cyrus Macmillan over the years, and in the future married his older sister, Melania. The Macmillans traditionally were a house divided, with one branch drifting toward the darker of magics, while the other side tried to remain as light as they could. Cyrus and his sister Melania were from the darker of branches, the children of Ambrose Macmillan and his wife Blodwen Macmillan (née Carrow), and were found acceptable to befriend.
Arcturus also became close to Ivor Greengrass, who was the son of Ivor Greengrass Snr and his wife Ottoline Greengrass (née Prewett). The House of Greengrass has always been a neutral family and Ivor proved to be a very good friend to Arcturus over the years.
Engagement and marriage (1921-1929)[]
Arcturus became infatuated with the older sister of his friend Cyrus Macmillan in his sixth year of school. They began a relationship and Arcturus asked his parents if he would be able to court her when the time came. This was very out of the ordinary for most witches and wizards in Britain at this time- most of them started with courting first, relationship second. However, Arcturus was not sure if he wanted to marry her from the beginning, but he knew that from watching the dynamics of the Macmillan family that they would be suitable.
After his parents urged him to abandon forging a relationship first before another wizard decided to step in, Arcturus entered a courtship with Melania in late 1921, at the age of 20. They found each other to be acceptable and married in 1923, in a ceremony that was so extravagant that the Daily Prophet made it their front page. As the heir to the Noble and Ancient House of Black, Arcturus was extremely popular with society witches and many of them were put out that he decided to marry Melania, with many of them questioning her family's true loyalties. While it was true that the Macmillan family was a house divided, the two branches did not speak to each other and those questions were put to rest. Melania and all of her siblings had been in Slytherin at Hogwarts and each made respectable pureblood marriages.
After the wedding, Arcturus and Melania embarked on a holiday around the world. They visited Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and New York City in the United States of America before finally coming home. The holiday lasted six months and photos of the trip can be found in the Black family archives.
Lucretia and Orion Black, Christmas 1931. Shared in the Daily Prophet.
Their first child, Lucretia Misapinoa Black, was born on 12 April, 1925. Her birth was marked by the Daily Prophet in a congratulatory announcement that took up a quarter of a page. A few years later, their son and heir, Orion Regulus Black, was born on 18 May, 1929. His birth was marked by pomp and celebration. Orion was the new Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and witches and wizards around the United Kingdom were often interested to see photographs of the tot, which were published in the Daily Prophet.
Raising children (1930s)[]
Arcturus and his family lived at Grimmauld Place during their children's childhoods. Arcturus's father, Sirius, moved out of the house when his wife Hesper passed away on 11 January 1930, most likely to one of the other Black family properties. It marked the head's retreat into seclusion, rarely commenting on wizarding matters or politics, and leaving most of the Head's responsibilities to his son.
Arcturus tried to raise Lucretia and Orion in the same way that he was raised. Melania instructed them in German and Arcturus instructed his children in French and Latin, at first, then delegating those responsibilities to a tutor when he no longer had the time. Lucretia was taught to paint and had numerous other hobbies, while Orion liked to play on his broom.
Humanitarian work (1940s)[]
Arcturus was awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, for "Services to the Ministry" in 1945 for donating a large sum of money in order to rebuild magical Britain, which had been crumbling due to the result of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald terrorising the country. Arcturus never directly interfered before the conflict ended, but put up a large front of money in order to fix infrastructure, which benefited all witches and wizards. His charitable donation, which was the first, encouraged other pure-bloods, such as Septimus Malfoy (who also received an Order of Merlin for this endeavour) to put up money to rebuild.
At the time, Arcturus was scrutinised by the greater wizarding community for putting up such funds, and some pure-bloods saw this as a condemnation of Grindelwald and everything he stood for. This caused a major political scandal for the House of Black, which required a statement from the Head, Sirius Black II (1877-1952), to settle the debacle. His words were printed in the Daily Prophet on the second page, writing that "my son's charitable donation was not meant to be seen as representative of the Family's views or political standings. It was but a choice of his own to help the needy in the Wizarding World, after a conflict which has no doubt desecrated many. I urge the greater Wizarding community to view the contribution without boundaries, as the British Wizarding World rebuilds itself after such devastation and loss of life."
It is unknown whether Arcturus's donation was motivated by political advancement or because he may have witnessed the devastations Wizarding Britain experienced because of the Dark Lord Grindelwald. Regardless, his actions were able to convince even Septimus Malfoy, a notoriously slippery individual, into donating as well.
Role as a grandfather and patriarch (1950-1970)[]
His daughter Lucretia married Ignatius Prewett, a member of the Noble and Ancient House of Prewett, in 1950, but their marriage was childless. It was understood that they attempted to have children, but were unsuccessful. Arcturus displeased of the match, but did not attempt to stop the union. Lucretia moved to Oxfordshire with her husband and they would visit Arcturus and Melania in London often, but it is understood that they were not close to the rest of the Prewetts.
His son Orion married the daughter of Arcturus's cousin Pollux, on the suggestion of Pollux. Orion originally did not want to marry anyone, and there may have been some wrangling on Pollux and Arcturus's part to get him to agree. Arcturus likely threatened his son with arranging him to marry a decidedly more unpleasant witch, and because Orion and Walburga had known each other since childhood, Orion was eventually forced to agree. Walburga, on the other hand, had always been infatuated with her second cousin, which Orion had found odd. However, Walburga was nearly thirty-four when they entered the courtship, which was considered late for a society witch. It was entirely possible that she had been waiting for Orion, who was nearly thirty and still unmarried.
Orion and Walburga married on 28 June, 1958. Much like his parents before him, the ceremony was heavily covered in wizarding media. At this time, the Blacks were the wealthiest wizarding family in Britain, and Arcturus Black, having taken on the Headship in 1952 upon the passing of his father, Sirius II, was the wealthiest man in the British wizarding world.
Arcturus's first grandchild was born on 3 November, 1959. He was christened Sirius Orion, though Orion had become a father somewhat unwillingly. Sirius Orion Black's birth was celebrated in the Daily Prophet and many childhood photographs were shared with newspapers by Melania.
Arcturus and Melania lived in Grimmauld Place for the first three years of their grandson's life. During that time, Orion and Walburga's second child was born, on 23 April 1961. They christened him Regulus Arcturus, both in honour of Arcturus's brother, Regulus II (who had recently passed away in 1959), and Arcturus himself.
After the family expanded, Arcturus and Melania moved out of Grimmauld Place and into one of the quiet Black family properties in the countryside. Sirius and Regulus were often brought to stay with them there.
First Wizarding War (1970-1981)[]
The early effects of First Wizarding War had taken hold around Arcturus: a wizard by the name of Voldemort had declared himself a Dark Lord, taking advantage of a charged political climate to do so. In 1968, Nobby Leach left office for mysterious health reasons, leading to a conspiracy theory that he had been poisoned by his Muggle-prejudice advisor Abraxas Malfoy. He was then replaced as Minister Of Magic by Eugenia Jenkins, who, like her predecessor, was sympathetic to issues of social justice. Squibs then began marching for their rights, which spurred pure-blood supremacists to riot. Throughout the 1960s, with various minority groups demanding to be treated as equals, many of the old, elite pure-blood houses, to which all of the Death Eaters belonged, increasingly felt that their very way of life was being threatened. Many pure-blood supremacists who did not join the ranks of the Death Eaters nonetheless gave their wholehearted support to Voldemort's cause in secret even still.
Arcturus's grandson, Sirius, received his Hogwarts letter in July 1971. However, on 1 September, 1971, Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor, an act which greatly offended most of the family. Arcturus's daughter-in-law was the most angered by Sirius's sorting, and wanted to disown him, but Arcturus talked her down and refused to do so. Arcturus was certainly disappointed that Sirius hadn't made the noble house of Slytherin, but his approach was pragmatic, and the family took no action. Arcturus saw his daughter-in-law as extreme and told her so.
As Arcturus's word as Head was law, the Black family continued to remain silent while Sirius, struggling with a thousand year old legacy, befriended blood-traitors and half-bloods in Gryffindor House. Arcturus and Melania stayed in their home in Somerset while Sirius and Walburga got into fiery arguments and screamed at each other. Walburga requested assistance from Arcturus in order to try to get her son in line, but Arcturus essentially told her that he could not help her. Arcturus was now in his seventies, and was not so concerned with who his grandson associated with as friends, as long as the family legacy could continue. He began to fall in the role that his father, Sirius Black II had, only playing mediator when absolutely necessary, as the younger members of his family fought amongst themselves.
In 1969, Voldemort began to gather support and lead marches in wizarding areas, and the group called themselves the "Knights of Walpurgis" in the early years, and preached ideas about pureblood supremacy.
Arcturus and Melania kept to seclusion, while their family, unbeknownst to them, had been radicalised by the chaos. Arcturus's daughter-in-law, Walburga, began to say that the Knights of Walpurgis had the right ideas at the dinner table.
Voldemort launched a revolution against the British Ministry Of Magic with the intention of toppling it and creating a new world order run by pure-bloods with Muggles kept in utter bondage servitude and Lord Voldemort himself as the immortal ruler for all time. To achieve these ends, the Death Eaters and their allies (including the particularly destructive Giants) began openly carrying out attacks on Muggles for sport and to show chaos. Cleaning up these attacks, healing survivors, modifying memories, searching for the perpetrators, and attempting to prevent future attacks occupied more and more of the Ministry's time and attention. As their confidence grew, the Death Eaters began targeting Muggle-born and blood traitor witches and wizards as well, torturing and sometimes killing their victims, which shocked wizarding society. Other "inferior" magical beings such as house-elves (who were treated like vermin) and Goblins (a family of which was slaughtered) also suffered under their reign of terror. To inspire yet more terror, the Death Eaters would cast the Dark Mark in the sky over every house or scene that they killed at.
Arcturus's cousin Pollux's granddaughter, Bellatrix, decided to join the organisation in 1975. Voldemort had taken Bellatrix under his personal wing, sharing with her his personal-secret knowledge of the Dark Arts; and inspiring in Bellatrix a delusional-psychotic attraction bordering on loving obsession, which Voldemort never honestly returned. That same year, Arcturus either read about or witnessed Eugenia Jenkins get ousted as Minister Of Magic, and get replaced by Harold Minchum, a hardliner who placed more Dementors around Azkaban. In addition, ruthless Council Of Magical Law Head Judge Bartemius "Barty" Crouch Senior rose rapidly through the Ministry's ranks until he also became the Head of the Department Of Magical Law Enforcement. Minchum and Crouch then began to make serious headway, though the anonymous and elusive Death Eaters still retained the advantage.
The next year, in 1976, Arcturus's grandson Sirius ran away from home. Arcturus visited Grimmauld Place himself, and witnessed his daughter-in-law Walburga holding a candle to her son's depiction on the Black family tapestry, an artefact that has been around since the 16th century. Arcturus tried to convinced Walburga that Sirius would come back to them, but he had been blind to the real issues that had been clouding Grimmauld Place, and was unable to get through. He had a conversation with his son, Orion, who informed him that Sirius had become increasingly rebellious over the last few years, flaunting his Gryffindor house affiliation and disdain for his family's pure-blood values. Arcturus realised that he could not blame his daughter-in-law for what she did, but maintained his refusal to disown him from the house completely, as that option was irreversible and permanent, and he still held an old man's naive hope that Sirius would come back to them.
Arcturus's other grandson, Regulus, aged 15, became the defacto Black heir following Sirius's flight. Arcturus returned to Somerset and time passed. Regulus, who was a Slytherin, and a child that was often overlooked by all those except his parents, though he had wonderful accomplishments, was apprehensive at first. He, too, hoped that Sirius would return, but as time went on and that became less and less likely, he began to take up the mantle of the Black family heir. His mother arranged for his cousin Bellatrix to take him on a Death Eater rendezvous, where he met many pure-bloods who had all been inspired and radicalised by the Dark Lord Voldemort. Arcturus did not have any idea of this until Regulus announced proudly during a visit to his residence that he had joined the Dark Lord. At first, Arcturus was not sure of what to feel. He urged Regulus to be careful but did not actively try and stop him from pursuing this, which arguably became the family's downfall.
The war had picked up and the amount of missing witches and wizards that were not pure-bloods was climbing into the hundreds by 1978. Arcturus had seen conflict before- namely the Global Wizarding War, during which he had raised children. He began to feel that his grandson had made a mistake taking a side, and while he had little influence over his cousin's granddaughter Bellatrix, felt that she had erred as well. Regulus and Bellatrix's choices officially allied the House of Black with the Dark Lord Voldemort, and because Arcturus had some influence over his daughter-in-law, but not total control, Walburga had donated a great amount of money to the Death Eater's cause, which was money of her own, and actions of her own doing.
Arcturus felt helpless as he watched his grandson descend into darkness, initially believing him to have been completely radicalised by those preaching pureblood supremacy. He believed that Regulus had been partially responsible, in some way, for the murders of many, though he was not yet done with school.
- Arcturus: "You call it 'greatness,' what you have been doing, do you?"
- Regulus: "Certainly. I have experimented; The Dark Lord, however, has pushed the boundaries of magic further, perhaps, than they have ever been pushed —"
- — Arcturus and his grandson discussing the latter's immersion into the Dark Arts
However, this was precisely the opposite.
Regulus, in fact, had realised that he had erred in joining the Dark Lord. He was sixteen when he joined, and for some time, naively believed that he was going to participate in the cleansing of the Wizarding World. He had been inspired by his cousin Bellatrix and threatened by his mother, and his father did not care about him enough to stop him. But a month after he joined, he quickly became incredibly disenchanted with the cause's insane and brutal leader.
In February 1979, Voldemort requested the use of Regulus's personal house-elf Kreacher, and then callously left him to die. When Kreacher managed survive and to return home over Valentine's, Regulus deduced that Voldemort had created a Horcrux and then attempted to destroy it in April, over the Easter holidays. This failed and resulted in his violent death at the hands of the Inferi, though he did manage to replace the locket with a fake and entrust the real Horcrux to Kreacher. Arcturus did not know any of this.
When Regulus went missing, like so many others had, Arcturus and Melania stayed at Grimmauld Place with their weepy daughter-in-law, who made posters for the Daily Prophet. Regulus had not yet finished school, and had not even sat his N.E.W.T.s before he died at seventeen- a month before his eighteenth birthday in April. Walburga turned to her husband for comfort but even he had fallen on the drink. Arcturus was devastated and visited his grandson Sirius to tell him personally, hoping that the sadness of Regulus's death would reconcile him enough to come back to the family.
However, Sirius refused. At nineteen years old, he was a year out of Hogwarts, and had already joined the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation headed by Albus Dumbledore to stop Voldemort. He was on the other side of the war and had already been living away from the Blacks for nearly three years. He would not come back just because the spare had died. He would not come back to be under Walburga's roof. Arcturus had suspected, in 1976, when Sirius ran away, that Walburga had been physically abusing him, and their conversation in April, 1979, confirmed it. However, Arcturus couldn't make Sirius return by force, and the two of them parted ways.
At the end of April, Walburga discovered that she was pregnant. She had not touched her husband for several years before that, and Orion ordered her to get rid of it, but Walburga said that she wouldn't. Granted, because Sirius would not come back and their younger son had passed away, the Black family could have used another heir, but it is likely that their third child was not intended for this purpose. Rather, the whole thing was more likely an accident. Arcturus and Melania, as well as Pollux and Irma Black (née Crabbe) (Walburga's parents) were skeptical and expected that due to the stress and grief in losing Regulus, the foetus would not survive. However, it did.
Walburga gave birth to a baby boy, who she named Altair Regulus, on 7 January 1980. Arcturus, Melania, Pollux, and Irma welcomed the new life with more skepticism, as they believed that Walburga and Orion would not be fit to raise another child. Orion was already severely depressed and had been for quite some time, and although Walburga threw herself into raising Altair, she was also somewhat of an alcoholic at the time.
The war raged around them. On 12 January, 1980, Minister Minchum was also removed from office due to his failure to end the war and was immediately replaced with Millicent Bagnold. The Order of the Phoenix, a secret organisation created to fight the Dark Lord, suffered badly and skirmishes picked up at a rapid pace. Arcturus and his wife kept a worried eye out for their grandson Sirius, though the rest of his family did not care what happened to him.
When it happened the second time, in March 1980, Arcturus understandably put his foot down, believing that Walburga had coerced Orion into conceiving two more children through magic- likely the Imperius Curse or something similar. He also considered that the first time may have well and truly been an accident, but after Walburga announced that she was, again, expecting, just two months after she had given birth to Altair, Arcturus was furious. He sent Walburga to stay with her parents, Pollux and Irma, along with the baby, and ordered his son to tell him whether he had planned any of this with Walburga. Orion had not, and seemed confused and not entirely lucid at the time. Arcturus deduced that Walburga had definitely done something, perhaps in desperation, grief, or madness, and determined that it would be best to keep them apart.
Arcturus' fourth grandchild, and only granddaughter, Aquila Walburga, was born on 4 November, 1980, in the same year as Altair, though the two children were almost eleven months apart. She was born only a day after Sirius had been, though twenty-one years after the fact. Orion stayed at Grimmauld Place for some time, but Walburga returned there when Aquila was but a few days old. The newborn baby was thought to have looked like Orion and Sirius by Melania, who quickly fell in love with her only granddaughter. Altair, however, was close to the spitting image of Regulus and most adored him, including, begrudgingly, Arcturus and Orion. Though Orion hadn't wanted either of them, much like he hadn't wanted Sirius and Regulus at first, he began to seem happier, slowly.
Save for Arcturus's great-nieces, Bellatrix, who was still violently attacking muggles under the Mark of Lord Voldemort, and Narcissa, who had married a Death Eater and had a child of her own (Draco, born 5 June 1980), the Blacks retreated into seclusion as the war continued to rage around them.
They watched as the war entered its most desperate phase in the early months of 1981. Arcturus and Melania kept an eye on the papers, and tuned into the radio that listed the fates of many Order members. They learned that Gideon Prewett and Fabian Prewett were killed by Antonin Dolohov, and Dorcas Meadowes was murdered by Voldemort himself in January. Benjy Fenwick, Arcturus learned, was killed by his great-niece, Bellatrix Lestrange, Evan Rosier, and Julius Jerome; and so brutally mutilated that only bits of him were recovered, in June.
Arcturus found himself thankful that his grandson Regulus never lived long enough to see the full onslaught of the war. Though Sirius was still alive, Arcturus believed that Regulus would have died a more brutal death if he had lived.
Meanwhile, in the Ministry, Barty Crouch Senior issued an edict in July 1981, giving Ministry Aurors full permission to employ the use of the Unforgivable Curses against their enemies. A massive Ministry campaign, spearheaded and led by Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shackelbolt, Otto Cattermole, and Frank Longbottom; ensued, immediately turining the tide of the war against the Death Eaters. They initially focused their efforts on resisting the giants, killing many of them with the Killing Curse, and wiping out entire tribes until they forced the survivors to go into hiding.
Arcturus secretly was glad that the tides had been turned, and was more interested in the war ending and peace restored. Much like the Global Wizarding War, he did not openly declare his allegiance but was prepared, if the light won, to help pay damages.
The Ministry began to identify and apprehend Death Eaters. Auror and Order member Alastor Moody became legendary for his successes, arresting and capturing Igor Karkaroff, along with many other supporters of the Dark Lord, and also killing Evan Rosier when he resisted arrest, although losing a chunk of his nose in the process. Antonin Dolohov also met his capture and imprisonment at the hands of Magical Law Enforcement Squad and Corban Yaxley, one of Voldemort's earliest followers, was captured and sent to Azkaban as well.
On 31 October, 1981, Voldemort traveled to the Godric's Hollow with the intention of murdering the Potter family for unknown reasons, and there met his downfall. Arcturus was shocked, the rest of the Blacks were shocked, and the entire Wizarding World was shocked when, leaderless, Death Eaters began to fall left and right.
- "To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!"
- —Celebrations going on at the end of the war and the destiny forced upon the young Harry Potter
That same night, news of Voldemort's downfall and apparent death spread like wildfire throughout all of Great Britain; with monumental celebrations breaking out all across the country so strenuously that numerous large-scale breaches of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy were noticed by the Muggle international media. This was excused by Minister Bagnold, who asserted the war-weary wizarding community's "inalienable right to party." Though some people, like Barty Crouch Snr, claimed the celebrating got out of hand and became childish and ridiculous.
n the aftermath of Voldemort's shockingly abrupt defeat and subsequent disappearance without a trace, many were skeptical that he was really dead. Aurors, Order members, and Ministry officials searched at home and abroad for any sign of him but found none. Although they eventually came to the conclusion that Voldemort had truly been defeated and was dead, many Death Eaters were still at large and considered a huge threat.
Arcturus was entirely unsurprised when Bellatrix was arrested along with her husband and brother-in-law on 2 November 1981, for torturing an Auror and his wife into insanity. He did not attempt to help her, for he felt that she deserved what she got, and had always viewed her from the age of twenty as a somewhat psychotic menace.
Arcturus visited Grimmauld Place that night with his wife and spent time with his younger grandchildren, grateful, but not entirely reassured, because it appeared that with the end of Voldemort, the conflict was almost over. If Bellatrix could have been arrested, then it truly meant it was over.
However, another event that took place within that week was enough to shock Arcturus and Melania to their core. Their grandson, whom they still cared about, though he was separated from the family, had been arrested and thrown into Azkaban, in a cell next to their great-niece- for betraying the Potters to Voldemort as well as on the count of the murder of twelve muggles and a wizard by the name of Peter Pettigrew.
Walburga and Orion were left shocked and horrified that they had disowned a son that had ended up supporting all the "right" values in the end. Walburga, at least, could have been proud of him, but she also did not want to acknowledge him at all.
Arcturus was left disappointed and sickened by Sirius's actions, and retreated to his home in Somerset where he stayed for several days, pondering where it exactly had gone wrong. His last conversation with Sirius had been during the week they learned that Regulus had gone missing and was dead, when Sirius was nineteen, two years prior. He simply couldn't believe it. But because Bellatrix had been put in prison, and Arcturus refused to help her because she had done horrible things, Arcturus could not make himself help Sirius because he had done the same sorts of things. (Or so Arcturus thought.)
Between the Wars (1981-1990)[]
Arcturus was in his eighties by the time the First Wizarding War was well and truly over. He was a doting grandfather to Altair and Aquila, and tried to, along with Melania, make sure that they were well cared for and happy. Aquila had pleasant memories of Arcturus in her childhood, as well as pleasant memories of Melania.
Death (27 February, 1991)[]
Arcturus became rather ill with dragon pox in January 1991, an illness which persisted until he was dead by the end of February. His wife, Melania, passed away at the beginning of that month. His death marked the ascension of Orion as the Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, which was reported in the papers.
His grandson Altair became the heir apparent.
Appearance[]
Arcturus had black hair and grey eyes, the typical traits of the House of Black. Much like the rest of the Black family, he was tall, well-built, and darkly handsome.
Personality and Traits[]
As an adult, Arcturus was a mediator. He was also capable of an explosive temper when angered, a trait shared by much of the Black family. He was the Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and his words carried a lot of weight in the household. He did not formally disown his grandson Sirius, yet his daughter-in-law wanted him to, and disowned him herself. Until his death, he was the richest man in Magical Britain.
Arcturus pursued humanitarian efforts when he had to. He did not support Grindelwald in his adult years and did not support Voldemort in his later years. He even donated money to the Ministry of Magic twice in order to rebuild the infrastructure that had been destroyed in both wars, earning an Order of Merlin, First Class the first time. However, most pure-bloods saw his charitable contribution to the Ministry in 1945 as supportive of the light side, which his father, the Head of House at the time, was forced to comment on.
He was motivated by responsibility as the Heir and later Head of the House, in his later years. He also felt partially responsible for the damages Voldemort had created, due to his great-niece Bellatrix, and grandsons Sirius and Regulus being Death Eaters. However far from the truth, it was what he believed until the day he died.
He had urged his son Orion to marry his cousin Pollux's daughter when Orion was thirty, and he was partially motivated by securing his direct line's future as the ruling family of the wizarding world as a result. Though the Blacks were not, in actuality, royalty, it is believed that Arcturus and his wife Melania saw themselves that way, as did Orion and Walburga for some time. Arcturus was more concerned with his son not fulfilling his family duty than his happiness, which was something that he later regretted when Orion and Walburga had two more children that Orion most certainly did not consent to having.
Magical Abilities and Skills[]
As the Head to a Noble and Ancient House, Arcturus was instructed and forced to succeed in many areas of magic. He was more than proficient in a number of fields, though as he was responsible for his family, the running of the finances, and more, he did not get a chance to work as an Auror or any other profession that requires such skills, as Arcturus never worked.
- Transfiguration: Arcturus was highly proficient in Transfiguration and earned an Outstanding on both his O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s in this subject.
- Charms: Arcturus was highly proficient in Charms and earned an Outstanding on both his O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s in this subject.
- Potions: Arcturus was highly proficient in Potions and earned an Outstanding on both his O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s in this subject.
- Astronomy: Arcturus was highly proficient in Astronomy and earned an Outstanding on both his O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s in this subject. As a member of the Black family, he studied the stars from an early age and knew many constellations and their positions before attending Hogwarts. He also was the one to instruct his children in the subject, as was the same for him, and his father, Sirius II.
- Dark Arts: As a member of a dark-leaning pure-blood House, Arcturus knew plenty of dark spells before attending Hogwarts.
- Wandless and non-verbal magic: Arcturus was incredibly skilled at both wandless and non-verbal magic, which in the Wizarding World, is particularly difficult to master. However, his father taught him when he was a teenager and he later also passed that down to his daughter and son, and his son to his children.
Relationships[]
Melania Black (née Macmillan) (1902-1991)[]
Arcturus married the sister of a good friend of his from school, Cyrus Macmillan. He initially wanted to build a relationship with her before officially courting, but his father, Sirius Black II (1877-1952) forced him into the marriage much faster. Together, they had two children, and watched them grow old. They came to love each other very much, and their relationship is rare to find in pure-blood society and in the era that they lived.
Lucretia Prewett (née Black) (1925-1992)[]
Arcturus's daughter, Lucretia, married Ignatius Prewett, a member of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Prewett. Though typically a light family, Ignatius was not so, and somewhat of a black sheep to the rest of them. They had a childless marriage but married for love, which Arcturus had allowed them to do. She was his oldest child and Arcturus loved her as a child rather dearly. They grew less close over the years, as Lucretia spent many years with her husband travelling Europe and sometimes not contacting Arcturus for months.
Orion Black (1929-1991)[]
Orion was Arcturus's son and heir. As a child, Orion could have been somewhat difficult: and in his Hogwarts years, it only got worse. There were some days where Arcturus feared for his relationship with his son, who resented the family (but mostly the idea of marriage). However, Orion came around, after forcing his mother to promise that he would not have to marry a horrible society witch. Arcturus overrode that promise when he found out, and Orion hated him for it. He arranged for Orion to marry his second cousin Walburga, with the help of his cousin Pollux, who Orion was indifferent about. Orion eventually agreed because at least the idea of marrying Walburga was better than marrying a witch who was dumber, more irritating, or ugly. He fathered two children with her somewhat begrudgingly, as it was required of him by the family, as the heir. However, Arcturus later separated them both by force when he learned that their third and fourth child were conceived unwillingly by Orion.
His son had the tendency to become depressed and ignore his children, and this was somewhat common when he and Walburga were raising Sirius and Regulus. Arcturus often interfered and arranged family outings whenever this was the case, and in adulthood, Orion was past the point of resentment, because he was resigned, and participated as he was told.
When Regulus died, however, Orion fell into a deep depression and started drinking more than ever. Arcturus watched his son deteriorate before his eyes and felt unable to stop it.
In the case of Altair and Aquila, Arcturus was past the point of hoping that Orion would be interactive, because he was so miserable, and he decided to step in and allow Orion to be separate from Walburga when he chose. Surprisingly, Orion returned to Walburga of his own free will and spent a lot of time with his children, which distracted him from his problems. Arcturus soon became convinced that something was wrong, psychologically, with his son, that Orion would choose to return to a woman that abused him and a woman that abused her children. He then retracted his theory, when he realised that Orion was trying to see Regulus in Altair and Sirius in Aquila, and was trying to re-experience the infant years of Regulus and Sirius's lives before it all went wrong- Arcturus estimated that the cutoff was around the time Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor, when Walburga started hurting her son and didn't stop.
Arcturus from that point on tried to be as constant in his son's life as he could, which perhaps helped Orion see that not everything was awful. Orion did, however, compartmentalise, and existed in his own somewhat precarious world, as a father to two small children, and that was it, and Arcturus tried to help him, but found himself out of his depth.
Overall, Arcturus's relationship with his son was at first based on duty, responsibility, and anger. In Orion's later adult years, it soon transitioned to being based on concern, regret, and apologies.
Etymology[]
Arcturus is the name of the brightest star in the constellation Boötes. Its name derives from Ancient Greek Αρκτοῦρος, meaning "bear guard"; this refers to the story in Greek mythology that Zeus placed Arcturus in the sky to look after Arcas and Callisto, who were turned into bears and then into the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor to protect them from Hera's wrath.