Araminta Meliflua Black

"[...] and Araminta Meliflua... cousin of my mother's... tried to force through a Ministry Bill to make Muggle-hunting legal [...]"

- Sirius Black to Harry Potter on Araminta

Araminta Meliflua was Walburga Black's cousin, and Sirius Black's first cousin once removed. She was noted for her hatred of Muggles. She once tried to get the Ministry of Magic to pass a law that would make Muggle-hunting legal. The bill was most likely turned down.

Etymology
Araminta is a name of uncertain origin. It may be an elaborated form of Aminta, which derives from the Greek word amyntor, meaning "defender." Araminta Ross was the birth name of African-American abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

Meliflua is presumably based on the English adjective "mellifluous," which means "sweet-sounding" and derives from the Latin mellifluus, "flowing like honey".

Behind the scenes

 * Although Sirius Black pointed out Araminta to his godson, Harry Potter, on the Black family tapestry, her name did not appear on the copy of the family tree J. K. Rowling donated to a charity auction in 2006, and thus it is unknown precisely how she is related to the House of Black.
 * However, if Araminta was Walburga's first cousin, it can be presumed that she was related through Walburga's mother, Irma Black (née Crabbe), as Walburga's father, Pollux Black, had three siblings, of whom only his sister Dorea married and had a son.
 * It's also possible that Araminta was a daughter of Belvina, Charis, or Callidora. If she was, that means that she must have a husband or that Meliflua was her middle name.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Notes and references
Araminta Meliflua