Artemisia Blackwood

Artemisia Blackwood (née Black)
Biographical information
Born	15th century
Died	15th century, Scotland
Blood status	Half-blood
Nationality	British or Irish
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Relationship information
Family members	Mother (House of Black) Muggle father Eunon Blackwood (husband) Lysandra Blackwood (daughter) Parents-in-law House of Black (maternal family) Blackwood family
Romances	Eunon Blackwood (husband)
Affiliation
Loyalty	House of Black (formerly, disowned) Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Blackwood family

Artemisia Blackwood (née Black) (fl. 15th century) was a disowned half-blood member of the House of Black. She married Eunon Blackwood and together they fuelled each other's hatred of Muggles.

Biography

Artemisia was born (implied to be out of wedlock) into the pure-blood supremacist Black family following a dalliance between her mother, a fellow Black, and a Muggle father. She was ostracised and disowned by her family, for which she blamed her father.

She attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the 15th century, where she met and bonded with Hufflepuff student Eunon Wood. Eunon was a Muggle-born, a trait that he too was repudiated for by his intolerant family. The two became close friends as Black considered Wood an "unwilling, innocent victim of Muggle impurity". Their life was discussed in A Horticultural History of the Blackwood Maze.

Artemisia is said to have played a pivotal role in Eunon's growth as a wizard, each building on each other's hatred for Muggles. The wedding of Artemisia and Eunon was said to have been "a curious affair" according to A Horticultural History of the Blackwood Maze, Part Two, as Artemisia's father and Eunon's family were both in attendance. Fact of the matter was that Eunon's family would not have attended at all if not for rumours of Artemisia's large dowry which, unbeknownst to them, was but a single golden medallion bewitched with the Gemino Curse.

Artemisia was burned at the stake by Muggle witch-hunters after being denounced by her own sixteen-year-old daughter, Lysandra, frustrated with her wizarding supremacist parents due to her being a Squib. Following her death, both Eunon and Lysandra mysteriously disappeared as well as the labyrinth from their house of Stonehaven, Eunon's creation sometimes reappearing randomly.

Etymology

Artemisia is a large, diverse genus of plants with between 200 and 400 species belonging to the daisy family Asteraceae.

The name Artemisia derives from the Greek goddess Artemis (Roman Diana), the namesake of Greek Queens Artemisia I and II.

Behind the scenes

• It is interesting that she, a half-blood, had tendencies towards pure-blood supremacy. The same trait can be seen in Lord Voldemort, also a half-blood, who despised the idea that he had a Muggle father.
  • Furthermore, Writing by J. K. Rowling: "Pure-Blood" at Wizarding World notes that pure-blood supremacist thought only really started to develop publicly after the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was passed in 1692 (before then, it had only been a minority opinion, viewed as misguided and incorrect by most). This suggests that the House of Black had always practised pure-blood supremacy even before the statute.
• It is also interesting that A Horticultural History of the Blackwood Maze mentions Artemisia being disowned and not her mother. If in fact her mother was not disowned by the House of Black, it gives credit to the idea that Artemisia was born out of wedlock.
  • This is further supported by no mention of her mother being present for the wedding. It is unlikely that a falling-out would result in her not being invited to the wedding as Artemisia still invited her father, who she actively despised.
• Artemisia is the earliest known member of the House of Black to be disowned.

Appearances

• Hogwarts Legacy (First mentioned)