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Cassiopeia Black (19151992) was a pure-blood witch and a member of the noble House of Black. She was the eldest daughter of Cygnus Black (II) and Violetta Black (née Bulstrode) and sister of Pollux, Marius and Dorea. Cassiopeia never married or had any children.[1]

Behind the scenes[]

  • Based on a statement by Horace Slughorn, Cassiopeia may well have been a member of the Slytherin House. She attended Hogwarts c. 19261933. Slughorn became Potions Master in 1931 when she would likely have been in her fifth or sixth year. She also would have been one of the first ever Slytherin students that Horace Slughorn taught when he joined in 1931.
  • Since Cassiopeia and Callidora were born in the same year, it is likely that they were classmates at Hogwarts.
  • Cassiopeia is a queen in Greek mythology, and her daughter is Andromeda. Another relative was Andromeda Tonks, a grand-niece of Cassiopeia Black.
  • Cassiopeia died two years after her brother Pollux and one after their cousin, and the same year as two other members of the Black family. At that time, Cassiopeia's grand-nephew (Sirius Black III) was in Azkaban.
  • On the family tree featured in the film, her first name is misspelt "Cassiapeia".
  • It is possible that she was the mother of Araminta Meliflua, cousin of Walburga Black, notable for her campaign to legalise the hunting of Muggles. If so, she would be the first member of the Black family to conceive a child out of wedlock, long before Bellatrix Black, who bore Delphini to Lord Voldemort in the same way.

Etymology[]

Like many members of the House of Black, Cassiopeia is named after a constellation. The constellation is in turn named after Queen Cassiopeia of Greek mythology, a beautiful but vain woman whose arrogant boasting led to her downfall. The name is derived from the Greek Κασσιόπη, meaning "she whose words excel".

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 Black family tree
  2. "World Exclusive Interview with J K Rowling," South West News Service, 8 July 2000 - "Hogwarts just serves Britain and Ireland."
  3. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 4 (Horace Slughorn), Horace Slughorn states: "The whole Black family had been in my house, but Sirius ended up in Gryffindor!" This implies that all Blacks except Sirius were sorted into Slytherin while Slughorn was teaching at Hogwarts. As revealed in Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies, Chapter 3 (Horace Slughorn), Slughorn had "completed half a century of service" at the time of his retirement in 1981, meaning he started teaching there circa 1931. Cassiopeia, born in 1915, presumably attended Hogwarts from 1926 to 1933, and thus would have been a student of Slughorn for at least part of her time at Hogwarts.
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