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{{Slytherin individual infobox
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{{Individual infobox
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|theme=dark-wizard
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|image=[[Image:Walburga Black.jpg|150px]]
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|image=[[File:Walburga Black.jpg|250px]]
 
|name=Walburga Black
  
|name=Walburga Black
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|born=[[1925]]<ref name="BFT">''[[House of Black|Black family tree]]'' {{see image|File:JKRBlackFamilyTree.jpg}} </ref> <br/>[[Great Britain]]
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|hideb=
  
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|born=[[1925]]<ref name="BFT">''[[Black family tree]]''</ref>
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|died=[[1985]]<ref name="BFT" /> (aged 59/60)
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|died=[[1985]]<ref name="BFT" />
  
 
|blood=[[Pure-blood]]<ref name="BFT" />
  
|blood=[[Pure-blood]]<ref name="BFT" />
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|marital=Widowed
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|alias=
  
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|species=[[Human]]<ref name="BFT" />
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|title=
  
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|hidep=
  
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|species=Human<ref name="BFT" />
  
 
|gender=Female<ref name="BFT" />
  
|gender=Female<ref name="BFT" />
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|height=
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|hair=
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|skin=Light
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|hair=Grey
  
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|family=*[[Pollux Black]]<ref name="BFT" /> (father) †
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|eyes=
  
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*[[Irma Crabbe|Irma Black]]<ref name="BFT" /> {{c|née [[Crabbe]]}} (mother)
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|skin=
  
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*[[Alphard Black]]<ref name="BFT" /> (brother) †
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|hidef=
  
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|family=*[[Pollux Black]] (father) †<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Cygnus Black III]]<ref name="BFT" /> (brother) †
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*[[Irma Crabbe]] (mother)<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Orion Black]]<ref name="BFT" /> (husband/second cousin) †
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*[[Alphard Black]] (brother) †<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Sirius Black]]<ref name="BFT" /> (son/second cousin once removed) †
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*[[Cygnus Black II]] (brother) †<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Regulus Black]]<ref name="BFT" /> (son/second cousin once removed) †
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*[[Orion Black]] (husband/second cousin) †<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Cygnus Black II]]<ref name="BFT" /> (paternal grandfather) †
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*[[Sirius Black]] (son) †<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Violetta Bulstrode|Violetta Black]]<ref name="BFT" /> {{c|née [[Bulstrode family|Bulstrode]]}} (paternal grandmother)
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*[[Regulus Black]] (son) †<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Lucretia Black|Lucretia Prewett]]<ref name="BFT" /> {{c|née [[House of Black|Black]]}} (sister-in-law/second cousin) †
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*[[Cygnus Black I]] (paternal grandfather) †<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Ignatius Prewett]]<ref name="BFT" /> (brother-in-law/ second cousin-in-law)
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*[[Violetta Bulstrode]] (paternal grandmother)<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Druella Rosier|Druella Black]]<ref name="BFT" /> {{c|née [[Rosier]]}} (sister-in-law)
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*[[Bellatrix Lestrange]]<ref name="BFT" /> {{c|née [[House of Black|Black]]}} (niece) †
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*[[Lucretia Black]] (sister-in-law/second cousin) †<ref name="BFT" />
  
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*[[Ignatius Prewett]] (brother-in-law)<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Andromeda Tonks]]<ref name="BFT" /> {{c|née [[House of Black|Black]]}} (niece)
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*[[Druella Rosier]] (sister-in-law)<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Narcissa Malfoy]]<ref name="BFT" /> {{c|née [[House of Black|Black]]}} (niece)
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*[[Bellatrix Lestrange]] (niece) †<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Cassiopeia Black]]<ref name="BFT" /> (aunt) †
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*[[Andromeda Tonks]] (niece)<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Marius Black]]<ref name="BFT" /> (uncle)
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*[[Narcissa Malfoy]] (niece)<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Dorea Black|Dorea Potter]]<ref name="BFT" /> {{c|née [[House of Black|Black]]}} (aunt) †
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*[[Cassiopeia Black]] (aunt) †<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Charlus Potter]]<ref name="BFT" /> (uncle) †
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*[[Marius Black]] (uncle)<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Araminta Meliflua Black|Araminta Meliflua]]<ref name="BFT" /> (cousin)
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*[[Melania Macmillan|Melania Black]]<ref name="BFT" /> {{c|née [[Macmillan family|Macmillan]]}} (mother-in-law/first cousin-in-law once removed)
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*[[Dorea Black]] (aunt) †<ref name="BFT" />
  
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*[[Charlus Potter]] (uncle) †<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[Arcturus Black (disambiguation)|Arcturus Black]]<ref name="BFT" /> (father-in-law/first-cousin-once-removed)
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*[[Araminta Meliflua]] (cousin)<ref name="BFT" />
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*[[House of Black]]<ref name="BFT" /> (paternal family)
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*[[Crabbe family]]<ref name="BFT" /> (maternal family)
 
|hidem=y
  
|hidem=y
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|house=[[Slytherin]]<ref name="slytherin">In {{HBP|B|4}}, [[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 School of Witchcraft and Wizardry|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]]. If Walburga, born in [[1925]], presumably attended Hogwarts from [[1936]] to [[1943]] or [[1937]] to [[1944]], she likely would have been a student of Slughorn.</ref>
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|animagus=
  
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|patronus=None<ref name="LHP5-7">{{LEGO|Y2}}</ref>
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|boggart=
  
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|loyalty=*[[House of Black]]<ref name="BFT" />
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|wand=
  
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*[[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry]]
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|patronus=
  
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**[[Slytherin]]<ref name="slytherin">In {{HBP|B|4}}, [[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 School of Witchcraft and Wizardry|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]]. Walburga, born in [[1925]], attended Hogwarts from [[1936]] to [[1943]] or [[1937]] to [[1944]], and thus would have been a student of Slughorn.</ref> <br/>
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|hidea=
  
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*[[Death Eaters]] (indirectly)
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|job=
  
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|nationality=[[Great Britain|British]]
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|house=[[Slytherin]]<ref name="slytherin">In Chapter 4 of ''Half-Blood Prince'', [[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 Head of House. Walburga, born in 1925, presumably attended Hogwarts c. 1936 to 1943, and thus would have been a student of Slughorn, who was stated to have begun teaching at Hogwarts around the same time as [[Albus Dumbledore]] in Chapter 5 of ''Half-Blood Prince'', in [[1938]] or earlier. [[Sirius Black]] also states "My whole family have been in Slytherin" and in Chapter 23 of ''Deathly Hallows'', confirming that at least those Blacks closely related to Sirius were in Slytherin.</ref>
  
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|loyalty=[[House of Black]]<ref name="BFT" />
  
 
}}
  
}}
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{{quote|Stains of dishonour, filthy half-breeds, blood traitors, children of filth!|[[Portrait]] of Walburga Black screaming at members of the [[Order of the Phoenix]]|Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix}}
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{{Quote|My mother didn't have a heart, Kreacher. She kept herself alive out of pure spite.|Walburga's unpleasant personality|Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix}}
   
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'''Walburga Black''' ([[1925]] - [[1985]]) was a [[pure-blood]] witch and the daughter of [[Pollux Black]] and [[Irma Crabbe]]. She married her second cousin [[Orion Black]] and had two children, [[Sirius Black|Sirius]] and [[Regulus Black]].<ref name="BFT" />
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'''Walburga Black''' ([[1925]] – [[1985]]) was a [[pure-blood]] [[Dark Wizard|Dark witch]], the daughter of [[Pollux Black]] and [[Irma Crabbe]], the sister of [[Alphard Black|Alphard]] and [[Cygnus Black III|Cygnus]], the wife and second cousin of [[Orion Black]], and the mother of [[Sirius Black III]] and [[Regulus Black]] II. She was also a member of the [[House of Black|Black family]], an old wizarding family and one of the [[Sacred Twenty-Eight]]''.''
   
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Walburga lived in [[Grimmauld Place]] starting at an unknown point in her life, presumably after she married her second cousin Orion. She died in [[1985]], but [[Walburga Black's portrait|her portrait]] still remains at [[12 Grimmauld Place]]. Walburga's portrait makes anyone not in the [[Pure-blood supremacy|pure-blood elite]] quite uncomfortable in her home, by constantly shouting insults and epithets at them.
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==History==
  
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Walburga was a member of the traditionalist [[pure-blood]] [[House of Black]], who looked down on any except other pure-blood wizards. Her elder son [[Sirius Black]] was a severe disappointment to her because he did not agree with the ideology of [[blood purity]] and was sorted into [[Gryffindor]] house at [[Hogwarts]], rather than the family's traditional house, [[Slytherin]]<ref name="slytherin"/>. He was disinherited and removed from the [[Black Family tree]] when he left home at the age of sixteen to live with the [[Potter family]]. Walburga maintained a habit of blasting people from the [[Black family tree]] which stood in the hall of the family home at [[Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place]] if they displeased her; she did so to her brother [[Alphard Black|Alphard]] simply because he left gold to Sirius.
  
   
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==Biography==
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Her younger son [[Regulus Black]] followed the family traditions and became his mother's favourite, and heir to the wealth, position, and traditions of the Black family. Regulus became a [[Death Eater]] during the [[First Wizarding War]]; although neither Walburga nor Orion were followers of [[Lord Voldemort]] themselves, according to Sirius, they thought he "had the right idea"<ref name="OTP">''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]''</ref>. Regulus was killed in [[1979]] after trying to leave the organisation. Walburga's husband and brother [[Cygnus Black|Cygnus]] also died in the same year.
  
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===Early life===
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{{Dialogue a-b|Harry Potter|Were — were your parents [[Death Eaters]] as well?|Sirius Black|No, no, but believe me, they thought [[Tom Riddle|Voldemort]] had the right idea, they were all for the purification of the wizarding race, getting rid of [[Muggle-born]]s and having [[pure-blood]]s in charge… I bet my parents thought Regulus was a right little hero for joining up at first.|[[Sirius Black]] regarding his family's views|Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix}}
   
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Walburga was a member of the traditionalist [[pure-blood]] [[House of Black]], who looked down on any except other "respectable" pure-blood wizards and believed in [[pure-blood supremacy]]. She was the daughter of [[Pollux Black]] and [[Irma Crabbe]], and sister of [[Alphard Black|Alphard]] and [[Cygnus Black III|Cygnus]]. Shortly after graduating Hogwarts, Walburga waited for her second cousin [[Orion Black|Orion]] to finish his education and married him at some point in the [[1950s]].
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Walburga's portrait remains magically fixed to the wall in the hallway of her family home, using a [[Permanent Sticking Charm]]. The picture shows an insane old woman, prone to screaming insults at anyone who disturbs the portrait. This happened several times when the [[Order of the Phoenix]] use Grimmauld Place as their headquarters after her death. She survived the deaths of her family, but the destruction of it may account for her final madness. After their deaths, she was alone in the house except for the family [[house-elf]], [[Kreacher]], who seems equally deranged.<ref name="OTP"/>
  
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===Family life and death===
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[[File:The Blacks - Pottermore.png|214x214px|thumb|left|The Blacks in the early [[1970s]]. From left to right: [[Orion Black|Orion]], [[Regulus Black|Regulus]], Walburga, and [[Sirius Black|Sirius]]]]
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Walburga gave birth to a son, [[Sirius Black|Sirius]], on [[3 November]], [[1959]]. However, Sirius was a severe disappointment to her because he did not agree with the ideology of [[Blood status|blood purity]] and was sorted into [[Gryffindor|Gryffindor House]] at [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry|Hogwarts]], rather than the family's traditional house, [[Slytherin]].<ref name="slytherin" /> Growing up, he ticked off his parents (particularly his mother) by decorating his room with posters from the muggle world depicting bikini-clad women and motorcycles, and had stuck those to the walls with irreversible sticking charms that infuriated her.
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Sirius was disinherited and removed from the [[House of Black|Black Family tree]] when he left home at the age of sixteen to live with the [[Potter family]]. Walburga personally blasted her son from the tapestry. She maintained a habit of blasting people from the [[House of Black|Black family tree]] which stood in the hall of the family home at [[12 Grimmauld Place]] if they displeased her; she did so to her brother [[Alphard Black|Alphard]] simply because he left gold to Sirius despite being disowned. According to [[Kreacher]], Walburga was heartbroken by this abandonment, but nonetheless disowned both of them to cleanse the tapestry.
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  ⚫
Luckily for her, Walburga gave birth to another son, [[Regulus Black|Regulus]], around [[1962|1961]]. He followed the family traditions and joined the Slytherin House, and eventually became his mother's favourite, as well as heir to the wealth, position, and traditions of the Black family. Regulus became a [[Death Eaters|Death Eater]] during the [[First Wizarding War]]; although neither Walburga nor Orion were followers of [[Tom Riddle|Lord Voldemort]] themselves, according to Sirius, they thought he "''had the right idea''"<ref name="OTP">{{OOTP|B|6}}</ref>, until they saw that Voldemort was ruthless in his pursuit for power, at which point they got cold feet. Regulus was killed in [[1979]] after trying to destroy Voldemort's [[Horcrux]], and died childless without an heir. As Regulus forbade Kreacher from telling this to anyone, Walburga thought Regulus died trying to leave the organisation. Walburga's husband [[Orion Black|Orion]] also died in the same year from an unknown cause. Walburga was obviously devastated when her husband and son died.
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In [[1981]], Walburga's disowned son, Sirius was framed for the murder of his friend, [[Peter Pettigrew]] and [[Peter Pettigrew's unidentified victims|12 Muggles]] and was thus sent to [[Azkaban]].<ref>{{POA|B|10}}}</ref> It is possible that if Walburga heard of this, she would have been pleased.
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She died in 1985, leaving her house-elf [[Kreacher]] in [[12 Grimmauld Place|her now abandoned house]].<ref name="BFT" />
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===Post-mortem===
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{{Main|Portrait of Walburga Black at 12 Grimmauld Place}}
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{{Dialogue|Walburga Black|Freaks.|Kreacher|There, there, mistress.|Portrait of Walburga on the people staying in her house|Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)}}
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[[Portrait of Walburga Black at 12 Grimmauld Place|Walburga's portrait]] remained magically fixed to the wall in the hallway of her family home, using a [[Permanent Sticking Charm]].<ref>{{OOTP|B|5}}</ref> The picture, which was covered in canvas when inactive, showed an insane old woman, prone to screaming insults at anyone who disturbed the portrait, particularly that of non-pure-bloods. This happened several times when the [[Order of the Phoenix]] used Grimmauld Place as their headquarters after her death, and they tried unsuccessfully to remove the portrait for quite sometime.
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Walburga survived the deaths of her family, but the destruction of it may account for her final madness. After their deaths, she was alone in the house except for the family [[house-elf]], [[Kreacher]], who seemed equally deranged due to his parroting her beliefs, up until [[Harry Potter]] came to know and treat him better one year after inheriting him.<ref name="OTP">{{OOTP}}</ref>
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==Personality and traits==
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{{Quote|Stains of dishonour, filthy half-breeds, blood traitors, children of filth!|[[Walburga Black's portrait|Portrait of Walburga Black]] screaming at members of the [[Order of the Phoenix]]|Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix}}
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Walburga Black, like most members of her family, was obsessed with blood purity, and [[Walburga Black's portrait|her portrait]] would often scream insults at blood traitors, [[half-blood]]s or [[muggle-born]] wizards. She had little affection for her son [[Sirius Black|Sirius]], as he was viewed as a [[blood traitor]] by the [[House of Black|Black family]] but appeared to have a fairly good relationship with Sirius' younger brother, [[Regulus Black|Regulus]], and was proud of him when he joined the [[Death Eaters]]. Although she was not a Death Eater herself, she was convinced that [[Tom Riddle|Voldemort]] was doing the right thing by trying to eliminate [[Non-magic people|Muggle]]s and bringing [[Wizardkind|wizards and witches]] out of hiding for them to rule both the [[Wizarding world|Wizarding]] and [[Muggle world|Muggle]] worlds. Despite this she is known to have become disillusioned with the Death Eaters toward the end of the [[First Wizarding War]], showing that even she believed that they were going too far.
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Walburga was kind to her house elf, [[Kreacher]], who shared her views on blood purity, and as such Kreacher was very loyal to her. Based on her portrait's tendencies of screaming uncontrollably, she seems to have had a very violent temper, similar to her elder son when angered. Sirius justified this by claiming that his mother was an intensely spiteful and heartless woman, though Kreacher did say Walburga was heartbroken by Sirius' defection.
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==Magical abilities and skills==
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*'''[[Charm]]s''': Whilst the true extent of her skill in this field is unknown Walburga Black was proficient enough to have placed a [[Permanent Sticking Charm]] on the back of [[Walburga Black's portrait|her portrait]] to prevent anyone from taking it off the wall. The charm held in place for more than a decade after her death. She could not, however, cast the [[Patronus Charm]].<ref name="LHP5-7">{{LEGO|Y2}}</ref>
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*'''[[Dark Arts]]''': Walburga was proficient in dark magic, being able to cast both the [[Killing Curse]] and the [[Imperius Curse]] successfully and was also skilled in the handling [[curse]]d objects.<ref name="LHP5-7" />  
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==Relationships==
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===Black family===
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Walburga and Orion had a happy marriage and relationship, especially since they shared blood purity ideology. Walburga was likely devastated when her husband died. Walburga's eldest son, Sirius was a huge disappointment to her and the rest of the family, since he disagreed with the Black family's beliefs in blood purity and was sorted into [[Gryffindor]] rather than [[Slytherin]]. When Sirius left home at the age of 16, she blasted his name off the tapestry. If she had heard about his being sent to Azkaban, she was likely pleased. Though she hated him, Kreacher did state Walburga was heartbroken by Sirius' departure.
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Walburga greatly admired and favoured her younger son, Regulus because he remained loyal to the Black family traditions and was sorted into Slytherin. Walburga was obviously devastated when her son died.This event may have finally made her to begin doubting the cause of the [[Death Eaters]] and begin to think that they were taking things to far due to the death of her favoured son.
   
 
==Etymology==
  
==Etymology==
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*Walburga is a variation of the name ''Walpurga'', who was a saint for whom [[Wikipedia:Walpurgis Night|Walpurgis Night]] is named. Historically, Walpurgis Night was considered to be a time when the barrier between the living and the dead was weak and when witches held celebrations.
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*Walburga is a variation of the name ''Walpurga'', who was a saint for whom {{wplink|Walpurgis Night}} is named. Historically, Walpurgis Night was considered to be a time when the barrier between the living and the dead was weak and when witches held celebrations. Also, the Knights of Walpurgis (later known as the [[Death Eaters]]) were named after Walpurgis Night.
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*Walburga was also the given name of the mother of [[Wikipedia:Josef Mengele|Josef Mengele]], a Nazi doctor who conducted horrific experiments on prisoners in concentration camps. She was said to have been extremely cruel and a Nazi supporter, rather like Walburga Black's views on retaining blood purity.
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*Walburga was also the given name of the mother of {{wplink|Josef Mengele}}, a Nazi doctor who conducted horrific experiments on prisoners in concentration camps. She was said to have been extremely cruel and a Nazi supporter, rather like Walburga Black's views on retaining blood purity.
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*{{wplink|256 Walpurga}} is a large Main belt asteroid. It was discovered by {{wplink|Johann Palisa}} on April 3, 1886 in {{wplink|Vienna}} and was named after {{wplink|Saint Walpurga}}. This loosely fits in with the Black family tradition of using celestial names for their children.
   
 
==Behind the scenes==
  
==Behind the scenes==
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*Walburga Black's likeness on the [[Black Family Tapestry]], as featured in {{OOTP|FA}}, seems to have been based on [http://media.vam.ac.uk/media/thira/collection_images/2006BF/2006BF7035_jpg_l.jpg a depiction of a noblewoman] from the [[Wikipedia:Devonshire Hunting Tapestries|Devonshire Hunting Tapestries]], currently in the collection of the [[Wikipedia:Victoria and Albert Museum|Victoria and Albert Museum]], in [[London]].
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*We hear Walburga's portrait, covered with curtains,screaming in the first floor of 12, [[Grimmauld Place]] in ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)]]'' (PC Version)
  
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*In {{OOTP|FA}}, [[Portrait of Walburga Black at 12 Grimmauld Place|Walburga's portrait]] was not heard screaming, but she could be heard muttering behind her curtain, and [[Kreacher]] still talked about the "scum" in [[12 Grimmauld Place]], such as "[[Mudblood]]s" and "[[Blood traitor]]s".
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*Walburga's father was only thirteen when Walburga was born, although it is possible this is a mathematical error on Rowling's part (Rowling has admitted she lacks skills with mathematics).
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*In ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)]], Walburga's portrait was not heard screaming, but ''[[Kreacher]] was still talking about the "scum" in ''[[12 Grimmauld Place]], i.e. Muggle-borns, half-bloods ect.
  
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*On the tapestry from the film, Walburga and [[Orion]] are depicted together, and their heads looking in different ways, although they are in marriage. This is likely because both Walburga and [[Orion]] were born into the House of Black, and their marriage may have been arranged.
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*Walburga was probably educated at Hogwarts as [[Horace Slughorn]] mentions that he has taught the whole Black Family.
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*Since Walburga and [[Lucretia Black]] were born in the same year, it is more likely that they were classmates at [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry|Hogwarts]].
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*Walburga may have known [[Tom Riddle]], as he was one or two years behind her, so she could have encountered him at Hogwarts.
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*It's unknown why Walburga and Orion never joined the Death Eaters, though it's likely that they merely hoped to reap the benefits of their cause, especially because they, as Sirius claims, were very pleased when Regulus became a Death Eater.
   
 
==Appearances==
  
==Appearances==
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{{Imagecat|Images of Walburga Black}}
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*''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]'' {{1st}} {{comment|Appears in portrait}}
  
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*{{OOTP}} {{Portrait}}
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*''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)]]''
  
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*{{OOTP|F}} {{Portrait}}
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*''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]'' {{comment|Appears in portrait}}
  
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*{{OOTP|G}} {{Portrait}}
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*{{DH}} {{Portrait}}
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*{{DH|G1}} {{Portrait}}
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*{{LEGO|Y2}} {{1st}}
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*{{PM}} {{Mention}}
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*{{HPV|CR}} {{Mention}}
   
 
==Notes and references==
  
==Notes and references==
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{{reflist}}
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{{Reflist}}
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{{Start box}}
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{{Succession box
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|predecessor=[[Irma Crabbe|Irma]] and [[Pollux Black]]
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|position=Owner of [[12 Grimmauld Place]]
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|years=???-[[1985]]
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|successor=[[Sirius Black]]
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}}
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{{End box}}
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[[de:Walburga Black]]
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[[es:Walburga Black]]
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[[fi:Walburga Musta]]
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[[fr:Walburga Black]]
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[[nl:Walburga Zwarts]]
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[[ru:Вальбурга Блэк]]
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[[pl:Walburga Black]]
   
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Walburga}}[[Category:1925 births]]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Walburga}}
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[[Category:1925 births]]
 
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
  
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
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[[Category:British individuals]]
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[[Category:Dark wizards]]
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[[Category:Death Eater allies]]
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[[Category:Deceased individuals]]
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[[Category:English individuals]]
 
[[Category:Females]]
  
[[Category:Females]]
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[[Category:Members of the House of Black]]
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[[Category:House of Black]]
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[[Category:Parents]]
 
[[Category:Portraits]]
  
[[Category:Portraits]]
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[[Category:Pure-blood supremacists]]
 
[[Category:Pure-bloods]]
  
[[Category:Pure-bloods]]
 
[[Category:Slytherins]]
  
[[Category:Slytherins]]
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[[Category:Wizards]]
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[[Category:Widowed individuals]]

Revision as of 23:51, 27 May 2020

"My mother didn't have a heart, Kreacher. She kept herself alive out of pure spite."
— Walburga's unpleasant personality[src]

Walburga Black (1925 – 1985) was a pure-blood Dark witch, the daughter of Pollux Black and Irma Crabbe, the sister of Alphard and Cygnus, the wife and second cousin of Orion Black, and the mother of Sirius Black III and Regulus Black II. She was also a member of the Black family, an old wizarding family and one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.

Walburga lived in Grimmauld Place starting at an unknown point in her life, presumably after she married her second cousin Orion. She died in 1985, but her portrait still remains at 12 Grimmauld Place. Walburga's portrait makes anyone not in the pure-blood elite quite uncomfortable in her home, by constantly shouting insults and epithets at them.

Biography

Early life

Harry Potter: "Were — were your parents Death Eaters as well?"
Sirius Black: "No, no, but believe me, they thought Voldemort had the right idea, they were all for the purification of the wizarding race, getting rid of Muggle-borns and having pure-bloods in charge… I bet my parents thought Regulus was a right little hero for joining up at first."
— Sirius Black regarding his family's views[src]

Walburga was a member of the traditionalist pure-blood House of Black, who looked down on any except other "respectable" pure-blood wizards and believed in pure-blood supremacy. She was the daughter of Pollux Black and Irma Crabbe, and sister of Alphard and Cygnus. Shortly after graduating Hogwarts, Walburga waited for her second cousin Orion to finish his education and married him at some point in the 1950s.

Family life and death

The Blacks - Pottermore

The Blacks in the early 1970s. From left to right: Orion, Regulus, Walburga, and Sirius

Walburga gave birth to a son, Sirius, on 3 November, 1959. However, Sirius was a severe disappointment to her because he did not agree with the ideology of blood purity and was sorted into Gryffindor House at Hogwarts, rather than the family's traditional house, Slytherin.[2] Growing up, he ticked off his parents (particularly his mother) by decorating his room with posters from the muggle world depicting bikini-clad women and motorcycles, and had stuck those to the walls with irreversible sticking charms that infuriated her.

Sirius was disinherited and removed from the Black Family tree when he left home at the age of sixteen to live with the Potter family. Walburga personally blasted her son from the tapestry. She maintained a habit of blasting people from the Black family tree which stood in the hall of the family home at 12 Grimmauld Place if they displeased her; she did so to her brother Alphard simply because he left gold to Sirius despite being disowned. According to Kreacher, Walburga was heartbroken by this abandonment, but nonetheless disowned both of them to cleanse the tapestry.

Luckily for her, Walburga gave birth to another son, Regulus, around 1961. He followed the family traditions and joined the Slytherin House, and eventually became his mother's favourite, as well as heir to the wealth, position, and traditions of the Black family. Regulus became a Death Eater during the First Wizarding War; although neither Walburga nor Orion were followers of Lord Voldemort themselves, according to Sirius, they thought he "had the right idea"[4], until they saw that Voldemort was ruthless in his pursuit for power, at which point they got cold feet. Regulus was killed in 1979 after trying to destroy Voldemort's Horcrux, and died childless without an heir. As Regulus forbade Kreacher from telling this to anyone, Walburga thought Regulus died trying to leave the organisation. Walburga's husband Orion also died in the same year from an unknown cause. Walburga was obviously devastated when her husband and son died.

In 1981, Walburga's disowned son, Sirius was framed for the murder of his friend, Peter Pettigrew and 12 Muggles and was thus sent to Azkaban.[5] It is possible that if Walburga heard of this, she would have been pleased.

She died in 1985, leaving her house-elf Kreacher in her now abandoned house.[1]

Post-mortem

Main article: Portrait of Walburga Black at 12 Grimmauld Place
Walburga Black: "Freaks."
Kreacher: "There, there, mistress."
— Portrait of Walburga on the people staying in her house[src]

Walburga's portrait remained magically fixed to the wall in the hallway of her family home, using a Permanent Sticking Charm.[6] The picture, which was covered in canvas when inactive, showed an insane old woman, prone to screaming insults at anyone who disturbed the portrait, particularly that of non-pure-bloods. This happened several times when the Order of the Phoenix used Grimmauld Place as their headquarters after her death, and they tried unsuccessfully to remove the portrait for quite sometime.

Walburga survived the deaths of her family, but the destruction of it may account for her final madness. After their deaths, she was alone in the house except for the family house-elf, Kreacher, who seemed equally deranged due to his parroting her beliefs, up until Harry Potter came to know and treat him better one year after inheriting him.[4]

Personality and traits

"Stains of dishonour, filthy half-breeds, blood traitors, children of filth!"
— Portrait of Walburga Black screaming at members of the Order of the Phoenix[src]

Walburga Black, like most members of her family, was obsessed with blood purity, and her portrait would often scream insults at blood traitors, half-bloods or muggle-born wizards. She had little affection for her son Sirius, as he was viewed as a blood traitor by the Black family but appeared to have a fairly good relationship with Sirius' younger brother, Regulus, and was proud of him when he joined the Death Eaters. Although she was not a Death Eater herself, she was convinced that Voldemort was doing the right thing by trying to eliminate Muggles and bringing wizards and witches out of hiding for them to rule both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds. Despite this she is known to have become disillusioned with the Death Eaters toward the end of the First Wizarding War, showing that even she believed that they were going too far.

Walburga was kind to her house elf, Kreacher, who shared her views on blood purity, and as such Kreacher was very loyal to her. Based on her portrait's tendencies of screaming uncontrollably, she seems to have had a very violent temper, similar to her elder son when angered. Sirius justified this by claiming that his mother was an intensely spiteful and heartless woman, though Kreacher did say Walburga was heartbroken by Sirius' defection.

Magical abilities and skills

  • Charms: Whilst the true extent of her skill in this field is unknown Walburga Black was proficient enough to have placed a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of her portrait to prevent anyone from taking it off the wall. The charm held in place for more than a decade after her death. She could not, however, cast the Patronus Charm.[3]
  • Dark Arts: Walburga was proficient in dark magic, being able to cast both the Killing Curse and the Imperius Curse successfully and was also skilled in the handling cursed objects.[3]  

Relationships

Black family

Walburga and Orion had a happy marriage and relationship, especially since they shared blood purity ideology. Walburga was likely devastated when her husband died. Walburga's eldest son, Sirius was a huge disappointment to her and the rest of the family, since he disagreed with the Black family's beliefs in blood purity and was sorted into Gryffindor rather than Slytherin. When Sirius left home at the age of 16, she blasted his name off the tapestry. If she had heard about his being sent to Azkaban, she was likely pleased. Though she hated him, Kreacher did state Walburga was heartbroken by Sirius' departure.

Walburga greatly admired and favoured her younger son, Regulus because he remained loyal to the Black family traditions and was sorted into Slytherin. Walburga was obviously devastated when her son died.This event may have finally made her to begin doubting the cause of the Death Eaters and begin to think that they were taking things to far due to the death of her favoured son.

Etymology

  • Walburga is a variation of the name Walpurga, who was a saint for whom Walpurgis Night is named. Historically, Walpurgis Night was considered to be a time when the barrier between the living and the dead was weak and when witches held celebrations. Also, the Knights of Walpurgis (later known as the Death Eaters) were named after Walpurgis Night.
  • Walburga was also the given name of the mother of Josef Mengele, a Nazi doctor who conducted horrific experiments on prisoners in concentration camps. She was said to have been extremely cruel and a Nazi supporter, rather like Walburga Black's views on retaining blood purity.
  • 256 Walpurga is a large Main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Johann Palisa on April 3, 1886 in Vienna and was named after Saint Walpurga. This loosely fits in with the Black family tradition of using celestial names for their children.

Behind the scenes

Appearances

Wiki
The Harry Potter Wiki has 12 images related to Walburga Black.

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 Black family tree (see this image)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 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. If Walburga, born in 1925, presumably attended Hogwarts from 1936 to 1943 or 1937 to 1944, she likely would have been a student of Slughorn. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "slytherin" defined multiple times with different content
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 6 (The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black) Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "OTP" defined multiple times with different content
  5. ↑ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 10 (The Marauder's Map)}
  6. ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 5 (The Order of the Phoenix)
Preceded by:
Irma and Pollux Black 		Owner of 12 Grimmauld Place
???-1985 		Succeeded by:
Sirius Black
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