Sirius black who is

However, in his later life, Sirius established friendships with his first cousin once removed, Nymphadora Tonks , as well as his godson Harry whom he loved as a son , Harry's friends Hermione and Ron , his third cousin and his distant cousins in the Weasley family. He was distantly related to Arthur. Sirius had an unhappy childhood; by adolescence he had come to hate most of his relatives, in particular his mother and his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange.

Whereas all other members of the Black family were sorted into Slytherin , Sirius was placed in Gryffindor during his sorting in , showing that his views had already diverged from those of the rest of the family before he came to school. Sirius also took great care in hanging Gryffindor banners all over his room at Number 12 Grimmauld Place to show his difference from the rest of the family.

He also had several pictures of Muggle girls in bikinis, which outraged his mother. Remus, they later discovered, was a werewolf. To support him, Sirius, James and Peter secretly — and illegally — became Animagi , which allowed them to safely accompany Remus during his transformations and keep him under control.

Sirius' form took the shape of a huge black dog not unlike the Grim , from which his nickname "Padfoot" was derived, James would become a stag Prongs , and Peter would become a rat Wormtail.

The four friends called themselves "the Marauders" and used the nicknames "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail after their three Animagus forms and Moony after his lycanthropic condition. They would, during their time at Hogwarts, create the Marauders Map which allowed them to see where everyone in the castle was at a given time which made sneaking around and avoiding teachers much easier.

Although he later considered himself "an idiot" during this time, Sirius, along with James, was immensely popular: teachers respected his intelligence, though not his behaviour, and girls adored his dark handsome looks, but his especially rebellious attitude made him ignore them, therefore making the girls fawn over his bad boy attitude.

Many teachers regarded him and James as troublemakers or practical jokers; Hagrid once compared them to the mischievous twins Fred and George Weasley. Sirius' popularity was not universal, however. Early on, a mutual hatred sprang up between James Potter and Severus Snape. Sirius actively supported James, leading to Snape bestowing an equal and life-long grudge upon Sirius, which resulted in Snape's happiness after Sirius's death. Sirius later claimed Snape was "this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts" from Snape's first moments at Hogwarts, though there is no evidence of this during their first meeting.

It could be that Sirius was exaggerating this to demonise Snape. Sirius attempted to justify this by pointing out that he and James were only 15 at the time to which Harry hotly replied, "I'm 15! He and James eventually ended their campaign of ill treatment towards Snape, but they apparently never apologised.

Early in his Hogwarts career, Sirius played a potentially lethal practical joke on Snape. He informed Snape of how to enter a tunnel under the Whomping Willow that would lead to the Shrieking Shack where, unknown to Snape, Remus Lupin was confined during his transformations into a werewolf. Snape went there during a full moon, and James was forced to rescue him. Sirius excused his own actions, explaining that he had simply told Snape what he wanted to know about the tunnel, while omitting crucial information.

He simultaneously claimed it "served Snape right. Snape was not the only student that Sirius, and James, tormented during their years at Hogwarts. They also used an illegal hex on a boy named Bertram Aubrey which caused his head to grow twice its original size.

It is unknown why they hexed him. At age sixteen, Sirius finally broke away from his family and took refuge with James Potter and his parents.

The Potters genorously adopted Sirius as a son. His outraged mother blasted his name off the family tree, as was tradition for those who did not support the family's supremacist ideology. After leaving school, Sirius fought against Lord Voldemort , eventually joining the Order of the Phoenix. Around , he and James were involved in a motorbike chase with two policemen. Although the chase started off as a bit of fun, it turned slightly more serious when the pair were attacked by three men on broomsticks.

Sirius and James used their wands to raise the police car that had been chasing them, and their attackers crashed into it. Sometime in , Sirius's father and brother both died. Orion's death was from an unknown cause, while Regulus's death was when he drank the Drink of Despair , and when he tried to get water to quench his thirst, he was dragged to his death by the Inferi.

He remained the best of friends with James, and attended James' wedding to Lily Evans as best man. When their son Harry was born, James and Lily named Sirius godfather, thus designating him as Harry's guardian in the event of their deaths. He also gave Harry his first broom at the age of one as a birthday present, as stated by Lily in a letter found by Harry a number of years later. After joining the Order of the Phoenix , Sirius found himself roiling with mistrust and stress due to the great terror that was Lord Voldemort.

It took its toll — by October , he no longer trusted his old friend Remus Lupin , suspecting he was a spy and excluding him from important information. However, he trusted Peter Pettigrew implicitly, a decision he would grow to regret for the rest of his life. In , the Potters were aware that Harry, along with the son of fellow Order members Alice and Frank Longbottom , had become Lord Voldemort's specific targets.

Albus Dumbledore advised the Potters to go into hiding using the Fidelius Charm , which Dumbledore hoped would conceal them from doom. James was adamant about Sirius being their Secret-Keeper , believing that Sirius would willingly die rather than reveal where they were. However, believing Voldemort would suspect him, Sirius suggested a "weak, talentless thing" — Peter Pettigrew — as a less obvious choice.

Sirius Black wanted poster posted around Hogwarts , Hogsmeade and other magical locations. Unsettled by the lack of signs of a struggle, Sirius frantically sped to Godric's Hollow , discovering the Potters' house destroyed and his friends dead; only baby Harry was still alive. When Rubeus Hagrid appeared on the scene to rescue Harry, on Dumbledore's orders, Sirius offered to take Harry himself. However, Hagrid told him that Dumbledore had made arrangements to send Harry to Lily's sister, Petunia.

Sirius conceded, and gave Hagrid his flying motorcycle , telling him he wouldn't need it; nevertheless, after Hagrid had handed over the baby, he intended to return Black his bike. After leaving Godric's Hollow, Sirius, overcome with grief and rage, tracked Pettigrew down, determined to kill him in vengeance.

However, Pettigrew outwitted Black: confronted by Sirius on a city street, he shouted out that it was Sirius who betrayed the Potters, and then created a huge explosion which enabled him to fake his own death, leaving a severed finger behind as evidence, and killed twelve Muggles in the process.

Fudge claimed that he saw Black laughing maniacally at the scene of the crime, suggesting that Peter's escape nearly pushed him over the edge into insanity. Sirius was arrested by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and was sentenced without trial to Azkaban for the murder of Pettigrew and the twelve Muggles, for giving the information about the Potters' whereabouts which lead to their death and for being in the service of Lord Voldemort.

He would spend the next twelve years in solitary confinement at the mercy of the Azkaban guards, the Dementors. Driven to the brink of madness, he retained his sanity by focusing on his innocence.

He said, in the Shrieking Shack, that "it was more an obsession than a happy thought"; it could not be detected by the Dementors, but still gave him small comfort. However, his brooding over his friends' deaths and Pettigrew's betrayal became an obsession as well. Sirius' escape was legendary to say the least. In , he became the first known person to ever escape from the wizard prison of Azkaban. After several trying years in Azkaban, Sirius regained enough strength to transform into his Animagus form.

Since Dementors have difficulty sensing the less complex emotions of animals, he was able to remain relatively unaffected as a dog. After receiving an issue of the Daily Prophet from Cornelius Fudge during an inspection, Sirius discovered that Pettigrew was still alive and in hiding in his Animagus form as Ron Weasley 's pet rat. Filled with the desire for revenge, Sirius took his Animagus form and, thinned from malnourishment, was able to slip through the bars of his cell and past the Dementors.

He swam across the North Sea to freedom, though the journey nearly killed him. He made his way to Little Whinging to catch a glimpse of his godson as a teenager, where his appearance startled Harry before the Knight Bus turned up.

As news of Sirius muttering "he's at Hogwarts" in his sleep, and subsequently escaping, was released, the Wizarding community went on high alert, believing that he planned to murder Harry in a mad attempt to bring Lord Voldemort back. Sirius took refuge around Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest , where he was spotted a few times and mistaken for the Grim.

He made the acquaintance of Hermione Granger 's cat Crookshanks , who had recognised that Sirius wasn't actually a dog, and who had also recognised Peter for what he was. Crookshanks attempted to bring Peter to Sirius, but Ron was very protective of his so-called pet.

Half-crazed and desperate, Sirius sneaked into Hogwarts through the old passageway from the Shrieking Shack and on one occasion slashed the Fat Lady 's portrait when she refused him entrance to Gryffindor Tower. Later, he came to view the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff , where he witnessed Harry's excellent flying skills, which mirrored James'.

In June, Sirius caught Ron carrying Scabbers, after the rat had been discovered hiding in Rubeus Hagrid's cabin , and dragged both boy and rat through the tunnel under the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack.

Harry and Hermione Granger followed, the former intent on confronting Sirius about the supposed betrayal of his parents, despite the obvious differences in their ages and skill levels; Sirius' weakened state due to being on the run at that time led to the boy easily, and wandlessly, overpowering the older wizard despite Crookshanks's attempts to aid the Animagus.

Once Harry had Sirius at his mercy, Remus Lupin , who had seen Peter on the confiscated Marauder's Map , disarmed Harry and warmly greeted his old friend. Together, Lupin and Sirius revealed Peter's true form. Both wanted to kill their former friend for betraying James and Lily, but Harry prevented them from doing so, believing that it would be better to force Pettigrew to face justice at the hands of the Dementors.

That, and he didn't want his father's friends to be murderers. As they made their way back to the castle, Sirius hesitantly asked Harry if he would like to live with him, thinking Harry would not want to live with the aunt and uncle who had raised him; Harry enthusiastically agreed, thrilled at the idea of leaving the Dursleys and finally having a real home. Unfortunately, soon after they left the Whomping Willow, Lupin transformed under the full moon and, having forgotten to take the Wolfsbane Potion in the wake of discovering Pettigrew, was uncontrollable.

In order to protect Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Lupin, Sirius turned back into a dog, giving Pettigrew an opening to escape and flee. Sirius was weakened following his encounter with Lupin's werewolf form and could not protect himself when the Dementors guarding Hogwarts arrived. Harry, who had followed Sirius and found him lying unconscious and surrounded by the hooded creatures, attempted to perform the Patronus Charm but to no avail.

The Dementors nearly succeeded in sucking out Sirius' soul until a powerful Patronus resembling a stag warded them off. Sirius was briefly re-captured by Snape, and was sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss , a fate worse than death. Miraculously, and by Albus Dumbledore 's suggestion, Harry and Hermione used Hermione's Time-Turner to help Sirius escape ; as Dumbledore had also hinted that "more than one innocent life" could be saved that night, they rescued the hippogriff Buckbeak from execution, thus granting Sirius a form of travel.

Sirius was once again a wanted man, although alive and with his soul intact. Soon after his escape, he sent Harry, Ron and Hermione a letter via a tiny, hyperactive owl , explaining that it was he who sent Harry the Firebolt for Christmas, and giving Harry permission, as his godfather, to go to Hogsmeade. He also apologised to Ron for the loss of his pet, asking him to accept the owl in "Scabbers" place.

Sirius talks to Harry at the Gryffindor Common Room fire in Sirius fled Europe beyond the Ministry of Magic 's jurisdiction. He communicated with Harry using brightly coloured tropical birds, much to Hedwig 's annoyance very seldom to retain the secrecy of his location. Harry grew to greatly rely on Sirius' advice in time of need. When Harry was mysteriously entered in the Triwizard Tournament , Sirius hid in a cave near Hogsmeade and provided mostly moral support to Harry during this time.

Harry told Sirius about seeing the name "Bartemius Crouch" appear on the Marauder's Map when he was working on the second clue. Sirius admitted that it was fishy, but told Harry to focus on the task at hand and leave the mystery surrounding Crouch's "illness" to others.

When Barty Crouch mysteriously disappeared in the castle grounds, Sirius warned Harry that someone didn't want Crouch to get to Dumbledore. He advised Harry to continue his practise of defensive spells, and to never wander off on his own. Sirius during the Second Wizarding War. With Lord Voldemort restored to his physical form, Dumbledore reinstated the Order of the Phoenix , sending Sirius to gather the old crowd and inform them of the situation. Unfortunately, as he was still wanted by the authorities, Sirius could never safely leave the house and became quite bitter over his perceived "uselessness".

When he briefly left the house to see Harry to the Hogwarts Express , Draco Malfoy nastily complimented Harry on his "pet dog," which, coupled with comments Malfoy made on the train, suggested Sirius' cover was blown.

Harry and Sirius stayed in touch during Harry's school year via owls and the Floo Network , though Sirius' presence was nearly discovered by Dolores Umbridge during her dictatorial managing of Hogwarts that year. Sirius acted as more of a brother than father figure to Harry throughout his hardships with Umbridge, encouraging him to oppose her reforms and strongly approving of Harry's secret defensive tutorial group for students, Dumbledore's Army.

His vigorous support of Dumbledore's Army worried Hermione, who thought that Sirius was attempting to live vicariously through them. He also willingly answered all of Harry's questions about the Order and Voldemort, though most of Harry's mentors felt Harry was too young to handle the burden of the truth.

Sirius sees Harry off at King's Cross Station. During his time confined to the Order's headquarters, Sirius began to let himself go. When Harry and the Weasleys arrived at Grimmauld Place just after Arthur was attacked by Nagini , Sirius was unshaven and still in his day clothes late at night.

He also seemed to have taken to drinking, as he had a "Mundungus-like whiff of stale drink about him". However, Sirius made a complete turn-around when the Weasley family and Harry decided to stay at Grimmauld Place over the Christmas holidays for its proximity to St.

Mungo's, and at one point was heard singing " God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs " at the top of his lungs. Voldemort used Legilimency to implant a false vision into Harry's mind that Sirius was being tortured in the Department of Mysteries , convincing Harry that Sirius had in fact been captured. After giving Severus Snape a cryptic message informing him of the situation and then ditching Umbridge in the Forbidden Forest , Harry, along with Ron, Hermione and fellow D.

The students made their way through the deserted Ministry of Magic and gained access to the Department of Mysteries , only to be ambushed by Death Eaters. Tragically, however, during a frenzied duel with his hated cousin Bellatrix , Sirius was struck with a spell, causing him to fall through the Veil in the Death Chamber to his death.

Harry Potter blamed himself for Sirius's death. In his youth, Sirius was good-looking in an elegant, casual way with dark hair and gray eyes; after his imprisonment he is often described as looking gaunt and unkempt.

Birthdate: November 3, Deathdate: June 18, ; killed by his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange whose spell knocked him through an ancient, veiled archway in the Department of Mysteries OP Sirius left all his possessions to Harry in his will HBP3. Ancestry: Pure-blood. He was very good-looking; his dark hair fell into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin.

His eyes were fixed on Harry. Incarcerated for 12 years, but survived by turning into a dog so the Dementors could not deeply affect him. Escaped when he recognized Wormtail in a newspaper photograph. Reward was set at 10, Galleons. Gringotts Vault: PA Years: — House: Gryffindor WBD. Parents convinced that to be a 'Black' made you "practically royal. Black family members tend to be named for stars and constellations.

Location of childhood home: number twelve Grimmauld Place, London. Mother: Walburga Black ; her portrait is permanently mounted in the hallway of the Black family home. Siblings: Regulus Arcturus Black Both sets of Sirius's grandparents were direct descendents of Phineas Nigellus Black. Aunts, Uncles: Uncle Alphard, who left Sirius money and Aunt Elladora who started the tradition of beheading house-elves when they were too old to carry tea trays.

Arthur Weasley is a second cousin once removed. Andromeda was his favorite cousin OP6. Distantly related to Molly Weasley. Family motto: Toujours pur French for "always pure" OP6.

It shows a shield with hounds rampant emblazoned with a chevron, 2 five-pointed stars and a short sword. Other names: "Snuffles" and "Padfoot" PA Usually, Padfoots guard churchyards or certain roads; are said to roam the countryside at night; tend to be larger than ordinary dogs; can vanish instantly or fade slowly away while standing still, yet can run extremely quickly; typically described as having huge and "blazing" eyes; tend to be silent.

Because of their association with graveyards, scholars once believed the black dog form was the preferred form of the Devil, and are usually considered an omen of death, and are, thus, also called the Grim. Quote: "I've done so much R-rated work, it's nice to have a job you can show your kids. Sirius had a younger brother, Regulus.

Sirius did not share a close relationship with his brother, calling him a "better son" than himself. The names Cygnus , Arcturus , and Regulus have also occurred at least twice each. Notably, however, only one Sirius the subject's great-grandfather left a line of descent, which ended with the youngest Sirius, as he did not have children. The Black family believed strongly in pure-blood elitism.

They refused to consort with Muggles or Muggle-borns , Squibs and blood traitors and even disowned Squib family members, such as Sirius' great-uncle Marius Black , and insisted that their family members only marry within respectable pure-blood classes; because of these beliefs, they were forced to marry their own cousins. They also held the Dark Arts in reverence.

Sirius rejected these values, leading to conflict with his family. He even put permanent-sticking charms of Gryffindor banners, as well as pictures of Muggle girls in bikinis and motorcycles, as well as a picture of himself and his Gryffindor friends on the walls of his room to emphasise his differences from the family and annoy his parents.

His favourite cousin, Andromeda , was disowned by the family as a " blood traitor " when she married Ted Tonks , a Muggle-born wizard. Sirius would later share this designation and was held in contempt, even hatred, by some members of his family. Sirius had an unhappy childhood; by adolescence he had come to hate most of his relatives, in particular his mother, Walburga and his cousin Bellatrix Black.

Whereas all other members of the Black family were Sorted into Slytherin , Sirius was placed in Gryffindor during his Sorting in , showing that his views had already diverged from those of the rest of the family before he came to school. Sirius also took great care in hanging Gryffindor banners all over his room at Number 12 Grimmauld Place to show his difference from the rest of the family. Aside from the shrine to Godric Gryffindor, Sirius did the rest of his room akin to a Muggle boy of his age.

He put up pictures of motorcycles and fighter jets, as well as posters of bathing beauties. Honouring Muggle accomplishments annoyed his family, but none so much as angering his mother that Sirius considered Muggle women attractive. The Marauders in their Animagus forms Sirius is the black dog keeping Lupin company in his werewolf form. By contrast he greatly enjoyed life at Hogwarts, where he was inseparable from his best friends: James Potter , Remus Lupin , and Peter Pettigrew.

They later discovered that Remus was a werewolf. To support him, Sirius, James, and Peter secretly — and illegally — became Animagi. This allowed them to safely accompany Remus during his transformations and keep him under control.

Sirius' form took the shape of a huge black dog not unlike the Grim , from which his nickname "Padfoot" was derived. James would become a stag Prongs and Peter would become a rat Wormtail. The four friends called themselves "the Marauders" and used the nicknames "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs". Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail came from their three Animagus forms and Moony after his lycanthropic condition.

They also created the Marauders Map , which allowed them to see where everyone in the castle was at a given time which made sneaking around and avoiding teachers much easier. Although he later considered himself "an idiot" during this time, Sirius, along with James were immensely popular.

Teachers respected his intelligence though not his behaviour and girls adored his dark handsome looks. His especially rebellious attitude made him ignore them, therefore making girls fawn over his bad boy attitude, as well as his looks. Many teachers regarded him and James as troublemakers or practical jokers.

Hagrid once compared them to the mischievous twins Fred and George Weasley , saying that the Weasleys could " give them a run for their money ". Harry witnessing Sirius and James bullying Snape in their fifth year. Sirius' popularity was not universal, however. A mutual hatred sprang up between James Potter and Severus Snape. Sirius actively supported James, leading to Snape bestowing an equal and life-long grudge upon Sirius.

Sirius later claimed Snape was " this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts ", from Snape's first moments at Hogwarts. He was one of the many people who hated Snape. Sirius and James often went out of their way to bully Snape. One time Sirius and James physically bully him simply out of boredom. Though Sirius did admit that he and James were " arrogant little berks " and that he was not proud of his behaviour, but had done nothing to rectify it.

He and James eventually ended their campaign of ill-treatment towards Snape, but they apparently never apologised. The only time James ever stopped was in front of Lily Evans , a pretty red-head who disapproved of such behaviour, whom James later married right after they left Hogwarts.

Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter as teenagers during their final years at Hogwarts. In his fifth-year [20] at Hogwarts years, Sirius played a potentially lethal practical joke on Snape. He informed Snape of how to enter a tunnel under the Whomping Willow that would lead to the Shrieking Shack where, unknown to Snape, Remus Lupin was confined during his transformations into a werewolf.

Snape went there during a full moon, and James was forced to rescue him. Sirius excused his own actions, explaining that he had simply told Snape what he wanted to know about the tunnel while omitting crucial information. He simultaneously claimed it " served Snape right.

Snape was not the only student whom Sirius and James tormented during their years at Hogwarts. They also used an illegal hex on a boy named Bertram Aubrey that caused his head to grow twice its original size.

It is unknown why they hexed him. At age sixteen, Sirius finally broke away from his Pure-blood family and took refuge with James Potter and his parents. Fleamont and Euphemia Potter generously adopted Sirius as a son. His outraged mother blasted his name off the family tree, as was the tradition for those who did not support the family's supremacist ideology. Sirius's Uncle Alphard , Walburga's brother, sympathised with his young nephew and left him a large inheritance in his will, most likely causing Walburga to blast Alphard's name off, as well.

Sirius as an original Order member during the First Wizarding War. After leaving school, Sirius fought against Lord Voldemort , eventually joining the Order of the Phoenix. Around , he and James were involved in a motorbike chase with two policemen. Although the chase started off as a bit of fun, it turned slightly more serious when the pair were attacked by three men on broomsticks. Sirius and James used their wands to raise the police car that had been chasing them, and their attackers crashed into it.

It is unknown whether they got into trouble with the Ministry of Magic. Sometime in , Sirius' father and brother both died. Orion's death was from an unknown cause, while Regulus' death was caused when he drank the Drink of Despair while trying to destroy one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, and when he tried to get water to quench his thirst, he was dragged to his death by the Inferi , although Sirius never learned the details of his death.

He remained the best of friends with James and attended James' wedding to Lily Evans as best man. When their son Harry was born, James and Lily named Sirius godfather, thus designating him as Harry's guardian in the event of their deaths. He also gave Harry his first broom at the age of one as a birthday present, as stated by Lily in a letter found by Harry a number of years later. After joining the Order of the Phoenix , Sirius found himself roiling with mistrust and stress due to the great terror that was Lord Voldemort.

It took its toll — by October , , he no longer trusted his old friend Remus Lupin , suspecting he was a spy and excluding him from important information. However, he trusted Peter Pettigrew implicitly, a decision he would grow to regret for the rest of his life. In , the Potters were aware that Harry, along with the son of fellow Order members Alice and Frank Longbottom , had become Lord Voldemort's specific targets. Albus Dumbledore advised the Potters to go into hiding using the Fidelius Charm , which Dumbledore hoped would conceal them from doom.

James was adamant about Sirius being their Secret-Keeper , believing that Sirius would willingly die rather than reveal where they were. However, believing Voldemort would suspect him, Sirius suggested Peter Pettigrew as a less obvious choice. Unsettled by the lack of signs of a struggle, Sirius frantically sped to Godric's Hollow , discovering the Potters' house destroyed and his friends dead; only baby Harry was still alive.

However, Hagrid told him that Dumbledore had made arrangements to send Harry to Lily's sister, Petunia. Sirius conceded after an argument and gave Hagrid his flying motorcycle , telling him he wouldn't need it; nevertheless, after Hagrid had handed over the baby, he intended to return Black his bike, but never got the chance. Pettigrew murdering twelve Muggles after being confronted by Sirius about the death of Lily and James Potter. After leaving Godric's Hollow, Sirius, overcome with grief and rage, tracked Pettigrew down, determined to kill him in vengeance.

However, Pettigrew outwitted Black: confronted by Sirius on a city street, he shouted out that it was Sirius who betrayed the Potters, and then created a huge explosion on the street with an extremely powerful explosive curse likely the Blasting Curse , killing twelve Muggles in the process and enabling him to fake his own death and escape in his Animagus form, leaving a severed finger behind as evidence. The surviving Muggles who witnessed the event were pretty certain they saw Sirius murder their twelve companions and Pettigrew with the curse, and Fudge claimed to have seen Sirius laughing maniacally at the scene of the crime.

Sirius was arrested by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and sentenced by Barty Crouch Snr to life imprisonment in Azkaban without a trial for thirteen counts of murder with the curse, giving the information about the Potters' whereabouts which lead to their death and service to Lord Voldemort.

The surviving Muggles were Obliviated and given an excuse by the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee that a gas-leak occurred before they could remember who really cast the Blasting Curse. Pettigrew was unjustly awarded the Order of Merlin , First Class for his confrontation with Sirius, which, along with the finger that they recovered, were "posthumously" given to his mother.

As time passed, due to misconceptions, many believed that Black drew his wand and killed Pettigrew before the other had a chance of even drawing. Even the other remaining Marauder, Remus, believed it was Sirius who betrayed their brotherhood. Sirius during his imprisonment in Azkaban.

Driven to the brink of madness, he retained his sanity by focusing on his innocence, which he said in the Shrieking Shack was " more an obsession than a happy thought "; it could not be detected by the Dementors, but still allowed him to maintain a sense of self and regain enough strength to transform into his Animagus form in his cell. Since Dementors have difficulty sensing the less complex emotions of animals, he was able to remain relatively unaffected as a dog. It was not at all trouble to them, though, since they thought it meant he was losing his mind like every other convict in their custody, including Bellatrix and some of her fellow Death Eaters.

However, his brooding over his friends' deaths and Pettigrew's betrayal became an obsession as well. This was due to hearing many different theories regarding why Harry survived Voldemort's attack being made by the confined Death Eaters, the most persistent of which indicating that they believed Pettigrew to have betrayed them since the Dark Lord met his downfall on Peter's information.

This most likely meant that Pettigrew went into hiding as a rat in hopes of avoiding the half of Voldemort's followers who avoided imprisonment, afraid that they will be motivated to kill him if his continuing existence became known, if not return to their master. Sirius waited until any sources reached within the prison walls leading to the discovery that Pettigrew was staying with a wizarding family as a rat to keep up on current news about Voldemort, all while getting very weak with no hope of driving the Dementors back without his wand, which was taken from him and stored away under Ministry of Magic safety repercussions.

By , Sirius' mother died, leaving the Black house-elf Kreacher alone in the house, which was thus left abandoned. Sirius Black wanted poster posted around Hogwarts , Hogsmeade and other magical locations. In , Sirius became the first known person ever to escape from Azkaban. He was however, unknown to the public, beaten by Barty Crouch Jnr through his mother's sacrifice. After receiving an issue of the Daily Prophet from Cornelius Fudge during an inspection, he discovered that Pettigrew was indeed hiding in his Animagus form as Ron Weasley 's pet rat, Scabbers.

Filled with the desire for revenge and concern for Harry, Sirius took his Animagus form and thinned from undernourishment was able to slip through the bars of his cell and past the Dementors.

He swam across the North Sea back to the mainland and to freedom. First, he made his way to Little Whinging to catch a glimpse of his godson as a teenager, where his Animagus appearance startled Harry before the Knight Bus turned up. News of his escape caused an unprecedented panic, as he was the first known escapee of the notorious prison, and many people believed that he was planning another mass murder, as well to murder Harry in a mad attempt to bring Lord Voldemort back.

Witch Watchers that operated as a special Ministry force were used as a means of trying to catch him, but to no avail. The Muggle authorities were warned that Black was dangerous.

Sirius took refuge around Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest , where he was spotted a few times and mistaken by Harry for the Grim.

He made the acquaintance of Hermione Granger 's cat Crookshanks , who had recognised that Sirius was not actually a dog, and who had also recognised Peter for what he was. Crookshanks attempted to bring Peter to Sirius, but Ron was very protective of his so-called pet. Sirius also spent some of his time in the Shrieking Shack planning various ways in which to catch Pettigrew. Half-crazed and desperate, Sirius sneaked into Hogwarts through the old passageway from the Shrieking Shack and on one occasion slashed the Fat Lady 's portrait when she refused him entrance to Gryffindor Tower on 31 October, Later, he came to view the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.

During the match he witnessed Harry's excellent flying skills, which he later commented mirrored James' skills. Eventually, he was able to enter the Gryffindor common room. Peter was nowhere to be found since Sirius' escape had prompted him to once again fake his own death and hide. In June, Sirius caught Ron carrying Scabbers, after the rat had been discovered hiding in Rubeus Hagrid's cabin , and dragged both boy and rat through the tunnel under the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack.

Harry and Hermione Granger followed, the former intent on confronting Sirius about the supposed betrayal of his parents, despite the obvious differences in their ages and skill levels; Sirius' weakened state due to being on the run at that time led to the boy easily, and without a wand, overpowering the older wizard despite Crookshanks' attempts to aid the Animagus.

Once Harry had Sirius at his mercy, Remus Lupin , who had seen Peter on the confiscated Marauder's Map , disarmed Harry and warmly greeted his old friend.

Together, Lupin and Sirius revealed Peter's true form. Both wanted to kill their former friend for betraying James and Lily, but Harry prevented them from doing so, believing that it would be better to force Pettigrew to face justice at the hands of the Dementors. That, and he did not want his father's friends to become murderers, as he did not think that would be what his father wanted.

Harry and Sirius pass out after suffering a Dementor attack by the Black Lake. As they made their way back to the castle, Sirius hesitantly asked Harry if he would like to live with him, thinking Harry would not want to; but Harry enthusiastically agreed, thrilled at the idea of leaving the Dursleys and finally having a real home. Unfortunately, soon after they left the Whomping Willow, Lupin transformed under the full moon and, having forgotten to take the Wolfsbane Potion in the wake of discovering Pettigrew, was uncontrollable.

In order to protect Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Lupin, Sirius turned back into a dog, giving Pettigrew an opening to escape and flee. Sirius was weakened following his encounter with Lupin's werewolf form and could not protect himself when hundreds of Dementors guarding Hogwarts arrived.

Harry and Hermione had followed Sirius and found him lying unconscious and surrounded by the hooded creatures, he attempted to perform the Patronus Charm but to no avail. The Dementors nearly succeeded in sucking out Sirius' soul until a powerful Patronus resembling a stag warded them off.

Sirius was briefly recaptured by Snape and was sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss , a fate worse than death. Miraculously, and by Albus Dumbledore 's suggestion, Harry and Hermione used Hermione's Time-Turner to help Sirius escape ; as Dumbledore had also hinted that "more than one innocent life" could be saved that night, they rescued the hippogriff Buckbeak from execution, thus granting Sirius a form of travel. Sirius was once again a wanted man, although alive, soul intact, and innocence known to at least certain people.

Soon after his escape, he sent Harry, Ron and Hermione a letter via a tiny, hyperactive owl explaining that it was he who sent Harry the Firebolt for Christmas, and giving Harry permission, as his godfather, to go to Hogsmeade. He also apologised to Ron for the loss of his pet, asking him to accept the owl in place of "Scabbers". Sirius fled Europe beyond the Ministry of Magic 's jurisdiction.

He communicated with Harry, but very seldom to retain the secrecy of his location. However, due to his use of exotic birds, Harry suspected him of hiding somewhere in the tropics. Harry grew to greatly rely on Sirius' advice in time of need.

When Harry was mysteriously entered in the Triwizard Tournament , Sirius hid in a cave near Hogsmeade, where Harry, Ron, and Hermione occasionally visited him. He did this in order to provide Harry with moral support and advice during this hard time. This, in turn, caused Karkaroff to land himself on the wrong side of Death Eaters still loyal to Voldemort, one of the names he gave up was Augustus Rookwood.

Harry told Sirius about seeing Barty Crouch when he was working on the second clue on his way to the prefect's bathroom. Sirius admitted that it was fishy, but told Harry to focus on the task at hand and leave the mystery surrounding Crouch's "illness" to others. Sirius contacting Harry through the Floo Network. When Barty Crouch mysteriously disappeared in the castle grounds after Harry left to retrieve Dumbledore, Sirius warned Harry that someone did not want Crouch to get to the headmaster.

He advised Harry to continue his practice of defensive spells and to never wander off on his own, as times were dangerous. Following the final task of the tournament, Dumbledore summoned Sirius to his office to meet with Harry, who had barely survived an encounter with Lord Voldemort. Sirius wished for Harry to be allowed to rest for his ordeal but was overruled by Dumbledore.

As Harry explained the night's events Sirius nearly interrupted twice and was greatly angered. He also showed signs of strong emotion when he learned that shades of his old friends James and Lily had returned and hid his face in his hands. Sirius was allowed to stay with Harry in the hospital wing in his dog form — Dumbledore telling Madam Pomfrey that he was very well trained — and remained so even as he heard Cornelius Fudge besmirch Harry and question his credibility on Voldemort's return.

Once the Minister had left Dumbledore began making plans to resist the Dark Lord. He asked Sirius to resume his human form and make his peace with Snape, although neither was pleased Sirius also frightened Molly Weasley when she first saw him as she believed him to be a murderer.

Sirius promised to see Harry again soon and left to fulfil his instructions. With Lord Voldemort restored to his physical form, Dumbledore reinstated the Order of the Phoenix , sending Sirius to gather the "old crowd" and inform them of the situation.