A few Blacks even became Death Eaters, while many others never took the Dark Mark but believed in the 'purification' of the wizarding world nevertheless. Recent historyīellatrix Lestrange and other Black relatives are tried before the Council of Magical Lawīecause of their views, a large number of the Black family members practised the Dark Arts and supported Lord Voldemort during the First and Second Wizarding Wars. Many members took this phrase very seriously.

The family motto, which could be found on the family crest, was Toujours Pur, meaning 'Always Pure' in French. The Blacks placed a great importance on blood purity, considering themselves akin to royalty in the wizarding world and disdaining Muggles, Squibs, blood traitors, and Muggle-borns. The pure-blood families like the Blacks simply removed Muggles and Squibs from their family trees. They claimed to have entirely magical ancestry, but as Sirius Black informed his godson Harry Potter, no true pure-blood families existed by the twentieth century. The Black family traced its origin back to the Middle Ages. my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal.' - Sirius Black to Harry Potter on his family's values The female line continued through the Malfoy, Potter and Weasley families, Teddy Lupin, and through Delphini who was Bellatrix's illegitimate daughter with Lord Voldemort. īy the late twentieth century, the House of Black had become extinct in the male line with the deaths of Sirius and Regulus Black, neither of whom had children. The tapestry started in the Middle Ages and showed the dominant line of the family up to the death of its last members. The Black family tree was displayed in the drawing room of the family home at 12 Grimmauld Place in London, England on an intricate tapestry, as an ornate mural. The Blacks were traditionally sorted into Slytherin at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Like the Malfoy and Lestrange families (both of whom are related to the Black family), the House of Black was synonymous with elevated status and wealth.

Many wizarding families in Britain were distantly related to the House of Black. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was one of the largest, oldest, and wealthiest pure-blooded wizarding families in Great Britain, and one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. ' Toujours Pur.' - The family motto, translating to 'Always Pure'

Family sigil