House of Black

"Toujours Pur"

- The Black Family Motto The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was one of the largest, oldest, and wealthiest pureblooded wizarding families in Great Britain, and one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Many wizarding families in Britain were distantly related to the House of Black. Like the Malfoy and Lestrange families, the House of Black was synonymous with elevated status and wealth.

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 tapestry started in the Middle Ages and showed the dominant line of the family up to the death of its last members.

Blasted off of the Tapestry
"Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh! ... Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers!"

- Walburga Black's portrait screaming at her "traitor" son

The original family tree from Grimmauld Place was subject to some magical interference. According to Sirius Black, his mother Walburga blasted names of "blood traitors" off the tapestry without any hesitation. Toujours Pur, the Black family motto which means "always pure", was followed assiduously by family members; as any who disagreed with the notion of blood purity and/or married muggles or people with different blood statuses were disowned and blasted from the family tree, as were any family member who were squibs.

Thus it can be assumed that family members that remained on the tapestry have married fellow, "respectable" purebloods. Some even ended up marrying their own cousins; Orion and Walburga Black for example, as they were second cousins. Generations of this practice have resulted in inbreeding; which in turn has caused many problems, such as low fertility and emotional instability.

The members of the family that are known to be disowned are: Eduardus Limette, Iola, Phineas, Marius, Cedrella, Alphard, Andromeda, and Sirius Black.