BEWITCHED | SIRIUS BLACK

Part forty three

Sirius would later share this designation and was held in contempt, even hatred, by some members of his family.

Hogwarts years (1971–1978)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
JAMES AND SIRIUS TORMENTING SEVERUS SNAPE IN THEIR FIFTH YEAR

1971 sorting
Sirius during his Sorting sitting next to Lily Evans
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 1971, 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.

Marauders
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's 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 Marauder's 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".

James tormenting Severus flashback
Harry witnessing Sirius and James bullying Snape in their fifth year
Sirius's 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 bullied 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 he 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 redhead who disapproved of such behaviour, whom James later married right after they left Hogwarts.

The Marauders
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". The resentment Snape felt for Sirius was never healed. 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 was left financially independent by his uncle's generous bequest and eventually got a place of his own.

First Wizarding War (1978–1981)

Sirius: "What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard that ever existed? Only innocent lives, Peter!"
Peter Pettigrew: "You don't understand! He would have killed me, Sirius!"
Sirius: "THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"
— Sirius confronting Peter in regards to his betrayal[src]
The Marauders in Order of the Pheonix image
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 1977, 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.[21]