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Character Information
General
Canon Source: Harry Potter and the Varying Nouns (although admittedly I base some of my interpretation off of Shoebox Project; this could be considered a type of unofficial canon at least in terms of character development-although to be clear, I don’t play FROM the fics, it’s just a good reference for characterization :3)
Canon Format: seven wonderful books~
Character's Name: Sirius Black
Character's Age: I will be playing Marauder-era Sirius, so he will be seventeen years old, about to start his final year at Hogwarts. What a fresh faced baby he will be, no prison stint, no murder accusations, no life on the lam...
What form will your character's NV take?
In book 5, Sirius gives Harry that little mirror with which he will apparently be able to contact him. Headcanon says that the Marauders used similar means to contact each other (sort of like those DA coins Hermione designs), so his NV will take the form of a little mirror (something like this. It will need to be open to use the video function, but there will be little buttons around the hinges that will allow for the audio capability. Texts will show up on the surface of the mirror, and another button around the hinges will perform a voice-to-text function for him, should he want to use it.
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities: He’s an effing wizard you guys. But more on that in the weapons section, since it’s all wand-driven. Canonly, even as an irritating kid, Sirius was a brilliant wizard. Professor McGonagall herself describes him as such, and Remus Lupin states that he was one of the “cleverest wizards” in their class. He comes up with impressive and complex tidbits during his Hogwarts years--the Marauder’s Map, most notably--and works out the incredibly intricate potion for Animagus transformation at age fifteen.
Oh, yeah. Sirius is a illegal Animagus, which means that he has the capability to transform into an animal at will. Sirius’ Animagus form is a big black dog. Since he’s unregistered as an Animagus, he is able to use this form to do some mischief--and, later in life, elude his Ministry captors.
Weapons: His wand, obviously, with which he can do a great deal of damage. HERE is the complete lexicon of spells in the HP canon. Later in canon, Sirius is shown being able to perform human transfiguration and defensive spells nonverbally, which is a pretty impressive feat. Since we see Harry and the others attempting to learn nonverbal spells in their sixth year, it’s safe to assume that Sirius already has a pretty good handle on this skill. He’s a good dualist, if a little cocky, and of course he’ll physically punch you if he thinks it’s worth the effort.
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History:
Sometime in 1959, Sirius Black III was born to Orion and Walburga Black. The heir to the House of Black, Sirius was born into pureblood wizard privilege. His aristocratic family is very Old Money and very much obsessed with the idea of the purity of wizard blood (Orion and Walburga were in fact second cousins, both Blacks, but they married anyway). They interpret the family motto, Toujours Pur--“Always Pure”--quite literally. Elitism is a very strong vibe in the Black family and they traditionally do not associate themselves with Muggles (non-magic people), Muggle-borns (witches or wizards born to Muggle parents), Squibs (pureblood witches and wizards who can’t do magic), and blood traitors (pureblood witches and wizards who associate with any of the former). They are famous for disowning members of the family who associate with these people or who happen, by accident of birth, to be Squibs themselves. There is a great insistence upon pureblood marriages, and a great focus on the Dark Arts.
Enter Lord Voldemort, a dark wizard bent on cleansing the wizarding world of blood traitors and Muggle-borns. Voldemort advocates the strength and power of pure blood, and intends to become the leader of the wizarding world through dark means, both subtle and overt. He is the leader of a group who call themselves the “Death Eaters”, and though Orion and Walburga Black do not officially these ranks, they are very much in support of Voldemort’s ideals. “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 purebloods in charge,” he says when Harry asks if the Blacks were Death Eaters. In point of fact, though, Sirius’ younger brother, Regulus, actually goes as far as to join the Death Eaters, a move that very much pleases Mother and Father Black--and disgusts Sirius.
Yeah, somehow Sirius managed to cultivate an inherent distaste for the ideals that his family holds. There are other members of the Black family who are “rebels”--Andromeda Black marries Ted Tonks, a perfectly normal Muggle!--but it’s unknown if Sirius took his cues from them, or if this struggle arose somewhere else. What we do know, however, is that when Sirius went off to Hogwarts, he was sorted into Gryffindor--the home of the “good guys”. This breaks the Black family tradition of Slytherin sorting and sets up an automatic divide between Sirius and just about every other person in the House of Black. This divide would also indicate that his views had diverged from the traditional Black views before his arrival at Hogwarts, and would suggest some sort of internal or external motivation for such a change of heart.
When he returned home for holidays, Sirius widened this divide even more by hanging Gryffindor banners in his room, posters of Muggle girls in bikinis, Muggle cars--whatever would piss off his parents, essentially. He backed these posters with Permanent Sticking Charms to ensure that they wouldn’t be removed by any overzealous House Elves. You can imagine how tense home life was at those times--Sirius’ parents were livid that he had been sorted into Gryffindor, and likely even more livid when he began openly embracing Gryffindor ideals. Not exactly the most pleasant of times.
By contrast, though, Sirius had a GREAT Hogwarts life. School was phenom. He made nearly immediate friends with James Potter, a fellow first year Gryffindor, and soon the two were almost literally inseparable. They widened their circle to include Peter Pettigrew (a somewhat weaker-willed Gryffindor) and Remus Lupin (a slightly more responsible and studious fellow Gryffindor). The four of them cavorted around the school getting into all sorts of mischief--though James and Sirius were really the ringleaders and caused most of that trouble themselves. They were consistently written up and in detention for pranks and stupidities.
As time progressed, the four became an extremely close-knit group. But there was something odd about their circle, and that something was Remus Lupin. He disappeared monthly for a set period of time, and would come back claiming personal illness, or that he had been visiting his sick mother. James and Sirius weren’t stupid, though, and they soon worked out the real crux of Remus’ problem--he was a werewolf. Instead of being repulsed or disturbed, however, they embraced Remus and even devised a plan to keep him company. They would become Animagi, an ability that would allow them to shift into the form of animals. By their fifth year, James and Sirius had completed the difficult process, and they were ready. Sirius would turn into a dog, James into a stag, and Peter into a rat, and they would go scurrying off into the woods to keep their BFF the werewolf company. Things went surprisingly well, and the four began to refer to themselves as the Marauders--Messieurs Moony (Remus), Wormtail (Peter), Padfoot (Sirius), and Prongs (James). Basically they ruled the fucking school :3
And then, trouble struck.
The big enemy of the Marauders was one Severus Snape, a Slytherin. On the train to Hogwarts in their first year, Snape had scoffed at James’ wish to be sorted into Gryffindor. “If you’d rather be brainy than brawny,” he began, to which Sirius interrupted, “Where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?” Oh, HATRED. Sirius saw things in Snape that reminded him too much of home-sneering arrogance, ecetera--and took an immediate dislike to him. He and James bestowed the nickname Snivellus upon the other boy, and a bitter rivalry was born. They took every opportunity to mock and deride Snape, making fun of his nose, his greasy hair, his style of dress, his intelligence--basically, it was all fair game. Sirius later refers to Snape as “this little oddball up to his eyeballs in the Dark Arts”, and defends their occasional cruelties towards him as fair and just in some ways, since the other boy was jealous of their “popularity” and followed them around in an attempt to get them into trouble. There likely was a give and take to this hatred, but it’s important to note that the flashback we get of the Marauders versus Snape, they are overly cruel towards him-and even Sirius later in life admits that he and James were a “pair of berks” and very stupid.
Still, this rivalry really came to a head in a single incident. Snape was extremely suspicious of Remus’ disappearances, and suspected that the Marauders were Up To No Good. Determined to catch them at something, he began sticking his overlarge nose in places he wasn’t welcome.
During his monthly bouts of lycanthropy, Remus was secluded in the Shrieking Shack, a supposedly isolated and haunted building just outside of Hogsmede, the village near Hogwarts. In actuality, the Shrieking Shack is connected to a tunnel that goes into the Hogwarts grounds and comes out right beneath a Whomping Willow--a large tree that will literally punch the crap out of you if you get too close. The Willow can, however, be subdued by pushing a large knot in the tree. The branches stop flailing, and you’re allowed into the tunnel. Sirius mentions this trick to Snape at one point, omitting the fact that there’s a potentially deadly werewolf waiting at the other end. Presumably he played this prank hoping to terrify or maybe even injure Snape, but James rescued the Slytherin student in the nick of time. This only intensifies the hatred between the Marauders and Snape--a hatred that will come to transcend childhood and even death.
At age sixteen, Sirius finally split from his family and moved in with the Potters. His mother summarily disowned him, blasting his name from the family tree--but his Uncle Alphard (Walburga’s brother) took pity on his nephew and left him a massive inheritance to live off of. Alphard was also removed from the family tree, and Sirius was left financially independent, a swingin wizard bachelor.
In 1978, Sirius and all his mates graduated from Hogwarts. The Marauders didn’t split up, though--they went on to join the Order of the Phoenix, the main resistance movement against Voldemort. Started by their old headmaster Albus Dumbledore, it was a movement full of very talented witches and wizards all working to bring down the Dark Lord. This clearly would be a “job” that would appeal to Sirius’ sense of adventure. He remained very close with James--he was James’ best man at his wedding to Lily Evans, and was named Harry’s godfather.
What could drive apart such a happy group of friends? Welllllll... betrayal, mostly. The four Marauders were deeply embroiled in the Order of the Phoenix, and tensions were high. Something caused Sirius to begin distrusting Remus (we aren’t ever told exactly what this was), and the stress takes his toll on him. In October 1981, James and Lily become aware that they and Harry are one of two primary targets for Lord Voldemort (the other being Frank and Alice Longbottom and their son, Neville). They decide to go into hiding using the Fidelius Charm, and ask Sirius to be the Secret Keeper--but unbeknowest to anyone but the four of them, he declines and nominates Peter Pettigrew to be the Secret Keeper instead-a “weak, talentless thing”, because it would be a less obvious move.
And, ultimately, it was the wrong move.
On Halloween 1981, Sirius went to Peter’s hiding place and found him absent. Concerned, he then went to the Godric’s Hollow and found the Potter’s house destroyed. Peter had betrayed them. Lily and James were dead, and only tiny baby Harry was left. When Rubeus Hagrid appeared on the scene to rescue Harry, Sirius tried to take him, but eventually acquiesced and gave Hagrid his flying motorcycle instead to help hasten the journey. He then went off to look for Peter Pettigrew, with REVENGE in mind. But that also backfired-Peter confronted Sirius on an open street full of Muggles and faked his own death-severing a finger and transforming into his Animagus form, scuttling away in the sewer and leaving Sirius to take the blame not only for the death of the Potters, but for Peter’s ‘death’ as well.
Sentenced to Azkaban and touted as a traitor and a Death Eater, Sirius retreated from the scene in shame and degradation.
Then some stuff happened idk.
Point in Canon:
I will actually be brining Sirius from his YOUTH. Not his extreme asshole teenager youth, but his disaffected devil-may-care youth--aka the one shot short story that J.K. Rowling wrote about James and Sirius and the Adventures of the Flying Motorcycle (HERE for reference). It’s 1977, they’re just starting their seventh year, and they’ve just narrowly escaped what we can assume are three Death Eaters on broomsticks and the Muggle police. A day in the life of a Marauder, amirite. So Sirius will be coming to Siren’s Port immediately after that narrow escape hoooo boy.
Character Personality:
Sirius is sort of an irritating little douchebag at this age. He likes teasing people, causing problems, and pulling pranks. He can be pretty merciless with the teasing, especially to people who he dislikes--and it's pretty easy to get on his bad side. It just takes a word, or a wrong look, and you've got yourself a little grudge. He isn't violent about these grudges--more, he'll just troll you and seek to annoy you.
He has a temper, but it takes him a little while to get riled up. There are only some certain topics that are a hot button--his family, pretty much all Purebloods being snarky arses, insulting his friends. Things that matter to his friends can also get under his skin by default, and he'll fight just as fiercely for them. He has a Sirius serious side as well, and he can become pretty moody and down when the aforementioned topics come up--but he's pretty happy-go-lucky doggy mode all the time. He's a boy and therefore bad at expressing his True Feelings, too. Why I play characters with such emotional issues, I don't know.
Since being disowned, Sirius has come to identify very closely with his friends. He holds them as a sort of second family, and cares more about them than he ever did anyone in his immediate family. James, of course, is his best friend, but he's got a massive soft spot for dorky ole Remus, and even Peter's earned a level of grudging affection after all this time (a sort of "well he's an idiot, but he's our idiot" type of thing). His friends are the most important thing to him in his life. He's fiercely loyal and devoted, and will jump to defend them at the drop of a hat in any means necessary--insults, blows, magic, etc.
He's pretty dorky sometimes too--he's really just out for a good time and a bit of adventure. There isn't much in life that he takes Siriusly seriously (though what little there is earn some INTENSE SRS BSNS). He's pretty dead set against evil, though--he doesn't have a problem with Muggle-borns et. all, and it irritates him to no end to see those that DO have a problem, because it reminds him oh so deeply of his family. And he's staunchly anti Voldemort. He does have a concept of Right and Wrong, certainly, but it applies only to the BIG STUFF. To him, life is to be enjoyed, and boy does he enjoys random acts of vandalism--so it is a little ironic that he gets sent to prison for something as dire as murder. That's not to say that he couldn't go there--after all, he does grow up to nearly kill Peter Pettigrew--but at this point, he's not a killer by any means. He likes to think of himself as brave and swaggery, but he's still a student, and hasn't really done anything yet.
He might grow up to be a criminal but at this stage in the game, Sirius just likes a bit of fun. He's notorious for being charming, so I imagine he was good with the ladies without even really trying very hard. And of course he's quite intelligent, but he buries that beneath layers and layers of acting like a dumbass all of the time, so he'll suddenly go smart at you when you least expect it.
There is a cruel side to him as well, especially when dealing with his enemies. He doesn't hesitate to hurt those people, and doesn't think twice about consequences. Insults and hexes--it's all fair game to him, because they started it. This is an irritatingly childish side to his personality, and it makes him slightly volatile. Again with the crippled emotions--he can run a little hot and cold, joking one minute and serious the next--but it doesn't happen often, and again, only really when dealing with these enemies. (I'm looking at YOU Snape!)
Really, though, his personality is best compared to a dog for the most part. He just wants to have big floppy ridiculous muddy boyish fun in a park somewhere. Don't piss him off, he will bark and then bite. And stay on his good side, because his loyalty is unswerving and unmatched.
Character Plans:
WELL. I think Sirius will want to return home, since he’s got a Cause to fight for--and depending on how much he ends up learning about his future, his eagerness will only increase, since he’ll potentially have knowledge that will Save and Change a lot of future events. That being said, since he is such a smartie, he might work casually towards figuring out some way, but all this science stuff will be a little over his wizard head. He’ll probably try some magic-y ways, but they obviously won’t get him very far/might hurt a little, so he’ll likely give up on those. I can see him enjoying himself in the city a little, at least at first--because wooo freedom, no school, fuck the rules, etc.--but eventually he will sober up a little because he IS a Gryffindor and there ARE Bad Things Going Down in the city. I’m not sure to what capacity he’ll work against SERO or AGI but I can totally see him joining the resistance movement, since that’s what he’d be planning to do in his world, anyway. As for jobs, mm, probably a bartender or something like that. Idk he isn’t picky and he won’t mind slumming it a little--it will feel deliciously rebellious and Bad Ass and Exactly What His Parents Would Not Do.
In terms of CR, it’s always fun to build relationships with Sirius. A-AND I am excited to try him against Harry, since they’re about the same age. It will be interesting for him to have to grapple with the knowledge of what’s coming, should he ever learn it completely. He will be alternately fascinated and repulsed by the idea of knowing his future, because he knows what danger could come of knowing. AND of course since Snape is in the city... |D;; He will be both confused and, again, repulsed by the idea of an older Snape, and I predict much hatred and teeth gritting and flagrant displays of superiority to be had by all, if not more srs bsns.
Appearance/PB:
In the book, as a younger guy he’s described as pretty good lookin--tall, well-built, handsome, with long black hair, gray eyes, and an “air of casual elegance”. Aristocratic beauty at its finest~ In terms of representation, I will be using Ben Barnes as his PB (you may recognize him from Prince Caspian, the latest adaptation of The Portrait of Dorian Grey, and your dreams~). Also, here's a link to his icons!
Writing Samples
First Person Sample
[Sirius is looking straight into the NV when the video feed starts. He clearly knows what this thing is for, even if he's under the mistaken impression that this message is reaching one specific person. He's smiling, but it's an irritated sort of expression.]
Jamsie ugly Jamsie, you right disgusting bloke. I will have your puerile little head for this one and no one will notice or care, not even your mum, lovely woman that she is. I will quite literally hex your face into oblivion, and you will beg for my pity and mercy and forgiveness, and then I will remind you: your man here, he knows no mercy. He knows no pity. He has nothing but contempt for double crossing buggers such as yourself, and he will make that infinitely clear to you when next he sees you.
Seriously, mate, this is not on. Hilarious little joke you’ve got here and all but I am due at a party in exactly one hour. Fire whiskey and girls, you great tit, and I know you want them all to yourself, but you’ve got exactly fifteen seconds to direct me to the portkey out of this debatably delightful hamlet. There is goo in my hair. My HAIR, James. These squidly beasts explode into a thousand tiny bits at the slightest provocation and then they spatter you with their disgusting goo and oh God Iamliterallycoatedinthestuff. I may never be clean again. A wash, a wash, my kingdom for a wash!
...Urgh, mate, seriously, there’s squidly goo in my boots. In my boots, d’you hear? You are dead, you repulsive boil! Head stuffed in toilet. Pants around your disgusting skinny ankles. I shall sell tickets, and the whole world will gather about to laugh at you. Humiliation evermore. No one gets goo in my boots and lives to tell the tale, Jamsiepoo. Not even my best mate.
Third Person Sample
There are several cardinal rules of friendship that Sirius Black abides by. Most of them have to do with holding back a mate’s hair while he vomits up last night’s bad decisions, or backing your man in really important fights, or at least laughing at him when he comes out on the wrong end of a not-so-important fight with his face covered in pussing boils courtesy of one Lily “Stop Flirting With Me Immediately Potter” Evans. Although that latter one hasn’t happened in some time, and Evans’ nickname really ought to be updated to something like “Oh Jamsiewamsie Snog Me More Yes Yes Just Like That Darling”, as is appropriate for a Lady Who is Practically Engaged to be Married. Disgusting, but what can you do.
But one of the supreme cardinal rules of friendship is to Let a Man Have His Fun. No sticks in the mud, no standing in his way, no preventing him from the pure blissful carnal enjoyments of life. The sole exception to this rule is Remus Lupin, who is, by definition, a stick in the mud and a wet blanket and all sorts of other mopey metaphors. He is an exception based on the sheer fun that comes from ignoring his attempts at ending all carnal enjoyments, and the sheer fun that comes of seeing his face turn that special deep pink reserved only for Moments When Sirius Black Is Getting To Him. It’s a glee that remains nearly unmatched in Sirius’ mind. He lives for that special pink color. Prefect Pink, it might be called, if it were to become a proper paint hue. The mere sight of that color means he’s doing something right.
So, since Remus Lupin is the one exception to the Let a Man Have His Fun rule, it is not right for another mate to break it. It is especially not right for someone’s very best mate to break the rule. After all, someone’s very best mate ought to know better. Someone’s very best mate ought to not be so selfish as to think that all the fire whiskey and women at the end-of-term party were for them and them alone. Someone’s very best mate ought to remember that he has a girlfriend and should leave the snogging of random beauties to a man with more prowess and general freedom. Someone’s very best mate ought not to have transported Sirius to Regions Unknown, and therein confiscating his flying motorcycle--but these unthinkable deeds seem to have happened, and James Potter will be in for such a nasty surprise whenever Sirius sees him next. A joke is one thing. Keeping Sirius Black from a party--a party--is quite another.
No. No, this will Not Do. James Potter will pay for this.
A squidly beast comes meandering up, making terrible teeth gnashing noises. It reminds him vaguely of the Christmas that Peter tried to make bread pudding. Even the tentacles are the right size, and the look of mad desperation in its piggy eyes. This could be the son of the terrible pudding. Sirius lazily hexes the creature and sends it rocketing across the field. Where was that smarmy Potter, anyway? Probably secreted in his bedroom, safe and warm, watching Sirius flop about in a muddy field, bravely fighting ugly little squidly buggers.
“Oi! Prongs!” Sirius cups his hand to his mouth and shouts it to the sky. “You little tit! I would start talking, if I were you!”
Another squidly thing comes scuttling towards him. Sirius rolls his eyes and throws another hex at this one-but maybe he’s a little overzealous, because the squid thing doesn’t so much fly back as it does explode into a thousand tiny bits. A thousand tiny wet and gooey bits. A thousand tiny wet and gooey bits that immediately pepper Sirius, slopping a great deal of slime over him.
“Oh BUGGER THIS,” Sirius shouts. “PRONGS, YOU ARE SODDING DEAD.”
There is goo in his boot when he lifts his foot. In his boot, squishing vaguely around at sock level.
The world might as well end.
theoregontrail application!
PLAYER
NAME/NICKNAME: Cee!
AGE: 25!
PERSONAL LJ: wer3wolph, but it is ill-used.
TIMEZONE: CST!
EMAIL ADDRESS: twotimesfew at gmail dot com
IM SCREENNAME AND SERVICE: twotimesafew on AIM, but I am rarely on. It's better to contact me via PM, email, or a plurk!
CHARACTER
NAME: Sirius Black
AGE: I'm apping Marauder-era Sirius, so he will be seventeen years old, about to start his final year at Hogwarts. What a fresh faced baby he will be, no prison stint, no murder accusations, no life on the lam...
FANDOM/MEDIUM: Harry Potter and the Varying Nouns, a seven-book series that everyone and their cat has probably read by now. I also use the short prequel that J.K. Rowling wrote about a select James-and-Sirius adventure.
CANON PULL-POINT: The summer of 1976, just about to start his final year at Hogwarts.
ABILITIES:
He’s an effing wizard you guys. But more on that in the weapons section, since it’s all wand-driven. Canonly, even as an irritating kid, Sirius was a brilliant wizard. Professor McGonagall herself describes him as such, and Remus Lupin states that he was one of the “cleverest wizards” in their class. He comes up with impressive and complex tidbits during his Hogwarts years--the Marauder’s Map, most notably--and works out the incredibly intricate potion for Animagus transformation at age fifteen.
Oh, yeah. Sirius is a illegal Animagus, which means that he has the capability to transform into an animal at will. Sirius’ Animagus form is a big black dog. Since he’s unregistered as an Animagus, he is able to use this form to do some mischief--and, later in life, elude his Ministry captors.
Sirius will obviously arrive with his wand, with which he can do a great deal of damage. HERE is the complete lexicon of spells in the HP canon. Later in canon, Sirius is shown being able to perform human transfiguration and defensive spells nonverbally, which is a pretty impressive feat. Since we see Harry and the others attempting to learn nonverbal spells in their sixth year, it’s safe to assume that Sirius already has a pretty good handle on this skill. He’s a good dualist, if a little cocky, and of course he’ll physically punch you if he thinks it’s worth the effort.
CHARACTER BACKGROUND:
Sometime in 1959, Sirius Black III was born to Orion and Walburga Black. The heir to the House of Black, Sirius was born into pureblood wizard privilege. His aristocratic family is very Old Money and very much obsessed with the idea of the purity of wizard blood (Orion and Walburga were in fact second cousins, both Blacks, but they married anyway). They interpret the family motto, Toujours Pur--“Always Pure”--quite literally. Elitism is a very strong vibe in the Black family and they traditionally do not associate themselves with Muggles (non-magic people), Muggle-borns (witches or wizards born to Muggle parents), Squibs (pureblood witches and wizards who can’t do magic), and blood traitors (pureblood witches and wizards who associate with any of the former). They are famous for disowning members of the family who associate with these people or who happen, by accident of birth, to be Squibs themselves. There is a great insistence upon pureblood marriages, and a great focus on the Dark Arts.
Enter Lord Voldemort, a dark wizard bent on cleansing the wizarding world of blood traitors and Muggle-borns. Voldemort advocates the strength and power of pure blood, and intends to become the leader of the wizarding world through dark means, both subtle and overt. He is the leader of a group who call themselves the “Death Eaters”, and though Orion and Walburga Black do not officially these ranks, they are very much in support of Voldemort’s ideals. “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 purebloods in charge,” he says when Harry asks if the Blacks were Death Eaters. In point of fact, though, Sirius’ younger brother, Regulus, actually goes as far as to join the Death Eaters, a move that very much pleases Mother and Father Black--and disgusts Sirius.
Yeah, somehow Sirius managed to cultivate an inherent distaste for the ideals that his family holds. There are other members of the Black family who are “rebels”--Andromeda Black marries Ted Tonks, a perfectly normal Muggle!--but it’s unknown if Sirius took his cues from them, or if this struggle arose somewhere else. What we do know, however, is that when Sirius went off to Hogwarts, he was sorted into Gryffindor--the home of the “good guys”. This breaks the Black family tradition of Slytherin sorting and sets up an automatic divide between Sirius and just about every other person in the House of Black. This divide would also indicate that his views had diverged from the traditional Black views before his arrival at Hogwarts, and would suggest some sort of internal or external motivation for such a change of heart.
When he returned home for holidays, Sirius widened this divide even more by hanging Gryffindor banners in his room, posters of Muggle girls in bikinis, Muggle cars--whatever would piss off his parents, essentially. He backed these posters with Permanent Sticking Charms to ensure that they wouldn’t be removed by any overzealous House Elves. You can imagine how tense home life was at those times--Sirius’ parents were livid that he had been sorted into Gryffindor, and likely even more livid when he began openly embracing Gryffindor ideals. Not exactly the most pleasant of times.
By contrast, though, Sirius had a GREAT Hogwarts life. School was phenom. He made nearly immediate friends with James Potter, a fellow first year Gryffindor, and soon the two were almost literally inseparable. They widened their circle to include Peter Pettigrew (a somewhat weaker-willed Gryffindor) and Remus Lupin (a slightly more responsible and studious fellow Gryffindor). The four of them cavorted around the school getting into all sorts of mischief--though James and Sirius were really the ringleaders and caused most of that trouble themselves. They were consistently written up and in detention for pranks and stupidities.
As time progressed, the four became an extremely close-knit group. But there was something odd about their circle, and that something was Remus Lupin. He disappeared monthly for a set period of time, and would come back claiming personal illness, or that he had been visiting his sick mother. James and Sirius weren’t stupid, though, and they soon worked out the real crux of Remus’ problem--he was a werewolf. Instead of being repulsed or disturbed, however, they embraced Remus and even devised a plan to keep him company. They would become Animagi, an ability that would allow them to shift into the form of animals. By their fifth year, James and Sirius had completed the difficult process, and they were ready. Sirius would turn into a dog, James into a stag, and Peter into a rat, and they would go scurrying off into the woods to keep their BFF the werewolf company. Things went surprisingly well, and the four began to refer to themselves as the Marauders--Messieurs Moony (Remus), Wormtail (Peter), Padfoot (Sirius), and Prongs (James). Basically they ruled the fucking school :3
And then, trouble struck.
The big enemy of the Marauders was one Severus Snape, a Slytherin. On the train to Hogwarts in their first year, Snape had scoffed at James’ wish to be sorted into Gryffindor. “If you’d rather be brainy than brawny,” he began, to which Sirius interrupted, “Where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?” Oh, HATRED. Sirius saw things in Snape that reminded him too much of home-sneering arrogance, ecetera--and took an immediate dislike to him. He and James bestowed the nickname Snivellus upon the other boy, and a bitter rivalry was born. They took every opportunity to mock and deride Snape, making fun of his nose, his greasy hair, his style of dress, his intelligence--basically, it was all fair game. Sirius later refers to Snape as “this little oddball up to his eyeballs in the Dark Arts”, and defends their occasional cruelties towards him as fair and just in some ways, since the other boy was jealous of their “popularity” and followed them around in an attempt to get them into trouble. There likely was a give and take to this hatred, but it’s important to note that the flashback we get of the Marauders versus Snape, they are overly cruel towards him-and even Sirius later in life admits that he and James were a “pair of berks” and very stupid.
Still, this rivalry really came to a head in a single incident. Snape was extremely suspicious of Remus’ disappearances, and suspected that the Marauders were Up To No Good. Determined to catch them at something, he began sticking his overlarge nose in places he wasn’t welcome.
During his monthly bouts of lycanthropy, Remus was secluded in the Shrieking Shack, a supposedly isolated and haunted building just outside of Hogsmede, the village near Hogwarts. In actuality, the Shrieking Shack is connected to a tunnel that goes into the Hogwarts grounds and comes out right beneath a Whomping Willow--a large tree that will literally punch the crap out of you if you get too close. The Willow can, however, be subdued by pushing a large knot in the tree. The branches stop flailing, and you’re allowed into the tunnel. Sirius mentions this trick to Snape at one point, omitting the fact that there’s a potentially deadly werewolf waiting at the other end. Presumably he played this prank hoping to terrify or maybe even injure Snape, but James rescued the Slytherin student in the nick of time. This only intensifies the hatred between the Marauders and Snape--a hatred that will come to transcend childhood and even death.
At age sixteen, Sirius finally split from his family and moved in with the Potters. His mother summarily disowned him, blasting his name from the family tree--but his Uncle Alphard (Walburga’s brother) took pity on his nephew and left him a massive inheritance to live off of. Alphard was also removed from the family tree, and Sirius was left financially independent, a swingin wizard bachelor.
In 1978, Sirius and all his mates graduated from Hogwarts. The Marauders didn’t split up, though--they went on to join the Order of the Phoenix, the main resistance movement against Voldemort. Started by their old headmaster Albus Dumbledore, it was a movement full of very talented witches and wizards all working to bring down the Dark Lord. This clearly would be a “job” that would appeal to Sirius’ sense of adventure. He remained very close with James--he was James’ best man at his wedding to Lily Evans, and was named Harry’s godfather.
What could drive apart such a happy group of friends? Welllllll... betrayal, mostly. The four Marauders were deeply embroiled in the Order of the Phoenix, and tensions were high. Something caused Sirius to begin distrusting Remus (we aren’t ever told exactly what this was), and the stress takes his toll on him. In October 1981, James and Lily become aware that they and Harry are one of two primary targets for Lord Voldemort (the other being Frank and Alice Longbottom and their son, Neville). They decide to go into hiding using the Fidelius Charm, and ask Sirius to be the Secret Keeper--but unbeknowest to anyone but the four of them, he declines and nominates Peter Pettigrew to be the Secret Keeper instead-a “weak, talentless thing”, because it would be a less obvious move.
And, ultimately, it was the wrong move.
On Halloween 1981, Sirius went to Peter’s hiding place and found him absent. Concerned, he then went to the Godric’s Hollow and found the Potter’s house destroyed. Peter had betrayed them. Lily and James were dead, and only tiny baby Harry was left. When Rubeus Hagrid appeared on the scene to rescue Harry, Sirius tried to take him, but eventually acquiesced and gave Hagrid his flying motorcycle instead to help hasten the journey. He then went off to look for Peter Pettigrew, with REVENGE in mind. But that also backfired-Peter confronted Sirius on an open street full of Muggles and faked his own death-severing a finger and transforming into his Animagus form, scuttling away in the sewer and leaving Sirius to take the blame not only for the death of the Potters, but for Peter’s ‘death’ as well.
Sentenced to Azkaban and touted as a traitor and a Death Eater, Sirius retreated from the scene in shame and degradation.
Then some stuff happened idk.
CHARACTER PERSONALITY:
Sirius can be sort of an irritating little douchebag at this age. He likes teasing people, causing problems, and pulling pranks. He can be pretty merciless with the teasing, especially to people who he dislikes--and it's pretty easy to get on his bad side. It just takes a word, or a wrong look, and you've got yourself a little grudge. He isn't violent about these grudges--more, he'll just troll you and seek to annoy you.
He has a temper, but it takes him a little while to get riled up. There are only some certain topics that are a hot button--his family, pretty much all Purebloods being snarky arses, insulting his friends. Things that matter to his friends can also get under his skin by default, and he'll fight just as fiercely for them. He has a Sirius serious side as well, and he can become pretty moody and down when the aforementioned topics come up--but he's pretty happy-go-lucky doggy mode all the time. He's a boy and therefore bad at expressing his True Feelings, too.
Since being disowned, Sirius has come to identify very closely with his friends. He holds them as a sort of second family, and cares more about them than he ever did anyone in his immediate family. James, of course, is his best friend, but he's got a massive soft spot for dorky ole Remus, and even Peter's earned a level of grudging affection after all this time (a sort of "well he's an idiot, but he's our idiot" type of thing). His friends are the most important thing to him in his life. He's fiercely loyal and devoted, and will jump to defend them at the drop of a hat in any means necessary--insults, blows, magic, etc.
He's pretty dorky sometimes too--he's really just out for a good time and a bit of adventure. There isn't much in life that he takes Siriusly seriously (though what little there is earn some intense seriousness). He's pretty dead set against evil, though--he doesn't have a problem with Muggle-borns et. all, and it irritates him to no end to see those that DO have a problem, because it reminds him oh so deeply of his family. And he's staunchly anti Voldemort. He does have a concept of Right and Wrong, certainly, but it applies only to the BIG STUFF. To him, life is to be enjoyed, and boy does he enjoys random acts of vandalism--so it is a little ironic that he gets sent to prison for something as dire as murder. That's not to say that he couldn't go there--after all, he does grow up to nearly kill Peter Pettigrew--but at this point, he's not a killer by any means. He likes to think of himself as brave and swaggery, but he's still a student, and hasn't really done anything yet.
He might grow up to be a criminal but at this stage in the game, Sirius just likes a bit of fun. He's notorious for being charming, so I imagine he was good with the ladies without even really trying very hard. And of course he's quite intelligent, but he buries that beneath layers and layers of acting like a dumbass all of the time, so he'll suddenly go smart at you when you least expect it.
There is a cruel side to him as well, especially when dealing with his enemies. He doesn't hesitate to hurt those people, and doesn't think twice about consequences. Insults and hexes--it's all fair game to him, because they started it. This is an irritatingly childish side to his personality, and it makes him slightly volatile. Again with the crippled emotions--he can run a little hot and cold, joking one minute and serious the next--but it doesn't happen often, and again, only really when dealing with these enemies. (I'm looking at YOU Snape!)
Really, though, his personality is best compared to a dog for the most part. He just wants to have big floppy ridiculous muddy boyish fun in a park somewhere. Don't piss him off, he will bark and then bite. And stay on his good side, because his loyalty is unswerving and unmatched.
WORLD:
The world of Harry Potter is a ~magical~ one, first and foremost. Wizards have very little to do with Muggle technology, and are unfamiliar with a great many inventions that non-magic users take for granted. Toasters, train turnstiles, money that isn't actual gold--all of these things would confuse and fascinate a wizard. Wizards use magic for everything, from complicated tasks to day-to-day chores. They even have a spell for packing their suitcases (it is, not surprisingly, PACK).
What isn't magical is antiquated. In a world where common articles of clothing can be as unfamiliar as a foreign language, wizards keep themselves happily ensconced in a half-way old-timey world. Chandeliers with drippy candles in place of electric lights, trains (for those who can't use magic to travel) in place of any other mode of transport, fires in place of central heating...
Granted, some of this technology-eschewing is deliberate, for various reasons. Part of it is likely thanks to the pure-blood wizards intent on keeping the wizarding world separate and "pure" (as mentioned in previous sections). They are loathe to integrate themselves with Muggles and Muggle-borns, and would naturally reject technology outright. This is never directly stated in the books, but is a fairly safe assumption to make. Another aspect of the secluded wizarding world is just that: it is secluded, and it's kept secluded on purpose. Wizards and witches have their own villages, and when they do live in Muggle communities, they maintain a separateness. This happens naturally, in some cases--some members of the wizarding world comes off as eccentrics to the normal Muggle--but it's also to protect themselves and the secret of their magic.
And it's vital that magic be kept a secret. The International Statue of Secrecy was put in place by the collective governments of the wizarding world, to protect wizards from their Muggle brethren. There was fear that wizards would be hounded to perform tricks and spells--there was fear that Muggles would turn against wizards as something disdainful or evil (demonstrated by the various witch hunts throughout the years)--and so the wizarding world as a whole retreated.
Sirius' family is mired in the concept of pure-blood superiority, so he has the heavy weight of that tradition in his background. To that end, though, it's my belief that he would go out of his way to learn more about the Muggle world, if only to rebel against his parents. We see evidence of this in the trappings of his room at 12 Grimmauld Place (adorned with a poster of the Muggle girl in the bikini), and with his pride in his motorbike (which I headcanon as a 1974 Ural M 66, just as a side note). His time period is still the 1970s, though, so his base familiarity with Muggle culture and technology is all rooted in that time.
OCCUPATION: TRAPPER. It will be very exciting, jumping around in the wild, trying to frighten small animals into surrendering their lives.... very much like being Padfoot, actually!
SAMPLES
THIRD PERSON:
If there was one thing Sirius hated more than Muggle traps, it was Muggle traps that failed. Failure was not something that he was accustomed to. At school, Sirius was a general across-the-board effortless success. Things went right for Sirius, and what didn't go right for him-- well, there were few things that a wink or a few words wouldn't earn him.
Not that he was in the habit of bribery. Bribery was very old money, dark and dusty rooms full of schemers that Sirius had purposefully and repeatedly distanced himself from. Bribery was his family, and if he had it his way, he would distance himself from those entitled trappings forever.
Which he, inadvertently, had done.
Or rather, he hadn't done it, but it had been done to him, and-- well, the point of it was, the Black family en mass were distant from him in an irremovable and resolute way that he himself had very little do with but was generally quite glad of. Except of course at times like this, when it was clear that some poxy little buggering animal had sashayed into his trap, eaten the leavings, and sashayed straight back out again, without taking the time or courtesy to be caught.
Sirius held the broken little remainder of his trap in his hands and scowled at it. This was not a spell, but it was an unspoken threat, one that he would make good on. Whatever trap that did not comply with his wishes (and his stomach, of course, and it gave an irritated growl, as if reminding him of his hungry state)--
"Oh, bugger this," Sirius muttered, and drew his wand from his pocket. "Accio squirrel!"
The little beast flew shrieking from the nearest tree, and Sirius caught it deftly. Padfoot was accustomed to raw meats, but Sirius was not. Nor was he accustomed to butchery, but-- well, what had to be done would have to be done. He grinned apologetically down at the writhing squirrel. "Sorry, mate," he said aloud, "but the food chain and all--"
It was creepy, but short work, and he straightened up proudly, striding back toward where he had left the wagon. He was a hero, a provider of meat, and they would all be so very impressed with him--which was something that he didn't need, but he was glad to have it. Right.
FIRST PERSON:
[This is a cheerful voice--there might even be a slightly manic edge to it, for all its cheer.]
Wagons, ho! I've always wanted to say that.
Right, but that aside--the fact of the matter is, I am bored. Awfully absolutely sodding completely bloody bored. I require entertainment, preferably in the form of something either life-threatening, fast, or nubile. Or perhaps all of 'em. There is nothing out here, and that is no exaggeration. Nothing at all. I think I counted sixteen thousand trees, but they're all off in the distance, so there's not even any bits of bark to chuck at people. I'm about to stab myself in the head, just to put myself out of my very miserable misery.
So what say you lot to a bit of entertainment, eh? I've found my wagon to be sorely lacking in any amusements, but I'm the sort that can amuse himself, and take that as you will. Even I'm hard-pressed for something to keep my head straight, but I've managed. I have, in my pocket, a mouse that I discovered eating some of our food not ten minutes past. He's a very ordinary mouse, this mouse, very brown--but he's exceptionally good at hiding.
And just what, you maybe be asking--what entertainment is there in a mouse? Simple. I am going to make it bigger. And then I am going to set it loose. And we'll see what happens. Brilliant, right? You are welcome, so, without further ado, on three: one, two--
NOTES: Nothing..... except I only lost three times at Oregon Trail, and once was only because I thought my sister could successfully ford a damn river and she failed me.