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| User: | abramech (257333) Arcturus Blacks' journal of the misplaced absent-mind
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| Name: | Arcturus Black, the younger | |||||||||
| E-mail: | vll559@bham.ac.uk | |||||||||
| Bio: | Character Name: Arcturus Phineas Black Age/Birthdate: 21st July 1901, 21 years old Wand: Holly with essence of Unicorn tail, 12 inches Bloodline: Pureblood Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual Personality: Absent-minded and a bit of a bookworm when allowed to be, Arcturus is quite reclusive in nature. A Slytherin through and through (for the most part) Arcturus is not particularly loyal to anyone (unless they’re family) nor is he particularly brave or as he‘d rather put it, foolhardy. He also has a calculating streak that can surface occasionally when he’s listening to Ministry Politics. As the heir to the Black family he was expected to marry and have a child of his own, but he‘s not entirely certain that he was cut out to be a father. In fact he’d have much rather traded places with his younger brother Regulus where responsibility is concerned. Arcturus does not love politics, although he did know how to use the family connections to his advantage. A quiet man Arcturus was never one to rattle the boat too much, which might explain why his daughter-in-law and first cousin once removed (Walburga) was allowed so much lee-way in family Family: The Parents: Sirius and Hesper, Arcturus got along relatively fine with his parents although as he got older he wanted to have more freedom than they were generally willing to give him. He was the eldest of three with one younger sister and one younger brother and so, being the eldest and especially being the Black family heir Arcturus was given a lot of attention as a child, but he was also told that he had to grow up. Because of this Arcturus tended to give his children the freedom he himself lacked, helped by the fact that when they were growing up his father was still the Patriarch and he was rather absent-minded, the former was both a good thing, and a bad thing. It meant that while he didn’t have to think about looking after the family, his parents tended to comment, a lot. The Siblings: Lycoris and Regulus. Arcturus adored his younger siblings and was virtually heartbroken when they both died young, Regulus at only fifty-three and Lycoris at sixty-one. Although he had always envied them for the fact that they didn't have the pressures of Heir and then Head of the family placed upon them there was very little that he wouldn't have done for them. The Cousins: Arcturus was always outwardly despairing over his cousins, firstly he complained that he simply had too many of them to keep track of and then, if there were any familial problems he would usually have to try and step in and pick up some of the pieces -something that got harder as he got older and his daughter-in-law became more forceful. The second problem that he had was as the eldest of his generation Arcturus had the unfortunate problem in that, the eldest of his cousins -Pollux-was eleven years younger than him so he was never particularly close to any of them. He did however care greatly for them and was most upset when his cousin Marius was disowned for being a Squib and his cousin Cedrella married Septimus Weasley. He never did keep in contact with them -something that he always regretted- but he did use his Ministry contacts to at least keep apprised of how they were fairing. The Wife: Melania and Arcturus met whilst at school although with his rather absent-minded nature he never really paid her or any girl much attention, in fact after school the pair would likely have lost contact with each other if not for their parents interference. Arcturus always knew that he would have to get married, it was a given and when he was informed by his parents that a betrothal had been arranged he did little more than sigh and enquire as "to whom?" When the pair met however and Arcturus was forced to pay attention it would be nice to say that 'love at first sight' occurred but that is not true, in reality the pair argued like cat and dog but by the time they were married two years later love had developed and by the time of her death it can honestly be said that Arcturus adored his wife and was utterly devastated by her untimely death. The Children: Father of two Arcturus never loves by half and he adores both his daughter and son always wanting the best for them whether they appreciate his quiet meddling or not. Lucretia born in 1925 a year after he and Melania were married, and Orion in 1929 Arcturus rarely forced the pair to conform as his parents had him although with his own father still being the patriarch until after the pair were adults there is little surprise in this. He was pleased with Lucretia's marriage to Ignatius Prewett and little pleased with Orion's marriage to his second cousin Walburga telling Melania that little good will come of it. The grandchildren: Grandfather to two strapping boys, Sirius and Regulus. Arcturus could never truly understand the difficulties Walburga and Orion had with their sons as he never had any real problems with either of them; although it must be said that when the boys were young he was still grieving for the death of his wife. Sirius' running away and Regulus' death practically destroyed Personal History: Eldest of three children born to Sirius Black and Hesper Gamp Arcturus’ birth came as a bit of a shock to the couple. Hesper hadn’t realised that she was pregnant at the time so Arcturus was a bit of a surprise, albeit a pleasant one. A bouncing, baby boy Arcturus was rather small for his age although he has thankfully now caught up with his peers. An only child until he was three Arcturus doesn't really remember not having his sister Lycoris around disturbing his peace and quiet and his memories of not having a little brother are equally vague. Never a particularly noisy child he would quite happily sit in the family library for hours on end. That is not to say he couldn't be noisy when he wished to be, and like most Black's he could be a rather petulant child when he didn't get his own way which wasn't often considering how spoiled he was. Arcturus is also highly protective of his family even if he is also highly embarrassed by the vast majority of them. As far as he is concerned no-one, except direct family, may harm his siblings and no matter how absentminded he is, it is a rule he sticks by. It is also a rule that has probably been reinforced by his position in the family. Leaving home for Hogwarts came as a breath of fresh air for Arcturus, joining Slytherin House as was expected of him instead of Ravenclaw as the Sorting Hat advised. He enjoyed the freedom that the school gave him, as he was expected to be Arcturus Black, Hogwarts student and not Arcturus Black heir to the Black family. Not bad at school, his grades were certainly more than acceptable to his parents and helping his younger siblings out when he was able, Arcturus found himself at a bit of a loss when he finally finished. After having seven years of freedom away from being the Black heir, having to return and actually attempt to learn his way around Wizarding politics provoked more than a few bouts of depression. As the heir to the Black family line Arcturus’ father had attempted to come to some sort of an agreement with the Gaunt family and unite the two pureblood lines, but with an argument between the two fathers the engagement was not to be. Arcturus had attempted to subtly ignore his fathers political manoeuvring (he was in his last years at Hogwarts) and simply pretend that his father was not attempting to ‘sell him off’ to put it crudely, as Arcturus did when he occasionally drank too much Firewhiskey. Even when he became engaged to Melania McMillan Arcturus was still not entirely happy with the way the world had thrown marriage at him. Married two years after the engagement he became a father to a little girl named Lucretia whom he adored in 1925 and then to a little boy named Orion in 1929. It can't be said that Arcturus was a wonderful father, he wasn't, too interested in books and far too easily distracted to look after children properly much to Melania's disapproval. He had hoped to move his young family out of his parents household but he was informed point blank by his parents that they would cut off all ties if he dared. Although he loved his father, Sirius' death in 1952 eased a lot of pressure from him, he no longer had to do as he was told and was able to live his life much more as how he wished even if he did now have to deal with all of the familial problems that came with being head of the family. For a few years everything seemed to go well for Arcturus, his children were no longer minors and his eldest was planning to get married to Ignatius Prewett and his youngest was not long married to Walburga (although he had done his best to oppose the marriage) and they were expecting their first child. Then his younger brother Regulus died unexpectedly in 1959 and left Arcturus in shock; out of all of his generation, he had expected to be the first to die being the eldest. Six months later when he was finally beginning to come out of mourning for his brother his first grandson was born. Named Sirius for his grandfather Arcturus was instantly fascinated by him, deciding that being a grandfather was a much better experience than being a father -less work for starters. Indeed things began to look up for the family with his second grandson, named for both his brother and himself being born in 1961; Regulus Arcturus. However not many years after tragedy struck the family again when Arcturus' sister Lycoris died in 1965. This death so soon after the loss of his brother was devastating to him and Arcturus began to withdraw further into himself, the loss then of Melania the only woman other than his sister to effectively bully him out of his shell three years later distressed him so much that he almost ended up in St. Mungo's after he stopped eating and refused to talk to anyone for nearly a month, only coming out of his stupor to speak at the funeral. The only reason he eventually came out of his shell was due to his grandsons' determination to get him to speak calmed him down enough to return to some semblance of normality. After this however Arcturus never returned to how he used to be, quieter than ever Arcturus virtually locked himself away in his study only coming out to try and sort out the ever increasing squabbles between his son, daughter-in-law and eldest grandson. Sirius' running away in 1976, although he did understand it -sort of-, it still hurt him deeply. When he found out what Regulus had done he went ballistic with the boy calling him "a little fool" amongst many less than savoury names but his death and Orion's in the same year virtually destroyed what was left of him. With only Walburga himself and one lone House elf left within the House Arcturus was a mess. When Voldemort was defeated for the first time in 1981 and Sirius was arrested, he refused to believe his grandson guilty of supporting He-who-must-not-be-named, well remembering the fights that used to erupt within the House over that particular subject, and attempted unsuccessfully to clear his name. By 1985 and Walburga's death, Arcturus was not well, he was eighty-four with failing health and had moved to live with his daughter Lucretia a year before. In and out of St. Mungo's due to heart disease and high blood pressure, Arcturus' grip on his family, never strong to begin with, was slowly being whittled away. At the same time the family's position within the Wizarding world was being eroded. His son and youngest grandson dead (and the latter also a suspected Death Eater), and his eldest grandson locked up in Azkaban for a crime Arcturus swore he never committed; the family was disgraced. Arcturus finally died in December 1991, three months after a certain 'boy-who-lived' started Hogwarts, three years before his grandson Sirius escaped from Azkaban, five years before said grandson's name was cleared and six before the reason as to how and why his grandson Regulus died became known, and seven before Voldemort was finally defeated. Dying from a massive brain haemorrhage as he sat in an armchair at his daughter's house; he was reading, or at least trying to read and had been complaining of headaches all day. Before his death he had chosen to alter certain parts of his Will, reinstating his grandson Sirius onto the family tree -although not on the Tapestry, locked up as it was in the House at Grimmauld Place- and so making him the heir to the family once more. A move that was derided by the surviving members of the family who still believed Sirius guilty. Arcturus lived through the rise and fall of two different Dark Wizards, first Grindelwald and then Voldemort, he never supported either although he had more sense than to come out in direct opposition merely telling people precisely what he thought, in a rather loud voice. | |||||||||
| Schools: | None listed | |||||||||
| Friends: | ||||||||||
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| Account type: | Free Patient | |||||||||
