How would you feel if everyone thought you were a mass murderer, if you were convicted of something you didn’t do, if your friends were shunned, if even your family hated you .... Would you believe this describes the life of Sirius Black, the “human” rights activist of the wizarding world? Let’s dig a little deeper into the story of J.K. Rowling’s forsaken hero.
Sirius Black was not like his family; they believed in racist “traditions.” They believed you had to come from a long line of wizards to be of importance. Sirius knew that his family was wrong to think that only pure-bloods should rule the world. He knew that even if you didn’t come from a long line of wizarding lineage, that didn’t make you any less important than pure-bloods. He often tried to annoy his parents, by putting pictures of bikini-clad muggle girls, and pictures of motorcycles in his room with a sticking charm, so that his parents couldn’t take the pictures down. He was chosen for Gryffindor, the house of the brave in the famous wizarding school, Hogwarts. This made his family upset and shamed because his family had a long history of being in the house of Slytherin, house of the cunning. As a result, Black’s mother and father started showing more love to his younger brother, Regulas. Especially, when his younger brother was chosen for Slytherin. Most people didn’t like werewolves, but one of Sirius’s first friends was a werewolf, Remus Lupin. Having a werewolf for a friend didn’t exactly make his parents proud, but he was still very loyal to his friends. In his fifth year at Hogwarts, Sirius and some others did a very difficult and dangerous spell that could’ve caused their deaths simply to accompany their friend, Remus, during his werewolf transformations.
In his older years, Sirius attended the potters’ wedding; this could’ve been a form of civil disobedience, he was supporting a muggle and wizard wedding. He also protected their son Harry who was not a pure-blood, but a half-blood. Sirius also joined the Order of the Phoenix. Then he was accused of killing sixteen people and he was sent to the wizarding prison, Azkaban. Everybody thought that he was an insane murderer, nobody trusted him. When he broke out of prison, he started looking out for Harry. The first time he saw Harry he scared the living daylights out of him. Black wanted to see Harry just once before he started off on his long journey to Hogwarts, so that he could kill Peter Pettigrew, and his name would be cleared. He was hoping that Harry would want to come home with him. Even the werewolf, Lupin thought that his best friend had gone insane. When he finally broke put of prison, after twelve years, he was still trying to help Harry. He was constantly watching out for Harry. He was constantly risking his life for Harry’s well-being. Even if Harry did think that he killed his parents. Even if Harry thought that he was a mass murderer.
The truth is that Sirius Black was a true hero and he fought for what was right. He sets a good example for us all, and he shows us that ALL living creature’s should be treated equally and fairly. Even though his parents disagreed with him he knew what he had to do. And that is what makes him a “human” rights activist.
By: Lola Louise
