What is Sirius Black?
{{No sources|date=August 2019}} [[File:Sirius Black portrait.jpg|thumb|Fan art representing Sirius Black, character from the Harry Potter saga, made with charcoal and watercolours by Mademoiselle Ortie aka E. Tihange.]] '''Sirius Black''' is a [[fictional character]] in [[J. K. Rowling]]'s ''[[Harry Potter]]'' series, played by [[Gary Oldman]]. Black, also known as '''Padfoot''' or '''Snuffles''' (in his Animagus form) was a [[pure-blood]] [[Wizardkind|wizard]]. He was born on 3rd November, 1959 and is the eldest son of [[Orion Black|Orion]] and Walburga Black. He is heir of the Ancient and Noble house of Black and brother to Regulus. His cousin's are Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black), Andromeda Tonks (née Black) and Narcissa Malfoy (née Black). He was [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]]'s [[godfather]]. He was best friends with [[James Potter]], along with [[Remus Lupin]] and [[Peter Pettigrew]]. These four were known as the Marauders in their school days, and created the [[Marauder's Map]]. He, along with his three friends, belonged to [[Gryffindor]] house when at [[Hogwarts]], unlike the rest of his family, who had belonged to the house of [[Slytherin]]. He did not like his family, and ran away from home to James Potter's house when he was 16. The Potters took Sirius in as their own son. His prized possession during childhood was his flying motorbike. Sirius was an animagus and was able to transform into a big black dog, (a Grim) which is an omen of death, at will. He, along with James Potter and Peter Pettigrew became Animagus to help Remus Lupin with his transformations. He was the first wizard to escape [[Azkaban]] prison, after being kept there twelve years for a crime that he did not commit. The betrayal of James and Lily Potter, the murder of [[Peter Pettigrew]] and 12 [[muggles]] with an unknown curse. Harry found out, after a year of believing otherwise, that Sirius was an innocent man, and helped him evade capture from the Ministry of Magic. Sirius went on the run before returning to his (empty)