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Introduction
Regulus Black was the younger brother of Sirius Black. It was he who first discovered that Voldemort had made a horcrux which, until Harry Potter was sent on his mission, made him the only one. He was also a young death eater who turned against Voldemort early on. Regulus earned great respect from the Black house-elf, Kreacher, when Regulus sacrificed himself in order to collect and destroy Voldemort’s horcrux.
Regulus Black Quick Facts
| Full Name | Regulus Arcturus Black |
| Birth Date | 1961 |
| Birth Place | Great Britain |
| Nick Name | None |
| Death Date | 1979 |
| Age When Series Starts | Already dead |
| Zodiac Sign | Unknown |
| Siblings | Sirius Black |
| Children | None |
| Partner / Spouse | None |
| Most Memorable Moment | Stealing a horcrux from Voldemort |
| Magical Heritage | Pureblood |
| Hogwarts House | Slytherin |
| Wand | Unknown |
| Patronus | None |
| Actors Who Played | Tom Moorcroft |
| Last Updated | May 17, 2022 |
Regulus Black Birthplace
Regulus Black was born in Great Britain. It’s never said where wizards and witches give birth, but I’d like to assume they use St. Mungo’s, and even witches scream at their wizard husbands with insults and threats.
Regulus Black Parents
Regulus Black was born to Orion Black and Walburga Black. Incidentally, because of their pureblood nature, his mother and father were also his second cousins, once removed. His brother, Sirius, was also his third cousin. Gross. And a headache to keep track of.
Ignatius Prewatt was his paternal uncle. His maternal uncle and paternal second cousin, once removed, included Alphard Black and Cygnus Black III. His other relatives included Lucretia Black as his paternal aunt and maternal second cousin, once removed. Other relatives include Bellatrix Lestrange, Andromeda Tonks, and Narcissa Malfoy.
Regulus Black Physical Traits
He had the same arrogant look as Sirius Black with the same dark hair but was a small, less handsome version.
Regulus Black Early Life
Regulus grew up in a very wealthy home. He was born in 1961 and grew up at Number 12 Grimmauld Place in London. Even though Sirius Black was the older son, it was Regulus who embodied everything the parents preferred. The parents disapproved of Sirius Black being sorted into Gryffindor and not following the pureblood fervor of the family, but Regulus was admired for upholding the family traditions and maintaining loyalty to pure-blooded miss.
Regulus Black Hogwarts Years
Regulus attended Hogwarts and was sorted into Slytherin house. He still preferred pure-blooded Wizards and filled his bedroom with Slytherin banners. He put a sign on his door telling everyone to keep out and seemed rather pompous. He became a member of the Slytherin Quidditch team, as evidenced by the photograph Harry Potter discovered, which showed him as the seeker.
While still at Hogwarts, Regulus admired Lord Voldemort, collecting news clippings about him and his Death Eaters and hanging them in his bedroom. He joined them at the age of 16, likely leaving Hogwarts. His family approved of this measure because it meant he was working for the greater good of achieving pureblood supremacy. His parents were never Death Eaters themselves, but they were well aware that their son had become a Death Eater and supported this decision.
Regulus Black After Hogwarts Years
It wasn’t until he left Hogwarts and joined the Death Eaters that Regulus started to realize the grass wasn’t greener on the other side. I think he was just a dumb child who didn’t quite appreciate the nature of his decision or the rhetoric he was choosing to follow. But once he got in too deep, he saw how flawed his decision had been and wanted out immediately. I once read that when a group of criminals comes together Ocean’s-Eleven-style, at some point during the planning phase, every individual has doubts and wants out, but the other people oddly pull them back in. I think Regulus was like this. He had doubts as soon as he joined, but anytime he had doubts, other members pulled him back in. It wasn’t until Lord Voldemort mistreated Kreacher that Regulus decided to cut ties entirely.
Lord Voldemort had asked his Death Eaters for a house elf. Regulus wanted to impress Lord Voldemort, so he offered him Kreacher. But he obviously had his doubts because Regulus ordered Kreacher to come back no matter what.
It wasn’t until Kreacher came back that Regulus learned what had happened and realized that Voldemort was using the house-elf and had left him there to die without any regard for him or the sacrifice of his Death Eater. This was the point at which Regulus created a duplicate locket, put the note inside, and ordered Kreacher to take them both back to the hiding place.
On the island located in the middle of the lake where the locket was hidden, Regulus ordered Kreacher to return home no matter what and then sacrificed himself by drinking the poison and letting the inferi drag him to his death.
Kreacher overwhelmed at the loss of his master, did everything he could to try and destroy the Horcrux but was unable to. Moreover, Kreacher had to bear the burden of knowing what happened but being under direct orders not to tell anyone. This meant that the house-elf had to watch his other masters mourn the loss of their son.
Kreacher was unable to tell anyone what had happened at all until Harry Potter became his new master and ordered him to explain what happened. The exchange resulted in Harry, Hermione, and Ron having a newfound respect for the house-elf, and the house-elf, in turn showing respect for them. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Kreacher rallied all of the house-elves to fight in honor of Master Regulus, who had died to take down Voldemort.
I prefer the books to the films simply because of all the house-elves. I’ll be honest, I cry every time I read the Deathly Hallows and come upon the scene where Kreacher reminds the group to be home for a hot dinner, but the group ends up in the Forest of Dean because things went wrong, and Hermione worries about whether Death Eaters would find Kreacher AND at the very and when creature rallies all of the other house-elves in honor of Regulus. Every. Time. Tears and tissue.
Regulus Black Magical Abilities and Special Skills
Regulus was very good at flying; he played seeker for Slytherin while at Hogwarts.
Most notably, he was gifted with the dark arts. He became proficient in advanced dark magic such that he knew what a Horcrux was, even though Horcruxes were highly guarded secrets. He knew that Voldemort had made one and was able to apply dark magic to get into the cave where it was hidden and retrieve the locket.
Regulus Black Wand
We don’t know anything about his wand, but he likely picked it up at Ollivander’s before Hogwarts.
Regulus Black Trivial and Fun Facts
We never actually find out if Voldemort knew that Regulus Black was killed. Voldemort never mentioned him, tried to find him, or found it odd that he was gone. Voldemort also never found out until the very end that his locket had disappeared, and even then, he attributed that disappearance to Dumbledore. However, Remus Lupin once told Harry Potter that Regulus Black only lasted two weeks after betraying Voldemort. This suggests that either a Death Eater figured out that he was going to betray Voldemort, but then Regulus died at the lake unbeknownst to anyone else, and that Death Eater decided he was better off keeping his mouth shut rather than talking to Voldemort about the potential problem, OR members of the Order of the Phoenix knew that Regulus was going after something or was trying to betray Voldemort, but then was never heard of again two weeks later. I don’t believe that a Death Eater knew he had betrayed Voldemort or that Voldemort somehow knew because Voldemort never found out that Regulus had the Horcrux. I think Regulus came to a member of the Order of the Phoenix and explained his doubts and willingness to contribute to the takedown of Lord Voldemort. I don’t think whoever that was ever told Dumbledore about it, or Dumbledore would have known about the locket and never died trying to retrieve it. I think another member who probably died shortly thereafter was the one Regulus confided in and that other member had time to tell Remus about Regulus’ decision to come to the good side.
In the book, the Black family tree takes up a whole wall and shows an image of all of the members of the family except for those who did something to betray the family or the pureblood status. In the film, those who died are portrayed as a skull rather than a picture.
J.K. Rowling noted in an interview once that Regulus was only able to ascertain what the Dark Lord was doing because Lord Voldemort let it slip at some point, probably because of his arrogance, and didn’t assume that it would matter because he was the smartest wizard there ever was. However, the Black family didn’t produce idiots, and Regulus was able to go off what Voldemort let slip to determine that he had made a Horcrux. Of course, Regulus only thought there was one Horcrux, and by taking it from Voldemort, Regulus left him vulnerable to death.
Regulus Black Appearances in Books
Regulus Black appeared in the following books:
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Regulus Black Appearances in Films
Regulus Black appeared in the following films:
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (in a photo)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Quotes about Regulus Black
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when Harry is helping his godfather review the Family Tree:
“He was murdered by Voldemort. Or on Voldemort’s orders, more likely. I doubt Regulus was ever important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person. From what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out. Well, you don’t just hand in your resignation to Voldemort. It’s a lifetime of service or death.”
Kreacher talking about his former master:
“For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns… and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord.”
Kreacher summoning help from the other Hogwarts house-elves to help fight in honor of Regulus:
“Fight, fight for my master, the defender of the House elves. Fight the Dark Lord, in the name of brave Regulus! Fight!”
Sirius describing his brother, Regulus:
“I hated the lot of them: my parents with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal… my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them… that’s him. He was younger than me, and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded.”
A note that Regulus left for Voldemort:
“I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more…”
FAQs
Answer: The Inferi killed Regulus. Regulus went back with Kreacher to the spot where Voldemort had hidden a horcrux. Regulus drank the poison knowing that the burning potion would force him to get the only available water: the lake full of inferi. When he did, the inferi pulled him under.
Answer: Regulus gave him direct orders to go home and destroy the horcrux. While Kreacher could, in theory, disobey an order from a master and punish himself later, he likely obeyed out of respect and honor for one of his favorite masters.
Answer: Regulus was beginning to have doubts about the Death Eaters early on, but it was his disregard for Kreacher and attempts to kill the Black family house-elf that served as the final straw. I think Regulus respected other magical creatures, especially those who were on the side of the pure-blooded fanatics, and the disregard Voldemort showed was a bridge too far.
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Research Citations
- J.K. Rowling 2007. http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2007/0730-bloomsbury-chat.html
- IMDB. Harry Potter Full Cast. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0926084/fullcredits/cast
- Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York: Listening Library, 2003.
- Rowling, J. K. (2010). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury. Chicago (Author-Date, 15th ed.) Rowling, J. K. 2010.
- Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007.
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