Harry’s godfather Sirius belonged to the pureblooded family, who worshipped Voldemort and believed in “the purification of the wizarding race.”
They all went to Hogwarts, and each Black ended up in Slytherin. However, Sirius Black was different than the rest of his family. Therefore it is only natural he would end up in another Hogwarts House.
Contents
What House Was Sirius Black in?
Despite his whole family belonging to Slytherin, Sirius Black was in Gryffindor.
The House of Black was a very old and predominantly pureblooded family who believed in pureblood supremacy. Ever since he could remember, Sirius despised the belief and rebelled against his parents.
When he was eleven, he got a letter from Hogwarts. On the train, he met James Potter, his future best friend. Sirius mentioned that his family went to Slytherin during their first conversation, but he hoped that he would be different.
“Blimey,” said James, “and I thought you seemed all right!”
Sirius grinned.
“Maybe I’ll break the tradition.”
Sirius was proud to be Gryffindor, flaunting his defiance to the whole family. He decorated his bedroom with Gryffindor colors and unmoving pictures of Muggle girls and motorbikes.
For many years Sirius was told his younger brother, Regulus, was better than him because he followed the rules and shared the family’s view of blood status.
The treatment he received in his early years and his family’s bigotry drove Sirius to hope to break the tradition of belonging to Slytherin.
Once in Gryffindor, he became fast friends with Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Harry’s father, James Potter.
The latter was confident he would be sorted to Gryffindor, just like his father before him.
Being a Gryffindor gave Sirius a new meaning in life and, in his opinion, a better family than his blood relatives ever were.
Why Was Sirius Black not in Slytherin?
Sirius Black was not a Slytherin because he was brave, kind, loyal, and didn’t care about his blood status. He valued different things than his family.
Although we never had a lot of time with Sirius throughout the three books, we learned to love him because of his true Gryffindor values.
We believe that his name (Sirius, the Dog Star) and Animagus form (a black dog) described without too many words that he was a loyal friend, never caring about himself but always about others. Sirius was ready to give his life to protect his friends, and he admitted it in the Shrieking Shack when confronting Pettigrew.
Sirius would never feel well in Slytherin because he never felt good in his own house while growing up.
The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was filled with prejudiced purebloods, marrying their own cousins and looking down on non-magical creatures and mixed breeds.
Sirius was not in Slytherin because this was not how he saw the world. After all, he befriended Lupin the werewolf and even went through the arduous task of becoming an Animagus to make his friend’s life easier.
Was Sirius the Only Black in Gryffindor?
From what we know from the books, Sirius was the only Black to end up in Gryffindor.
It was considered a crime to be anything else than a true follower of pureblood traditions in the Black family, and every person who strayed from the path was immediately disowned and burned out of the family tree.
That also happened to Sirius after he ran away from home, not being able to withstand the atmosphere anymore. He was at that time 16 and attending Hogwarts as a Gryffindor.
Sirius explained to Harry, his godson, that the Black family disowned many Squibs, people who didn’t marry into another pureblood family, and anyone who didn’t support the family traditions.
He never mentioned anyone else sorted into Gryffindor, and even his favorite cousin, Andromeda Tonks, nee Black, was in Slytherin and later disowned for marrying a Muggleborn wizard.
Final Word
Sirius Black was a true Gryffindor. Even though his whole family went to Slytherin and thought themselves to be almost royalty, Sirius was more down to earth and didn’t care about social statuses and blood purity.
Sirius’s character traits placed him in Gryffindor from the beginning: already contemplating breaking the Slytherin tradition on the train ride to Hogwarts, he didn’t care where his new friends were from.
He went through a great deal of trouble to protect his friends, and he was loyal till the end, even after their death.
Considering how short tie we had to get to know Sirius, we are certain that Gryffindor House and all its values were what best described Harry’s godfather.