Why Would Sirius Black Become a Black Dog?
SIRIUS BLACK, HARRY’S GODFATHER, IS A fugitive
from the Ministry of Magic, which mistakenly believes he is a Death
Eater. He was able to escape Azkaban because he is an Animagus. He
changed into his dog form, squeezed through the bars of his cell,
and swam to his freedom.
THE DOG STAR
As an Animagus form, a black dog suits him
perfectly. The name “Sirius” comes from the name of a star often
referred to as the Dog Star. It has that nickname because it is in
the constellation known as the Great Dog. (The star was given the
name “Sirius” because it is the brightest star in the sky. The
Greek word seirios means “burning.”)
That star has great significance in the magical
world. As the symbol of the goddess Isis,
it was central to the religion and philosophy of Egypt, where most
magic originated.
The Egyptian goddess Isis.
Magical creature expert Carol Rose says some black
dogs, such as two supposedly living near Somerset, England, are
said to guard treasures or holy places.
The Egyptians used Sirius to set their calendar,
because its movements are linked to the seasons. On the first day
of summer, it rises just before the sun. That was New Year’s Day in
ancient Egypt. It forecast the annual flooding of the Nile River,
which gave vital nourishment to the growing fields. We refer to the
long, hot days of summer now as “dog days” because Sirius marks
their arrival.
According to the Egyptians, Sirius was not
merely significant to life on Earth. The star was where the souls
of humans traveled after death. The star was so important that
temples were built to align with its path across the sky. An
archaeologist determined that the long tunnels or airshafts in the
Great Pyramid make the stars visible in daytime, and that the view
is that part of the sky where Sirius appears. One Egyptologist says
those shafts were meant to guide one’s soul to Sirius.
PADFOOT
The Animagus form of a black dog is appropriate
to Sirius Black in more than name alone. Magical black dogs appear
mysteriously throughout Europe and North America. There have been
many sightings in Britain, where they are known by names like Black
Shuck (from the Anglo-Saxon scucca, meaning
“demon”), Old Shuck, Shucky Dog, the Shug Monster, and Shag Dog.
The residents of Staffordshire gave it the name Sirius uses:
Padfoot.
Some say the dogs guard churchyards or certain
roads; others say they roam the countryside at night. Eyewitnesses
say they appear suddenly, sometimes right alongside a person
walking alone. They tend to be larger than usual dogs. They may
vanish in an instant, or slowly fade from view while standing
still. Occasionally they appear without heads. Their eyes are
almost always described as huge and “blazing.” Surprisingly, they
tend to be silent.
Scholars were once convinced that the black dog
was the preferred form of the Devil. Even among people with less
anxious minds,
See also: Animagus Egypt
black dogs are widely feared. Many consider them an omen of death.
This is precisely what Professor Trelawney tells Harry his early
sightings of Sirius mean. (She refers to the black dog as the Grim,
another common name.)
In Harry Potter and the Order
of the Phoenix Rowling reveals that names taken from astronomy
are a Black family tradition: Sirius’s cousin Andromeda is named for a constellation; her sister
Bellatrix is named for a bright star in the
constellation Orion; and Sirius’s late brother Regulus is named for the brightest star in the
constellation Leo.
It was once believed that the Greek goddess of
sorcery, Hecate (HEK-uh-tuh), roamed rural
Britain with two black dogs as companions. She was thought to be
invisible, so two black dogs with no owner in sight were a bad
sign.
See also: Animagus Egypt
The eyewitness reports go back many hundreds of
years. One vivid account from 1577 describes the arrival of a black
dog in church: “There appeared in a most horrible form a dog of a
black colour, together with fearful flashes of fire which made some
in the assembly think doomsday was come. This dog, or the Devil in
such a likeness, ran the length of the church with great swiftness
and incredible haste, passed between two persons as they were
kneeling and wrung the necks of them both at one instant.”
That may have been an especially horrible
incident. Not every encounter is so awful. In more recent sightings
the black dog seems to have become less malevolent. Simon Sherwood,
an expert on the subject, says, “There is rather more evidence that
black dogs are friendly (or at least harmless) than that they are
dangerous. Indeed the dogs are often positively helpful.”