How Sirius Might "Survive"

[Caius Marcius]

No: HPFGUIDX 72504

My favorite of the new OOP characters is the cynical & world-weary 
Phineas Nigellus (I especially like that he isn't so cynical & world-
weary as to not be deeply distressed at the death of his sole heir). 
My interest in him led me to this idea......

We know now why some wizards are able to live on as ghosts, but we 
don't know the factors that enable the subjects of the portraits to 
live on as fully cognizant, if two-dimensional, participants in an 
era long after their physical death (as opposed to the photos, which 
although animated, have no ability to intelligently discourse to 
their observers). I would assume (though I may well may wrong) that 
the paintings of the Hogwarts Headmasters that serve as Dumbledore's 
backup chorus were all like-minded souls of great spiritual power who 
were as unafraid of death as Albus himself - so we must invoke some 
different mechanism to explain their continued presence. 

I am going to assume that the portraits are painted during the 
subject's lifetime, and that some magic spell cast by the subject - 
similar to the spell that enabled the teenaged Tom Riddle to appear 
to Harry in CoS - creates some simulation of the original subject who 
remains behind to advise, observe and comment upon, etc.

So, when Harry comes to the "Grim Old Place" (pace Steve Vander Ark),
he finds that it is full of Black family portraits who insist on 
commenting in (or screaming about) rather derogatory terms about the 
new visitors and guests. Sirius makes it a point to remove as many of 
the offending portraits as possible, though his mother's portrait 
seems immovable. Which leads me to wonder....

Supposing that there was a portrait of Sirius painted sometime in his 
teens, before he was totally estranged from his family. Even if such 
a portrait were created, it well might have been just as ruthlessly 
expunged as the references to Arthur Weasley in the Black family 
tree - but if it survived, and if Black endowed it with the necessary 
magic, then it might well turn up. And if Harry inherits the Grim Old 
Place, he might become the owner of the portrait of the teenaged 
Sirius Black.......


    - CMC (a rare foray into non-filkdom)