Sirius and his family status

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 184049

 
>lanna: 
> Like, all of a sudden, their black sheep traitor son is the great Lord
> Voldemort's greatest supporter, fighting for the new world order!
> Shouldn't he have been, like, the family hero?


Potioncat:
This is what I recall from some of Harry and Sirius's conversations. 
The Black's were never DEs themselves. They were proud when Regulus 
joined, but at some point they thought LV had gone too far. I'm not 
sure what they knew about Regulus's death. We don't know when Mrs. 
Black went mad, or whether it's just her portrait that's over the bend. 
So I don't think they ever saw him as a hero.

I think it was the Dark Magic that caused the rift between them rather 
than any Muggle-loving attitudes. I'm not sure that's stated in the 
books, but Sirius waves at all the Dark objects in the house and 
says, "You can see what kind of wizards my parents were." (or something 
like that.)

Number 12 GP sat empty for 10 years. I wouldn't be surprised if 
Sirius's house hadn't done the same. All his old belongings may have 
come to GP after he escaped Azkaban.