Snape's Age RE: Tonks's age: A possible solution

[Alec]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Alec" <alec.dossetor at f...> 
wrote:
>
> 
> > I've wondered if the split in the family was actually a 
generation 
> back
> > so that Sirius's father and Bella's were first cousins. But 
Sirius's
> > mother was also the sister of Bella's father. A first cousin 
marriage
> > isn't so odd in this context whatever the fandom thinks. The 
reason I
> > wonder this is because Mrs. Black refers to Grimmauld Place 
as "the
> > house of my fathers", making me think she's no only related to 
her
> > husband, but closely related. And secondly, I think she's 
portrayed 
> as
> > very like the older edition of Bellatrix, which would make sense 
if 
> they
> > were aunt and niece by blood.
> 
> Yes, she was clearly born a Black, and I'd wondered if the house 
in 
> Grimmauld Place was "her's" by inheritance.
> 
> After all, Kreacher's primary loyalty was to "her", and not to her 
> husband.
>


Ach no, I'm probably wrong there, if Dumbledore isn't misinformed - 
which is hardly likely in this context! It seems that if the house 
traditionally passes through the direct male line, it probably can't 
have belonged to Sirius' mother directly. On the other hand, 
it "must" have been hers at some point, at least after her husband 
died. Or did she predecease him? 

I think he implies that the house would only pass to a woman when 
all the male Blacks were dead - and then probably to the eldest 
living female member of the family: he can't be sure, as that's 
presumably never happened yet.

I suppose this means that the Malfoy home can't have been 
Narcissa's? Pity! But maybe it's just "this" house that passed in 
the direct male line, and the manor did not - maybe it had passed 
into the family's ownership more recently, by a marriage with yet 
another now-deceased pureblood family?

Anyway, here's what Dumbledore says:

"Black family tradition decreed that the house was handed down the 
direct line, to the next male with the name of 'Black.' Sirius was 
the very last of the line as his younger brother, Regulus, 
predeceased him and both were childless. While his will makes it 
perfectly plain that he wants you to have the house, it is 
nevertheless possible that some spell or enchantment has been set 
upon the place to ensure that it cannot be owned by anyone other 
than a pureblood."

A vivid image of the shrieking, spitting portrait of Sirius's mother 
that hung in the hall of number twelve, Grimmauld Place flashed into 
Harry's mind. "I bet there has," he said. 

"Quite," said Dumbledore. "And if such an enchantment exists, then 
the ownership of the house is most likely to pass to the eldest of 
Sirius's living relatives, which would mean his cousin, Bellatrix 
Lestrange."