Hello and welcome to the Immeritus Canon Blacklight! While this feature normally puts the Blacklight on the giants of the Harry Potter fandom, we felt that since we are celebrating a good five years in the fandom, Immeritus should interview none other than the star himself, Sirius Black! We ask the probing questions, the kind of stuff that keeps us fangirls (and fanboys) up at night. You think you can handle an interview of the one and only? Let's see...

Immeritus:  Firstly, we’d like to know - did you know you have such a huge fandom?  What do you think of us, and do you ever read our boards?
Sirius Black:  I’d have to say since Magicalobizuth first contacted me about setting up the club just over five years ago, I had no idea it would grow as fast as it has, so – no.  I was certain it would be over and done with quickly, so I’m actually a bit amazed at the community you’ve built up.  I think you’re all incredible people, and I deserve a lot less of the spotlight than you all do.  Do I read the boards?  I’d like to more often, but circumstances prevent it, usually. 

I: And, if you have had a chance to look the site over at all, what is your favorite part of it?
SB:  I enjoy the fanfiction and fanart sections. Remus has been threatening to deflate my swollen head with a pin after I went through them. Really, though, it's interesting to see how others see me and what kind of scenarios you all come up with. Most of them are delicious. Also, I think the Trickster's Den is great. I love games like that.

I:  Have you seen our online FanArt Gallery, and if so, do you like the art portrayed there – and do you like any one of the works in particular?
SB:  Yes, I did look at that.  A great deal of it is very flattering – in that anyone would spend so much time on a portrait of me, and also in the portrayals.  I did particularly like a couple of the paintings – which were of myself on the motorcycle.  They brought back good memories.

I:  What is your birthday, if you don’t mind us knowing?
SB:  Not at all. June 18, 1960.  It was a couple of days before the summer solstice so my mother thought it apropos.

I:  Did you ever experiment with facial hair and what was the result?
SB:  One can’t help but experiment with facial hair in Azkaban.  I did have a beard when I was younger for a short period of time – a kind of a Van Dyke.  I thought it was ‘hip’.  I’m actually thinking I should grow another.

I:  What is your favorite food?
SB:  I could eat tacos every meal of every day.  In fact, I think I did while I was in South America.  Actually my favorite meal was the start of term feast at Hogwarts.  It didn’t matter what they were serving, just that I was there.

I:  What is your favorite color?
SB:  Dark blue – dark like midnight on the nights we prowled outside the castle.  Also the lake that James and I used to swim in when I lived with his family was a very dark blue.  Those are some of the best memories that I have.

I:  I think we’re all dying to know about your motorcycle.  We at Immeritus get asked about it quite a lot. What is the origin of it, as it seems an item unique to you only?  Where is it now? 
SB:  It’s at Hogwarts.  Unfortunately, it’s had a bit of rough use and needs work and recharming.  It was James’ idea that I charm the bike – a bit of a dare.  It’s true that he and I were not always proper law abiders.  In our rounds of general miscreant behaviour, we ‘borrowed’ it from a Muggle home after dark one night, charmed it, and spent all night flying around.  We did return it, but had some trouble removing all the bewitchments, so we kept an eye out for a few days. Right away, it gave the owner a bit of trouble.  He became afraid of it and put a ‘for sale’ sign on it.  I knocked on his door and bought it.  Of course, we never should have mucked about with it in the first place.

I:  What is your worst character trait?  Your most endearing?
SB:  I've a vile temper and a tendency to ignore other people's feelings in favour of my own. I don't really know about my most endearing - loyalty to friends, I suppose. Maybe I should have been in Hufflepuff.  In the years I spent... away, I learned a lot about patience.

I:  What was your dad like?
SB:  I didn't have a "Dad"; I had a "Father". He was brusque and rather cold. He would accept no excuses and reject any attempted apologies. Therefore, there were no misdemeanours and no excuses in that house. He said he didn't want any weaklings born of his blood. He did, however, play the organ beautifully and loved my mother with a passion.

I: What was your relationship with Regulus like?
SB:  In our younger years we got on fairly well, actually. We fought like all siblings, but nothing major until he reached Hogwarts and was sorted into Slytherin.  I had hoped he’d have the same kind of experience I did when I went away to school - meeting different people from different backgrounds, and could have seen our family roots for what they were, but it was at that point I realized he had fully embraced their beliefs.  I had hoped that it would end with our parents, but of course it didn’t.

I:  What made you go against the ideology of your parents?
SB:  I think it was the house-elf heads on the wall.  No, really; I don’t think the measure of a man has anything to do with who his parents are, but what he does with himself.  How he conducts himself through the world.

I:  What turns you on, both physically and mentally?
SB:  Well, first I'd have to say that sexy begins up at the top.  Smart is much more attractive than dumb.  Dumb is boring and

I can't stand boring. 

Having said that, the first thing I look for is a mysterious beauty.  Someone who isn't throwing themselves at me, the unattainable challenge, is a great turn on.  And when that challenge is met... it's sheer bliss.  I like a partner who isn't going to nag at me about things, someone who will let me be myself...and yes, someone who doesn't say, "I told you so," when my plans don't quite work out.  Hair colour, eye colour, body type; none of that matters if the person has an ugly personality.  I like being with someone who will be supportive, someone who will make me laugh.  And someone who isn't afraid to experiment.

I:  How did you meet James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew for the first time, and how did you all become such close friends?
SB:  We all met on the school train, our first day.  I’d heard of the Potters but their family travelled in different social circles than mine.  The first time I saw James was on the train platform.  Loads of kids were milling around, saying goodbye to their families, and I was there by myself.  I was leaning against the wall just watching everyone, and I spied James with his wand out, aiming a hex at a boy nearby.  He missed, and I laughed at him.  He heard me laughing and came over - to pick a fight with me, I think.  He ended up laughing too, and we got on the train together.  The first compartment we entered had two other boys already inside – Remus and Peter.  We all got to know each other on the ride to Hogwarts.  When we all ended up in the same house, and the same dorm room, well, then we just spent all our time together.  We had our share of grievances – clashing creative minds, and all - but usually we got along.

I:  On the subject of Peter Pettigrew  - what was he like in school?  What qualities did he have that made him a good friend to you then?  Were you always able to trust him, and did you like him as much as you liked James and Remus?
SB:  Well, Peter, that very first day we met him, demonstrated himself to be a couple of things – eager to be helpful, and somewhat starving for attention.  He was always willing to be a tag-along, and did our bidding – James’ and mine, that is; Moony never bossed anyone about, even as a prefect.  Peter always laughed at our jokes.  So while that may have been the basis of the start of our friendship, of course it grew and we liked him as a person as opposed to just a sidekick.  He was always there for us and we for him.  As a group we brought out strengths in him as well – he became more self-confident after we all became Animagi.  More useful as well – he could scurry about as a rat and gather information or look around corners to see if there was anyone to catch us at whatever we were playing at.  And no, I’m sorry to say we never questioned his loyalty back then. 

I:  What was your favorite subject at Hogwarts?
SB: Ancient Runes, I’d have to say was my favourite subject. Although practically speaking, I actually scored better in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration.  And I wasn’t half bad at Astronomy. I did all right in school, despite my less than productive attitude, I suppose. 

I:  Did you fight a lot at school?
SB:  I had a few duels here and there with people I thought deserved them.  Nothing worth writing home about.

I:  Why did you ignore the girls by the lake when you and James were picking on Snape after your O.W.L. exams?  And why do you dislike Snape so much – is there history we don’t know about?
SB:  Which girls?  Nothing against the girls, mind you, but if I’m thinking of the same incident you mention, well, we did have it in for Snape that day, so we were focussed on tormenting him.  As to the dislike -  well, to start with, there was the house difference, obviously, and he was a bit of a weirdo who played in the Dark Arts, inventing hexes and such. I never had any inclination to be on a friendly basis with him - nor, really, did anyone who was not in Slytherin House.  As teenage boys will exchange insults and hexes, our mutual loathing grew.  When he joined the Death Eaters, we were irreversibly on opposite sides of the fence, and the war. But no, no specific history other than the kind of person he was at school, and afterwards.

I:  How did Argus Filch end up with the Marauder’s Map?
SB:  Filch caught James and me out after curfew one night.  Yes, I know - that’s a stretch. We were concentrating on a bit of ‘magical mayhem’ and failed to note his speck nearing our location.  When we realized Filch was so close, I wiped it clean, but he still confiscated it.  The loss of the map was a blow, but covering up what we had been doing was more important at the time.

I:  What was the best prank you ever pulled?
SB:  Ah… I don’t even remember most of them.  Moony would – he was always a bit uncomfortable when James and I got out of bounds.  He’d feel guilty not reporting it.  But he never did. 
I guess I’d have to say, of those I can repeat, I was a bit proud of the Sticking Charm on a schoolmate’s trousers zipper.  He was such an arrogant prat – a Ravenclaw prefect with a snobbish attitude.  He had to visit the school nurse to get his trousers removed.  But keep in mind I was something of a prat myself back then. It was a pretty juvenile thing to do.  Sometimes Prongs and I would come up with ridiculous things to do to amuse ourselves, and if Moony and Peter couldn’t talk us out of it, we simply looked like idiots.  Some pranks weren’t so funny when they backfired.  Not everything we did was skillfully executed, though at the time we thought we were a bit invincible.

I:  What did you do after Hogwarts?
SB:  I travelled for a time, using some of my inheritance – my “young man’s tour” being the cover for some Order work.  It was mostly to drum up Order supporters and awareness of Voldemort's evil plots, though I did spend a great deal of time flirting with the lovely ladies of Europe.   I went to America for about a month - for the same reasons.

I:  Whose idea was it to take a picture of a secret organization?
SB:  Dung’s. I’ve often wondered if he’d have sold us out for the right amount of money. Of course the better question would be why we were all daft enough to go along with it.

I:  Is there anything you can tell us about what happened in the few days leading up to the Potters’ deaths?
SB:  I don’t really remember much.  I’ve tried to reconstruct it all, but it’s hazy.   I remember kissing Lily and Harry and giving James one of those manly hugs and a stiff slap on the back right before I went over to Peter’s place.  Peter and I had a few beers and talked about the Fidelius and how odd it would be not to see James every day.  We discussed him being the secret keeper rather than me.  He went over to their house and that was the last I saw of them all until I bungled killing Peter in the middle of that street. 

I:  Why didn’t anyone just do Priori Incantatem on your wand to figure out you were innocent?
SB:  That would have been part of gathering evidence for a trial, right? Crouch just shunted me off to Azkaban and wasn't interested in anything resembling the truth of the matter, not that anyone volunteered to defend me.  All of the other evidence was damning enough without having to actually check to see what spells I actually did cast, though I suppose by then I didn't really bother to explain the truth of the matter to the Aurors. They asked me why I was there - I said that I had gone to kill Peter. That was enough for them. All I could do was laugh in sheer disbelief of the complete insanity of it all.

I:  When you invited Harry to live with you, were you inviting him as your godson, or as James’ son?  Was it more because of your parental responsibilities, or because you wanted a little bit of James back?
SB:  Harry is my godson.  It’s something that I promised to do.  To take care of him.  Being in Azkaban for most of his life, I was never able to fulfill my promise.  When I asked Harry to come live with me it was because of that.  Having him near would have been like a bit of James back, yes, but that wasn’t the reason.  James was my best friend and I loved Lily and Harry very much. 

I think you are trying to make the old dog cry.

I:  Why were you and Remus staring at each other for 40 lines in OotP?
SB:  I'm sorry, I have no idea what you mean?  40 lines of what?  Remus and I do look at each other a lot - to gauge what the other is thinking about what's going on at any given moment.  Remus has a really ... mobile face, though he's pretty subtle about showing a lot of emotion to many people. I can usually tell what he's thinking, just by watching his facial expressions.

I:  Just what IS that veil, and what is beyond it?
SB:  From what I could tell, the veil is a trans-dimensional portal.  It’s another space and time, if you will.  It looked like an infinitely large, dark room, with the curtain at one end.  The other end is indistinguishable.  I could hear other people but not communicate with them.  There are what look to be mirrors very high up on the walls but I could only see the other mirrors reflected in them; they were too high to make out anything else.

I:  Who was your first kiss?  What was it like?
SB:  A gentleman never discusses his conquests, though many say that I’ve never been a gentleman.  I think discretion here is the better part of valour.  I will say that it was…pleasant. No… terrifying.  Both, really.  Heart pounding, eyes screwed up and scrunched closed, breath held until just the second after lips touch.  The anticipation is the terror – and trying to hide it, which is never easy for a twelve year old boy.  But after that first second, it was nice.  Really nice.  At the time, it was earth-shattering. I hope I’ve improved upon my technique, though, since that very unusual evening in the Charms corridor.

I:  “Snuffles” - whose idea was that?  Old nickname?
SB:  James again.  He said the dog he’d had as a kid was better looking than me.  The dog’s name was Snuffles.  It was his own personal insult for me; a private joke at the time.

I:  Have you ever worn a collar?
SB:  Well, there was one time that involved a collar, a room at the Hog’s Head, questionable company, and details too personal to share.
But I’m just pulling your leg - I’ve never worn a collar, sorry.

I:  How long is your wand and what wood is it made of?
SB:  The wood varies – I’ve had to replace my wand a few times – but it is always fifteen inches long.

I:  Is there any truth to the widespread rumor that you and Lupin are involved romantically?
SB:  That seems to be the question of the century.  But my dears, if I gave that answer away, think of all the great stories that might not get written!  As Einstein said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’.

I:  What do you think of the song, ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’? 
SB:  Well, I liked it the first hundred times, who didn’t? 

I:  When you return to your human form after being an Animagus, do you still have doggy breath?
SB:  I beg your pardon?  I do not have doggy breath.  Ever.

I:  What is the most interesting spell you’ve ever learned?
SB:  There is one that makes quick work of buttons that I have found very useful.

I:  Have you ever worn leather pants and what was the result?
SB:  Leather pants?  No, I haven’t got any of those.  I prefer cotton under my trousers or robes.  I have worn leather trousers. I remember wearing them on the summer solstice one year when we all went out to mingle with the Muggles dancing around Stonehenge.  As I recall, James wore a kilt that night and Peter wore a dress with big red flowers on it.  Remus, being Remus, just wore trousers and an ugly jumper his crazy Aunt Honoria made.

I:  Blondes, Brunettes, or Redheads?
SB:  Yes.

I:  Boxers or briefs?
SB:  Sometimes.

I:  And lastly, “Sirius Black is __________”
SB: Honoured and flattered to have such a talented, creative, and fun group of fans such as yourselves.  It has been a pleasure to have this bit of contact with you, and I hope to be able to do so again.

Editor’s note:  In that case, are you free Friday night?

Immeritus would like to thank Sirius Black very much for answering our questions.  If you want to read more about Sirius Black, we invite you to open any forum at Immeritus.org! Feedback and discussion for this Blacklight can be submitted here.

Questions submitted by Immeritus members (who had no idea what their questions would be used for) and staff.
Sirius Black was portrayed by Accio Padfoot, CMW, Potter_Mom, Sirius Star, and MoonandDogstar.