Cepheus Black III

## Cepheus Perseus Black

**Cepheus Perseus Black III** (15 May, 1711 - 19 April, 1718) was a pure-blood wizard, and the second of the four children of Prince William, Duke of Gloucester (also known as William Stuart, "the Mudblood King") and his wife, Viola Black. He was the twin brother of Cassiopeia Black I and the older brother of Lyra Cedrella and Ophiuchus Black. At the time of his birth, he was the Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. His death in 1718 led the heirship to pass to his younger brother, Ophiuchus.

## Biography

### Early life

Cepheus Perseus Black III was born along with his twin sister, Cassiopeia, on 15 May, 1711, likely in Ilminster, Somerset, England. His mother was Viola Black, known for marrying her adopted brother, William Stuart. Cepheus's father was taken from the muggle world at an early age at the height of the enforcement of the Statute of Secrecy, meaning that muggle-borns were often taken from their families and placed with wizarding ones.

Cepheus's father was special, in that William Stuart (or as he was known then, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester) was the son of Anne, Queen of Great Britain, and his extraction had to be treated with the utmost care. The young prince had been visited by both the Headmaster of Hogwarts as well as the Minister for Magic. When Queen Anne heard, she refused to believe them, but then witnessed Gloucester perform accidental magic. That day, a local boy was found not far from Kensington Palace that bore a striking resemblance to Gloucester- the work of Polyjuice Potion, no doubt, but the Queen and the Prince of Denmark were convinced.

William's supposed *death* precipitated a succession crisis in the muggle world, as Queen Anne was the only individual remaining in the Protestant line of succession established by the Bill of Rights 1689. The English Parliament did not want the throne to revert to a Catholic, and so passed the Act of Settlement 1701, which settled the throne of England on Electress Sophia of Hanover, a cousin of King James II, and her Protestant heirs.

Cepheus's father, the Duke of Gloucester, attended Hogwarts under the name William Stuart and later married his step-sister, Viola Black. They had four children, including Cepheus III; however, as William's blood was of muggle nobility, the Black Family decided that their issue would carry the name of Black and not Stuart. Cepheus, in fact, would have been the rightful ruler of Great Britain, had it not been for the Act of Settlement in 1701, passed when his father, William, was in his first year at Hogwarts and considered dead.

This plot remains little known of modern ears, as the modern descendants of Viola Black and William Stuart are often misrepresented as the descendants of Viola's father, Cepheus, and Saturnius's daughter, Lavinia. In *The Pure-Blood Directory*, an anonymous genealogical publication suspected to have been authored by Cantankerous Nott, Cepheus III is misrepresented as his mother Viola's sister, not son.

#### Death

Cepheus III passed away at the age of six due to dragon pox. After his death, the heirship passed to his younger brother, Ophiuchus.

## Etymology

Latinized form of the Greek Κηφευς (Kepheus), which is of unknown meaning. In Greek legend he was a king of Ethiopia, the husband of Cassiopeia. After he died he was made into a constellation and placed in the sky.