Belvina Burke

## Belvina Ursula Burke (née Black)

**Belvina Ursula Burke** (née **Black**) (**1 August**, **1886** - **19 January**, **1962**) was a pure-blood witch who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1 September, 1897 to June of 1904. She was the only daughter of Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black and his wife Ursula Black (née Flint). She was the younger sister of Sirius Black II, Cygnus Black III, Phineas Black II, and Arcturus Black I.

Her father was a greatly influential man in education, but he was truthfully one of the most hated Hogwarts Headmasters of all time. Her mother, Ursula, passed away when Belvina was only three years old, and thus her father depended on an army of servants to raise her and her older brother, Arcturus Black I, who was two years her senior, while he was away at Hogwarts. Belvina came to know the family's human servants better than she knew her own father, which proved a lonely and bitter existence.

She later married Herbert Burke, who was a member of the House of Burke, a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. She had two children with him. One of them, Ulyssa, ended up marrying Cassius Lestrange, and becoming an Acolyte of Grindelwald during the Global Wizarding War. She and her husband both died early deaths.

Belvina's other child, Bartholomew, married a witch called Valerie Blishwick and had one son with her. She was the maternal grandmother of Adolph Lestrange and Philomena Whitlock (née Lestrange) (who was disowned from her father's family for marrying the son of a muggle-born), and the paternal grandmother of Theodorus Burke, who also met an early end during the First Wizarding War serving the Dark Lord Voldemort.

## Biography

### Early life

Belvina Black was born on 1 August, 1886, into the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, an old wizarding family, who looked down on any except other "respectable" pure-blood wizards and believed in pure-blood supremacy. She was the fifth child and only daughter of Phineas Nigellus Black and his wife Ursula Black (née Flint), and was nine years younger than her oldest brother, Sirius Black II. Her father was Head of the House of Black, and her oldest brother was Heir Apparent. But apart from her father's duties as head, he also held the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts, and as a consequence had very little time for children.

Belvina's mother, Ursula, stayed at home and was instrumental in the running of the household in the years before Belvina's birth. But afterwards, Ursula became very ill, and for much of Belvina's early existence was bed-bound. She finally passed away on 27 October, 1889, when Belvina's closest brother, Arcturus, was five years old, and Belvina herself was only three. As a result, she had very little memories of her mother.

Her father, Phineas, then already Headmaster, as well as her brother, Sirius Black II, then a first-year student, briefly returned to Grimmauld Place during the autumn of 1889 to bury Ursula, but afterwards they both returned to Hogwarts. Phineas hired additional servants to take care of the younger children, including Belvina, aged three, Arcturus, aged five, and Phineas II, aged six, and Cygnus III, aged ten. Their spinster aunt, Elladora Black, 39, who Belvina loathed, began living at Grimmauld Place as well, in order to keep an eye on things.

#### Aunt Elladora

Elladora Black, according to one of the servants living in Grimmauld Place during this time, was not "benignly maternal." Elladora was the one who began to institute the policy of cutting off the heads of the family house-elves and mounting them on the wall once they became too old to carry a tea tray. She effectively ran her brother's household after the death of her sister-in-law.

Belvina came to know her governess, Amelia Pettigrew, and nursery maid, Delia Goshawk, better than she knew her own parents. She was an endearing young child, and as she aged she was later described as a "delightful though moody girl, pretty, delicate and passionate." Even still, her aunt Elladora was an ever-looming presence in her life, and instilled fear in the minds of Belvina and her brothers.

#### Hogwarts years

Belvina Black began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the school of which her father was Headmaster of, in September of 1897. She was ever so pleased to be leaving home and was the last of her siblings to go to Hogwarts.

She was sorted into Slytherin House on 1 September, 1897, like the rest of her family. Members of the House of Black had been sorted into this house for generations, including her father, her mother, and all of her brothers.

### Later life

She later married Herbert Burke, who was a member of the House of Burke, a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. She had two children with him. One of them, Ulyssa, ended up marrying Cassius Lestrange, and becoming an Acolyte of Grindelwald during the Global Wizarding War. She and her husband both died early deaths.

Belvina's other child, Bartholomew, married a witch called Valerie Blishwick and had one son with her. She was the maternal grandmother of Adolph Lestrange and Philomena Whitlock (née Lestrange) (who was disowned from her father's family for marrying the son of a muggle-born), and the paternal grandmother of Theodorus Burke, who also met an early end during the First Wizarding War serving the Dark Lord Voldemort.

## Etymology

The name *Belvina* does not fit in with the Black family tradition of naming its members after stars or constellations. It may derived from Latin, in which it would mean something like "lovely wine" or "fair one". Alternatively, it could be derived from Beltane, an ancient Celtic holiday related to Walpurgis Night, "Witches' Night".