Regulus Black - Harry Potter Lexicon

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    Jo tells us "Regulus got in a little too deep. Like Draco. He was attracted to [Voldemort's power], but the reality of what it meant was way too much to handle." (TLC)

One of the tragedies in the story of Regulus is how little his brother Sirius thought of him. For instance, Sirius spread the story for years that he was "stupid" and a coward as a Death Eater, someone who would never even be noticed by Voldemort (Lupin, for one, believed the story). In some ways this is just basic sibling rivalry - the "Mom liked you the best" syndrome -- since Regulus was supposedly more obedient to their pureblood parents. But that is hardly fair since by his own admission, Sirius was always treated like royalty at home and everywhere in the Wizarding World as a member of the Black family.

From an early age the brothers were quite different -- rebellious Sirius with his Muggle pin-up girls, and Regulus with a "keep out" sign on the door that reminded Harry of Percy Weasley. When Sirius met James on the train to Hogwarts, he suddenly wanted to be sorted into Gryffindor, which must have disappointed his parents. When Regulus was sorted into Slytherin in the family tradition, suddenly there was House rivalry in addition to sibling rivalry.

Sirius found a new family as part of the Marauders, and spent more time on breaks away with James and his parents. When he was 17 he left home to get his own place, thanks to an inheritance from Uncle Alphard. This action supposedly broke his mother's heart, according to Kreacher the house-elf.

Due to all his absences from Grimmauld Place, Sirius just didn't seem to know Regulus very well because he was more concerned with fighting for the Order of the Phoenix. It just never occurred to him that Regulus might have been just as brave and heroic as he and James  in standing up to Voldemort. Would Sirius have sacrificed himself in a far-off cave, so that no one ever knew about it? For James and Lily, he might have, yes. For the honor of Kreacher? It's hard to imagine. Sirius hated Kreacher, joked about his death, and even threw him out of the house. Regulus on the other hand was the "defender of house-elves," as Kreacher shouted at the Battle of Hogwarts.

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