And then there was Andromeda. The middle child. But Andromeda stood out from the sisters in her own way: when she married Ted Tonks, a Muggle-born wizard of distinctly ‘impure’ blood. He called her Dromeda, perhaps her own childhood nickname, or perhaps a new one to mark her new family. She was immediately disowned as a blood traitor, and from that day onwards she never saw her sisters again. Bellatrix confirmed this to Voldemort, saying she and Narcissa ‘never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood’. Despite this, Andromeda bore the burden of having an uncanny resemblance to her older sister, Bellatrix. In fact, Harry mistook Andromeda for Bellatrix the first time he saw her, to the point that he reflexively went for his wand – much to Andromeda’s offence.

It was Andromeda, though governed more by kindness than her sisters, who was left with the most scars. Andromeda lost almost everything in the Second Wizarding War. Snatchers killed Ted, while he was on the run from the Death Eater-controlled Ministry of Magic. Heartbreakingly soon after that, her own sister, Bellatrix, murdered her daughter Nymphadora Tonks. It was left to Andromeda to bring up her grandson Teddy, almost the only direct family she had left, showing a true strength and bravery that her sisters did not.

It seems almost impossible that these three women, with almost identical upbringings, could lead such different lives – but the Black family tree twists and grows in mysterious ways.