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Phineas Nigellus Black was a former headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who lived from 1847 to 1925. Belonging to one of the oldest and wealthiest pure-blooded wizarding families in Britain, Black disliked Muggle-borns due to his family placing high importance on blood purity. He was sorted into Slytherin when he attended Hogwarts as a student and was known to be quite studious, receiving his N.E.W.T.s in several subjects. After graduating from Hogwarts, Black married his wife Ursula Flint, a match which his family approved of due to the fact she came from a line of pure-blooded witches and wizards. Together the two had five children: Sirius (named after Black’s sibling who died at the age of eight), Phineas, Cygnus, Belvina, and Arcturus. Interestingly enough, out of the five children Phineas’s own namesake strongly disagreed with his father’s beliefs in pure-blood supremacy and supported Muggle rights, which resulted in him being disowned by his family.

Black was known to be quite apathetic and had little to no patience for others’ problems, especially young people. In fact, he found children and teenagers to be tedious and self-absorbed. However, even though he disliked children, Black returned to Hogwarts as a professor and eventually became the headmaster of the school while also the head of his family. Although he was qualified for the position, Black became the least popular headmaster in the history of Hogwarts. This came as no surprise as he was known to be a snide, sarcastic person who often used demeaning phrases when referring to others, whether they were students or staff. Considering his ideals on blood purity, Black was known to call Muggle-born students Mudbloods and treat them very poorly in comparison to pure-blood students who shared his own ideals.

After his death in 1925, Black’s portrait was hung in the Headmaster’s office and in the ancestral Black family home at 12 Grimmauld Place. Although his beliefs are still firm and he is sarcastic as ever, Black has been known to help out the current headmaster time and time again, albeit he is reluctant to do so depending on who holds the position.