I do not own Spoon River Anthology or Harry Potter

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ALPHARD BLACK

(May 1928-March 1977)

The Black family has always been strong.

"Toujours Pur"-- we were always bound by blood.

Since all my relations were of the fine blood,

I treated them all equally.

Yet character was not as evenly spread,

And those "not fit" to be Blacks, though they were kin,

Were ousted from the family.

I pitied my daughter Andromeda, my nephew Sirius,

For were they not, though a little odd, still Blacks?

When I died, I meant to repair the damage,

Giving each of them inheritance as if they had not gone.

Yet this was a trait "not fit" of a Black,

And as I was unable to defend myself, I too was ousted.