What Happened to Marius Black?

[OliveOil_Med]

Marius Black was the thrid child born to Cygnus Black and Violetta Bulstrode, and he was born a Squib. We know that he was disowned for this fact, and that they probably found this out for a fact when he didn't get a letter to Hogwarts.

My question is, wha did they do with him after this. Did they just drop him on the doorstep of an orphanage one night, knock, and run, or do you think the sent him away to a Muggle school where they did have to see him and didn't have to think about him? Would he have been completely ignored, or allowed to visit home while he was still a child, but once he became an adult, he was on his own?

Thoughts and opinions?

[Equinox Chick]

I read a very good drabble in Remus Reflections once where he was sent to a Muggle Orphanage. I think his parents sent him before he was eleven because they'd already realised he was a Squib. In the drabble his mother was incredibly upset but had the decision forced on her by her husbands family.

However, I also wonder whether a Squib might be disposed of (I mean murdered) and not too many questions asked. They were a rich, pureblood fanatical family and could probably pass off a death as 'accidenta;' or simply natural causes. Infant mortality in those days was high and probably was high in magical families too.

There's a theory that all Muggleborns have some sort of magical ancestor, I wonder if the reverse is true and a Squib proves you have a Muggle somewhere in your ancestry. That would explain why it's so imperative to dispose of them for a family like the Blacks.

~Carole~

[luinrina]

Here's the thread with the drabble(s) Carole is referring to. It was once a discussion in Remus's Reflections, what witches and wizards would do with Squib children. Maybe the drabbles spark some ideas, Molly.

I myself think that the Blacks would either completely get rid of the child, meaning they'd dispose of it, or - like in my drabble - send the child away to never to return. Keeping their line pure was a tradition for the pureblood families, after all.

[OliveOil_Med]

luinrina drabble really gave me something to think about. The fact that the family might have killed their own son hadn't even occured to me, maybe because to me, it seems like such an unnatural thing that a parent would kill their own child. Though it would seem quite convinient. No one would ever know their son was a Squib if they just killed him, and who is going to questions the greiving parents of a dead child. I bet it we took a closer look at the Black family tree, we could find a fair number of children who died before their eleventh birthdays.

The boarding school notion is starting to look less and less likely.

I am, however, getting an idea for a plot point for a story I am working on.

[Virgil]

*apparates into thread*

I don't think they would have sent Marius to a Muggle boarding school, because this would still involve some contact with him, and he would have to go back to Number Twelve during the summer. If the Blacks are so obsessive about blood status that they're willing to erase somebody from the family tree just for being born a certain way, then I would expect that they wouldn't want to have anything to do with Marius. In my mind, Marius would somehow got adopted by a Muggle couple - maybe an old, barren couple who had always wanted a child, like in Disney's "Hercules" (though nothing like the real Hercules myth. This bothers me a great deal, but I won't rant about it, because this thread is supposed to be about disowned Squibs and I'm already getting sidetracked as it is...). Then again, that's just in my mind. The idea of him dying by "accident" is not unheard of, in my opinion, although in HP canon we see a lot of unconditional love between mother and son, so I don't think The Great and Wonderful Madame Rowling would allow Violetta to let any physical harm come to her son. (A run-on sentence. Grossy-gross.)

You bring up a very interesting topic here.

Peace,
Virgil

[OliveOil_Med]

So what age do you think they would have gotten rid of him? Would they have waited until he was eleven to know for sure, or would they have gotten rid of him earlier? It might be a bit suspicious if he disappeared just before he would have gone to Hogwarts.

Also, what do you think his parents would tell other people? That he died? What would be a believable story?

[Virgil]

So what age do you think they would have gotten rid of him?

At what age do young wizards and witches begin to show signs of having magical powers? I'm not sure if there's a canon answer to this (though I could be wrong) but once Marius is past the age of a "late bloomer," they'd get rid of him. It's possible that they could somehow get access to the enchanted scrolls at Hogwarts that record all magical births and see that his name wasn't on the list.

Also, what do you think his parents would tell other people? That he died? What would be a believable story?

They might tell people that he ran away, or it could be attributed to infant mortality (if he was identified as a Squib at an early age). Or they could just avoid the subject altogether, like... "So what ever happened to your son, Marius?" "Sorry, who? I'm afraid you're mistaken, you see, we don't have a son named Marius." That'd totally be something that the Black family would do.

Peace,
Virgil

[OliveOil_Med]

They might tell people that he ran away, or it could be attributed to infant mortality (if he was identified as a Squib at an early age).

I feel like a spell like this would have to violate some sort of wizarding Healer ethic. It almost reminds me of the infanticide taking place in China, where parents will kill their baby if she is a girl because of the One-Child Act.

If there was any such charm as this, I have a feeling it would be a heavily guarded secret to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Also, remember, Neville's family thought he was a Squib for years. If such a charm exists, don't you think his family would haved used it on Neville to find out for sure.

We know that the quill recording wizarding births is heavily guard, and I don't feel like the Hogwarts headmaster could be bribed into allowing members of the Black family to take a peek, especially knowing their reputation.

I think....Who was headmaster when Marius was born?

Also, I don't think any parent would want to diminish the joy of having a new baby by finding out there could possibly be something wrong with it...not even the Blacks.

But small children are always getting into dangerous accidents and becoming seriously ill, so that doesn't seem like so much of a stretch. What sounds like a way a small wizarding child could have died?

[Equinox Chick]

The idea of him dying by "accident" is not unheard of, in my opinion, although in HP canon we see a lot of unconditional love between mother and son, so I don't think The Great and Wonderful Madame Rowling would allow Violetta to let any physical harm come to her son.

You're assuming the mother did away with the child. It could have been the father, grandparents or an aunt ... in the mould of Bellatrix who would be eager to 'prune' the Black family tree. Violetta (is that her name?) doesn't need to know he was murdered.

I agree that identifying a Squib at an early age so that a death could be attributed to infant mortality is unlikely. However the point made about China and infant deaths among girls is a parallel that doesn't escape me. Gruesome, horrific and wrong, yet it shows that some mothers will do dreadful things.

I'm still up in the air on this, but on balance I think it unlikely he was murdered. When you look at the family tree, Marius has been blasted off. If they had killed him, they would have recorded his death and covered it as a tragic accident (I think another member of the family did die young ... *ponders*). By blasting him off they're highlighting this difference, so they'd need a good cover story.

Carole

[OliveOil_Med]

Hm, so what could have happened to young Marius, and what was the story that was told.

I somehow don't imagine that the Black Family tree is on display for all the wizarding world to see. The Black family and all its extended reletives knew the truth of Marius' true fate, and kept it a dirty little secret.

But they probably did tell the rest of the wizarding world that Marius died in some sort of tragic accident...if the above is true.