'Blood purity' is a central concept in the ''
Harry Potter'' series of books by
J. K. Rowling. Wizards who have four
magical grandparents are known as ''pure-blood''; those who have one or more
Muggle (non-magical) grandparents are known as ''half-blood''. Those with two Muggle parents are known as 'Muggle-born', or,
pejoratively, as ''"Mudblood"''. Among pure-blooded families, a division exists between those who accept and appreciate those of mixed or Muggle parentage, such as the
Weasley family, and those who consider such people inferior, such as the
Malfoy and
Gaunt families. A 'blood traitor' is a derogatory term employed by the latter group for a pure-blood who fails to maintain the proper prejudices against non-pure-bloods (i.e., people who enjoy the company of and/or help Muggles and Muggle-borns). This label has been applied to the Weasley family,
Sirius Black, and
Merope Gaunt.
Pure-blood
supremacists consider blood purity a measurer of a wizard's magical ability; this is not the case, however.
Hermione Granger, for example, is Muggle-born, yet she is consistently at the top of her class, and is by all accounts a highly-skilled witch. It is especially true when one considers that some of the most powerful characters are half-bloods (
Voldemort,
Severus Snape,
Albus Dumbledore and
Harry Potter).
The establishment and maintenance of pure-blood dominion over the
wizarding world is the prime motivation for many of the series's evil characters. As critic Colleen O'Brien notes, the wizards who see themselves as superior because of their heritage, are the books' villains, while Harry Potter and his friends disagree with this
ideology.
[1] .
Genetics
Rowling's official explanation for the birth of wizards and witches to Muggle families is that they result from the resurgence of "''dominant resilient
genes''" in a family. "''Muggle-borns will have a witch or wizard somewhere on their family tree, in some cases many, many generations back. The gene re-surfaces in some unexpected places''". In some cases, such as
Colin and Dennis Creevey, a Muggle-born wizard's sibling will also be a wizard, although in other cases, such as
Lily and
Petunia Evans, the sibling will not be magical. The children of two wizards will almost always inherit the ability to perform magic; those rare children who do not are called ''
Squibs''.
Rowling has stated that most wizard-muggle offspring will be magical. At first glance, this would appear to be genetically impossible; however, it is possible to explain it using known genetic rules. As T. Brightwater explained in her editorial on
MuggleNet, "It would seem impossible to account for both of these occurrences by the normal
Mendelian rules of inheritance. If magic is the result of a dominant gene, Squibs are easy to explain but Muggle-borns are not; if the gene is recessive, the reverse is true. However, if two genes are involved, the solution becomes much easier."
[2]
Pure-blood
'Pure-blood' wizards claim to have no Muggle blood at all in their genealogical pedigree. In response to fan questions, Rowling has said that to be considered pure-blood, all of one's grandparents must have been wizards: some of the more severe schools of thought may require several more generations of wizards to be considered pure-blood. She has also said that true pure-blood wizards do not exist in the ''Harry Potter'' universe (if they ever did exist in the past), and that they merely erase Muggles and Squibs off their family trees.
[3]
Notable pure-blood families include the
Blacks, the
Malfoys, the
Longbottoms, the
Crouch family, and the
Weasley family. These and the few other remaining families are all interconnected by marriage.
[4] Over the course of the series, some prominent families have died out, thus limiting the pure-blood gene pool further still. The Crouch and
Gaunt lines have become extinct during the course of the series, and there are very few known lines left. Two males from the Black line, Phineas and Marius, were blasted off the family tapestry. The Weasleys are the only known pure-blood family with more than one male heir.
Some of the strongest proponents of blood purity are not pure-blood themselves. A notable example is
Tom Marvolo Riddle, a half-blood whose mother was a pure-blood witch of the Gaunt family, who were descended from Hogwarts founder
Salazar Slytherin, the Peverell family and whose father was a Muggle of the
Riddle family. At the same time, some pure-blood wizards are not themselves proponents of blood purity: both the Weasleys and Longbottoms are old pure-blood families; all the known members of these two families reject notions of blood purity.
[, chapter 23][, chapter 6][, chapter 4]The Black family also seems to have produced one or two such
black sheep in every generation.
In ''
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' it is revealed that pure-blood families intermarry with each other.
[, chapter 6] It is confirmed that at least the Blacks and the Gaunts
inbred into their own families by marrying their
cousins.
[, chapter 6][, chapter 10] It is notable that, especially in the Gaunt and Black families, individual members have a certain amount of mental instability and emotional problems.
[, chapter 10] However, while the Blacks are intelligent (although some members seem to have been troubled with
insanity, such as and
Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black), the Gaunts were known for their violent nature, most notably
Lord Voldemort's uncle
Morfin Gaunt and Lord Voldemort himself.
Pure-blooded families
The Black family
''For more information see:
Black family tree''
'Status': ''Extinct in the male line, distaff descendants extant ''
Most of the members of 'The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black' were devoted blood purists, and many were involved with the
Dark Arts. The Black family home at
Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place,
London, contains many artifacts of dubious origin and/or dangerous ability. The family motto is ''Toujours Pur'' (
French: "Always Pure"). Blacks who married mixed-blood wizards or otherwise offended the family motto were removed from the family tapestry:
★ Isla Hitchens (née Black), married Muggle Bob Hitchens
★ Phineas Black, Isla's nephew, supported Muggle rights
★ Marius Black, Phineas' nephew, was a Squib
★ Cedrella Weasley (née Black), Phineas' niece, married "blood traitor" Septimus Weasley
★ Alphard Black, Marius' nephew, left his fortunes to his own wayward nephew
★ Sirius Black, Alphard's nephew, ran away from home
★ Andromeda Tonks (née Black), Alphard's niece, married Muggle-born Ted Tonks
The Blacks intermarried with several other pure-blood families, including the families of known Dark (or at least, malicious) wizards, such as Flint, Bulstrode, Malfoy, Crabbe, Rosier, Yaxley, Burke, and Lestrange, and also non-Dark families such as Potter, Crouch, Longbottom, Macmillan, Prewett, and Weasley. The last several generations of Blacks all trace their ancestry back to
Phineas Nigellus Black and Ursula Black (née Flint).
The Blacks believed in Voldemort's idea of "purifying the wizarding race", but many, such as Sirius' parents, refrained from outwardly supporting him once they saw what he was willing to do for power. Sirius' brother
Regulus Black was a
Death Eater, but later had a change of heart after Voldemort tried to kill the house elf Kreacher, Regulus' loyal servant. To weaken Voldemort, he stole, with the assistance of
Kreacher, one of Voldemort's Horcruxes and, in the course of this, was killed by
Inferi after ordering Kreacher to destroy the Horcrux.
Narcissa Malfoy (née Black) is married to Death Eater
Lucius Malfoy. Her sister
Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black) was one of only three known female Death Eaters.
Walburga Black was a member of the family by birth as well as by marriage—she married her second cousin, Orion Black, and together they are the parents of Sirius and Regulus Black.
Although there are several living Black family members, including Bellatrix Lestrange, and Narcissa Malfoy, throughout the series, all are either female, female-line distaff Black descendants, or descendants of disowned family members, and none of them has the name of Black. The last known surviving bearer of the family name, Sirius Black, is murdered by his cousin Bellatrix in ''
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix''. Nymphadora Tonks and her husband Remus Lupin also die during the final battle at Hogwarts in ''Deathly Hallows'', leaving behind an infant son, Teddy Remus Lupin to be cared for by his grandmother Andromeda Tonks. The legacy of Sirius has left Harry Potter (possibly related anyway) the last 'Black' in the senior Male line.
The Crouch family
'Status': ''Extinct''
The 'Crouch family' figures prominently in the plot of ''
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''. They are a once-great and respected family of wizards completely destroyed because of Voldemort.
Bartemius "Barty" Crouch Senior was the head of the family, a powerful figure in the
Ministry of Magic. His son
Barty Crouch Junior was one of the
Death Eaters who tortured
Frank and Alice Longbottom. He was tried by the full
Wizengamot (judicial committee) in a Ministry court, a trial conducted by his furious father. Mr. Crouch sentenced his son and accomplices to the wizarding prison
Azkaban, devastating his wife, who was ill and dying at the time. She convinced her husband to allow her to trade places with her son. Mrs. Crouch and her son drank
Polyjuice Potion to take on each other's appearance. She died shortly thereafter in Azkaban, having managed to maintain the deception, and was buried by the
Dementors outside the walls, under her son's name.
Crouch Jr., impersonating the famous
Auror Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody by means of Polyjuice Potion, attempted to kill
Harry Potter, Hogwarts Headmaster
Albus Dumbledore and professors
Minerva McGonagall and
Severus Snape. This forced him to reveal himself and tell his story through the truth potion
Veritaserum; he revealed that he had killed his own father. Barty Crouch Jr. later had a Dementor's Kiss performed on him (had his soul sucked out through his mouth) and the Crouch bloodline ended.
According to the
Black family tree, Caspar Crouch married Charis Black (granddaughter of
Phineas Nigellus Black), and produced a son and two daughters.
The House of Gaunt
Main articles: The House of Gaunt
'Status': ''Extinct''
The last known pure-blood descendants of
Hogwarts founder
Salazar Slytherin, the 'Gaunt family' had an obsession with blood purity which spurred them to
marry their own cousins through the generations, resulting in mental instability. The last members of the Gaunt clan were
Marvolo and his children
Morfin and
Merope.
Merope died shortly after giving birth to
Tom Marvolo Riddle, who later became
Lord Voldemort.
[5][6] Morfin died in Azkaban having been convicted of killing Voldemort's Muggle father and grandparents, a crime actually committed by Voldemort himself. Voldemort is a half-blood and a Riddle, and was killed by a rebounding spell. The Gaunts were also descended from
Cadmus Peverell.
The Lestrange family
'Status': ''Extant''
The 'Lestrange family' consisted of
Rodolphus, his wife
Bellatrix (née Black), and his brother
Rabastan. There is no mention in the ''Harry Potter'' series or on the Black family tree regarding Rodolphus and Bellatrix having any children, except in the beginning of "Half-Blood Prince," where Bellatrix mentions having no sons. It is also unknown whether Rabastan has a spouse or any children, or if there are any other living adults with the surname Lestrange.
After their torture of
Frank and Alice Longbottom, all three Lestranges were tried, convicted, and imprisoned in Azkaban until their escape in ''
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix''. Bellatrix is defeated during the Battle of Hogwarts in ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'', leaving Rodolphus and Rabastan as the last known living Lestranges.
The Longbottom family
'Status': ''Extant''
Known living members of the 'Longbottom family' include
Neville Longbottom, his grandmother Augusta, and his parents,
Frank and Alice Longbottom, who are both
mentally incapacitated from being tortured with the illegal
Cruciatus Curse by
Bellatrix Lestrange. Frank and Alice are in a special ward for permanent residents at
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Harfang Longbottom married Callidora Black, granddaughter of
Phineas Nigellus Black. It is unknown whether his son and daughter have any relationship with the other Longbottoms. The
Black family tree shows that Callidora was born in
1915, and is still alive, but she cannot (barring a name change, or use of a middle name) be Neville's paternal grandmother, whose first name is
Augusta.
[7]
The Longbottoms are not as poor as the Weasleys, and they seem to be considered a more respectable family in pure-blood circles: Cedrella Black was disowned for marrying Septimus Weasley, but her sister Callidora, who married Harfang Longbottom, remains on the Black family tapestry. The Longbottoms were terrified by Neville's lack of juvenile spontaneous magic, believing him to be a Squib because he showed absolutely no signs of magical ability as a young boy.
[8]
The Malfoy family
Main articles: Malfoy family
'Status': ''Extant''
The 'Malfoy family' members identified in the series so far are
Lucius Malfoy, his wife
Narcissa (née Black), their only son
Draco, and Lucius' now deceased father Abraxas, who died of dragon pox. In the epilogue of ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' Draco Malfoy and his unnamed wife are revealed to have a son named Scorpius.
The Potter family
'Status': ''Extant''
The 'Potter family' was a very wealthy, pure-blood wizarding family, and the last pure-blood scion of that house was
James Potter. Although the Potter line survives through James' son
Harry, Harry's mother was a Muggle-born, making him a half-blood. Harry's has three children with Ginny Weasley: James, Albus Severus and Lily.
The Prewett family
'Status': ''Unknown''
Molly Weasley's family, the Prewetts, were also a pure-blood family. Both of Molly's brothers died heroic deaths while fighting Voldemort's supporters. As all of the sons of the family are dead, and as it is unclear whether Molly has any male Prewett cousins, the family may be considered extinct. Molly does have a living male second cousin, but he is a Squib and his surname is never mentioned.
[9] Ignatius Prewett was a paternal uncle of Sirius Black. He and his wife
Lucretia Black died childless.
The Weasley family
Main articles: Weasley family
'Status': ''Extant''
The 'Weasley family' was a pure-blood wizarding family, but were considered blood traitors by some other pure-bloods as they did not demonstrate proper respect for and pride in their blood purity.
Arthur Weasley's mother was a member of the Black family, and his wife Molly (née Prewett) is related to the Black family via the marriage between Ignatius Prewett and Lucretia Black. Therefore the Weasleys and the Blacks and the Malfoys are distant cousins: the seven Weasley children are
Draco Malfoy's third cousins, once removed.
Ron and
Ginny Weasley develop strong friendships with and ultimately marry Muggle-born
Hermione Granger and half-blood
Harry Potter respectively. The children of Ron and Hermione's marriage (Rose and Hugo), including the only known male-line Weasley descendant at the series' end, are therefore half-blood.
Another Weasley son,
Bill, marries
Fleur Delacour, who is part
Veela and therefore not fully human. By the end of the series, it is revealed that they have had children
[10] but only their eldest daughter, Victoire, is explicitly referenced.
George Weasley, according to Rowling in an on-line chat, marries and has a son who he names in honor of
Fred Weasley, his deceased twin brother. The blood status of George's wife is unknown.
[10]
Other known pure-blood families
'Statuses': ''Varying''
There are very few surviving pure-blood families left in
Britain. The following families are those pure-blood lines in addition to the ones mentioned above which are known with certainty to be living in
England and
Scotland. Not all are definite, however; many, for example, are simply the last names of various Death Eaters, but as Hermione notes, since the number of Purebloods has decreased over time, many Death Eaters are likely half-bloods pretending who simply lie about their heritage.
★ The Avery family
★ The Bones family
★ The Borgin family
★ The Bulstrode family
★ The Burke family
★ The Cornfoot family
★ The Crabbe family
★ The Diggory family
★ The Dumbledore family
★ The Filch family
★ The Flint family
★ The Greengrass family
★ The Goyle family
★ The Lovegood family
★ The Lupin family
★ The MacDougal family
★ The Macmillan family
★ The Macnair family
★ The Montague family
★ The Nott family
★ The Ollivander family
★ The Peverell family
★ The Prince family
★ The Rosier family
★ The Selwyn family
★ The Smith family
★ The Wilkes family
★ The Zabini family
Half-blood
'Half-blood' wizards are not Muggle-born, but their heritage includes one or more Muggle ancestors. Half-bloods are the most common kind of wizard (Rowling has stated that of the Hogwarts annual intake, 50% are half-bloods), especially as magical folk would have dwindled to
extinction without marrying Muggles.
[8] Half-bloods include people that have one parent who is either a Muggle or a
Muggle-born and have one who is a wizard/witch (i.e. a "literal" Half-Blood). They also include any wizards or witches with any other combination of Muggle and Wizard blood (i.e. a "technical" Half-Blood). Blood purity fanatics regard half-bloods as inferior wizards, though they think of half-bloods as superior to Muggle-born wizards. However, four of the main characters,
Harry Potter,
Lord Voldemort,
Albus Dumbledore and
Severus Snape, are all half-bloods and presented as amongst the most powerful wizards of the series.
While Lord Voldemort is a half-blood, he desires blood purity in the wizarding world.
Notable half-bloods
★
Harry Potter: Father,
James Potter, pure-blood; mother,
Lily Evans, Muggle-born.
★
Tom Marvolo Riddle/
Lord Voldemort: Father,
Tom Riddle, Muggle; mother,
Merope Gaunt, pure-blood.
★
Albus,
Aberforth, and
Ariana Dumbledore: Father,
Percival Dumbledore, wizard of unknown blood status; mother,
Kendra Dumbledore, Muggle-born.
★
Severus Snape: Father,
Tobias Snape, Muggle; mother,
Eileen Prince, was a witch.
★
Remus Lupin: (A half-blood per an interview with J. K. Rowling).
[13]
★
Nymphadora Tonks: Father,
Ted Tonks, Muggle-born; mother,
Andromeda Black, pure-blood.
★
Rose and
Hugo Weasley: Father,
Ron Weasley, pure-blood; mother,
Hermione Granger, Muggle-born witch.
★
Seamus Finnigan: Father, Muggle; mother, witch.
★
Dean Thomas: Muggle mother, father was a wizard but never told his family before he was killed by
Death Eaters. Dean was subsequently raised as a Muggle.
Part-humans
Some half-bloods are products of unions between human wizards and
magical beings. Known beings with the capacity to interbreed with humans include
goblins,
giants and
Veela.
Rubeus Hagrid is half-giant;
Beauxbatons Headmistress,
Olympe Maxime, is also suspected to be half-giant (a suggestion which she vehemently denies, claiming she merely has "big bones").
Filius Flitwick is part-goblin, and
Fleur Delacour is at least one-quarter Veela.
Prejudiced wizards (such as
Dolores Umbridge) often use the insulting term '"half-breed"' to describe someone of mixed-species parentage. This term is sometimes incorrectly extended to people such as
werewolves, whose breeding has nothing to do with their affliction, and to creatures like merpeople and
centaurs, who are pure bred within their species, not a mix between human and non-human.
Notable part-humans
★
Fleur,
Gabrielle and Apolline Delacour: half and quarter-
Veela witches through a mother and grandmother.
★
Rubeus Hagrid: Hagrid's father was a wizard, while his mother was a giantess.
★
Olympe Maxime: Part-giant, part-witch (denies giant heritage).
★
Filius Flitwick: Part-goblin, part-wizard (goblin ancestry is remote).
★
Victoire Weasley: One-eighth Veela blood through her mother, Fleur (Though has four wizarding grandparents)
Muggle-born
'Muggle-borns' are witches and wizards who have
Muggle (non-magical) parents or Muggle grandparents. According to Rowling, in order to be considered pure-blood, one's parents ''and'' grandparents must be wizards. Their magical abilities do not seem to be affected by their parentage. In fact, many Muggle-borns have been among the most powerful witches and wizards of their time.
[8] [15]
Muggle-borns will have a witch or wizard somewhere on their family tree, but in some cases this is many, many generations back. One of their ancestors may be a Squib who married a Muggle.
Pure-blood fanatics use the derogatory term '"Mudblood"' to refer to Muggle-born wizards, which is analogous to racial and
ethnic slurs found in the non-magical world. The proportion of the wizarding population that is Muggle-born seems to be on the rise as the pure-blood families shrink in size and number (according to Rowling, of the annual Hogwarts intake, 25% are Muggle-born). Notable Muggle-born characters include
Hermione Granger and Harry's mother,
Lily Potter (née Evans), both exceptional witches from Muggle families.
In ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'', after the Ministry's take-over by the Death Eaters and
Lord Voldemort, a new law is issued saying that all Muggle-born witches and wizards are to register with the Muggle-born Registration Commission. This organization is headed by
Dolores Umbridge. The new doctrine of the Ministry - supposedly based on Department of Mysteries findings - was that Muggle-borns were actually Muggles who had somehow "stolen magic" and wands from true wizards. This ideology is quickly overthrown after
Lord Voldemort's defeat. Under the new Minister for Magic,
Kingsley Shacklebolt, those who were actively involved in supporting this ideology, such as Umbridge, are imprisoned for crimes against Muggle-borns.
Notable Muggle-borns
★
Hermione Granger
★
Lily Evans
★
Colin Creevey
★
Dennis Creevey
★
Moaning Myrtle
★
Justin Finch-Fletchley
★
Ted Tonks
Squibs
A 'Squib' is a person of wizarding heritage who lacks magical ability; as
Ron Weasley explains, Squibs are, in essence, the opposite of Muggle-born wizards. A Squib is a very rare anomaly; the only known Squibs in the series are the
Hogwarts caretaker,
Argus Filch;
Arabella Figg, a neighbour of the
Dursleys; an unnamed cousin of
Molly Weasley, who works as an
accountant; and
Sirius Black's great-uncle, Marius Black (who was erased from the
Black family tree). Voldemort's mother,
Merope Gaunt, was believed by her father to be a Squib, but
Albus Dumbledore speculates that her magical abilities were compromised by the mental abuse she suffered at the hands of her father and brother. Dumbledore's sister, Ariana, was also speculated to be a Squib, however it is revealed in ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' that she in fact possessed extraordinary magical abilities, but lost control of them following a brutal physical attack from three
Muggle boys at the age of six.
The Ministry of Magic does not keep records of Squib births, a sign, perhaps, of wizarding society's general disregard for them.
[16]
Squibs share much in common with Muggles; unlike Muggles, however, they are aware of and comprehend the wizarding world. Filch attempts to acquire some measure of magical ability through the "Kwikspell" correspondence course, although Rowling has stated that this course never worked for him.
[17]
Things that are hidden from Muggles with spells (rather than by the very nature of the hidden thing) seem to be visible to Squibs, for example Filch is able to work at Hogwarts, which appears only as a dangerous old ruin to Muggles (this may be because such illusions do not work on those who know of their existence; Mrs. Figg, in ''
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'', claims to be able to see
Dementors; though this has been stated as untrue by the author
[18], she retains enough magical knowledge to correctly identify them; Hermione's parents, both Muggles, are able to enter
The Leaky Cauldron, which is normally invisible to non-wizards, under their daughter Hermione's direction, as they visit
Diagon Alley in the second book).
[15] This allows them the choice to inhabit the wizarding world or the Muggle world, though, Dumbledore admits, they will never be truly accepted in either.
Squibs are able to have magical relationships with animals: Filch and Mrs. Figg both have cats that appear to function as messengers. Mrs. Figg admits in ''
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' that she posted one of her cats under a car at
Number Four, Privet Drive as a lookout. This cat is seen leaving when
Mundungus Fletcher disapparates and Mrs Figg later shows up to assist Harry after his battle with the
Dementors.
Notable Squibs
★
Arabella Figg
★
Argus Filch
References
1. http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=1256 ''Tolerance.org'' Retrieved on 04-24-07
2. http://www.mugglenet.com/editorials/editorials/edit-tbrightwater01.shtml "Purple Orchids and Muggleborn Wizards: A Theory of Wizard Genetics"
3. http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=100 ''JKRowling.com'' Retrieved on 04-24-07
4. Rowling, J.K., ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'', ''Black family tree''
5. , chapter 10
6. , chapter 13
7. , chapter 3
8. , chapter 7
9. , chapter 6
10. http://the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/7/30/j-k-rowling-web-chat-transcript
11. http://the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/7/30/j-k-rowling-web-chat-transcript
12. , chapter 7
13. http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2004/0304-wbd.htm World Book Day Chat
14. , chapter 7
15. , chapter 4
16. , chapter 8
17. http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=19 ''JKRowling.com'' Retrieved on 04-24-07
18. http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=19 ''JKRowling.com'' Retrieved on 09-07-07
19. , chapter 4
External links
★
Harry Potter Lexicon article on Blood Status
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