Pure-blood
From open-encyclopedia.com - the free encyclopedia.
The concept of being a pure-blood is a fictional concept in the Harry Potter series of books.
In the wizarding world, witches and wizards are divided into three classes, depending on their ancestry. These days, the distinction between the three classes is very blurred, as certain witches and wizards, Squibs, are pure-blood but their magical skill is poor or nonexistent. On the other hand, muggle-born witches and wizards (to which the derogatory term "mudblood" applies) may be extremely good at magic - Hermione Granger is one of these.
The opinion that the classes should be divided at all is a very old and outdated viewpoint, and only certain "elite" families feel this distinction should be made.
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Pure-blood
Pure-blood wizards are wizards that have no muggles whatsoever in their genealogical pedigree. The point is made several times in the books that if wizards married only witches and vice versa, the magical race would have died out. Consequently, magical families must intermarry with non-magical ones. Pure-blood wizards and witches believe that this behaviour taints the magical race, and a few extremists have even campaigned for the reclassification of muggles as unintelligent beasts as opposed to beings.
There are two types of pure-blood family. One type believes that marriage to Muggles is acceptable and often necessary, and remain pure-blood only because the people they happened to meet and fell in love with were magical (such as the Weasley family). The other type believes that intermarriage with muggles is disgraceful and even immoral (such as the Malfoy family). Every pure-blood family of the latter type, though, has members of the former type (such as Sirius Black and Andromeda Tonks of the Black family). The latter also look down on the former, calling them blood traitors.
Examples of Pure-blood Families
The Black Family
- Sirius Black
- Regulus Black
- Sirius's Mother, name unknown
- Uncle Alphard
- Aunt Elladora
- Araminta Melliflua
- Phineas Nigellus
- Bellatrix Lestrange
- Andromeda Tonks (married Ted Tonks, a Muggle-born; daughter Nymphadora Tonks is half-blood)
- Narcissa Malfoy
The Malfoy Family
The Weasley Family
- Arthur Weasley
- Molly Weasley
- Bill Weasley
- Charlie Weasley
- Percy Weasley
- Fred and George Weasley
- Ron Weasley
- Ginny Weasley
The Longbottom Family
- Neville Longbottom
- Neville's Grandmother
- Frank Longbottom
- Alice Longbottom
The Crouch Family
- Barty Crouch
- Barty Crouch Jr.
- Mrs. Crouch
The Lestrange Family
- Rodolphus Lestrange
- Rabastan Lestrange
The Death Eaters
We don't know for sure if all of the Death Eaters are pure-blood, but since they follow Lord Voldemort, whose ultimate goal is the "purification" of the wizarding race, they most likely are. Death Eaters not mentioned here but mentioned above are Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, Regulus Black, and Barty Crouch Jr.
- Peter Pettigrew
- Vincent Crabbe's Father
- Gregory Goyle's Father
- Avery
- Theodore Nott's Father
- Antonin Dolohov
- Augustus Rookwood
- Walden Macnair
- Jugson
- Mulciber
- Igor Karkaroff (most possibly dead)
- Evan Rosier, Travers and Wilkes (killed in battle)
- Quirrell (dead)
Squib
The opposite of a Muggle-born, a Squib is someone of wizard heritage without magical powers. Though lacking magic, Squibs are capable of seeing the magical things that muggles cannot. Aware of the existence of magic, many (if not most) live in the wizard society, and may be able to learn limited magic, though it appears they have fundamental limits. It is worth noting that the two most well-known Squibs from the books both have close relationships with cats. It is possible that Squibs hold a special affinity or connection with cats; however, this remains unproven.
Examples of Squibs
- Neville Longbottom (actually, not quite a Squib, but for a time his relatives believed him to be one. He is skilled in Herbology but performs poorly in other areas of magic.)
- Argus Filch
- Mrs Arabella Figg
Half-Blood
Half-bloods are witches or wizards that have at least one Muggle somewhere in their ancestry. It does not necessarily need to be a parent, it can be a grandparent, a great-grandparent, any ancestor at all. These days, half-bloods are the most common type of wizard in existence.
Examples of Half-Blood Witches and Wizards
- Harry Potter (Father, James Potter was pure-blood, and mother Lily Evans, was Muggle-born.)
- Tom Riddle (alias Lord Voldemort) (Father, Tom Riddle Sr., was a Muggle, mother was pure-blood.)
- Nymphadora "Tonks" Tonks (Father, Ted Tonks, was Muggle-born, and mother, Andromeda Black, was pure-blood.)
- Seamus Finnigan (Father was a Muggle, mother was pure-blood.)
- Dean Thomas (Mother a Muggle, JK has now stated that his father was a wizard who left his family to protect them; he was recruited by Death Eaters, but when he refused, they killed him.)
Muggle-Born
Muggle-born witches and wizards are the most persecuted type of magical person, although they are only persecuted by the more snobbish pure-bloods. Muggle-borns are magical people who have no wizards or witches whatsoever in their ancestry, and received their powers from some sort of genetic mutation or something similar. Muggle-borns are the opposite of Squibs, who are very magically untalented pure-bloods.
Muggle-borns are often insulted with obscenities and racial slurs such as "Mudblood". However, some of them are very magically powerful.
