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Blood purity (Harry Potter)

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Blood purity is a central notion in the fictional Harry Potter cycle. It is used to to quantify the number of magically-abled ancestors a given character has. Some wizards view Blood purity as a measure of how good a wizard they are, displaying prejudice and discrimination towards wizards that are not "pure blood". Such characters consider a wizard with anything less than fully magical ancestry inferior to them. Some wizards even go as far as to taunt and criticise other wizards who have less than perfect bloodlines calling them names like "mudblood", a derogatory term than means dirty blood. To date, the series has not yet shown any consistent relationship between the number of magic users in a person's family tree and their magical abilities. Because of this lack of evidence — and the fact that that the series largely concerns itself with Harry Potter's quest for answers about his own family — the notion is more thematic device than scientific concept.
[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

Importance to theme and plot

J. K. Rowling has been questioned on the importance of blood purity in the Harry Potter books. In an interview in 2000 [link], she said:

From the beginning of Philosopher's Stone, prejudice is a very strong theme. It is plausible that Harry enters the world wide-eyed: everything will be wonderful and it's the sort of place where injustices don't happen. Then he finds out that it does happen and it's a shock to him. He finds out that he is a half-blood: to a wizard like Lucius Malfoy, he will never be a true wizard, because his mother was of muggle parentage. It's a very important theme.

This claim is [supported] by evidence that Rowling worked out the blood purities of the various students in the very earliest planning stages of the series, before the publication of the first book. Moreover, blood purity is the alleged primary motivation for Lord Voldemort, the principal villain of the series, as well as for his supporters. His campaign has had two major phases.

The initial operation — sometimes described as a war — was an unabashed effort at ethnic cleansing. Their intent was to rid the wizarding world, through force, of those with Muggle blood. It was an ironic campaign in that Voldemort himself, as well as some of his allies, known as Death Eaters, were not themselves pure-bloods. Their efforts eventually had to be aborted when James and Lily Potter, along with their infant, Harry, seemed to vanquish them. At the cost of James and Lily's lives, Voldemort's corporeal form was destroyed, taking with it the organization the Death Eaters needed to continue their war.

The second phase — also eventually considered a war by its participants — is the one detailed by the seven-book cycle. It gradually reveals Voldemort's attempts at returning to some kind of stable existence so that he can remove the obstacle of Harry Potter, and continue pursuing his goal of ethnic cleansing. As in the initial phase, he is aided by Death Eaters, who, at least in the films deriving from the books, were shown with pointed hats, resembling the hoods of the Ku Klux Klan. However, in this phase, the loyalty of Death Eaters from the first war comes into greater question, from both sides. Some who were Death Eaters during the first war, have now renounced their earlier views. Some have not. A secondary theme of redemption thus comes into play: do we, Rowling asks, forgive — and more importantly, trust — those who, like Severus Snape, once held these notions of blood purity?

While it can be easily inferred, as six of the seven novels have been released, that Voldemort is simply evil and will be ultimately vanquished for his beliefs, Rowling's writing style has often proven full of misdirection. The final resolution of this theme will come only when the plot is wrapped up in the [[Harry Potter: Book Seven|seventh book]]. The precise way in which Voldemort's second campaign ends will provide final definition for the cycle's theme. To date, though, Rowling has typically cast as villains those who believe that pure-bloods are definitionally superior to others. The ethnically rich Hogwarts Student body, combined with the wildly varying blood statuses of the central trio of heroes,(Ron - pure-blood, Harry - half-blood, and Hermione - muggle-born), makes at least a simple reading of the theme possible, regardless of what happens in book seven: diversity is better than purity.

A brief history

Though the Harry Potter cycle mostly concerns itself with those current events most relevant to Harry, some clues have been given as to the historical origins of the prejudice based on blood purity. In Salazar Slytherin's time wizards were actively persecuted by Muggles. This is one reason why he considered students from Muggle families to be untrustworthy. It may also explain why present-day wizard society would choose to be largely secreted away from the Muggle world. The Hogwarts House that bears Slytherin's name is thus unsurprisingly shown to have produced a number of wizards interested in upholding the notion of blood purity — though it has never been established that these sentiments are exclusive to Slytherin House (Ernie MacMillan, a Hufflepuff student, lays claim to 'nine generations of witches and wizards' in CoS).

Wizards throughout the Harry Potter world are generally obliged to keep their powers secret from the Muggle (non-magical) society. The bulk of magically-abled people live on a separate, but connected, plane of existence from the Muggle population. The wizarding population commonly regards Muggles as disadvantaged due to their lack of ability to perform magic. When taken to extremes, this becomes the belief that Muggles are inferior and that marriage between wizards and Muggles taints magic users.

Through the years, the ability to maintain "pure" bloodlines has decreased. Hagrid suggests in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets that pure blood families are at best 50% pure. Sirius Black mentions in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that no family is really pure, for the same genetic reasons that royal blood is often diluted over time[link].

Nevertheless there remain throughout the series a number of families who, however inaccurately, retain a claim on "pure blood" status, if only by focusing on the two generations of the nuclear family and the grandparents of that family.

Categories by blood

The wizarding world is divisible into three main classes by purity: pure-blood, half-blood, and Muggle-born. Muggle-borns arise in nonmagic families due to mutation (Rowling has explained Muggle-borns as resulting from the resurgance of 'dominant resiliant genes' in a family: but this is genetically impossible). In some cases (such as Colin and Dennis Creevey) a Muggle-born wizard's sibling will also be a Muggle-born wizard, in other cases (such as Lily and Petunia Evans) they will not be. The children of two wizards or of a wizard and a Muggle almost always inherit the ability to perform magic, the rare exceptions being Squibs - in which the opposite of the Muggle-born mutation occurs.

Pure-blood

Pure-blood wizards have no Muggles whatsoever in their genealogical pedigree, or at least have assured themselves that this is the case over the generations. In response to fan questions, J. K. Rowling has said that to be considered pure-blood, one's grandparents must have all been wizards. She also mentioned that 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 (if they ever have in the past) true pure-blood wizards do not exist today, and that they merely delete the Squibs and Muggles from the family trees. [link]

Notable pure-blood families mentioned in the books include the Black family, the Malfoy family, the Crouch family and the Weasley family. The few remaining families are all interconnected. Over the course of the series, some prominent families have died out, thus limiting the pure-blood gene pool even further. The Crouch, Gaunt, and Black lines have become extinct during the course of the series, and there are very few known lines left (that said, the Black family cannot altogether be written off: two males, Phineas and Marius, were blasted off, and it is unknown if they had any descendants; if by Harry Potter's day they do have male descendants left, then the line would not be extinct - merely unrecognised by the main family due to the "crimes" of the progenitors).

Some of the strongest proponents of blood purity are surprisingly not pure-blood themselves. (A notable example is Lord Voldemort, a half-blood whose mother was a pure-blood witch of the Gaunt family and whose father was a Muggle of a squire's family.)

By no means is pure-blood status a guarantee of a person's attitude. The Weasleys are an old pure-blood family, but have no qualms about mixed marriages or associating with Muggles, though they have shared the common view of Giants and werewolves as murderous monsters (although the expected marriage of Fleur Delacour, a quarter-veela, must be the first recent non-pureblood marriage in the family for them to still be considered pureblooded). Attitudes do tend to run in families as children are brought up to support their parents' views, but even families that consider Muggle marriage disgraceful and immoral have their black sheep. The Black family seems to have produced one or two black sheep every generation.

It is strongly implied in Order of the Phoenix that pure-blood families inbred with each other, somewhat like old European Nobility (making the wizarding conflict comparable to WWI, in which the royalty of opposing nations were related to each other, and which toppled most of them from power). It is confirmed that the Blacks and the Gaunts inbred into their own families by marrying their cousins, and it can be assumed that other fanatically pureblood families, such as the Malfoys and Lestranges, did the same. It is notable that, especially in the Gaunt and Black families, individual members have a certain amount of mental instability and emotional problems. This may be due to their upbringing as well as their inbred gene pool. However, while the Blacks are intelligent although many have disturbed and twisted minds (Walburga Black was often hysterical and crazed if her portrait is any indication, Bellatrix Black-Lestrange is a depraved sadist, and even Sirius Black has suffered from a runaway temper and loose-cannon behavior), the Gaunts have apparently experienced actual mental retardation - most notably in Voldemort's uncle Morfin Gaunt.

The Gaunts not only passed on the rare gene of Parseltongue, but also managed to actually maintain the physical appearance of their ancient ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, with Voldemort's grandfather being shown to resemble Slytherin's monkey-like appearance. The Black family never experienced the drastic decline of the Gaunts. They are often described as aristocratically attractive, especially Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Sirius. This, along with the relative intelligence, implies that while there has been only moderate inbreeding among the Blacks, there has been considerably more inbreeding in the Gaunt family.

Blood traitor

A blood traitor is a derogatory term for a pure-blood who fails to maintain the proper prejudices (people who enjoy the company of and help Muggles and Muggle-borns). This label has been applied to the Weasley family, Sirius Black, Andromeda Black, Merope Gaunt, and strongly to Albus Dumbledore.

Half-blood

Half-bloods are wizards that are not Muggle-born, but whose heritage includes one or more Muggle ancestor(s). Today, half-bloods are the most common kind of wizard (Rowling has stated that of the Hogwarts annual intake, 50% are half-blooded); magical folk would have dwindled to extinction without marrying Muggles. Blood purity fanatics regard half-bloods as an inferior kind of wizard, though they think of them as superior to Muggle-born wizards. Many of the most important characters in the books, including Harry Potter himself, Lord Voldemort, and Severus Snape, are half-bloods.

Mixed-species

Some half-bloods are products of unions between human wizards and intelligent magical creatures ("beings" in Wizard parlance). Known beings with the capacity to interbreed with humans include Goblins, Veela and Giants. Rubeus Hagrid and Olympe Maxime are both half-giants, Professor Flitwick is part goblin, and Fleur Delacour is at least one quarter veela. Pure-blood supremacists often use the insulting term "half-breed" to describe someone of mixed-species parentage; a term that can be extended to people such as werewolves and to half-human creatures like centaurs.

Muggle-born

Muggle-borns are the occasional witches and wizards born to Muggle parents. The source of their magical ability is unknown, likely due to the intentional obscurity of magic's technical details. Their magical abilities do not seem to be significantly affected by their parentage, in fact, many have been among the most powerful witches and wizards of their time. Blood purity fanatics despise them above all other groups, even Muggles themselves, as they see them as insults to everything wizards stand for, or as Muggles seeking to rise above their station. Pure-blood fanatics use the foul term "Mudblood" to refer to Muggle-born wizards, which is analogous to foul racial and ethnic slurs found in the real world. The proportion of the wizarding population that is Muggleborn 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 and 25% are pure-bloods), and the number of wizard births among Muggles could conceivably be increasing. Notable Muggle-born characters include Hermione Granger and Harry's mother, Lily Potter née Evans, both of whom are exceptional witches despite coming from all-Muggle families.

Between both worlds

Some characters are stuck between both the magical and the muggle worlds. These are people who have knowledge of but very little or no ability in magic.

Squibs

A Squib is a person of wizarding heritage that lacks magical ability; as Ron Weasley explains, they are, in essence, the opposite of Muggle-born wizards. A Squib is a very rare anomaly (due to the small wizarding population); the only known Squibs so far introduced in the series are the Hogwarts caretaker, Argus Filch, Arabella Figg, a neighbour of the Dursleys, and Sirius Black's great-uncle, Marius Black, who was removed from the Black Family Tree because of this. Squibs share much in common with Muggles; unlike Muggles, however, they notice and comprehend the wizard world. Things that are hidden from Muggles with spells (rather than by the very nature of the hidden thing) seem to be visible to Squibs, as evidenced by Argus Filch being able to work at Hogwarts, which appears as dangerous old ruins to Muggles (this may be because such illusions do not work on those who know of their existence; Mr. and Mrs. Granger, both Muggles, were obviously able to enter the Leaky Cauldron, which is normally invisible to non-wizards, under their daughter Hermione's direction, as they were present in Diagon Alley in the second book). This allows them the choice to inhabit the wizarding world or the Muggle world. Many live an unfortunate life, however, as they are never truly able to find acceptance in the world that reared them, but cannot find contentment in the world they are more suited to inhabit. Some (like Arabella Figg) prefer to function on the border of the magical and non-magical worlds. Squibs like Arabella Figg often appear as strange or "crazy" to the muggles around them. Harry finds Arabella's relationships with her cats odd when she keeps him growing up, but it seems perfectly normal when it is revealed she grew up in the Wizarding World. The Ministry of Magic does not keep records of Squib births, a sign of wizard society's general disregard for them.

Merope Gaunt was at one point referred to by her father Marvolo as a Squib, but her ability to understand Parseltongue, to prepare a love potion, and, most of all, to cast a cauldron-summoning spell (albeit badly) make it clear that she was not a Squib, and that he was insulting her rather weak magical powers (most likely stunted by his reign of terror over her).

Even though Squibs are unable to do magic, their comprehension of magic appears to allow them wizarding-type relationships with animals. Filch and Mrs. Figg both have cats that appear to function as messengers. Filch's relationship with his cat, Mrs. Norris, is somewhat of a mystery; 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 disapparates and Mrs. Figg later shows up to assist Harry after his battle with the Dementors.

"Squib" may be derived from "damp squib", ie, a wet firework or, more generally, something with a lot of potential and high expectations that never takes off (It is also interesting to note, that in one of the books from the Sword of Truth series, which came out in 1995, a person born to a parent with a magical gift, but lacking one himself, is referred to as "skip").

Muggles who know about magic

Another group that lives on the border between the magic and non-magic worlds are Muggles who are aware of wizards and may take some advantage of magic cast by others in their lives. These include Muggles who marry wizards (like Seamus Finnigan’s father) and Muggles with a relative who is a wizard (like Hermione’s parents and the Dursley family and the Evans family which Lily Potter was born into). Another notable Muggle who is notified of the existence of the wizarding world because of his leadership role is the British Prime Minister (it can be assumed that all world leaders are notified by their country's leader of the magical community). Blood-purity fanatics have a total disdain for Muggles. During Voldemort's rise to power, his followers frequently murdered Muggles simply for pleasure. The Death Eaters that attacked after the Quidditch World Cup levitated a Muggle groundskeeper and his family and twirled them around in the air for their own twisted amusement.

Pure-blooded families

The Black family

Status: Extinct (some disowned members and distaff descendants extant)

Most of the members of the Black family (The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, according to the tapestry) were devoted blood purists. They also had no problem with using the Dark Arts. The Black family home at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London contains many artifacts of dubious origin and/or dangerous abilities, as well as a Black family tree woven into a large decorative tapestry. It is incomplete, because whenever the family produced anyone of whom Walburga Black (and presumably previous family heads) disapproved, she disowned the rejected person and his or her name was burned off the tapestry. This happened to her son Sirius Black, and also to her niece Andromeda Black, who married Muggle-born wizard Ted Tonks. The Blacks have intermarried with several other pure-blood families, including the families of known Dark wizards, or at least malicious folk (Flint, Bulstrode, Malfoy, Crabbe, Rosier, Yaxley, Burke, Lestrange) and also non-Dark families (Potter, Crouch, Longbottom, MacMillan, Prewett). That these last families intermarried with such a sinister clan suggests either that the Blacks' Dark leanings were not necessarily common knowledge, or that this factor was outweighed by the prestige that the House of Black apparently had (presuming that the marriages were not based simply on affection). That Mrs. Black did not burn people off the tapestry during the first war for their families' opposition to the Death Eaters indicates that Walburga's concerns were more to do with her own ideas of blood purity than with support or otherwise for Voldemort. The last several generations of Blacks all trace their ancestry back to Phineas Nigellus Black and Ursula Black née Flint. The family motto is Toujours Pur.

The Blacks thought that Voldemort had the right idea about "purifying the wizarding race", but many, such as Sirius' parents, refrained from supporting him once they saw what he was willing to do for power. Regulus Black was a Death Eater, but was murdered when he tried to back out of it. Narcissa Black-Malfoy is married to a Death Eater but does not herself take an active role, and is less than happy about what the perils of serving Voldemort have done to her family. Her sister Bellatrix Black-Lestrange, on the other hand, is the Dark Lord's most fanatical follower.

Most of the names of the men in the family are star or constellation names, the exceptions being Phineas and Marius. Only three of the fourteen known Black women were named for stars or constellations: Cassiopeia, Bellatrix, and Andromeda.

Note that Walburga Black was a member of the family by birth as well as by marriage, suggesting inbreeding within the Black clan, though Sirius' parents are the only clear case of inbreeding on the tree and are only second-cousins. It is reported however, that all the 'pure blood' wizarding families are closely related to each other, so other marriages on the tree with purebloods who do not bear the name of Black may also constitute inbreeding.

Seven members of the family are known to have been disowned, one or two in each of the last five generations:

Other notable Blacks include: Although there are several living family members, including Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black) (escaped supporter of Lord Voldemort and Sirius' cousin), Narcissa Malfoy (née Black) (mother of Draco, wife of Lucius and sister of Bellatrix), and half-blood Nymphadora Tonks (Auror and member of the Order of the Phoenix), all are female or a female-line distaff Black descendant and, as such, none of them bear the name of Black. Sirius' brother Regulus Black is dead, very likely murdered on Voldemort's orders when he got cold feet, his death confirmed by Rowling herself [link]. The last known surviving bearer of the family name, Sirius Black, was murdered by his cousin Bellatrix, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, though such characters as Nymphadora Tonks, who are descendants of disowned family members, are still alive. As for the disowned males Marius and Phineas, nothing is known of them; however, it is unlikely that any descendant of either bearing the surname Black would be considered a true Black by the surviving female Blacks of the Official Line.
See Black family tree for more information

The Malfoy family

Status: Extant

According to Hagrid, there is not one decent member of the Malfoy family. The Malfoys identified in the series so far are Lucius Malfoy, his wife Narcissa (by birth a Black), their son Draco, and Lucius' now deceased father Abraxas HBP.

Draco Malfoy is in the same year at Hogwarts as Harry Potter but is in Slytherin House. In Goblet of Fire, it is revealed that Draco's father wished to send him instead to Durmstrang, but relented when Draco's mother objected, saying the school was too far away.

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Lucius Malfoy is known to be a Death Eater. In Half-Blood Prince, Harry suspects that Draco has been branded with the Dark Mark and thus would be a Death Eater like his father. This is presumed to have been confirmed by the events surrounding Dumbledore's death at the end of Half-Blood Prince.

Other information about the Malfoys:

About their names:

The Weasley family

Status: Extant

The Weasleys are a pure-blood family, but are considered by some others to be blood traitors as they do not demonstrate "proper respect" and pride in their purity. They fraternize happily and openly with wizards of diverse heritages as well as Muggles (despite Molly Weasley referring in PS to Kings Cross Station "swarming with Muggles"). Arthur Weasley is fascinated by Muggles and enjoys his few opportunities to speak with Hermione Granger's parents. Ron and Ginny have developed strong friendships with half-blood and Muggle-born students such as Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Some of the Weasley children are romantically involved with persons not of pure wizard blood: Ginny with Harry (whose mother was Muggle-born), Bill with Fleur Delacour (whose grandmother was a Veela, and who is therefore not fully human although perhaps fully magical) and Ron with Hermione (a Muggle-born).

They were also one of the poorest wizarding families in the series, though this has changed since Arthur Weasley got a promotion and all of their children except Ron and Ginny (who are still in school) have well-paying jobs and are able to support themselves financially. For many generations, the Weasleys were all males (except the women who married into the family). Ginny Weasley is the first girl to be born into the Weasley clan in seven generations.

See Weasley family for more information.

The Longbottom family

Status: Extant

The Longbottom family includes Neville Longbottom and his parents Frank and Alice Longbottom who are both mentally incapacitated from being tortured by Death Eaters. Neville's parents are kept in a special ward at St. Mungo's for permanent patients. They have lost their memories and most mental faculties.

Due to his parents' condition, Neville was raised by his formidable grandmother, whose name is revealed to be Augusta Longbottom in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Mrs. Longbottom is a proud and dignified lady who wears long robes (her favourite color may be green), a fox-fur scarf, a distinctive hat topped with a stuffed vulture, and carries a large red handbag. Neville loves her, but he is a bit scared of her as well. She is Frank Longbottom's mother and she treats both Neville and his parents very unsentimentally, yet is fiercely proud of her son and daughter-in-law's sacrifice. In an episode from The Order of the Phoenix, as Neville leaves his parents ward his mother Alice gives him a bubblegum wrapper. Mrs. Longbottom dismisses it and tells Neville to throw it away, as Alice gives him bubblegum wrappers every time he visits. Neville, however, quietly slips it into his pocket.

The Longbottoms seem very similar to the Weasleys, in that they are not prejudiced against mixed heritage wizards and do not have fanatical beliefs in blood purity. Mrs. Longbottom is proud that her grandson is a friend of Harry Potter's, although she and everyone else knows Harry is a half-blood. Mrs. Longbottom also admires Hermione Granger (Neville tells his grandmother how clever Hermione is) and does not seem to care in the least that Hermione is Muggle-born. However, they are not as poor as the Weasleys, and they seem to be considered a more respectable family in pure-blood circles, or at least they were in the past (Cedrella Black was disowned for marrying Septimus Weasley, but her sister Callidora, who married Harfang Longbottom, remains on the Black family tapestry).

Other possible Longbottom family members are known only through mention. These are:

The Crouch family

Status: Extinct

The Crouch family figures prominently in the plot of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. They are a perfect example of a once great and respectable family of wizards completely destroyed because of Voldemort. Bartemius Crouch was the head of the family, a powerful figure in the Ministry of Magic. His son was named after him. Winky the house-elf served the family until she was sacked.

Immediately following Voldemort's downfall, four Death Eaters tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom, and Barty Crouch Jr. was one of those Death Eaters. He was tried by the full Wizengamot in a Ministry court, a trial conducted by his furious father. Mr. Crouch sentenced his son and accomplices to Azkaban, devastating his wife. She was ill and dying at the time and she convinced her husband to allow her to trade places with her son in the wizard prison. Mrs. Crouch and Barty Jr. drank Polyjuice Potion to take each other's appearance. She died shortly thereafter in Azkaban and was buried by the dementors outside the walls under her son's appearance and name.

Years later, Barty Crouch Jr. murdered his father on Voldemort's orders, in part of the complex plot of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

When Barty Crouch Jr., impersonating the famous Auror Alastor Moody, attempted to kill Harry Potter, Hogwarts Headmaster Dumbledore and two other professors forced him to reveal himself and tell his true story. Later when the Minister of Magic went to interrogate Crouch, he feared for his safety and took a Dementor into the room with him. When Barty Crouch Jr. was kissed by the Dementor, the Crouch bloodline ended forever. Although Barty Jr.'s body is still technically alive, there is no reason to believe that he will be able to have children.

One Caspar Crouch is known to have married into the House of Black (whose members prided themselves on preserving their "blood purity"). He married Charis Black (a granddaughter of Phineas Nigellus), which union produced a son and two daughters. Given the fact that the family became extinct after the destruction of Barty Crouch, Jr., implying that there was only a single extant line of the family, it is entirely possible that the son of Caspar and Charis was Bartemius Crouch, Sr.

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The House of Gaunt

Status: Extinct

The last known pure-blood descendants of Salazar Slytherin, their obsession with blood purity has caused them to often marry their own cousins through the generations, resulting in cases of retardation. The last members of the Gaunt clan were Marvolo and his children Morfin and Merope; Marvolo's wife was is likely to have been a cousin.

Merope Gaunt is the witch who died shortly after giving birth to Tom Marvolo Riddle, who later styled himself Lord Voldemort. She could not have been more than twenty years old when she died.

Marvolo died of old age and Morfin was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban after being framed by Voldemort for the murder of Voldemort's father and paternal grandparents. Morfin Gaunt is buried in a grim graveyard beside the prison, where other inmates who died within the fortress are buried. As Voldemort is a female-line descendant of this family, Slytherin still has one living descendant; however, he does not carry the Gaunt name, which ended with his uncle Morfin's death, and he is a half-blood because his father was a Muggle. However, Voldemort has rejected the name Riddle and is known today among the majority of the wizarding world simply as Lord Voldemort - although that name is never mentioned. It is also known that he is the last surviving known descendant of Slytherin and that he is proud of his magical heritage. As Voldemort is presently immortal, the Slytherin line may survive through him forever. If, however, Voldemort is killed through the destruction of his Horcruxes, the family will vanish forever (assuming that the descendants of Slytherin never, in a thousand years, married anyone other than themselves: which would make them very exceptional, given the example the Black family gives of the rapid proliferation of descent). It is highly unlikely that Voldemort will sire offspring.

See The House of Gaunt for more information.

The Lestrange family

Status: Extant

The Lestrange family consists of Rodolphus, his wife Bellatrix (maiden name Black) and his brother Rabastan. There is no mention in the Harry Potter series regarding Rodolphus and Bellatrix having any children, either schooling at Hogwarts, or elsewhere. However, in a scene from The Half Blood Prince, Bellatrix tells her sister Narcissa Malfoy that if she, Bellatrix, had sons she would gladly give them up in service of the Dark Lord (Voldemort), thus indicating that she has no sons - it could also mean that she has no daughters. When Bellatrix says "sons" it must be taken in context - in the scene her sister Narcissa weeps that her son Draco Malfoy has been given a terrible task by Voldemort. Bellatrix would make no distinction between a son or daughter, and would press them both into Lord Voldemort's service. And, of course, no children of Bellatrix and Rodolphus are shown on the Black family tapestry, which does indicate the children of all other (non-disowned) daughters of the Black family, so it is safe to assume that they are childless. It is unknown whether Rabastan has a spouse or any children, or if there are any other living adults with the surname Lestrange.

Along with Barty Crouch Jr., the Lestranges tortured Neville Longbottom's parents. They were tried, convicted, and imprisoned at Azkaban for this crime until they escaped, along with the other Death Eaters imprisoned there.

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, and although several Irish characters appear in the books none of them are known to be pure-bloods.

The Potters were a very wealthy pure-blood family, and the last pure-blood scion of that house was James Potter. Although the Potter line survives through James' son Harry, Harry is a half-blood as his mother was a Muggle-born, so his family as a pure-blood line may be considered extinct. However, if Harry were to marry a pureblood witch (such as his ex-girlfriend Ginny Weasley, with whom mutual affection is still maintained) their children would technically be pureblood as they would have four wizard grandparents. (This is similar to Harry's friend and dormmate at school, Dean Thomas, whose family was all pure-blood until his father married his Muggle mother) The Prewetts were another pure-blood family that did not support Voldemort and his Death Eaters - Arthur Weasley's wife is a Prewett, and both of her brothers died heroic deaths while fighting Voldemort's supporters. However as all of the sons of that branch are dead, and as it is unclear whether Molly has any male Prewett cousins, that family may be extinct. She has a living male second-cousin, but he is a Squib and his surname is never mentioned. The MacDougal and Cornfoot families still exist as pure-blood families, as two young heirs of those houses are Ravenclaws in Harry's year. The Yaxley and Gamp families are also pure-blood, however it is unknown whether any members of those families bearing the family name still exist. It is known that one of Voldemort's Death Eaters was a Yaxley - however this particular Death Eater believed Voldemort to be gone forever and it is unclear if he has returned in the Second War, or if he's even alive. No one with the surname of Gamp has been mentioned in the books thus far.

The pure-blood Rosier and Wilkes families could still exist, but the only specifically mentioned sons of those houses, the Death Eaters Wilkes (first name unknown) and Evan Rosier, are dead. The current status of the Burke family, to which Caractacus Burke, a founder of Borgin and Burkes store, belonged is also uncertain.

The Prince family may still be extant. Severus Snape is a distaff line half-blood descendant (through his mother Eileen Prince); however, it is never said that he is the last member of that family.

Notable individuals

Notable pure-bloods

Along with the members of notable pure-blood families, the following individuals are also known to be pure-blood (or are notable enough in their own right to be listed separately here):

Notable half-bloods and mixed-species

Notable Muggle-borns

Notable squibs

Reference

[BBC Newsround interview with J.K. Rowling, Fall 2000, transcript on QQQ]

External links

 

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