#Pure-bloods are actually wizards with very little Muggle ancestry.
Pure-bloods are actually wizards with very little Muggle ancestry.
The “purest” wizards are the ones who can prove they have no Muggle ancestry for the furthest back through the generations. The Black family can trace their ancestry back to the Middle Ages.
“The tapestry looked immensely old; it was faded and looked as though Doxys had gnawed it in places. Nevertheless, the golden thread with which it was embroidered still glinted brightly enough to show them a sprawling family tree dating back (as far as Harry could tell) to the Middle Ages. Large words at the very top of the tapestry read
The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black
‘Toujours pur”
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 6 (The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black)
Ernie says he’s pure-blood since he can trace his ancestry back through nine generations of witches and wizards. This might indicate that nine generations of having no Muggle ancestry is enough to be considered “sufficiently pure-blood”.
“It was a very near miss,’ said Ernie. ‘And in case you’re getting ideas,’ he added hastily, ‘I might tell you that you can trace my family back through nine generations of witches and warlocks and my blood’s as pure as anyone’s, so –”
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 11 (The Duelling Club)
However, this leaves the possibility that some of his ancestors from ten or more generations back could be Muggle.
#Pure-bloods often claim to be wizards with no Muggle ancestry.
Pure-bloods often claim to be wizards with no Muggle ancestry.
To the strictest believers in it, being pure-blood supposedly means that the wizard has no Muggle ancestry at all. Other wizards are somewhat more lenient with what classifies someone as a pure-blood, so the definition may vary somewhat depending on who’s using the term. However, many pure-bloods claim that they have no Muggle ancestry at all, which is what Dumbledore refutes in his letter to Lucius Malfoy - Dumbledore’s saying even the purest wizard will have a Muggle ancestor. J.K. Rowling also stated this in the F.A.Q. of her old website.
Are all the pure-blood families going to die out? (We've lost the Blacks and the Crouches during the series)
Don't forget that, as Sirius revealed in 'Order of the Phoenix', none of these families is really 'pure' – in other words, they merely cross Muggles and Squibs off the family tree and pretend that they didn't exist. But yes, the number of families claiming to be pure is diminishing. By refusing to marry Muggles or Muggle-borns, they are finding it increasingly difficult to perpetuate themselves. This subject is touched upon in 'Half-Blood Prince'.
- Are all the pure-blood families going to die out? (F.A.Q. on J.K. Rowling’s old website)
