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Below is a picture of the Black Family Tree, based on a tree drawn by J.K. Rowling. (Second link) Black Family Tree

Please note the unions of:

  • Dorea Black and Charlus Potter
  • Lucretia Black and Ignatius Prewett (Molly's maiden name)
  • Cedrella Black and Septimus Weasley (#4 removed from the tree)

To add, here is a quote from Sirius Black:

The pure-blood families are all interrelated. If you're only going to let your sons and daughters marry pure-bloods your choice is very limited; there are hardly any of us left. Molly and I are cousins by marriage and Arthur's something like my second cousin once removed. But there's no point looking for them on here - if ever a family was a bunch of blood traitors it's the Weasleys.

Not only would this mean Molly and Arthur are distantly related by marriage, it would also mean Harry and Ginny are distantly related if Charlus Potter is indeed of the same Potter ancestry as Harry. And the Pottermore page on the Potter family tree isn't helpful. Is there any proof that he is/ isn't?

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  • 7
    Given that you acknowledge "we are all related on some level, and they wouldn't fit under the legal definition of incest," how exactly would you define related to a "slightly incestuous" degree?
    – Kevin
    Nov 18 '15 at 3:05
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    @Kevin I think the definition of what is acceptable varies from person to person. In my personal opinion, I would say that if it can be traced on a tree, it isn't for me.
    – Lord Voldemort
    Nov 18 '15 at 3:29
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    Incest only occurs if both people are close relatives. Certainly further than first cousins is not incestuous in any sense, and in many places first cousins are not incestuous either. in Colonial America, this would still have been true.
    – John O
    Nov 18 '15 at 15:23
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    @JoeL. - considering that even first cousin marriage is frequently accepted (if a bit frowned on), I'm not sure your evaluation is quite correct. And 16xx was before the genetic benefits of exogamy were known :)
    – DVK-on-Ahch-To
    Nov 22 '15 at 23:42
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    @LordVoldemort That’s rather a loose definition. My parents have some old family friends who both come from nice, old, low-key aristocratic families, and they discovered—when they got into genealogy after being married for a decade or two—that they are actually related. They managed to make an almost complete family tree tracing their relationship and have it hanging in their library (yes, they have a library at home), so it is traced on a tree. But their nearest shared ancestor is from 1600-something. ‘Incestuous’? Hardly.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Feb 7 '16 at 16:17
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No, At least not through Charlus.

If they are indeed related, it would only be through marriage i.e law, very distantly, and certainly not incestuously. (At least based on the Black Family Tree)

Charlus Potter only had one son as evidenced by the picture.

Fleamont Potter was James Sr Potter's father, Fleamont was so named for his mothers maiden name and his father was also called Henry not Charlus.

Henry’s son was called Fleamont Potter. Fleamont was so called because it was the dying wish of Henry’s mother that he perpetuate her maiden name, which would otherwise die out.

Later, he and his wife had James.

From the timelines and with the help of pottermore:

Henry Potter (Harry to his intimates), who was a direct descendant of Hardwin and Iolanthe, and served on the Wizengamot from 1913 - 1921.

I think it's same to assume that Dorea and Charlus's son is not directly related to Harry.

Of course it's entirely possible that earlier in the ancestry a Potter or a Peverell inter mingled with the Black family.

More Back Story

Linfred’s eldest son, Hardwin, married a beautiful young witch by the name of Iolanthe Peverell.

Linfred was the original "Potter", who had several children as seen above Henry Potter or Harry's Great Grandfather is a direct descendent of Hardwin and Iolanthe. It's impossible to know but it's entirely plausible that Charlus Potter is a descendent of one of the other children of Linfred Potter or he is a descendent of a later potters offspring.

Pottermore Quotes from The Potter Family

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  • I was thinking more that he is a descendent of Linfred, since only one of his seven sons is mentioned.
    – Lord Voldemort
    Nov 18 '15 at 3:22
  • @LordVoldemort Just because he's descended from Linfred doesn't mean that Harry is descended from Charlus.
    – CandiedMango
    Nov 18 '15 at 3:24
  • No, but it would mean they share a blood line, and are distantly related @CandiedMango
    – Lord Voldemort
    Nov 18 '15 at 3:27
  • @LordVoldemort Only by law, not by blood, certainly not incestuously.
    – CandiedMango
    Nov 18 '15 at 4:07

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