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In Harry Potter, Squibs are generally known as people who cannot perform magic, and all the examples from the books appear to be descended from wizards.

In reality, we see various levels of magical control exhibited by Squibs -- they can see magically hidden things (such as ghosts, the true appearance of Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, and magically hidden creatures), use magical items, develop magical relationships with magic beasts (such as kneazle-cat hybrids), etc.

Moreover, there are many Muggles who claim abilities (such as seeing ghosts) which require magical sensitivity as well. While Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them claims that these people are either lying or Squibs, it's also purposefully written with an unreliable narrator.

The Muggle-born wizards we see, however, are all of standard wizarding capability.

Can Muggles give birth to a magic sensitive (but incapable of casting spells) child, equivalent to a Squib (since the term 'Squib' itself only applies to the children of wizards); a dud wizard?

Squib

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    Where in canon did a squib do something a muggle can't? I'm pretty sure I saw a JKR quote saying Mrs. Figg fibbed about seeing the dementors, checking on that one.
    – Kevin
    Feb 17, 2016 at 19:07
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    Not a dupe. Squibs are, as @Himarm said, magic sensitive.
    – user40790
    Feb 17, 2016 at 19:36
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    i think this is a unique question as well, however, i think the answer is, we have no idea
    – Himarm
    Feb 17, 2016 at 19:45
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    @Himarm No idea is fine by me. I'm just tired of every single question I ask being marked a dupe by questions only tangentially related which don't answer it!
    – user40790
    Feb 17, 2016 at 19:46
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    Since Muggle-borns and Squibs both exist and both have a magic in their bloodline, I would say theoretically the answer is Yes. It would be very rare as Squibs are rare to begin with. There certainly won't be any canon to substantiate any answer.
    – Skooba
    Feb 17, 2016 at 21:28

2 Answers 2

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+150

Using the Wayback Machine - I found this site / info which is attributed to J.K. Rowling herself and would cement the 'No' answer:

I have been asked all sorts of questions about Squibs since I first introduced the concept in ‘Chamber of Secrets’. A Squib is almost the opposite of a Muggle-born wizard: he or she is a non-magical person born to at least one magical parent. Squibs are rare; magic is a dominant and resilient gene.

http://web.archive.org/web/20110713111531/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=19

Additionally - in more current form:

Pottermore* seems to have the answer land on 'No' as well - however, depending on your interpretation of things (as well as the canonical level of the site) - you may find some conflicting info on the same page.

The Squibs Fact File defines Squibs as:

Humans with little or no magical talent born into wizarding families, who are looked down on by the wizarding world

(emphasis mine) - so, the very clear "born into wizarding families" seems to indicate the identifier "squib" belongs exclusively to offspring of wizarding families.

However, it goes on to say:

MAGIC ABILITIES

Able to access the wizarding world, unlike Muggles, and can use certain magical objects and creatures

If Muggles can produce non-muggles, then purely logically, they should technically be able to produce non-muggles with limited wizarding capabilities which would fit a practical definition of 'Squib'. We have seen that some wizards have more innate skills than others and this would seem to indicate there is a 'curve' of some sort in terms of skill but again, logic aside, the term Squib seems to be reserved for wizard families, not low skill Muggle-borns

*Is Pottermore canon?

https://www.pottermore.com/about/us

Pottermore, the digital publishing, e-commerce, entertainment and news company from J.K. Rowling, is the global digital publisher of Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World.

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  • The fact files were not written by Rowling and have been known to occasionally contain movie information.
    – ibid
    Mar 4, 2016 at 17:33
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    Also, jkrowling.com was a primary source. (new info directly from JKR). Pottermore Fact files are secondary sources (info compiled by the Pottermore team based off of their understanding of the primary sources).
    – ibid
    Mar 4, 2016 at 18:04
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    I don't question Pottermore. I was just hoping she'd actually answer the question directly. But it's better to give the bounty to someone than let it go to waste, and you answered the question -- if not to the standard I wanted for the bounty! Grats!
    – user40790
    Mar 8, 2016 at 17:45
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    Yeah. She seems to not be decided on if "squib" levels of magic are a thing or not. First they say a Squib can see dementors, then they don't, then a book says they can see all magical creatures... ugh.
    – user40790
    Mar 8, 2016 at 19:41
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    JKR sucks at genetics. If magic is a dominant gene, then muggleborns would be impossible, and squibs would be common - the non-magical gene could hide in wizards and with two carriers, children would have a 25% chance to become a squib. If it were recessive, then squibs would be really rare and wizards could show up if two muggle carriers got children.
    – Gloweye
    Sep 14, 2018 at 8:14
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Yes, from a certain point of view...

Scenario 1 Half-blood Squib

If we have one parent as a Muggle and one parent as a Wizard the child with minimal magical talent would be a half-blood Squib (for lack of a better term).

a) If the wizard parent has not revealed to their spouse of their magical abilities the child will be raised as a Muggle. (e.g. Never interact with the Wizarding World, go to Muggle Schools, get a Muggle job)

b) If the wizard parent has revealed their magical abilities the child would be raised as a Squib. (e.g. Go on trips to Diagon Alley. Possibly be home schooled, find a magical related job, like Filch)

Scenario 2 Muggle-born Squib

Both parents are Muggles, they could have recessive magic genes and produce a child with minimal magical talent. (i.e. Hermione, but if she was a Squib)

a) This child would be raised as Muggle. Although, they may have some strange encounters, they would be chalked up to the child having a vivid imagination (or even worse as having a mental disorder).

b) There could be small chance this child could run into a Wizard who noticed that the child has magical talent and informed them as such. However, I think this might break the Secrecy Act as the Wizard would have no way of 100% knowing the truth.

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  • Well since the person is a squib, it may not be considered a break in the secrecy act. He has some magic in him or her.
    – Bernard the Bear
    Feb 27, 2018 at 10:13

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