It's a matter of definition, and <strike> hearkens back</strike> is similar to the 'One drop Rule' that used to be well known in the US. Basically, to be a pureblood, you must come from magical families on both sides, not just two magic-using parents. Conversely, **any** muggle blood makes you 'half-blood' at best. From Pottermore: > "The term 'pure-blood' refers to a family or individual without Muggle > (non-magic) blood. The concept is generally associated with Salazar > Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft > and Wizardry, whose aversion to teaching anybody of Muggle parentage > eventually led to a breach with his three fellow founders, and his > resignation from the school." None of the families are really pure-blooded, as Dumbledore points out in Beetle the Bard > "So-called pure-blood families maintain their alleged purity by > disowning, banishing, or lying about Muggles or Muggle-borns on their > family trees. Then they attempt to foist their hypocrisy upon the rest > of us by asking us to ban works dealing with the truths they deny. > There is not a witch or wizard in existence whose blood has not > mingled with that of Muggles..." Harry's Mother's family is not a recognized wizard family, so he has muggle-blood. Any muggle-blood with wizard blood defines him as a Half-blood. To go straight to the horse's mouth, here's JK Rowling on the subject:<br> (Note: This is from the Harry Potter Wiki, and I haven't been able to substantiate it as an actual JKR quote yet.) > The expressions ‘pure-blood’, ‘half-blood’, and ‘Muggle-born’ have > been coined by people to whom these distinctions matter, and express > their originators’ prejudice. As far as somebody like Lucius Malfoy is > concerned, for instance, a Muggle-born is as ‘bad’ as a Muggle. > Therefore Harry would be considered only ‘half’ wizard, because of his > maternal grandparents. If you think this is far-fetched, look at some > of the real charts the Nazis used to show what constituted ‘Aryan’ or > ‘Jewish’ blood...the Nazis used precisely the same warped logic as the > Death Eaters. A single Jewish grandparent 'polluted' the blood, > according to their propaganda.