Entirely Pure-Blood Supremacy

Pure-blood supremacyWizard of the Month archive on J.K. Rowling's Official Site was the belief that wizards and witches whose family had not married any Muggles or Muggle-borns were superior to wizards and witches who had done so. Proponents of this ideology typically regarded Muggle-born wizards as 'impure' and unworthy of possessing magical ability; pure-blood supremacists often actively discriminated against Muggle-borns for these reasons.
==Attitude and beliefs==
The byproduct of aeons of wizarding history, pure-blood supremacists were wizards who had the opinion that only pure-bloods were 'real' witches and wizards; many of them were often inclined to consider themselves as pure-bloods to be the elite people of the magical world; a place in which they believed that half-bloods and Muggle-borns did not belong in. Despite their magical ability, pure-blood supremacists were prone to be very hostile towards both Muggle-borns, as well as those that were accepting of them, fearing that the promotion and acceptance of the mixture of magical and non-magical blood would dilute or even negate the wizard identity. They also considered themselves to be "above" half-bloods because they had not married any Muggles and were not related to them. 
More militant subscribers of this philosophy even considered themselves to be akin to royalty. They viewed Muggles, Muggle-borns, half-bloods, half-breeds with contempt and considered the Muggle world to be inferior to their own. Pure-bloods (and even half-bloods) who do not share this view are considered traitors to their own kind or "blood traitors". They were considered disgraces by pure-blood supremacists such as the Malfoys.
Elitist pure-bloods even believed that it was a sign of weak magic to enjoy the company of non-magical friends and seemed to believe that some of the supposed dirtiness of Muggles and Muggle-borns would rub off on those who associated with them, thus they considered the so-called blood traitors to be "filthy" as well.The various terms for blood traitors, such as Dunglicker, Scumsucker and Mudwallower, all make associations with uncleanliness. Marvolo Gaunt also called his daughter a "filthy little blood traitor" for admiring a Muggle in , and Blaise Zabini once declared that he would never so much as touch a "filthy blood traitor" like Ginny Weasley, despite finding her physically attractive in . Some extremists considered blood traitors to be nearly as bad as the Muggle-borns they were prejudiced against. Bellatrix Lestrange, for example, claimed that "blood traitor is next to Mudblood in [her] book", and her family often disowned and blasted off the family tree any members who could be considered blood traitors. Blood traitors might also be shunned by their families and acquaintances: for example, Bellatrix and her younger sister Narcissa Malfoy stopped seeing their sister Andromeda after she married a Muggle-born wizard, Ted Tonks.
Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters targeted blood traitors during the First and Second Wizarding Wars because they opposed their goals. While they were temporarily in control of the Ministry of Magic in late 1997 and early 1998, they kept blood traitors such as Arthur Weasley under surveillance. 
However, even most Death Eaters were reluctant to kill pure-bloods, even "traitorous" ones, if it could be avoided. Similarly, although disdaining half-bloods and considering them inferior, they recognised that there were not enough pure-blood families left and so (if only begrudgingly), accepted half-bloods in their new world order. The same situation existed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry while Voldemort was in power. - Neville Longbottom says of the Carrows: "They don’t want to spill too much pure blood, so they’ll torture us a bit if we’re mouthy but they won’t actually kill us.” Given this statement, as well as the fact that the Weasleys were only in direct danger after Ron Weasley's help of Harry Potter was revealed to the Death Eaters, it seems that they were hesitant to kill blood traitors unless they were very rebellious.
==Degrees of prejudice==
===Pure-blood elitism===
The most extreme of the pure-blood supremacists sought to purge the world of those they consider "impure". They often tolerated half-bloods out of necessity (though still disdained them), but Muggle-borns were persecuted and Muggles were viewed as nothing more than animals. Supremacists debated amongst themselves whether Muggles and Muggle-borns should be subject to death or slavery, but they generally agreed goal of pure-blood supremacy was a world where Muggles are relegated to at least a lesser role.
“Pure-blood elitists”	Reason(s) 	
House of Black 	Orion and Walburga Black were originally distant supporters of the Death Eater cause. They disowned their eldest son Sirius for running away to the Blood traitor Potter family whilst supporting their youngest Regulus for joining the Death Eaters, but eventually felt the Death Eaters were going too far and withdrew their support. 	
Malfoy family 	The Malfoys' family motto means "purity always conquers" in Latin. As such they were best known for a command of political influence and respect that flourished with their traditional tendency for courtship with richness and power around them. They are known for their disdain of Muggles and Muggle-borns. While they strongly believe in the concept of blood purity, they did not take it to the interbreeding extremes, thus allowing half-bloods to appear on their family tree. 	
Death Eaters 	Possibly the largest and most destructive Muggle haters and blood purity fanatics of their time (if not of all time). Led by Voldemort, who thought that magical blood was pure and special. Under their regime, Muggle-borns were stripped of their wands and reduced to beggars, or alternatively, if unable to prove relations to any wizard in kangaroo courts overseen by Dolores Umbridge, they were subjected to the Dementor's Kiss or else imprisoned in Azkaban. Meanwhile, Muggles were killed indiscriminately and seen as nothing but slaves or cattle. Ironically, however, Voldemort himself was half-blood, his mother being a pure-blood witch and his father a Muggle.	
Lord Voldemort 	Possibly the largest and most destructive Muggle haters and blood purity fanatics of their time (if not of all time). Led by Voldemort, who thought that magical blood was pure and special. Under their regime, Muggle-borns were stripped of their wands and reduced to beggars, or alternatively, if unable to prove relations to any wizard in kangaroo courts overseen by Dolores Umbridge, they were subjected to the Dementor's Kiss or else imprisoned in Azkaban. Meanwhile, Muggles were killed indiscriminately and seen as nothing but slaves or cattle. Ironically, however, Voldemort himself was half-blood, his mother being a pure-blood witch and his father a Muggle.	
Salazar Slytherin 	Slytherin did not accept Muggle-borns in his house and subsequently ended his friendship with Godric Gryffindor. He left a Basilisk in a hidden chamber beneath Hogwarts so that it could one day "purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic". 	
===Pure-blood bias===
Some wizards, while believing somewhat in the inherent superiority of pure-bloods, do not actively discriminate against or show hostility to Muggle-borns and are even fond of them in some cases.
“Pure-blood bias”	Reason(s)
Horace Slughorn 	Although Slughorn thought that pure-bloods were normally more magically skilled, he is aware that half-bloods and Muggle-borns have much to offer, and nonetheless had many talented Muggle-borns in his Slug Club including Lily Evans and Hermione Granger. He even wanted Lily Evans to be in his house of Slytherin.
Cornelius Fudge 	Fudge showed great favouritism toward influential pure-bloods such as the Malfoys. However, until 1995, he relied heavily on the counsel of Albus Dumbledore, a supporter of Muggle rights, as well as was very polite to Harry Potter, a half-blood (at least initially). He also had a cordial, if somewhat patronising, relationship with the Muggle Prime Minister and was highly distraught at the gruesome murder of twelve Muggles earlier in his days at the Ministry. However, Fudge allowed the passage of anti-half-breed legislation, ennabled the cruelty of Dolores Umbridge (herself an extreme case of pure-blood supremacy), and his pro-pure blood attitude and policies as Minister were cited as major flaws of his and the reason why his administration ultimately failed. Albus Dumbledore had the belief that Fudge believed too much in the importance of blood purity.
Severus Snape 	During his time at Hogwarts, Severus fell in with a group of future Death Eaters in his desire for power and acceptance.Bloomsbury Live Chat with J.K. Rowling Despite his childhood claim that blood status didn't matter, he began to use the term "Mudblood" to describe Muggle-borns. However, an accidental application of the term during an argument towards Lily Evans ended their friendship. Snape was upset by this, and attempted to atone for using the remark and being prejudiced by becoming a double agent for Albus Dumbledore, however, he was still supportive of actions of many pure-blood elitists, for example by often being cruel to muggle-born Hermione Granger and favouring the poor attitudes and behaviours of pure-blood Slytherins. Due to these combinations of actions, however, Snape is a somewhat ambiguous case.
==Behind the scenes==
*It is unknown if Muriel could be considered biased, as she once condescendingly referred to Hermione Granger as "the Muggle-born" at her nephew's wedding. However, as Ron pointed out, she was rude to everyone. She also made snide remarks about Fleur Delacour, who was Quarter-Veela, but these remarks really were not about her blood status, but were because she was French. However, whether Muriel was aware of Fleur being a quarter-Veela is not revealed.
*According to JK Rowling, when asked about the term given for the magical offspring of one magical and one non-magical parent, she said that non-bigots in the wizarding world would say "half-blood", while pure-blood supremacists would say "mudblood".https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1040526726835650560
*Parallels have been drawn between pure-blood supremacy and the Death Eaters and Nazis and their belief in supremacy.http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/features/essays/issue27/nazi-germany//
==Appearances==
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==Notes and references==
Category:Pure-blood supremacism