Slytherin family

"*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.*"
— Sirius Black

**Slytherin** was the surname of a pure-blood wizarding family with several notable members, particularly Salazar Slytherin, one of the four original founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, who lived in the 10th century and was the earliest known member of Slytherin house.

Not much is known about this family, but it is possible that they, like their relations, the Gaunts, and several other pure-blood families, had a tendency of marrying their cousins to keep their blood pure and to retain the traits of their ancestors (most notably, the ability to speak Parseltongue). Many dark witches and wizards came from this family, including Salazar Slytherin himself, Voldemort, and one of their newest descendants, Ascella.

## History

### Early history

The Slytherin family was a prominent one in the wizarding world, as demonstrated by their famous ancestor, although over time their gene pool became unstable due to a habit of inbreeding. They slowly squandered their wealth, which was completely non-existent by the time their last descendants, the House of Gaunt, came to be.

### Recent history

By the early twentieth century, when the family was extinct in the male line, Marvolo Gaunt, their last known descendant from the female line, had only two children, Aisha and her brother Castor. While Castor regularly used magic to terrorise Muggles and spoke almost exclusively in Parseltongue, his sister exhibited no dark qualities and was in fact so traumatised by emotional abuse inflicted upon her by her father and brother, that she was barely able to use magic and often presumed to be a squib.

Aisha later ended the pure-blood line of her family by marrying a Muggle from a nearby town, Little Hangleton, and having a half-blood son, Marvolo Riddle. Her brother married a pure-blood witch named Kailani Evergreen, and they had a daughter named Salazara Bronagh Gaunt, who was named in honor of their ancestor. Salazara later had a son, Adalbert Castor Gaunt, who later became known as the Dark Lord Voldemort. The female line of the Slytherin family continued for several years, seemingly ending with the death of Gaunt. However, twenty two years later, the Ministry of Magic discovered the existence of Ascella, the secret daughter of Voldemort and Emberly Comet, a scion of the Starling family.

## Members

### Salazar Slytherin

Salazar Slytherin was a great wizard of Medieval times. He was a Parselmouth (a wizard with the rare ability to speak with snakes), and skilled at Legilimency. Salazar was one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he didn't trust Muggle-born students, he expressed his opinion against accepting them at Hogwarts. However, when the other founders didn't agree, Slytherin left the school and did not return. It is unknown when he died. Salazar Slytherin's portrait still remains at Hogwarts and at Slytherin Castle.

## Descendants

### Marvolo Prince-Slytherin

Marvolo Prince-Slytherin (31 December, 1960) was a powerful and highly talented wizard.

Marvolo was born to Aisha Gaunt, a pure-blood witch descended from Salazar Slytherin and Katara Riddle, a wealthy Muggle who was with Aisha due to a love potion, but harbored secret romantic feelings for her. His parents established a proper relationship and after Hogwarts, he married fellow half-blood Severus Snape, and he sired five pure-blood children: Nathara, Snowbell, Alan, Kya, and Aisha Prince-Slytherin, allowing the Slytherin bloodline to regain it's pure-blood status. His eldest daughters then married half-blood witches and had pure-blood children: Kiara, Karone, Andros, Ursa, Azula, Rowena, and Helena Prince-Slytherin. The latter three belonging to Snowbell and the former four belonging to Nathara.

### Other families

The Slytherin family, like many of the pure-blood families, had some relation to many other families in the wizarding world. The Peverells, Gaunts, Blacks, Malfoys, Potters, Weasleys, Prewetts, and other families are all linked to one another through bloodlines and intermarriage.

The only known direct descendants from Salazar Slytherin were the Gaunts, who for the most part shared their ancestor's beliefs in the purity of wizard blood. They also spoke in Parseltongue between themselves. Adalbert Castor Gaunt and his daughter, Ascella, were some of last known descendants of the Gaunt family and spoke Parseltongue as well.

The Gaunt family was also descended from the Peverells, although it is unknown if one of the two infamous bloodlines preceded the other or if they simply merged at some prior point.