Half-Blood

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**Half-Blood** was the term commonly given to wizards and witches who had known Muggle or Muggle-born parents or grandparents. By the 1990s, half-bloods were the most common type of wizard or witch, as the pure-blood wizarding population would have become extinct had they not inter-married with Muggles and Muggle-borns.

## Overview

It should be noted that any wizard or witch who was neither pure-blood nor Muggle-born was considered half-blood, even if they had two magical parents; they need not have had *exactly* half-Muggle/half-wizard heritage.

Non-magical children born with at least one magical parent were considered Squibs by the wizarding community rather than Half-bloods or Muggles. Examples include Martha Steward II, Dolores Umbridge's brother, and Gilderoy Lockhart's two sisters. Because of their Muggle parentage, many end up assimilating into the Muggle population as they would have more trouble thriving within the magical community.

Magical children born to a Muggle-born and a Muggle are also considered half-bloods, such as Penny and Beatrice Haywood.

## Treatment

Those who believed in the importance of blood purity considered half-bloods to be inferior because of their Muggle heritage, though superior to Muggle-borns. It could be argued that half-bloods in the eyes of those who believed in blood purity bridged the gap between "respectable" and inferior. As such, some families such as the Malfoys allowed them to marry into their pure-blood family and could do so without affecting their family's pure-blood status. In spite of this, this never deterred "respect" from families such as the Blacks, Gaunt, and the Lestranges against the Malfoys.

Other more fanatical families such as the Gaunts, Lestranges, and Blacks required all marriages to be those of pure-blood. Members of these families were more likely to use "half-blood" in a derogatory manner, similar to the epithet "Mudblood"; Bellatrix Lestrange did so on multiple occasions, and the portrait of Walburga Black often equated half-bloods with Half-breeds.

Some half-bloods expressed prejudice towards those with Muggle heritage, despite having some themselves, and clung to what wizarding heritage they had. Notably Lord Voldemort persecuted Muggles and Muggle-borns, despite the fact that his mother (Merope Gaunt) was a pure-blood witch and his father (Tom Riddle Snr) was a Muggle. He denied his Muggle heritage, instead emphasizing his wizard ancestors; his legend-entitled nickname was "*Heir of Slytherin*" because his most notable wizard ancestor (Salazar Slytherin) was a famous pure-blood champion, which made himself more believable. Severus Snape may have been another example; his self-entitled nickname was "*Half-Blood Prince*" because his mother (Eileen Prince) was a pure-blood witch and his father (Tobias Snape) was a Muggle.

However, Remus Lupin reported that he never used the nickname openly. This, as well as Snape's membership in the Death Eaters, suggests he may have been ashamed of his Muggle heritage, at least in his early life. In fact, these people, along with some other Death Eaters, pretend to be pure-bloods, hiding their Muggle heritage from anyone else. Ironically (or perhaps because of), regarding the prophecy concerning his defeat, Voldemort chose to go after the half-blood Harry Potter instead of the pure-blood Neville Longbottom.

When the British Ministry of Magic fell under Voldemort's control in 1997, Muggle-borns were openly persecuted and pure-bloods were favored above all else. Half-bloods were still accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and in the British Ministry of Magic, but were not treated as well as the pure-blood members. This was repealed once Lord Voldemort was defeated.