Pure-blood

"*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.*"
—Where the term 'pure-blood' originated from[src]

**Pure-blood** is the term for wizards and witches who have a purely or approximately pure magical heritage. This means that there are no Muggles in their family trees, but this is rarely (if ever) true. If families are traced back all the way, for if wizards didn't mate with Muggles, their race would die out. As the only way for a family to retain their pure-blood status is to marry other pure-bloods, all pure-blood families were related to one another by the 1990s. Because of inbreeding among pure-bloods and some marrying Muggles and Muggle-borns, the number of families claiming to be pure-blood is declining. They are the least common blood type in the magical world.

## Overview

"*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's overview of blood purity[src]

Pure-bloods are people who have no Muggles in their family. Traditionalist pure-bloods like to keep the generations "pure" by breeding with other pure-bloods and are generally the ones who use the term 'Mudblood', a term considered derogatory by the wizarding world. Mudblood means Muggle-born, suggesting they have dirty blood and thus have no right to be a witch/wizard. Pure-bloods who do not share these prejudices are considered "blood traitors" by the ones that do.

In the 1930s a wizard named Cantankerus Nott published a Pure-Blood Directory featuring twenty-eight families he believed to be pure-blooded, though many objected to this designation.

## Maintaining "purity"

"*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* [...]"
—Albus Dumbledore in a response to Lucius Malfoy[src]

Some pure-blood families can trace their pure-blood status through many generations of magical ancestors and deny ever having any Muggles within the family, such as the House of Black, the motto of which is "Toujours pur", meaning "Always (or Still) Pure". However, the truth is that if they ever did exist in the past, true pure-blood wizards and witches do not exist today. They merely erase Squibs, Muggle-borns, and Muggles from their family trees.

Half-bloods who consider blood purity very important also hide their Muggle ancestry, clinging to the magical heritage they do have. Many Death Eaters are believed to have done this, and their leader himself took on the name Lord Voldemort out of a desire to not keep the name of his "*filthy Muggle father*". It is likely that Voldemort told his followers he was a pure-blood, given the reaction of Bellatrix Lestrange to Harry's "accusation" that he was in fact a half-blood.

Many pure-blood families, such as the Blacks and Gaunts, practise marrying cousins in order to maintain their pure-blood status, and disown any members who marry someone who is not a pure-blood. This practise has been known to cause problems as families become inbred; for example, the Gaunts showed signs of violent tendencies, mental instability, and even diminished magical capability. The number of pure-bloods is diminishing over time because of inbreeding.

Most wizards and witches consider a person to be pure-blood if all four of his or her grandparents were wizards and witches.Template:Fact More extreme purists require that there be no known Muggle ancestry at all.

## Attitude

"*I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They’re just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families.*"
—Draco Malfoy's prejudice concerning Muggle-borns[src]

Some pure-bloods regard themselves as superior to those witches and wizards who are born to Muggles and half-bloods. They believe that Muggles are little more than animals and that Muggle-borns, whom they derisively call 'Mudbloods' are second-class citizens who are inferior and unworthy of being allowed to practise magic. Many also discriminate against: half-breeds, werewolves, and magical creatures.

Salazar Slytherin believed that only pure-bloods should be allowed to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and educated in magic; this was the cause of his conflict with the other Founders and his leaving the school. However, he left behind the Chamber of Secrets in the hope that one day his heir would open the Chamber and release the basilisk within to target Muggle-born students. Tom Marvolo Riddle was this heir, and the basilisk petrified several Muggle-born students in 1943 and the 1992–1993 school year and managed to kill one student, Myrtle Warren, in 1943.

Tom Riddle, later known as Lord Voldemort, continued his persecution of those who were not pure-bloods (ironically being a half-blood himself) with his followers, the Death Eaters. They strived to place pure-bloods in control of the wizarding world and to rid it of Muggle-borns. When Voldemort succeeded in taking over the Ministry of Magic during the height of the Second Wizarding War, his followers created the Muggle-Born Registration Commission in order to weed Muggle-borns out of the population, and send them to Azkaban for allegedly stealing magic. Pure-bloods were also blatantly favoured within the Ministry and, to a lesser extent, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

However, there are pure-bloods who do not have these beliefs, and instead treat all magical people and Muggles as equals. These pure-blood folk are often labelled "blood traitors" by the more fanatical pure-bloods.

 Known pure-bloods

**House of Black**
Alexia Walkin Black.jpgAlexia Walkin BlackUncleAlphard.pngAlphard BlackAndromeda Tonks (née Black)Arcturus Black 1835-1893.jpgArcturus Black IArcturus Black II.jpgArcturus Black IIArcturus Black III.jpgArcturus Black III2010-DeathlyHallows-Promo-10.jpgBellatrix Lestrange (née Black)Belvina Black 3.jpgBelvina Burke (née Black)Callidora Black.jpgCallidora Longbottom (née Black)Cassiopeia Black.jpgCassiopeia BlackCedrella Weasley.jpgCedrella Weasley (née Black)Charis Black.jpgCharis Crouch (née Black)Cygnus Black I 2.jpgCygnus Black ICygnus Black II.jpgCygnus Black IICygnus Black III.jpgCygnus Black IIIDorea Potter (née Black)EduardusLimetteBlack.jpgEduardus Limette BlackElladora Black.jpgElladora BlackHesperblack.pngHesper Black5565.pngIola Hitchens (née Black)Licorus Black.jpgLicorus BlackLucretia.jpgLucretia Prewett (née Black)Lycoris Black.jpgLycoris BlackMarius Black 2.jpgMarius BlackMisapinoa Black.jpgMisapinoa Blishwick (née Black)Narcissa Malfoy (née Black)Orion BlackPhineas Nigellus BlackPhineas Black film.JPGPhineas BlackPollux Black.jpgPollux BlackPhoebeBlack.jpgPhoebe BlackRegulus Black I.jpgRegulus Black IRegulusBlackCloseUps.jpgRegulus Black IISirius Black 1845-1853.jpgSirius Black ISirius Black 1877-1952.jpgSirius Black IISirius-black-harry-potter-and-the-prisoner-of-azkaban-movie-mobile-wallpaper-1080x1920-9281-3248831100.jpgSirius Black IIIWalburga Black
**Longbottom**
Alice LongbottomAugustaPortrait.jpgAugusta LongbottomFrank LongbottomNeville-promo-pics-neville-longbottom-28261912-390-520.jpgNeville Longbottom
**Malfoy**
Dhpromo1.jpgLucius MalfoyHarry-Potter-The-Deathly-Hallows-Part-II.jpgDraco MalfoyScorpiusPortrait.jpgScorpius Malfoy
**Peverell**
Antioch sketch.jpgAntioch PeverellCadmus Peverell.JPGCadmus PeverellIgnotus Peverell.JPGIgnotus Peverell
**Potter**
Fleamont Potter.jpgFleamont PotterMrs. Potter.jpgEuphemia PotterJames Potter
**Weasley**
AWeasley1.jpgArthur WeasleyMolly WeasleyBill WeasleyCharlie Weasly.jpgCharlie WeasleyPercy.jpgPercy WeasleyDH-Promo-fred.jpgFred WeasleyDH-Promo-george.jpgGeorge WeasleyRon Weasley.jpgRon WeasleyGinny Weasley.jpgGinevra Weasley
**Other**
GiffardAbbott2.jpgGiffard AbbottAvery (Riddle-era).pngAveryDeath Eater - Avery presumed - GOF.jpgAveryLavender-Brown 1997.jpgLavender BrownElizabeth Burke.jpgElizabeth BurkeAlecto-DH2.jpgAlecto CarrowAmycusCarrow.pngAmycus CarrowCrabbesnr2.PNGCrabbeVincent Crabbe.jpgVincent CrabbeBarty Crouch SnrBarty Crouch, JrOrder-of-the-phoenix-daphne.jpgDaphne GreengrassAstoriaPortrait.jpgAstoria GreengrassGoyledad.JPGGoyle905poagoyle.jpgGregory GoyleMacmillan.jpgErnie Macmillan100px-Alastor Moody Profile.jpgAlastor MoodyKingsley ShackleboltHorace SlughornSalazar Slytherin

### Possible pure-bloods

Due to their affiliation to Slytherin and Lord Voldemort many wizards and witches may be considered pure-bloods. Others have openly express their prejudice toward Half-bloods and Muggle-borns, which is another reason to believe they are pure-blood supremacist. Some even become Death Eaters.

## See also

* Blood purity
* Death Eaters

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 F.A.Q. Section: "Are all the pure-blood families going to die out?" at Template:JKRS
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*
4. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*
5. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*
6. ↑ Millicent Bulstrode is a half-blood witch, indicating that the Bulstrodes married Muggles and/or Muggle-borns.
7. ↑ Vincent Crabbe died in 1998; it is unknown if he had any siblings or if they had issue.
8. ↑ Through Irma's descendants.
9. ↑ Barty Crouch Jr is the last member of the Crouch family, and, as he was given the Dementor's Kiss in 1995, is highly unlikely to ever have children.
10. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play)*
11. ↑ Algie is a relative of the Longbottoms, though it is unknown if his surname is Longbottom.
12. ↑ Enid is a relative of the Longbottoms, though it is unknown if her surname is Longbottom.
13. ↑ It is unknown if the "Grandad" Neville once mentioned was his paternal or maternal grandfather.
14. ↑ Harry Potter and his children are half-bloods.
15. ↑ Muriel is an aunt of Molly Weasley née Prewett, though it is unknown if her surname is Prewett.
16. ↑ The only known member of the Prince family was Eileen Prince, who had only one child, Severus Snape. Snape died in 1998 without having any children.
17. ↑ Ch. 13 of *Deathly Hallows* confirms that the Selwyns are a pure-blood family, though it is unclear if Umbridge was being truthful about her own relation to them or her own blood status, as she was trying to "bolster her own pure-blood credentials". See Talk:Selwyn family for more information.
18. ↑ Slytherin’s only known descendants died with the Gaunts and Tom Riddle.
19. ↑ Bilius is a relative of the Weasleys, though it is unknown if he is a relation of Arthur or Molly.
20. ↑ Through Lysandra's descendants.
21. ↑ Slytherin affiliation
22. ↑ Loyal to Voldemort and Slytherin
23. ↑ Loyal to Voldemort
24. ↑ Loyal to Voldemort's regime, Muggle-born intimidator
25. ↑ prejudiced toward half-blood and muggle-borns and affiliated to Draco Malfoy