Half-blood

"Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn’t married Muggles we’d’ve died out."

- Ron Weasley discussing blood purity

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 magical person, as the wizarding population would have become extinct had they not inter-married with Muggles and Muggle-borns.

It should be noted that any wizard who is not either Pure-blood or Muggle-born is considered a Half-blood, even if they have two wizard parents; they need not have exactly half-Muggle/half-wizard heritage.

Non-magical children born with at least one magical parent are 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 although some are able to carve out niches for themselves such as Argus Filch.

Attitude towards half-bloods
"You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood's tongue, you dare... He dared — he dares — he stands there — filthy half-blood —"

- Bellatrix Lestrange's prejudice against Harry Potter's half-blood status



Those who believe in the importance of blood purity consider half-bloods to be inferior because of their Muggle heritage, though superior to Muggle-borns. 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.

Other more fanatical families such as the Gaunts, Lestranges, and Blacks, require all marriages to be those of Pure-blood. Members of these families are more likely to use "half-blood" in a derogatory manner, similar to the epithet "Mudblood"; Bellatrix Lestrange did so on multiple occasion. 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 having a Muggle father. He denied his half-Muggle heritage, emphasising his heritage to the famous pure-blood ancestor (Salazar Slytherin) to make himself more believable. Severus Snape may be 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 a half-blood Harry Potter instead of the pure-blood Neville Longbottom.

When the Ministry of Magic fell under Voldemort's control in 1997, Muggle-borns were openly persecuted and pure-bloods were favoured 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.

Behind the scenes

 * On J. K. Rowling's draft list of students in Harry Potter's class, which is not considered canon due to several contradictions with the novels, the following students were mentioned as half-bloods:
 * Susan Bones
 * Mandy Brocklehurst
 * Millicent Bulstrode
 * Michael Corner
 * Tracey Davis
 * Anthony Goldstein
 * Wayne Hopkins
 * Megan Jones
 * Sue Li


 * In the GBC version of PS G, there is a boy in Slytherin who went to Charm school and is listed as being likely half-blood.
 * On the draft class list, Hannah Abbott was listed as a Muggle-born, but in a later interview, Rowling stated that she had always thought of Hannah as a pure-blood. To compromise, she was made a half-blood.
 * An interesting fact of note is that despite the ideals that pure-bloods are inherently more powerful wizards, several of the most powerful or particularly adept wizards and witches in the series are in fact half-blood, such as Lord Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall, and Harry Potter.
 * Due to Dean Thomas's father being dead, Dean himself was unable to prove his half-blood heritage during Voldemort's reign. As such, he was regarded as a Muggle-born.
 * The trio of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley consists of all three types of Wizards. Harry being half-blood, Hermione being Muggle-born, and Ron being Pure-Blood.

Appearances

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 * J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life
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Notes and references
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