Sacred Twenty-Eight

The Sacred Twenty-Eight were, according to the author of the Pure-Blood Directory (widely believed to have been Cantankerus Nott), the twenty-eight British families that were still "truly pure-blood" by the 1930s.

The Sacred Twenty-Eight comprised the families of:

Abbott Avery Black Bulstrode Burke Carrow Crouch

Fawley Flint Gaunt Greengrass Lestrange Longbottom Macmillan

Malfoy Nott Ollivander Parkinson Prewett Rosier Rowle

Selwyn Shacklebolt Shafiq Slughorn Travers Weasley Yaxley

Behind the scenes

• Interestingly, the Ollivander family is considered one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, despite Garrick Ollivander's mother being Muggle-born prior to the book's publication. It is possible, however, that the Directory's author was unaware of this or overlooked this for other reasons.
• The Potter family was excluded from the list because it is also a common Muggle surname, and that Henry Potter also made an outspoken pro-Muggle view during his time in the Wizengamot. This is despite Dorea Black marrying Charlus Potter, and not being disowned, which would almost certainly indicate that the family had no known Muggle ancestors or relatives. Also, James Potter is consistently mentioned as being a pure-blood. One possible theory indicates that the author of the Directory considered the Potters and other "pure-blood" families (such as the Prince line, or the Crabbes) to have some amount of Muggle ancestry.
• The Weasleys deplore their status as one of the twenty-eight, due to their ancestral interest in the Muggle world. Their protests had earned the distaste from some of the other families on the list, effectively labelling every member of their clan as "blood traitors."
  • Ironically, despite Henry Potter's outspoken pro-Muggle views being a chief reason for the Potter family being excluded from the Sacred Twenty-Eight, the Weasleys did not share such a treatment despite their same beliefs.
• Although the Malfoys are noted as respectable members as one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight (a title they are proud of), they do not take the pure-blood supremacy to the point of inbreeding: they are willing to marry half-bloods, many of whom are shown in their family tree. As they have no Muggles or Muggle-borns in their family tree, they are still a pure-blood family, just not as fanatic as the Blacks, Gaunts, and Lestranges, whose members do not marry half-bloods, Muggles, or Muggle-borns.

Appearances

• Pottermore