Blood traitor
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- "Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh! …Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers!"
- —the portrait of Walburga Black screaming at her "traitor" son[src]
"Blood traitor" is a disparaging term commonly used by elite pure-blood families for a witch or wizard that sympathizes with the non-magical community and/or willingly associates with those who are not pure-blood. Other similar terms include "Muggle-lover"[1], "Mudblood-lover"[2], "Dunglicker", "Scumsucker", and "Mudwallower"[3], all of which refer disparagingly to those who are comfortable in the company of Muggles and/or Muggle-borns, who prejudiced wizards and witches believe are somehow dirty and inferior.
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[edit] Those Considered "Blood Traitors"
- "You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow up to be!"
- —Albus Dumbledore to Cornelius Fudge[src]
Among those usually considered to be "blood traitors" are:
- Pure-bloods who marry Muggle-borns or Muggles;
- Pure- or half-bloods who oppose prejudice based on blood purity;
- Pure-bloods who associate willingly and openly with those of different blood status;
- Pure- or half-bloods who openly agree to equal rights for Muggles and Muggle-borns
People can also be considered blood traitors by association, given that Cedrella Black was disowned for marrying a so-called blood traitor.[4]
[edit] Attitude Towards "Blood Traitors"
- Lucius Malfoy: "What’s the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don’t even pay you well for it?"
- Arthur Weasley: "We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy."
- — Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley in Flourish and Blotts in 1992[src]
Most pure-blood wizards and witches consider themselves to be the elite of the wizarding world, akin to royalty. They look down upon half-bloods, Muggle-borns, and half-breeds, and consider the Muggle world to be inferior to their own. Pure-bloods, and even half-bloods, who do not share this view are considered traitors to their own kind, hence the term "blood traitor". They are considered disgraces by pure-blood supremecists such as the Malfoys.
Elitist pure-bloods believe that it is a sign of weak magic to enjoy non-magical company[3], and seem to believe that some of the supposed dirtiness of Muggles and Muggle-borns will rub off on those who associate with them, thus they consider blood traitors to be "filthy" as well[5].
Some extremists consider blood traitors to be nearly as bad as the Muggle-borns they are prejudiced against. Bellatrix Lestrange, for example, claimed that "blood traitor is next to Mudblood in [her] book"[6], and her family often disowned and blasted off the family tree any members who could be considered blood traitors. Blood traitors might also be shunned by their families and acquaintances; for example, Bellatrix and her younger sister Narcissa Malfoy stopped seeing their sister Andromeda after she married a Muggle-born wizard, Ted Tonks.[6]
Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters targeted blood traitors during the First and Second Wizarding Wars because they opposed their goals. When they were temporarily in control of the Ministry of Magic in late 1997 and early 1998, they kept blood traitors such as Arthur Weasley under surveillance. However, even most Death Eaters were reluctant to kill pure-bloods, even "traitorous" ones, if it could be avoided. The same situation existed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry while Voldemort was in power.[7]
[edit] Examples
| “Anti-purity” | Reason(s) |
|---|---|
| Sirius Black | Black was raised in a pure-blood supremacist home but he did not condone their harsh beliefs. However, he was branded as a Dunglicker. However, this is debatable because he did have a tiny bit of pure-blood bias as he referred to creatures of near human intelligence as half-breeds which is dejorative term. |
| Albus Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix | Dumbledore was once supremacist towards Muggles but eventually he decided to give up his beliefs and decided to fight for Muggle rights with the help of the Order of the Phoenix. |
| Carlotta Pinkstone | Pinkstone was an activist who believed that Muggles had rights and they should know all about wizards. She performed magic infront of Muggles which led to imprisonments, presumably in Azkaban. |
| Charity Burbage | Burbage had a strict Muggle-rights curriculum when she was Muggle Studiesprofessor. |
| Phineas Black | Born in a Muggle-hating family like his relative Sirius, Phineas was disowned for not accepting pure-blood supremacy. |
| Idris Oakby | Oakby would have been considered a traitor since she supported Squibs which still constituted as impure. |
| Beedle the Bard | Beedle thought that Muggles were ignorant like Dumbledore but he still had pro-Muggle views which were adopted in his stories. He wrote stories about Muggles marrying pure-bloods which displeased people like the Malfoy family. |
| Godric Gryffindor | Gryffindor ended his relationship with Salazar Slytherin because of Slytherin's supremacist views. |
[edit] Muggle bias
Some wizards, go out of their way to become fans of Muggles and idolize them.
| “Muggle bias” | Reason(s) |
|---|---|
| Weasley family | The Weasleys were the most famous blood traitor family. They loved Muggles and thought they were fascinating. |
[edit] Blood traitors because of love
Some wizards are called blood traitors because they married Muggles.
| “Traitors due to Love and Marriage” | Reason(s) |
|---|---|
| Merope Gaunt | Gaunt was seen to be a blood traitor because she married Tom Riddle. She was disowned by her family. |
| Severus Snape | Snape fell in love with Lily Evans, but because he dabbled in supremacy she rejected him. |
| Reginald Cattermole | Cattermole married a Muggle-born, Mary Cattermole. |
| Percival Dumbledore | Percival would likely have been considered a blood traitor for his marriage to a Muggle-born witch, Kendra. However, when he was imprisoned in Azkaban for attacking Muggles and refused to reveal the reason, many believed it was because he was a supporter of the notion of blood purity.[6] |
| James Potter I | James married, Lily Evans, a muggle-born. |
| Ernie Macmillan | Fought against Death Eater ideals as a member of Dumbledore's Army and associated with Muggle-borns such as Justin Finch-Fletchley. |
| Eileen Prince | Eileen married Tobias Snape but she was a supporter of Slytherin and wanted her son to be in her house. |
| Andromeda Tonks née Black | For marrying Muggle-born wizard Ted Tonks. |
| Viktor Krum |
Despite going to a school that was known for its supremacy, he developed a crush on Muggle-born, Hermione Granger who rejected him when she revealed that she loved her best friend, Ron Weasley. |
[edit] Contact with Muggles
Some wizards would have been blood traitors because they were friends and were associated with Muggles and Muggle-borns.
| “Traitors due to contact with Muggles and Muggle-borns” | Reason(s) |
|---|---|
| Harry Potter | Harry was brought up as a Muggle and was still in contact with the Muggle side of his family. His wife, Ginny, was a blood traitor and he was associated with many blood traitors. |
| Horace Slughorn | Slughorn was associated with Lily Evans and Hermione Granger and would have been called a blood taritor. He made sure he had nothing to do with supremacists and Death Eaters. |
[edit] Notes and references
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Ch. 11
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Tales of Beedle the Bard (real)
- ↑ Black family tree
- ↑ The various terms for blood traitors, such as Dunglicker, Scumsucker, and Mudwallower, all make associations with uncleanliness. Marvolo Gaunt also called his daughter a "filthy little blood traitor" for admiring a Muggle, and Blaise Zabini once declared that he would never so much as touch a "filthy blood traitor" like Ginny Weasley, despite finding her physically attractive.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- ↑ Neville Longbottom says of the Carrows in Chapter 29 of Deathly Hallows: "They don’t want to spill too much pure blood, so they’ll torture us a bit if we’re mouthy but they won’t actually kill us.” Given this statement, and the fact that the Weasleys were only in direct danger after Ron Weasley's help of Harry Potter was revealed to the Death Eaters, it seems that they were hesitant to kill blood traitors unless they were very rebellious.
