Muggle-born

From Harry Potter Wiki

Muggle-born is the term given to a witch or wizard who is born to two non-magical parents. Their magical abilities do not seem to be significantly affected by their parentage — in fact, many Muggle-borns have been among the most powerful witches and wizards of their time, such as Hermione Granger and Lily Evans.

The proportion of the wizarding population that is Muggle-born is on the rise as the pure-blood families shrink in size and number^[1].

Contents 1 Origin of Magical Abilities 2 Attitude Towards Muggle-Borns 2.1 History of Persecution 2.2 Subtler Prejudice 2.3 People who have used the term Mudblood 3 Known Muggle-Borns 4 Behind the scenes 5 Related Articles 6 Notes and references

[edit] Origin of Magical Abilities

Muggle-borns inherit magic from a distant ancestor; they descend from Squibs who married Muggles and whose families eventually lost the knowledge of their wizarding legacy. Magic resurfaces unexpectedly many generations later^[2], as it did for Hermione Granger, Lily Evans, and many others. Because of the heritability of magic, a Muggle-born's siblings can sometimes be wizards or witches as well, as in the case of Colin and Dennis Creevey. However, this is not always the case, as Lily Evans's sister Petunia was a Muggle.

When Muggle-born witches and wizards reach the age of eleven in wizarding Britain, their letters are delivered in person by a member of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry staff, as Muggle-borns may not be aware of their powers and are unfamiliar with the concealed wizarding world. The professors explain to the parents or guardians about magical society, and reassure them regarding this news. They also assist the family in regards to buying supplies and gaining access to Diagon Alley.^[3]

[edit] Attitude Towards Muggle-Borns

Muggle-born witches and wizards are often derided by pure-bloods and called disparaging names such as "Mudblood", a term implying that they are somehow dirty and impure. Many pure-bloods believe that Muggle-borns are undeserving of magic and should not be allowed into the wizarding world. Those who do not believe this, such as the Weasley family, are often labeled "blood traitors".^[4]

[edit] History of Persecution

Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts, argued that the school should only admit pure-bloods as students, as Durmstrang Institute does. Before he left as a result of the ensuing disagreement with the other founders, Slytherin created the Chamber of Secrets and left a basilisk there, hoping that his heir would release it one day and eliminate Muggle-borns from Hogwarts for good. Tom Marvolo Riddle was this heir, and he released the basilisk as a student in 1943 and via the possession of Ginny Weasley by his diary Horcrux in 1992, killing one student and petrifying several others, including Colin Creevey and Penelope Clearwater.

Tom Riddle, later known as Lord Voldemort, took this prejudice to an even greater extreme with his followers, the Death Eaters, despite the fact that he himself was a half-blood.

When Voldemort seized control of the Ministry of Magic in 1997, Muggle-borns were required to register with the Muggle-Born Registration Commission. Political propaganda claimed that Muggle-borns were really Muggles who had stolen wands from "real" witches and wizards, supported by research supposedly carried out by the Department of Mysteries and promoted with the distribution of agitprop such as the pamphlet Mudbloods and the Dangers They Pose to a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society. The Commission punished anyone who could not prove to have wizarding heritage for this alleged action, sentencing them to Azkaban. Anyone who resisted was threatened with, and perhaps given, the Dementor's Kiss.

This led some Muggle-borns, such as Dirk Cresswell, to forge their family trees. Those who refused to register, such as Ted Tonks, were forced to go on the run and were pursued by Snatchers, sometimes fatally.

This was ended with Voldemort's defeat in 1998 and the reform of the Ministry under Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt. Hermione Granger would be crucial in eliminating pro-pureblood laws as a high-ranking member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.^[3]

[edit] Subtler Prejudice

There are also indications that a subtler, less virulent form of prejudice against Muggle-borns is relatively common in the wizarding world. For example, Horace Slughorn discriminated more on the grounds of talent or fame, rather than blood status, and thus included particularly talented Muggle-borns such as Hermione Granger, Lily Evans, and Dirk Cresswell among his favourite students. However, he generally expected his more talented students to be pure-bloods and was surprised when Muggle-borns performed very well. When he remarked upon this to Harry Potter in 1996 and Harry responded coldly, Slughorn was genuinely surprised, and insisted that he was not prejudiced.^[5] This may indicate that even among those who do not believe Muggle-borns are inherently inferior or "dirty", there tends to be a false belief that most Muggle-borns are less magically talented than those with wizarding heritage.

The Ministry of Magic also seems to have mildly favoured pure-bloods for many years before it was reformed after the Second Wizarding War, as there were "pro-pureblood laws" still in existence that Hermione eliminated. Albus Dumbledore once accused Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge himself of placing too much importance on blood purity, as Fudge was impressed by old, wealthy pure-blood families such as the Malfoys and looked down upon those who had less wealth and more affiliation with Muggles, such as the Weasleys^[6].

[edit] People who have used the term Mudblood

Main article: Mudblood

• Phineas Nigellus Black^[3]
• Walburga Black^[7]
• Vincent Crabbe^[3]
• Lily Evans, in arguing with Severus Snape, she pointed out that he used the term for all Muggle-borns^[3]
• Marvolo Gaunt^[5]
• Hermione Granger, called herself one proudly^[3]
• Fenrir Greyback^[3]
• Kreacher^[7][3]
• Bellatrix Lestrange^[3]
• Draco Malfoy^[4]
• Severus Snape^[7]
• Pius Thicknesse (under the Imperius Curse)^[3]
• Dolores Umbridge, mentioned the term on her leaflet^[3]
• Lord Voldemort^[3]
• Yaxley^[3]

[edit] Known Muggle-Borns

• Alderton^[8]
• Mary Cattermole
• Penelope Clearwater^[9]
• Colin Creevey
• Dennis Creevey
• Dirk Cresswell
• Kendra Dumbledore
• Lily Evans
• Justin Finch-Fletchley
• Hermione Granger
• Moaning Myrtle
• Ted Tonks
• Donaghan Tremlett

[edit] Behind the scenes

• Hannah Abbott was originally listed as a Muggle-born on J.K. Rowling's draft list of students in Harry Potter's class^[10]. However, Rowling stated in an interview that she always considered Hannah to be a pure-blood. To compromise, she was officially made a half-blood.^[11]
• Another student mentioned as being Muggle-born on Rowling's draft class list, which is not considered canon due to several contradictions with the novels, is Kevin Entwhistle^[10].
• Terry Boot was listed as a Muggle-born on Rowling's draft class list^[10], but in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he was shown to be attending his seventh year at Hogwarts despite Muggle-borns being banned from the school while Lord Voldemort was in power. This suggests that he is either a pure-blood or a half-blood, though it is possible that he is a Muggle-born who faked his family tree.
• Dean Thomas was never certain whether he was Muggle-born or not, since his father left his mother when he was very young. His father was in fact a wizard, thus Dean is a half-blood, but was not able to prove it, which made him a target of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission and Snatchers during the height of the Second Wizarding War.^[3]

[edit] Related Articles

• Blood purity
• Mudblood
• Muggle-Born Registration Commission

[edit] Notes and references