Talk: James Potter II

I suggest changing the title of this article to "James Potter, II" as he is not a Junior. A Junior is a son named after his father. James was named after his grandfather, so he would be a Second (II). Reference: http://www.bicknell.net/books/pc1981/p_family.htm#NAMESAKES and others. - Lovellama

If his middle name is Sirius, as most people believe, then he wouldn't be James Potter II, he'd be James Sirius Potter. PinkRibbons 16:59, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

If J. K. Rowling hasn't said his middle name is Sirius than it isn't. It doesn't matter what most people believe. -- DarkJedi613 ^(Talk) 17:08, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Aren´t he, h brother and sister half-bloods because Harry is one?

Rodolphus

While Harry is a half-blood, all four of James' grandparents are wizards/ witches. Does this make James and his siblings pure-bloods even if Lily was a Muggle-born? - Cavalier One^{(Wizarding Wireless Network)} 22:33, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

I believe the explanation is that if a wizard's parents are both wizard/witch then they are considered pure blood. Since Ginny is a witch and Harry is obiviously a wizard their children are considered pure blood.Dbones2009 23:52, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Well, just having two magical parents isn't exactly enough to define purebloodedness: James and Lily were both magical, but Harry is still a half-blood, because Lily is Muggle-born. However, I do think that, with three-quarters pureblood grandparents, James II probably qualifies as pureblood.

But in the article, it says that he must have been born in 2004-5. Could somebody please explain this to me? He could have been born at any point between September 2nd, 1999 and August 31st, 2005. If you're saying that he's "obviously" 12 because it is slightly implied that he is in his second year, those are VERY SLIGHT implications that could mean nothing. 75.75.21.94 21:45, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

No I don't think that he is older than Victoire. Ginny said that they were writing to James three times a week. When children are younger, you write them often :) Besides, 1999 Ginny was still attending school.

I think that it could be possible for James to have been born anytime between 2002-2005, anytime before that I think is unlikely as Ginny pursued a Quidditch career for a few years before settling down to have a family. I guess that James could be in his fourth year at the latest but probably second or third. 90.195.81.141 21:37, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

I think the birth date is inspired by the popular fanfic, James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing, where James is one year older than Albus. Xammer 20:25, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Appearance

Where it is stated, how does he look like?

I could be wrong but i don't believe its been official stated by Jo anywhere about James's physical appearance, there is nothing in the epilogue that notes it. For all we know James could have red hair and blue eyes. 70.230.167.67 10:02, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Blood Status

I understand that someone slightly mentioned this above, but the discussion got mixed up with another.

Shouldn't James II be considered a pureblood. A pureblood is someone with four (all) magical grandparents. It is not stated what the blood status the grandparents have to be, just that they must be magical. Unless James, Lily, Molly, or Arthur was secretly unmagical, the blood-status of the three Potter children should be changed to pureblood. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 204.210.122.189 (talk • contribs) 16:09, 10 January 2009.

Actually, we don't know for sure if that is correct. J.K. Rowling said on her website that "the expressions ‘pure-blood’, ‘half-blood’ and ‘Muggle-born’ have been coined by people to whom these distinctions matter, and express their originators’ prejudice. As far as somebody like Lucius Malfoy is concerned, for instance, a Muggle-born is as ‘bad’ as a Muggle." In other words, the notions of blood purity were invented by people like Lucius Malfoy, who would not consider Lily Evans/Potter to be a "real" witch because she is Muggle-born. That idea also seems to be supported by actions in Deathly Hallows, with the Voldemort-controlled Ministry claiming that Muggle-borns are really Muggles who stole wands from "real" wizards and witches. Therefore, because James II and his siblings have a Muggle-born grandparent, those who care about blood purity would consider them to be half-bloods, because their grandmother was not a "real" witch. Rowling hasn't given enough details to confirm this beyond a shadow of a doubt, though.

However, the Harry Potter Lexicon -- not canon, but they are a reputable source -- defines purebloods as "a witch or wizard of 'pure' wizarding ancestry, without any Muggle ancestors whatsoever as far as can be determined." Harry and Ginny's children have known Muggle ancestors in their paternal great-grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, therefore they are not purebloods. Oread 20:00, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

A witch or wizard with at least one wizarding parent but at least one Muggle parent or grandparent. Is how a half-blood is described on the Hary Potter Lexicon, therefore James, Albus, and Lily do not fit the half-blood requirement. Pure-blood extremists may not acknowledge James, Albus, and Lily as purebloods, but that doesn't matter. They do not fit into half-blood at all, they fit more into purebloods so I will put them there.

Please do not change that; this is a community and such things are decided by the community. To repeat my earlier point, Rowling said "the expressions ‘pure-blood’, ‘half-blood’ and ‘Muggle-born’ have been coined by people to whom these distinctions matter, and express their originators’ prejudice" -- this means that blood purity was defined by "extremists", so their opinions do matter; they invented the definitions. And extremists believe that "a Muggle-born is as ‘bad’ as a Muggle". Therefore, having a Muggle-born ancestor is as "bad" as having a Muggle one. Harry and Ginny's children have a Muggle-born grandmother, and Muggle great-grandparents, which is a far cry from "without any Muggle ancestors whatsoever". See pure-blood for more discussion of that point. Oread ^(talk) 05:14, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

I apparently, cannot change James anyway, since it is a locked page. However, there was no discussion on the pure-blood page, so I had to take the liberty of adding it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Silverdrama (talk • contribs).

I meant in the article itself, which discusses some of the ambiguities. But I've replied on the talk page. Oread ^(talk) 20:25, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Brown Eyes?

Now where in the entire series or anywhere else do I recall James being stated as having Brown eyes. And it can NOT be merely up to speculation. Let's take genetics into account here (because if we can use math to figure something out, then we can use science). All work is done through punnet squares.

Eye Colors B - brown (most dominant) b - blue (second most dominant) g - green (second most recessive) h - hazel (most recessive)

Stating this, we go through generation 1 (Lily, James, etc.)'s genetypes/phenotypes: Lily - either gg or gh - Green Eyes James - hh - Hazel eyes Molly - either BB, Bb, Bg, or Bh - Brown eyes Arthur - either bg, or bh - Blue eyes (daughter must be bg or bh, see below)

Then we go to the second generation (Harry and Ginny)'s genotypes: Harry - gh - Green Eyes (father was homozygous hazel and he has green eyes.) Ginny - either Bg, or Bh - Brown Eyes (one son showed a recessive green eye color, therefore she cannot be homozygous for the brown eyes trait, nor could she have blue, since both would dominate over green)

Third Generation (James, Albus, Lily): Albus is either gg or gh, making him Green Eyes as stated in canon.

If Ginny is Bg (Brown eyes, carrying green eyes): 25% - Bg 25% - Bh 25% - gg 25% - gh

50% - Brown Eyes 50% - Green Eyes

So if this were to be Ginny's genotype, we would have no choice but to call James/Lily brown eyes, but Ginny's genotype isn't revealed so it could also be Bh, resulting in this:

25% - Bg 25% - Bh 25% - gh 25% - hh

50% - Brown Eyes 25% - Green Eyes 25% - Hazel Eyes

Meaning that there would be a 25% chance that James and/or Lily could have hazel eyes. And though merely speculation, so is the idea that they have brown eyes. It should be removed immediately, but before I edit anything on this page, I am asking for someone to agree, because changing anything on James/Albus/Lily's page is normally controversial.--Silverdrama 04:16, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

You know, you're right; I just reread the epilogue, and nowhere does it mention James's colouring. It's only mentioned that Albus looks like Harry and is the only one with green eyes, and that Lily is red-haired. That doesn't necessarily mean that the other two have brown eyes. I'll change it accordingly, though in the future, feel free to edit something like this just by mentioning that you're removing speculation. Oread ^(talk) 15:57, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Birthday?

It's really just mere speculation. I'm taking it out. Technically, he could've been anywhere from a seventh year to a second year, so any birthdate is just speculation. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Silverdrama (talk • contribs).

I think this question needs to be revisited, since the Lexicon also has James as having been born circa 2005, yet I can't find any proof that he was either. The closest thing we have to confirmation that he was starting his second year in 2017 is this dialogue from the epilogue:

"Not every day," said Albus quickly, "James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."

"We wrote to James three times a week last year," said Ginny.

That might imply he's had only one year at Hogwarts, but it doesn't prove it. He could easily be entering his third year or something. From "last year", we only know that James was in school the previous year, not which year he was in. Also, this dialogue might suggest that James is a third year or above:

"See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."

"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!"

But James merely laughed, permitted his mother to kiss him, gave his father a fleeting hug, then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. They saw him wave, then sprint away up the corridor to find his friends.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry told Albus. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scare about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."

As mentioned, first-years go to Hogwarts in the boats. If James has seen Thestrals, this suggests that he has already been transported to Hogwarts in the carriages, since the only other place he would have seen them is in Care of Magical Creatures, a class that is only available to students in or above third year. Any thoughts? Oread ^(talk) 00:38, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

I agree that we don't have have conclusive proof that James was entering his second year in September 2017. However, I think it unlikely that he was older than his third year at that point, mainly due to Ginny's age. If he'd been entering his seventh year, he would've been two years below Teddy, and thus born sometime between September 1, 1999 and and August 31, 2000. Ginny didn't turn twenty until August 11, 2001, and I don't think she would've had children before that age (a 1999 birthdate for James would mean that Ginny became pregnant while still at Hogwarts). JKR said in an interview that Ginny spent a "few years" playing for the Holyhead Harpies and then "retired to have her family." "Few" is an indefinite term, but it generally refers to a quantity of three or greater, as two would be referred to as a "couple." So, assuming that Ginny left Hogwarts at the end of her seventh year in June 1999, and immediately signed on with the Harpies, then the logical conclusion is that she played with them until at least 2002 or 2003. Those would be the earliest possible birth years for James, given JKR's statement on how Ginny didn't have children until after she had retired from the Harpies.

That said, I tend to think James wasn't more than a year above Albus at Hogwarts, and was thus born between September 2005 and August 2006. I think if James' parents had been writing to him at Hogwarts for more than a year in September 2017, Ginny would've said, "We've written to [him] three times a week since his first year," or "We've written to [him] three times a week for the last two years," instead of simply "last year." The rambunctiousness of James in the epilogue further suggests to me that he probably wasn't older than twelve or thirteen. Granted, both of his namesakes, James Potter I and Sirius Black, didn't outgrow this same attitude until at least the end of their fifth year.

I also don't think that James' mentioning of thestrals is evidence that he was entering his third year in September 2017. After all, thestrals can only be seen by people who've witnessed death, and James, as we know, grew up in a time of peace. Of course, he might have seen someone die in an accident or of natural causes, but I think it's more likely that his familiarity with thestrals was only secondhand at that point (i.e., something he heard about from his father, or from family friend and magizoologist Luna), and that he only brought the creatures up to bother Albus. Besides, James told Albus that thestrals were invisible, and that implies that he had yet to see them firsthand. ★ Starstuff ^{(Owl me!)} 06:41, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

The main part of your post being "think". Well, I personally think James had hazel eyes and black hair, but there isn't a bit of actual proven canon in that statement, so it can't be seen as true. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Silverdrama (talk • contribs) Revision as of 09:10, 13 March 2009.

You suggested in your first post that James technically could've been as old a seventh year in the epilogue. However, a statement by JKR that rules out that possibility:

"After a few years as a celebrated player for the Holyhead Harpies, Ginny retired to have her family and to become the Senior Quidditch correspondent at the Daily Prophet!"

Ginny couldn't have retired "after a few years" to "have her family" if James had been born before 2002. We have solid enough evidence to say when James wasn't born, but, otherwise, the range of possible years is quite wide, and I agree that our efforts to pin his birth down to a more specific time are just speculation/logical guesswork. But I think we have enough information to conclude that James was born between 2002 and early 2005 (I mixed up Albus' possible dates when in my previous post when I said James could've been born between September 2005 and August 2006). I'd suggest adding his birth time to the article as "Early to mid-2000s" with a footnote explaining the logic.

Also, for what it's worth, I think James' reaction to catching Victoire and Teddy together is telling. An older student probably would've been familiar enough with social ettiquette to know not to bother a kissing couple. ★ Starstuff ^{(Owl me!)} 16:59, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

I don't think James's reaction to catching Teddy and Victoire indicates his age. After all, Ginny compares his reaction to Ron -- who reacted immaturely to Ginny and Dean kissing when he was in his sixth year. I agree with your reasoning about him being born between 2002 and 2005. Oread ^(talk) 18:02, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Something to consider is that JKR seems to like trends and parallels when it comes to characters' families (first and middle names being the primary example). If you look at the Weasleys, the most prominent family in the series, between the six ages of their seven children, there are three 2-year gaps, one 3-year gap, and one 1-year gap. Considering that there are 2-year gaps between Rose and Hugo and again between Albus and Lily II, it seems that JKR continued this trend into the next generation, which would put James II likely in 3rd year, and potentially in 2nd or 4th year. Another possible parallel is that James II is named after two of the four Marauders, and is supposedly the current owner of the Marauders' Map, after sneaking it from Harry's desk. It was in Harry's 3rd year that he first learned of the Marauders and received the map. Nick O'Demus 20:26, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Blood Status Note

I understand that in the end, he will end up as a half-blood in the info-box, but is there anyway to mention that though he is considered a half-blood by some, he would also be considered a pureblood by others? (Technically, he falls under neither category, since the site does contradict itslef). Could we make any notation of that? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Silverdrama (talk • contribs).

The only ambiguity comes from the lack of confirmation by Rowling about the exact requirements for being a pure-blood. Based on current evidence, James and his siblings are half-bloods, therefore there does not need to be a note. Look at Talk:Pure-blood for a detailed explanation of why Harry's children are half-bloods. Oread ^(talk) 00:44, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Owner of Invisibility Cloak

Is this really canon? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Silverdrama (talk • contribs) 09:11, 13 March 2009.

JKR mentioned it in an interview. ★ Starstuff ^{(Owl me!)} 15:58, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

The article doesn't mentioned James getting the Invisibility Cloak at all.

My apologies. I just realized that it mentions James taking the Marauder's Map, not the Cloak. ★ Starstuff ^{(Owl me!)} 01:15, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Move to James Sirius Potter

According to British conventions on suffices like "II", it's just not done to differentiate John William Smith from John Smith, his grandfather, by adding a II — rather one is to use his middle name (since they do not share the same precise name). In such a way, and bearing in mind the cited Rowling sketch naming the grandson James Sirius, this article should be at James Sirius Potter, James S. Potter or James S Potter, and all links and references to him should reflect this (and his grandfather should be James Potter). Ref:English Wikipedia. What say we? Danbarnesdavies 23:40, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

I think it should stay as is, per the community consensus. --Cubs Fan2007 ^{(Talk to me)} 00:40, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

See, those are policies agreed by the community for the general naming of articles, which is fine. But then we have two articles which need disambiguating — since each one should equally be at James Potter. All I'm saying is that II is not the way to dab in this case, since it is factually wrong. Instead, I am suggesting we use the younger's middle name merely as a dabbing step, rather than as a matter of course. DBD 17:07, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Year at Hogwarts

I just reread the epilouge of Deathly Hallows. Albus, going into his first year is talking about his parents writing him at school. Ginny sas they wrote James three times a week last year. Since Albus is going into his first year, I think James is going into his second year as of 2017.--Bella Goth 01:12, 22 July 2009 (UTC)Bella Goth

Please read the "Birthday?" section above. --  Seth Cooper  owl post! 01:39, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Gryffindor

Anyone have the Source for James being a gryffindor. I though he was, but then again I cannot remember that ever being said. -- Ratneer ^{Owl Me!} 22:01, January 24, 2010 (UTC)

The Harry Potter Lexicon also lists him as a Gryffindor, but they don't cite a reference. I'll check some of the interviews on Accio Quote. - Nick O'Demus 22:10, January 24, 2010 (UTC)

Nothing on Accio Quote. Maybe in the Year in the Life interview? I haven't watched it yet, but it's probably on YouTube. I'll check it later when I have time. - Nick O'Demus 22:15, January 24, 2010 (UTC)

I know it isn't in the Year in the Life. That was mostly talking about J.K.--Bella Goth 23:08, January 24, 2010 (UTC)Bella Goth

Bumping.--L.V.K.T.V.J.^{(Send an owl!)} 00:18, May 25, 2010 (UTC)

Well, it's not in the epilogue. He teases his brother about potentially being in Slytherin, but his own house is not revealed. Until a source can be provided I'll change the infobox. Jayce ^{•Avada Kedavra•Crucio•Imperio•} 08:38, May 25, 2010 (UTC)

Has anyone found anything about him being a Gryffindor? In any case, I'm removing the Gryffindor cat-- it's not like there are any other mentions of him being a Gryffindor in the article.--Emmy (★) 15:27, November 3, 2010 (UTC)

Mauraders Map?

I was reading through the article, and came across this sentence:

"At some point, James would also steal the Marauder's Map from his father's desk drawer while he was not looking to have fun with it at Hogwarts.[6]"

What is meant by he was NOT looking to have fun with it at Hogwarts? --BachLynn23 02:02, July 26, 2010 (UTC)

Just needed commas. --JKoch^{(Owl Me!)} 02:03, July 26, 2010 (UTC)

Relationships

A relationship for professors was added, and then taken out, I was wondering why. The book says that Hagrid invited them to tea and that his parents told him to give Neville "love". Granted there's nothing that says that Hagrid is still a professor, but clearly he has a relationship with him, Neville is a professor though. --BachLynn23 11:23, July 29, 2010 (UTC)

Blood purity

According to J.K. Rowling's official definition of blood purity, if a child's paternal and maternal grandparents are both magical, then the child is considered pure-blood. While the Lexicon is a very informative source, it is not official, and as such, has no right to coin it's own definitions of subjects within Rowling's world. So, if no one objects, I'm going to change the blood status of Harry's children to pure-blood. Grindeldore 14:06, December 10, 2010 (UTC)