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Jessica Davis

Betsy Huang

English Capstone 290

December 15th 2013

Toujours Pur:

The Parallels between Existent Contemporary and Historical Race Theory and the Blood Purity

Themes within the Harry Potter Series.

Introduction

Theorization is a useful method of examining and answering the questions we have about

ourselves and the world around us, but it takes on a whole new significance when studied

through literature. When it comes to race theory, the most effective method of analyzing race

within our society is to get away from our preexisting conceptions on the matter. We cannot fully

determine our views on race and racism when we have been raised in the same culture that forms

these views. We are too influenced by it. We can better understand race theories by examining

them through an unfamiliar, but comparable, lens such as literature. Instead of investigating

typical race theory dealing with skin color, culture, religion, or geographical location, I’ll be

looking at the pure-blood ideal and magical hybridity between wizard’s and other racialized

groups within the best-selling Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Far more than a series on

magic, blood purity is one of the main themes within the Harry Potter series, directly paralleling

the racial purity issues that we find prevalent in our own society. By taking a look at the Harry

Potter series and how it deals with the concept of blood purity we, as readers, can draw

conclusions and extrapolate ideas about our societal views on race theory and racial constructs in

the history of our past, as well as in our present and future.

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Pure-blood Mania

The concept of keeping ones blood pure is brought about by the grouping of cultures and

exclusion of the “other”. Keeping family lines pure and offspring racially unmixed is a way of

coexisting, but separately from one another. These groups fluctuate in the strictness of their

principles, according to the availability of the groups around them. Take for example Anglo-

Saxon families in New England during the colonial period. An English man would deem it

inappropriate to marry a French woman, though they hail from the same geographical location.

The Ellis Island immigration era in the U.S. would sneer at the mixing of the Irish and German.

Although all of these races are culturally viewed as white, Anglo-Saxon races, they were worlds

apart when the world seemed so big and full of opportunity. Today, mixing races is generally

viewed through a more perceptible lens of skin color and visual discrepancies. Most Irish

descendants wouldn’t think twice today about marrying someone of German ancestry, but most

would think twice about marrying someone of African ancestry and the social implications that

follow. These constructed lines of blood purity enable racism and cultural stereotypes to run

rampant, aiding in the segregation of the world through our cultural obsession with keeping

blood lines pure.

One of the greatest flaws in race relations is the separate but equal aspect. The idea that

different races can coexist, but never blend, is crucial for keeping blood lines pure within

distinguished families. Cultures and races look down on one another and prefer marriages and

procreation to be kept within a familiar sphere as to exclude less desirable genes from “invading”

and “degrading” the family bloodlines. The focus was on keeping the family “healthy” and

“untarnished,” but without as much as a second thought for the good of the individual, is a long

standing tradition of parental expectation and obligation. “Much of what the culture condemns

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focuses on kinship relationships. The welfare of the family, the community, and the tribe is more

important than the welfare of the individual. The individual exists first as kin – as sister, as

father, as padrino – and last as self” (Anzaldua 1019). This mindset of keeping blood lines pure

comes heavily into play in the Harry Potter series, through the most ancient and noble Black

family. Introduced in the fifth novel of the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the

Black family is an extremist pure-blood family, obsessed with keeping their wizarding lineage

uncontaminated. Their family motto, Toujours Pur, translated from French to mean “always

pure” accurately portrays their stance on any and all mixed muggle (i.e., those not possessing

magical abilities) and half-blood relations (i.e., those of mixed lineage). For the Black family,

keeping a pure-blood family untarnished is a way to ensure superiority over the majority of the

wizarding population, as well as ensuring the preservation of all-wizarding families within that

same population.

The most famous member of the Black family that we come across in the series is

ironically unlike his family is every aspect. The character of Sirius Black chooses early on in life

to ignore his family’s “pure-blood mania” and deviate from their beliefs. Although we meet

Sirius during the third book, we know nothing of his past until the fifth book when his family

home is used as a frequent setting. In his youth, Sirius decorated his room with muggle

paraphernalia, buys a Muggle motorcycle, befriends non-pure-blooded wizards, and gets sorted

into Gryffindor over his family’s tradition of being sorted into Slytherin.

A well-known rivalry between the Hogwarts houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin exist

within the series, with the championed founder of Gryffindor house, Godric Gryffindor allowing

all blood types into the school, and Salazar Slytherin, founder of Slytherin house, leaving the

school after his campaign to only allow young witches and wizards from magical families in.

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This is often why pure-blood obsessed wizards choose to belong in Slytherin house. Sirius

develops an intense hatred towards his pure-blood obsessed family, eventually running away at

sixteen and living with his friend James Potter and his parents. This leads to Sirius’ permanent

removal from the Black family tree, a magical collage of Black family ancestors, only displaying

those who remain true to the pure-blood way. Sirius is removed from the tree by his mother, as

are a few others who deviated from the Black family ways. When Harry questions why Sirius ran

away from home, Sirius bitterly explains, “Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents,

with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal…” (Order

of the Phoenix 111). The endogamy, as well as the parallel to royalty, is indicative of keeping

blood lines untainted within the royal family in Britain from the 11th century to the early 20th

century. The parallels of the Black family to royalty is suggestive of how blood lines were kept

“clean” within the royal family in Britain long ago. Kings and queens would marry cousins and

sometimes siblings in order the keep the royal blood lines untarnished from unworthy subjects.

Because of this many monarchs had mental illness and sociopathic tendencies when it came to

their rule. Sirius’ mother’s practice of scorching off the names of family deviants physically

keeps the Black family tree unsullied by “impure blood” as well as family deserters like Sirius.

Sirius and various members of his family are treated as skeletons in the closet of the notorious

Black family so that they can continue on their legacy of belonging to a long line of pure-

blooded wizards.

One of the greatest issues in keeping blood lines pure, is that it leads to inbreeding,

disease, and an eventual dying out of the family in question. “The pure-blood families are all

interrelated,’ said Sirius. ‘If you’re going to let your sons and daughters marry pure-bloods, your

choice is very limited, there are hardly any of us left” (Order of the Phoenix 113). Similar to

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keeping royal blood lines pure, keeping the wizarding blood line pure is an effective method of

eradicating the wizarding gene completely. Most members of pure-blood status are somehow

related, so finding a spouse within the pure-blood community becomes an issue. Many members

of the Black family, as well as others, marry first and second cousins just to keep the pure-blood

status alive. This often leads to mental disorders and genetic abnormalities, as we historically

know from keeping royal bloodlines too pure. Co-founder of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin, had a

legacy of keeping his family pure, which led to the eventual mental instability of his

descendants, the Guant family, who displayed aggressive and damaging behavior towards

themselves as well as others. Because the wizard community is much smaller than the Muggle

community, there are preexisting relations between many central pure-blooded families within

the series such as the Blacks, the Weasleys, the Malfoys, the Gaunts (from which Voldemort is

descended), and even the Potters.

Cultural Duality of a Muggle-born

One of the most controversial issues in the Harry Potter series is the very existence of

Muggle-borns. Muggle-borns are magical children born to two non-magical parents. Some

controversy comes into play in the question of how they get their magical abilities, if not from

either of their parents. Speculation throughout the series range from a random recessive gene

giving the child magical abilities, to having a distant magical relative in the family, to the

propaganda that Muggle-borns somehow steal the magic from another witch or wizard. Muggle-

borns are something that the wizarding community cannot fully understand, and so many are

unaccepting of their kind. They come from a different world and know nothing of the wizarding

world they are invited into. Others claim that Muggle-borns have an innate right to belong to the

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wizarding world since they possess magical ability equal to other witches and wizards. This

brings into question whether a person should be classified by their ancestry or their place in the

world.

Muggle-borns parallel “the other” when it comes to racial grouping. They are viewed as

impure specimens of magical ability, flawed in their hereditary makeup, and often viewed as a

separate race outside of witches and wizards. Muggle-borns are born and raised in the world of

Muggles, but given a birthright to the wizarding world on their eleventh birthday, creating a dual

identity for Muggle-borns. They cannot fully belong to either world because of their

circumstance, and while the Muggle world is kept in the dark about the existence of witches and

wizards, the wizarding world is not always kind to the place Muggle-borns hold in their world.

The cultural divides between the two worlds also act as a tributary method of showing both how

similar and different the Muggle and wizarding worlds are. When Hermione Granger (a Muggle-

born) receives a book of wizard fairytales, Ron Weasley, (a pure-blood raised by wizards) is

astounded when both Harry and Hermione are unfamiliar with these common stories he grew up

with. “Come off it!’ said Ron, looking in disbelief from Harry to Hermione. ‘You must’ve heard

of Babbitty Rabbitty---’ ‘Ron you know full well Harry and I were brought up by Muggles!’ said

Hermione. ‘We didn’t hear stories like that when we were little, we heard ‘Snow White and the

Seven Drawfs’ and Cinderella---” (Deathly Hallows 135). The differences in muggle and wizard

fairytales are a minor way of showing cultural divide, but the fact that both cultures have

fairytales is a way of showing that the two worlds are not so different after all. The seemingly

humorous scene where Ron is aware of wizarding tales and Harry and Hermione are aware of

different ones is a stroke of comparative brilliance on Rowling’s behalf, much like the

differences in religion and mythologies between cultures in contemporary society.

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Rowling’s most championed Muggle-born in the Harry Potter series is without a doubt,

Hermione Granger. Friend and ally to Harry throughout all seven books, Hermione is a brilliant

example of Muggle-born achievement and equal talent in the practice of magic. She is often

quoted as being the “brightest witch of her age” and constantly proving that her Muggle

parentage has no effect on her ability to continuously perform extraordinary magic. She makes

an effort to soak up all magical and non-magical information, receives top marks in all of her

classes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where she attends, and succeeds in

preforming complex magic far beyond her years of experience. She is a perfect specimen of

magic ability, and yet she comes from the so called “inferior” lineage of Muggles.

Hermione is an example of wrongful stereotyping, proving that outstanding magical

ability does not require coming from an all magical family. Hermione’s magical aptitude enables

us to assume that knowledge and skill are not inherent, but dependent on our choices. A common

stereotype among white academic settings, is that black students perform poorly in school

because they are black, when academic achievement has nothing to do with race. There are only

advantages given to white students over black students…better schools, more money, the

expectation of higher learning…all of these factor in to the stereotype of black students

performing under white students academically, when we know full well that individuals prove

the stereotype wrong. This is similar to blood purity having nothing to do with how well you

preform magic. There are advantages to coming from a pure-blood family in the wizarding world

in that you know more about the magical aspect, but it in no way determines ability.

The inclusion of Muggle-borns within the magical community does not come without

racial stereotypes and racial slurs from the general public. Just as we encounter various racial and

cultural slurs within our society, the wizarding world had their own slur for Muggle-borns.

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“Mudblood” is a foul term used to describe Muggle-borns, giving the connotation that their

blood is dirty and unclean. The first mention of the slur comes during the Chamber of Secrets,

Rowling’s second book in the series, when Draco Malfoy insults Hermione. “No one asked your

opinion, you filthy little Mudblood,’ he spat. Harry knew at one that Malfoy had said something

really bad because there was an instant uproar at his words” (Chamber of Secrets 112). The use

and understanding of ‘Mudblood’ gives the wizarding community license to use it to

discriminate. There are certain parallels drawn between the “other” and discriminatory language,

but it is almost never openly used to identify that “other”. “The moment that Malfoy calls

Hermione a ‘filthy little Mudblood’ in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the scandalized

reactions of the characters tell us that ‘Mudblood’ is as offensive to them as ‘nigger’ is to us (Nel

44). Though white people cannot identify with the slur nigger as blacks do, there is an agreed

upon understanding that the word is wrong at both ends. This is similar to the outrage share by

pure-bloods and half-bloods alike at hearing the term Mudblood. Slurs give life to the idea that

the people they pertain to are somehow different and sullied from the rest of the world. Although

the majority of the wizarding world does not take to the idea of tainted blood, they are members

of a society that acknowledges pure blood lines and the societal impacts of magical parentage.

Hybridity and Passing

The concept of hybridity comes into play throughout the Harry Potter series not only

through Muggles and wizards, but with magical creatures as well. Mixed identity is an issue

within the wizarding community, and since both wizards and muggle are human, it is a far less

significant issue than the mixing of wizards and creatures. While the hybridity of half-blood and

Muggle-born wizards go visually unnoticed, hybridity between wizards and magical creatures is

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a bit more telling, leading to immediate discrimination. Certain characteristics become noticeable

to anyone who can identify the hybridity of wizard and the given magical creature. Hybridity

between wizards and magical creatures is rare, but they exist within the Harry Potter universe, in

some of the most downplayed, but brilliant characters. Rubeus Hagrid, Remus Lupin, and Filius

Flitwick are all examples of mixed identity between wizard and magical creature, all who have

overcome social prejudices in the wizarding world by neglecting to draw attention to their

hybridity.

The magical creature ancestry shared by the characters of Hagrid, Lupin, and Flitwick,

are all half wizard and half magical creatures deemed dangerous by the wizarding public. Hagrid

is half giant, notorious for their brutality, Lupin is a half-blood wizard, bitten by a werewolf at a

young age, and becomes identified as a member of the vicious werewolf community, and

Flitwick who is half goblin, which are viewed as a treacherous race. None of these traits

commonly associated with these magical creatures are remotely a part of these three

personalities. Hagrid is far gentler than most wizards, Lupin is level-headed, not aggressive

because of his affliction, and Flitwick is one of the most loyal professors employed at Hogwarts.

Although these stereotypes may exist for a purpose, it is in no way a method for measuring a

man’s worth, but growing up in the wizarding world, there are certain preconceptions when it

comes to certain magical creatures. “But what’s it matter if his mother was a giantess?’ Said

Harry. ‘Well…no one who knows him will care, ‘cos they’ll know he’s not dangerous,’ said Ron

slowly. ‘But Harry, they’re just vicious, giants” (Goblet of Fire 430). Although Ron is in no way

prejudice of blood status, he has grown up in the wizarding world and has an understanding of

certain wizarding world stereotypes that Harry does not share, aiding in the judgment of Hagrid’s

giant background and other wizarding hybrids.

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One of the greatest differences between wizarding blood status and creature hybridity, is

that you can often see the hybridity at first glance. But what constitutes the race of a living

being? “I define a “race” as a vast group of people loosely bound together by historically

contingent, socially significant elements of their morphology and/or ancestry” (Lopez 966).

Taking Lopez’s definition within the wizarding world, race includes a collection of living,

intelligent beings with separate but somewhat similar cultures. If we view Muggles as a separate

race than wizards just as we view giants, werewolves, and goblins as separate, then muggle-

wizard hybridity can easily defeat immediate prejudice by passing. This concept of passing is

something that many wizard/magical creature hybrids cannot hope to accomplish. They instead

ignore their other half, focusing solely on their wizard ancestry to avoid unwanted attention, even

when the physical evidence is present.

There is no physical evidence that can out a half-blood or Muggle-born like there is for

Hagrid and his larger than normal size, or Flitwick and his unusually short stature. Being able to

pass in the wizarding world creates an easiness for the mixed individuals, but an added

uneasiness for those concerned with purity of blood. When word gets out during Harry’s third

year that Professor Lupin is a werewolf, he resigns, much to Harry’s dismay. “This time

tomorrow, the owls will start arriving from parents… They will not want a werewolf teaching

their children, Harry” (Prisoner of Azkaban 423). Almost a whole school year had passed

without any care or issue with Professor Lupin, because nobody but the Hogwarts staff knew of

his affliction. Once word had gotten out, it had become a different issue entirely. How can one

tell the pure-bloods from the Muggle-borns and magical creature hybrids when there is no

physical proof? This issue parallels the topic of racial hybridity in our culture. We design

humans to fit into a certain race according to the status quo, finding difficulty in placing

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individuals when they have black skin and almond shaped eyes, or white skin with kinky hair.

Without evidence to claim mixed race individuals, we hesitantly allow them to roam free from

conceptions, until they are ousted as the “other” like Professor Lupin.

Problematic is the notion that wizards are the superior race, and Muggles and magical

creatures exist only under them. How a dominant culture comes into power is always written,

rewritten, and smudged throughout history. Paralleling the “superior” race of wizards within the

Harry Potter series with the white “superior” race within our world, leaves us with the given

“superior” race creating and shaping existent culture. The culture of those in power as well as

those oppressed are both formed by the defined “superior” race. It becomes an issue when both

the oppressive and the oppressed begin to believe the same twisted cultural identifications.

“Culture forms our beliefs. We perceive the version of reality that it communicates, Dominant

paradigms, predefined concepts that exist as unquestionable, unchallengeable, are transmitted to

us through some culture. Culture is made by those in power -” (Anzaldua 1018). Goblins, who

are seen as treacherous in the wizarding community, have their own oppressed history beyond

the wizarding one. Wizards and Goblins coexist, yet they have very different customs and

beliefs, leading to many conflicts in the past as well as the present. Ron, having grown up in the

wizarding world, believes wizards to be in the right, since he has heard of Goblin offences over

wizard ones. The conflicting views between wizards and goblins, act as a perfect example of

protection of one’s own ancestry and race legacy. Neither side will place blame within their own

race, although as history often shows us, blame is often placed everywhere, and often times with

the majority of it belonging to the “superior” race, in this case wizards.

One of the greatest concerns with hybridity and mixed race, is the level of passing

affordable for children. Mixed race relationships during southern slavery often dealt with

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mothers praying that their child would be able to pass for white. Whether a black woman had a

white man’s child, or a white woman had a black man’s child, there was always a fear that the

baby would turn out too black, unable to pass as white if needed. A similar concern comes up in

what I call the Teddy Lupin fear. In the Deathly Hallows, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks

get married against Lupin’s better judgment. Always aware of his hybridity as a werewolf, Lupin

constantly worries about his lifestyle impacting Tonks. This worry turns quickly into fear when

Tonks becomes pregnant with Lupin’s child. There is a panic on Lupin’s part on how the baby

will turn out…will Lupin’s werewolf hybridity affect the child, or not? Teddy Lupin is

eventually born, no complications or werewolf hybridity present. The Teddy Lupin fear acts as a

constant reminder of the concern for our children in a world that often does not accept them for

who they are. The over quoted message that “children are our future” cannot be fully applied to

our society unless we as a society can accept everyone equally, so that our children can learn to

do the same through guidance.

Registration Commissions

One of the greatest dangers when it comes to race and the “other”, is when it becomes

legally obligatory to dictate your difference from the culture you live in. Historically, Jim Crow

laws in the U.S. and Nazi Germany’s Jewish registration during the Second World War, have

acted as methods of ostracizing and dehumanizing the “other” whether they be black, Jewish, or

even Muggle-borns. In the last book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Lord

Voldemort has fully risen to power, and enacts the Muggle-born Registration Commission. The

commission acts as an instrument to round up all of the Muggle-borns, hoping to prove their

guilt in stealing magic, and eliminating their rightful place in the wizarding world. The method is

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effective in scaring Muggle-borns into believing they can explain themselves, as well as scaring

non Muggle-borns into keeping quiet, for fear of being a sympathizer, or buying into the belief

that Muggle-borns are really a threat to magical blood lines. “Many wizards with sanctioned

family backgrounds indulge in bigotry against Muggle-born members of the community, even

calling for their extermination in scenes eerily reminiscent of World War II’s Holocaust, Stalin’s

purges, or ethnic cleansing in 1990’s Yugoslavia” (Schafer 236). The Muggle-born Registration

Commission creates a lawful method of elimination. There is structure and law backing up the

racism, similar to the Jewish registration and the Jim Crow laws set in place to create a stable set

of discriminatory laws to keep the “inferior” contained. Laws have a way of being overlooked as

something to benefit the general public…it often takes time and effective leaders to bring

attention to immoral laws.

History is littered with examples of unjust laws for the sake of blood purity. The

intelligence in making something a law or requirement over an unorganized crusade, gives an

overall consent and compulsion to follow the law. The illusion of a law is that it is set in stone,

when laws are most often changed by the demand of the people. This is Voldemort’s genius in

the seventh book. He acts behind the Ministry of Magic, allowing for the workers and politicians

to enact laws on his behalf, rather than openly crusading for the disposal of Muggle-borns. The

tactical prowess of Voldemort’s racial purity campaign is flawless and effective in

accomplishing his goal of eliminating Muggle-borns from the wizarding world.

The irony in Voldemort’s desire to rid the wizarding world of Muggle-borns and create

an all pure-blood race of wizards, is that he himself is of half-blood status. Voldemort is half-

blooded, like Harry, and keeps this information secret from his followers. He despises his

Muggle lineage, choosing to focus on his wizarding half, the half that descended from the great

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Salazar Slytherin. This directly parallels Hitler’s pursuit of the perfect Aryan race. Hitler was not

light haired or blue eyed, and has been historically linked to Jewish ancestry, making him not his

own ideal of the perfect human. “The Dark Lord’s zeal for Purebloods, is ‘like Hitler and the

Aryan ideal, to which he did not conform at all, himself. And so Voldemort is doing this also. He

takes his own [perceived] inferiority, and turns it back on other people and attempts to

exterminate in them what he hates in himself” (Nel 44). Although Voldemort is purging what he

finds inferior within himself from the wizarding world, there are many supporters (Death Eaters)

and general sympathizers (the Black family) who gather behind him, making his work that much

easier.

Non-prejudice Items

One of the most useful methods of disproving the validity of racial inferiority in the

Harry Potter universe is the inclusion and use of non-prejudice magical items. Though not

present within the book, the Hogwarts list is a magical parchment and quill set that keeps track of

the names of every single magical child born in the world. Mentioned by Rowling in various

interviews, this list automatically documents the birth of a wizarding child, with even Hagrid

mentioning to Harry that he’s had his name down for Hogwarts ever since he was born. The

Hogwarts list keeps no record of blood status when it comes to identifying newborn witches and

wizards, only that they possess magical ability, and are entitled to a magical education. The

function of the Hogwarts list is to document every magical child, so that he or she may have their

chance at a wizarding education, giving all different blood statuses the same starting off point in

their magical education.

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This list, beyond ignoring blood status, completely ignores race as well, something we as

a society cannot seem to do. The craft in Rowling’s writing, is that she simultaneously focuses

on, and overlooks race within her novels. “Though the use of names like Parvarti Patil and Cho

Chang evinces an awareness of the many cultures that make up contemporary Britain, Rowling

investigates the prejudices that develop around racial and cultural differences not through social

realism, but through fantasy” (Nel 44). Rowling focuses on the fantasy race lines of magical

blood purity, rather than our usual conceptions of race and color. Very little is mentioned about

Cho Chang or Parvarti Patil’s race, we as readers simply infer in reference to their non-white

names. Parvarti Patil’s race never even comes into play until the fourth book, when she wears a

traditional Indian sari to the Yule Ball with Harry. It is only then as readers that we notice

Parvarti is Indian. We realize that her physical race is viewed second, and her status as a half-

blood first within the wizarding world.

The Sorting Hat is one of the rarest magical items thought up by J.K. Rowling, used at

the beginning of every year to sort incoming first-year students into their appropriate Hogwarts

houses. The Sorting Hat has a magical consciousness and understanding of what the four houses

of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, all desire in their students. One of the most

unique aspects of the hat, besides a consciousness, is an understanding of a person’s essence

without superficial judgment on appearance or race. Although Slytherin house is notorious for

only accepting pure-blooded witches and wizards, the Sorting Hat does not take blood status into

account when sorting, even though Salazar Slytherin would have. Two notorious half-bloods

belonging to Slytherin house were Severus Snape and Tom Riddle (Voldemort). Even the

notoriety of Slytherin’s pure-blood house is a façade. Though the Sorting hat is supposed to

judge based on the qualities each founder would have regarded in high esteem, the Sorting Hat

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judges purely on personality and potential, not where someone came from or their lineage. In

many ways, the Sorting Hat is the most unbiased being within the series, generating magical

conclusions of a person’s qualifications by looking inside of their head rather than at their

outward appearance, or how they are viewed within societal constructs.

Importance of Harry’s Half-Blood Status

Although the Harry Potter novels are told in third person, the central focus is always

through Harry. He is the lens through which we view the wizarding world, and the standard to

which we hold everything. It is important in viewing racial theory within the novels that Harry is

of half-blood status, a sort of middleman between Muggle-borns and pure-bloods. Although

Harry cannot remember his parents, they play a crucial part in his life and morality, starting with

their wizarding lineage. James Potter, Harry’s father, was a pure-blood wizard, whereas his

mother Lily was a Muggle-born, giving Harry half-blood status as a wizard. He is never held up

to blood purity expectations, nor is he harassed due to his half-blood status. Half-blooded

wizards are often left alone, even under Voldemort’s rule. They are viewed as inferior by purists,

but have enough wizarding ancestry to belong to the wizarding world. The same cannot always

be said for Muggle-borns unfortunately. Harry makes an effort to keep things low key due to his

celebrity status in the wizarding world, but adamantly stands up for what he believes in and what

is just. Similar to the Sorting Hat, Harry passes judgment based on what he sees inside of a

person, ignoring any irrelevant outside factors. In a sense, Harry can see things more clearly than

pure-bloods or Muggle-borns since his blood status is never questioned or affecting his

judgment.

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Harry’s half-blood status allows him to view opposite ends of the blood lines from an

unaffected vantage point. He loves both pure-bloods through his father and his friend Ron

Weasley, as well as Muggle-borns through his mother and friend Hermione Granger. Though

Harry’s blood status rarely comes into play within the series, the blood statuses of his two best

friends frequently do. Ron and Hermione both deal with their blood status coming into question

throughout the series, sandwiching Harry between two opposite sides of the wizarding blood-line

spectrum. He sees the effect that wizarding society has on pure-bloods and well as Muggle-

borns, allowing him to take a step back from the wizarding world of prejudice and judge by

rational thought. Harry has never been, and never will be the prime example for racial prejudice

within the series, but he is certainly the best lens from which to observe these prejudices.

Ron Weasley is a pure-blooded wizard, with an overall disinterest in the blood status of

others. An issue that always seems to come into play with Ron’s pure-blood status is the fact that

he and his family are viewed as “blood traitors” by other pure-blood families. Ron’s father works

closely with Muggle culture and he idolizes them, often wondering how airplanes fly or how

electricity works. Even though the Weasleys come from a long line of pure-blooded wizards,

they make it known that they pay no mind to blood purity. Like Sirius Black, the Weasley family

are viewed as black sheep in the pure-blood community. Ron is constantly harassed and taunted

for his family’s “blood traitor” status, often by Draco Malfoy or even his father, Lucius Malfoy.

Ron ends up breaking away from his family’s pure-blood status at the end of the series, marrying

Hermione Granger and having two half-blood children, much to the delight of his parents. His

younger sister Ginny later follows suit by marrying Harry.

Hermione’s Muggle-born status is one of the greatest repeat sources for racism within the

series. As the books darken in content, so do the racial offenses. From being called a Mudblood

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by Draco Malfoy in the second book, to being tortured by Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange in the

seventh book, Hermione has experienced more than her fair share of racism. Her talent and

academic achievements draw focus on her blood lines, causing a confusion with this Muggle-

born girl who is top of her class. Because of this, Harry is often first to advocate for Hermione

and her abilities having nothing to do with her blood status as a Muggle-born. He also has no

tolerance for racism and elitism, as seen in his conversation with Professor Horace Slughorn.

“Your mother was Muggle-born of course. Couldn’t believe it when I found out. Thought she

must have been pure-blood, she was so good.’ ‘One of my best friends is Muggle-born,’ said

Harry, ‘and she’s the best in our year.’ ‘Funny how that sometimes happens, isn’t it?’ said

Slughorn. ‘Not really,’ said Harry coldly” (Half-Blood Prince 70-71). Though Professor

Slughorn is not prejudice or hateful towards Muggle-borns, he does have a preconceived notion

that they should, in normal circumstances, perform poorly in the wizarding world. He treats

those who prove themselves favorably regardless of blood status, but treats gifted Muggle-borns

as a rare, but celebrated oddity. This sort of preconceived notion is something Hermione must

constantly combat throughout her school career.

Although there is no question of Harry’s position and belonging within the wizarding

world, he was raised as a Muggle. Due to the untimely death of his parents, Harry was raised by

his magic hating aunt and uncle, who kept his wizarding ancestry a secret. Because of this, Harry

was raised as a Muggle, knowing absolutely nothing of the wizarding world, not even of his own

fame. Receiving his Hogwarts acceptance letter on his eleventh birthday comes as quite a shock

to Harry, as it does to most Muggle-borns. Ironically, Harry’s first encounter with another wizard

his own age (Draco Malfoy), immediately paints a picture of how problematic and unique

Harry’s position in the wizarding world is. “I really don’t think they should let the other sort in,

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do you? They’re just not the same, they’ve never been brought up to know our ways. Some of

them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should

keep it in the old wizarding families” (Sorcerer’s Stone 78). Here we see Draco’s prejudice,

assuming that Harry is not Muggle-born. He had no way of knowing Harry’s lineage, but rattles

off his views on Muggle-borns, or the “other sort” within the magical community. These

preconceived ideas are guided by the principles he has grown up with his whole life, being a

pure-blood from an elitist family. Harry is not Muggle-born, but he has grown up in a similar

fashion, rendering Draco Malfoy’s reasoning for not allowing Muggle-borns into Hogwarts

imprecise and ultimately flawed. The statement made by the eleven-year old Draco sets a

precedent for many of the racial views and blood purity ideals shared by the wizarding

community.

Harry’s half-blood status is believed by Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, to

be the main catalyst for the entire series. The books focus on the inescapable link and rivalry

between Harry and Lord Voldemort, which we later find out was generated by Voldemort

himself. The murder of James and Lily Potter, as well as Voldemort’s attempt on Harry’s life

when he was a baby, was put into motion by a prophecy alluding to a young boy born at the end

of July who would cause the Dark Lord’s demise. These prophetic clues could have meant

Harry, but it could have also meant another boy, a pure-blooded schoolmate of Harry’s, named

Neville Longbottom. Both boys fit the prophecy, with the only difference between the two boys

being their blood statuses. Interestingly, Lord Voldemort chooses not the pure-blooded Neville,

but the half-blooded Harry instead. Dumbledore believed Voldemort’s choice to be fueled by his

similar blood ancestry with Harry over Neville. Since both Harry and Voldemort were half-

blooded wizards, they eventually share a future where one must die and one must live. Harry

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becomes the chosen one not because of his blood status, but because Voldemort decided that his

blood status was equal to his own, therefore Harry was more of a threat to him than Neville.

Harry became the chosen one only because Voldemort marked him as his equal in every way,

making blood status the most crucial driving element within the series.

Conclusion

Examining the racial theory and blood purity concerns within the Harry Potter series can

effectively help us analyze the reasons why racism and race construction exist in our culture. The

obsession with keeping family lines pure and pruned, the issues with dual identities, the

uncertainty of racial hybrids, and the historically repeated desire for a “superior” race, all parallel

between the Harry Potter universe and the purely Muggle world we belong to. It’s easy for us to

identify with Harry and his inability to accept any preconceived racial stereotypes within the

wizarding world, but we consciously or even subconsciously acknowledge racial stereotypes in

our culture every day because we have learned them growing up. Why would we disband

Professor Lupin for being bitten as a small boy, or assume Hagrid a monster because of his

giantess mother? These assumptions are absurd for the reader as well as Harry, but stereotypes

within our own culture linger in our heads. Asians are typically good at math, African

American’s are more likely to commit crimes, Mexicans are constantly crossing the U.S. boarder

illegally…All of these racial stereotypes exist in our culture, and yet we do find them absurd

because their existence lies in what we view as general truth. What lies beyond the truth are the

variables, that Asians have rigorous schooling, African American’s have a higher poverty rate

and incarceration rate due to prejudice and slavery, and Mexicans are trying to make a better life

for themselves outside of a flawed home country. We create stereotypes to excommunicate the

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“other”, causing a world of pure-blood snobbery. In our society, we should all strive to be like

Harry, viewing race and racism as nothing more than a close-minded thing of the past in a future

that judges based on the individual alone, and not on the preconceived categorizations associated

with where one comes from.

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Anzaldua, Gloria. "Borderlands/ La Frontera." Trans. Array Literary Theory: An Anthology. .

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