Mudbloods, Halfbloods, and Purebloods

[David]

No: HPFGUIDX 30625

Philip Nel asked:

> If I may be so bold as to suggest it, the question that should be 
asked is not "is this character half-blood or pureblood?" but "what's 
the significance of asking such a question in the first place?"  That 
is, why does Rowling have certain characters care about magical 
parentage, when other characters do not care in the least?  What 
assumptions lie behind this concern over purebloods, half-bloods 
and "mudbloods"?
> 
I concur that this is a much more fruitful question to ask, and there 
have been many interesting responses.  Thank you particularly to Amy 
for pointing out that there is no mathematical basis for defining 
half-bloods; in my view the term is meaningless, and the fact that we 
find it so easy to discuss whether Harry is one is worrying.

When Philip Nel added his own answer, he pointed out that

"...most people's interest in heritage or lineage remains invisible, 
unseen most of the time.  Malfoy displays his racism and classism 
openly, but Ron's beliefs about giants only emerge publicly during
the scene I mentioned earlier."

and Rita noted the importance of fear in fuelling prejudice.

I think the case of Ernie Macmillan is interesting in this context.  
His assertion that he can trace his ancestry back over nine 
generations of witches and wizards is motivated by his fear that 
Harry is the Heir of Slytherin, and thinks it will give him some 
protection.

One the one hand, his fear has driven him, however unintentionally, 
to publicly identify with some of the thinking of the Malfoys and 
Fudge - descent is important; on the other, he has already absorbed 
some of this thinking - he comes from a family that is proud of its 
nine generations (How literally are we to take this? Does he really 
know about up to 1022 family members? Or does he just trace one 
branch?) of magical identity.

By making his frightened assertion, he has moved a little way in a 
direction that, if unchecked, will put him in the clutches of 
Voldemort, however unwillingly.

I had not previously paid much attention to the fact that he later 
apologises to Harry and shakes his hand: for Harry it's not that 
important.  For Ernie, however, it is, and I guess JKR knows it.

David