Who were the Potters?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 45951

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Emily F" <mn_emily at h...> wrote:
> This may seem like a silly question, but what are the odds that
> Godric Gryffindor only has one heir (then two, with the birth of 
> Harry)?  I assume that most wizarding families aren't as...numerous 
> as the Weasleys. 
>
> Nonetheless, we're looking at MANY generations of people!  There 
> should be a multitude of heirs, right?  Perhaps I misunderstand the 
> meaning of the word heir, but this is something that's always 
> bothered me about heir!Harry.
> 
> Emily
> Yeah, I know I said I'd go back to lurking...

This whole heir, decendant, direct decendant, ancestor thing can get
very confusing. To illustrate what is happening I like to use
England's Royal Family as an example.

Prince Charles is Heir to the Throne by virtue of being the oldest
child of the Queen. Next in line is Prince Willian the oldest child of
Prince Charles. Next in line will be the oldest child of Prince
William. Notice that Prince Henry(Harry) got by passed as will his
children and their children. 

When this was talked about before, some one responded and said that
they were the 3,000 person in line for the Throne. Meaning of course
that 2,999 other people would have to die before she (I think it was a
she) became Queen.

So their is a line of direct decendancy; Queen --> Charles --> William
--> William's oldest child. But there are still may other decendants,
relatives and other members of the Royal Family who only qualify a
INdirect decendants and would only move into the position of direct
heir after the death of other more 'qualified' people. 

Assuming the line remains unbroken, there is one line of blood that
traces from direct decendant/heir to direct decendant/heir to the most
current direct Heir. There may be thousands of people with Slytherin
or Gryffindor blood who are not in this direct line. 

There is also the theory that the Heir is chosen as in the Arthurian
legend of 'The Sword in the Stone'. He who pulls the sword from the
stone is the rightful king. If Harry is chosen it may be because he is
the most noble, brave, and heroic Gryffindor in existance at the time
when a new heir is needed.

I speculate the Fawkes the pheonix could be the one who choses the
next heir to Gryffindor. This could mean that Dumbledore is the
current heir, in sense, the current King of Gryffindor, or it could
simply mean that Fawkes is under Dumbledore's care until such time
that Fawkes chooses the next heir.

Just some thoughts.

bboy_mn