[HPforGrownups] Harry & Hermione Siblings?

[Kathryn Cawte]

No: HPFGUIDX 53373

Penny wrote -

Many ages ago, a member suggested that perhaps Harry and Hermione were
cousins.  
I debunked that theory genealogically in the following messages:
 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/4599
 
and
 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/4667
 
Penny
(ever the genealogist.........)
 

I agree with most of what you said in those messages but I don't see why
they couldn't *theoretically* be cousins. It couldn't be on Lily's side
(unless Petunia has a sister she's never mentioned, and I think she'd be
quite proud of a dentist since it would fit nicely into her middle class
world).
Before I go into why I think it is possible I want to say that we don't know
much about how magical children are 'found' for Hogwarts. I think it's
possible that until they get the names and send off the letters they don't
know which muggleborns are going to turn out to have magical potential. If
they do know the names before then then I admit there may be a hole in my
theory, because I'm assuming that the staff haven't made the connection
between Hermione and the Potters.

So assuming they *are* cousins let's consider how it would be possible. Can
t be on Lily's side therefore it must be on James' side. And it must be a
sister in order for Hermione to be a Granger and not a Potter. Since
Hermione thinks her parents are muggles i see one of two possibilities -
a)she's adopted or has a stepmother (but the latter I think we'd know) or b)
her mother's actually a squib.

For option b the theory would run something like - James had an older sister
who was a squib. She got a good muggle education since she (I assume) couldn
t go to Hogwarts, married someone she met at university (well they are both
dentists so that seemed most likely to me) had Hermione and never speaks of
her magical past. Maybe because she's scared it might be dangerous what with
evil old Voldemort killing her brother and all.

Possibility a I think actually has more promise. If Hermione was adopted
there would have to be a reason why she was adopted by muggles not wizards.
Maybe James' sister, like James, married a muggleborn. Unlike Harry who
survived an attack, perhaps Hermione simply wasn't there when her parents
were killed (they were out at a restaurant or something and were targetted
because he was a muggleborn, no other reason so no reason for the DEs to
apparate to their home and kill Hermione and whoever was babysitting). So
poor little Hermione was orphaned, James and family could have taken her in
but because they were in danger they thought it would be safer to let her
father's muggle relatives take her in. I'm assuming that strange things didn
t happen a lot around muggle Hermione or she would have mentioned it so
there was no reason for her parents to talk about the wizarding world to her
 It's not terribly uncommon for adoptive parents to not tell a child s/he's
adopted so I could see why they wouldn't - especially since her parents were
murdered - no need to traumatize the poor kid. If the Grangers had got on
reasonably well with their wizarding relative (unlike Petunia) it would
explain their incredibly accepting and proud behaviour when they find out
she's a witch.

Stretching? Yes definitely. Possible? Certainly. Do I think they actually
are related? Nope but it's nice to theorize anyway.

K