Harry's last 'living' relatives?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 123847


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" <willsonkmom at m...>
wrote:
> 
> Eggplant wrote:
> > Think about it, you have 2 parents 4 grandparents 8
> > great-grandparents and so on, go back 15 or 20 generations, just a 
> > few hundred years, and everybody is related to everybody. ... Harry 
> > has other living relatives, mathematics demands it.


> Potioncat:
> Yeah, go back and you can lots of ancestors and relatives...most of 
> them dead. But at what point are you no longer related to the 
> living? 


bboyminn:

There is a difference between being technically relatives and
significant relatives. You may one day discover your 6th cousin twice
removed, and while that may be an interesting curioustity, it's not
really significant.

Although my math might be slightly off, let's look at just how related
you are to your cousins. In a sense, your first cousin (common
grandparents) is your half-blood cousin. Both of your father's are
from the same family (all patriachal connections for this
illustration), so you share half the same blood. Now your second
cousin (common great grandparents) only shares a  quarter of your
blood. You third cousin only shares 1/8th blood with you; 4th
cousin=1/16th blood, 5th=1/32nd, etc....

Depending on where you live, you can't marry your first cousin, but
you can marry your second cousin (legal, but not recommended), and for
the most part, legally, no one cares if you marry your 3rd cousin. So,
from a legal perspective, 3rd cousins (common great-great
grandparents) are no long considered family. The blood connection is
so small as to be insignificant.

In all likelihood, unless if involves a really big inheritance,
anything beyond second cousin loses all significants. So, yes,
technically Harry has relatives, but not significantly.

Steve/bboyminn