Good blood/bad blood (was Greatest Fear/greatest Hope)

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 121524


Potioncat wrote:
"It used to be said by older members of a family that "our family is
known for __________(fill in the blank with a virtue) it's in our
blood."  Or even, we come from good stock which is sort of the samething.

This is a little different than being Half-blood or Pure-blood, that 
has more to do with race."

Del replies:
Actually, I find it very similar. The pureblood ideology doesn't claim
that the Muggles are another race, it claims that the wizards are
better because they have magic "in their blood".

As for the distinction between Muggleborns, half-bloods and
purebloods, it's like saying :
1. Sure, the boy seems good enough, but I wouldn't trust him. I mean,
look at his parents! Never seen more untrustworthy people.
2. I don't know how this one is going to turn. His mother is a very
decent woman, but his father is a jerk, so it will all depend on who
he's going to take after.
3. Well, the boy made a mistake, but I'm sure he's got a good
temperament. I mean, look at his parents, they are the nicest people
I've ever met, so the boy can't be that bad, can he?

In every case, people act as though qualities and faults are something
genetically inherited. Since the wizards also consider their own
greatest quality, magical talent, to be something genetically
inherited, it makes sense that they would discriminate between people
according to their magical ancestry.

So the Malfoys are rotten because they have bad moral blood, and the
Muggles are inferior because they have non-magical blood. Completely
ridiculous and unfounded in both cases IMO, but it makes much sense in
the eyes of those who hold those views.

Del