Half Blood, Pure Blood--Help Pease

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 129804

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, sro35 at w... wrote:
> I do not understand what makes a person half blood. In OOTP, DD 
> tells Harry that Voldemort chose him, the half blood, and not 
> Neville, the pure blood. What makes Harry a half blood?
> 
> Both of Harry's parents were magical, doesn't that make him pure 
> blood? Does Lily coming from a Muggle family change it? If so, 
> why?
> 
> Thanks in advance for your help....
> Stan 

bboyminn:

The problem is that the wizard world doesn't have one absolute
definition of 'half-blood'. For example, Bary Crouch Sr. and Barty
Crouch Jr. probably don't have the same definition. If you hold
mixed-bloods or those with muggle heritage in a good light, then you
probably apply a liberal and benevolent definition. However, if you
hold them in a unfavorable light, and by the same token holf youself
in a very superior light, then you probably have a very ridged definition.

To complicate matters further, the term can be altered by context. For
example, Dumbledore probably does not truly regard Harry as a
half-blood since both is parent are magical beings, but in a
conversation with Harry about Voldemort and Voldemort's attitudes,
Dumbledore does indeed refer to Harry as a Half-blood, but it is to
make his point in the context of that specific conversation. 

We have several term that come into play -

Pureblood - many generations of pureblood ancestors

Full-Blood - while not used in the book, this would be the child of
two magical parents

Half-Blood - to a normal sane person this would be one magical parent
and one muggle parent. Note that while techically you may be
half-muggle, there is no such thing as half-magical. You are either
all magical or you are not magical. So relative to magic, the is no
such thing as half-blood.

Muggle-born - magical person born of two non-magical/muggle parents

Mudblood - anyone who has even a trace of muggle heritage in them. But
again this varies with the attitude of the person using the term. If
you have more muggle heritage and/or ancestry than I do, and I am a
racist jerk, then you are a mudblood and I am a superior being. But to
someone whose blood is more pure that mine, I become the inferior
mudblood and they become the aledgedly superior being.

Squib - may be derived from the same term for a firecrack or other
explosive that doesn't go off. Same as a firecracker dud. In the
wizard world, a person born of magical parents but one who has no
magical abilities.

To one person, one generation of all magical ancestors is enough to
make you a full-blood, to another person with a stricter attitude, 6
generations of pureblood are require to make the grade. To a third
person, no trace of muggle blood not matter how distance and remote is
 enough to redeem you in their eyes.

So, you can't get a clear definition of 'half-blood' because it varies
from person to person.

Just a thought.

Steve/Bboyminn