What Jo says about...
Ancestry in the Wizarding World

Please note: unless you see quotemarks, these are summaries, and not Jo's exact words. Please see the linked article for the actual text.

• Jo has a chart with every Hogwarts student that lists their house, magical ability, parentage and allegiances. She will need parentage info later "for the death eaters" [Read the exact quote from "Harry Potter and Me," 2001]
• To people like Lucius Malfoy, a Muggle-born is as bad as a Muggle, so Harry is considered Half-Blood because of his mother's parents. In effect, a Muggle Grandparent "pollutes" the blood. (Read the rest of JK's response here to see how this relates to the Nazi's attitude to Jews.) [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Muggle-born wizards were not allowed to be Death Eaters. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• She won’t tell us what happened to Harry’s grandparents. [Read the exact quote from National Press Club, 1999]
• And I'm going to ask one other question which you'll say isn't clever at all. The significance of the place where Harry and his parents lived, the first name -- Godric Gryffindor.
  Very good, you're a bit good you are, aren't you?
  Thank you.
  I'm impressed. My editor didn't notice, I said to her haven't you noticed any connection between where Harry's parents were born, not born, where they lived, and one of the Hogwarts houses and she's sitting there going erm... I'm not being rude about Emma she's a brilliant editor, the best I've ever [had]. But no she didn't pick that up either. You're a bit good you are. [Read the whole quote from the cBBC Newsround, 2000]
• Voldemort being a relative of Harry’s would be a bit "Star Wars." [Read the whole interview from Scholastic chat #2, 2000]
• Harry’s middle name is 'James,' after his Dad. [Read the whole interview from Scholastic chat #2, 2000]
• We will find out more about the history of James Potter’s family in the next books. [Read the exact quote from BBC Red Nose Day chat, 2001]
• "James is DEFINITELY Harry's father," and Harry is not a descendent of Slytherin. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• JKR: "If Dumbledore had been Harry's grandfather, why on Earth would he have been sent to live with the Dursleys?" [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Harry's grandparents are dead and "not particularly important to the story..." [editor's note: could refer to either Harry's Evans grandparents, or his Potter grandparents] [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Is Harry related to Godric Gryffindor? JKR: "People are always wondering who Harry might be related to. Maybe he is ;)" [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• JKR has deliberately kept Hermione's family "in the background." They are very ordinary. The younger sister would have been a muggle if she had been in the books. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• Neville Longbottom is not Peter Pettigrew's son. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Dean Thomas is actually a half-blood whose father was a wizard who got himself killed by death eaters after refusing to join them. His story was sacrificed for Neville's — which is more central to the plot. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Susan Bones' grandparents were killed by Voldmort [Read the exact quote from the Yahooligans! chat, 2000]
• Theodore Nott has been raised by an elderly widower and a death eater father. He is a clever loner who does not need to join gangs — including Malfoy's. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Remus is a half-blood. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Snape's ancestry has been hinted at; he is not Muggle born [JKR does not explicitly say he is pureblood]. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• Dumbledore's brother Aberforth is the barman at the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• Voldemort does not have any children. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Voldemort went after Harry because he "identified more with the half-blood boy and therefore decided he must be the greater risk." [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• "Voldemort is the last surviving descendent of Salazar Slytherin. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Narcissa (Black) Malfoy is not related to Lily (Evans) Potter. Her name doesn't fit the naming pattern for the Black family (constellations); JKR just thought the name fit her. We will see more of Narcissa in future books [6 and/or 7] [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Mrs Weasley's maiden name is Prewett, and she lost close family members to Voldemort. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Ginny Weasley, whose full name is Ginevra, is the first girl to be born into the Weasley family for several generations. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Arthur Weasley is one of three brothers. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Gideon and Fabian Prewett were indeed Molly’s brothers, but their history is not particularly significant in terms of the overall plot, except that their deaths do provide some explanation and excuse some of Mrs Weasley’s fears and her over protective stance towards Harry. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Aunt Petunia is truly a muggle, but there is "a little bit more to Aunt Petunia than meets the eye." "She is not a squib, although that is a very good guess. Oh, I am giving a lot away here. I am being shockingly indiscreet." [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• JKR envisions Flitwick as "a very small old man;" she was surprised that he looked so goblin-ish in the movies. He does have a "a dash of goblin ancestry." [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Luna is not Snape's daughter; her father is the editor of The Quibbler. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Snape does not have a daughter [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• None of the pure-blood families are actually ‘pure’ – they merely cross muggles and squibs off the family tree. The number of families who can claim to be pure is diminishing as they are finding it increasingly difficult to perpetuate themselves. This subject is touched upon in book 6. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• JK: “Dumbledore's family would be a profitable line of inquiry.” [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• Harry’s Evans grandparents died natural deaths. There is “nothing sinister” about their deaths. [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• James was born to parents who were elderly, even by wizarding standards, and died from a wizarding illness. There is “nothing sinister” about their deaths. [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• JK implies that Harry is not the Heir of Gryffindor. [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• Voldemort "is not, in a biological sense, related to [Harry] at all." [Read the whole quote from BBC-Radio4, 2005]
• SEE ALSO: Harry Potter Lexicon information on ANCESTRY