This document provides an analysis of blood purity themes in the Harry Potter series and how they parallel issues of race theory and racism. It discusses how the series depicts the pure-blood ideology of the Black family and their motto "Toujours Pur." Keeping bloodlines pure leads to inbreeding problems and issues for the wizarding community. The document also examines cultural divides between muggle-borns raised in the muggle world and examines use of the racial slur "mudblood" in the series, as well as themes of hybridity between wizards and magical creatures.

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Jessica Davis
Betsy Huang
English Capstone 290
December 15th 2013
Toujours Pur:
The Parallels between Existent Contemporary and Historical Race Theory and the Blood Purity
Themes within the Harry Potter Series.
Introduction
Theorization is a useful method of examining and answering the questions we have about
ourselves and the world around us, but it takes on a whole new significance when studied
through literature. When it comes to race theory, the most effective method of analyzing race
within our society is to get away from our preexisting conceptions on the matter. We cannot fully
determine our views on race and racism when we have been raised in the same culture that forms
these views. We are too influenced by it. We can better understand race theories by examining
them through an unfamiliar, but comparable, lens such as literature. Instead of investigating
typical race theory dealing with skin color, culture, religion, or geographical location, I’ll be
looking at the pure-blood ideal and magical hybridity between wizard’s and other racialized
groups within the best-selling Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Far more than a series on
magic, blood purity is one of the main themes within the Harry Potter series, directly paralleling
the racial purity issues that we find prevalent in our own society. By taking a look at the Harry
Potter series and how it deals with the concept of blood purity we, as readers, can draw
conclusions and extrapolate ideas about our societal views on race theory and racial constructs in
the history of our past, as well as in our present and future.

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Pure-blood Mania
The concept of keeping ones blood pure is brought about by the grouping of cultures and
exclusion of the “other”. Keeping family lines pure and offspring racially unmixed is a way of
coexisting, but separately from one another. These groups fluctuate in the strictness of their
principles, according to the availability of the groups around them. Take for example Anglo-
Saxon families in New England during the colonial period. An English man would deem it
inappropriate to marry a French woman, though they hail from the same geographical location.
The Ellis Island immigration era in the U.S. would sneer at the mixing of the Irish and German.
Although all of these races are culturally viewed as white, Anglo-Saxon races, they were worlds
apart when the world seemed so big and full of opportunity. Today, mixing races is generally
viewed through a more perceptible lens of skin color and visual discrepancies. Most Irish
descendants wouldn’t think twice today about marrying someone of German ancestry, but most
would think twice about marrying someone of African ancestry and the social implications that
follow. These constructed lines of blood purity enable racism and cultural stereotypes to run
rampant, aiding in the segregation of the world through our cultural obsession with keeping
blood lines pure.
One of the greatest flaws in race relations is the separate but equal aspect. The idea that
different races can coexist, but never blend, is crucial for keeping blood lines pure within
distinguished families. Cultures and races look down on one another and prefer marriages and
procreation to be kept within a familiar sphere as to exclude less desirable genes from “invading”
and “degrading” the family bloodlines. The focus was on keeping the family “healthy” and
“untarnished,” but without as much as a second thought for the good of the individual, is a long
standing tradition of parental expectation and obligation. “Much of what the culture condemns

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focuses on kinship relationships. The welfare of the family, the community, and the tribe is more
important than the welfare of the individual. The individual exists first as kin – as sister, as
father, as padrino – and last as self” (Anzaldua 1019). This mindset of keeping blood lines pure
comes heavily into play in the Harry Potter series, through the most ancient and noble Black
family. Introduced in the fifth novel of the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the
Black family is an extremist pure-blood family, obsessed with keeping their wizarding lineage
uncontaminated. Their family motto, Toujours Pur, translated from French to mean “always
pure” accurately portrays their stance on any and all mixed muggle (i.e., those not possessing
magical abilities) and half-blood relations (i.e., those of mixed lineage). For the Black family,
keeping a pure-blood family untarnished is a way to ensure superiority over the majority of the
wizarding population, as well as ensuring the preservation of all-wizarding families within that
same population.
The most famous member of the Black family that we come across in the series is
ironically unlike his family is every aspect. The character of Sirius Black chooses early on in life
to ignore his family’s “pure-blood mania” and deviate from their beliefs. Although we meet
Sirius during the third book, we know nothing of his past until the fifth book when his family
home is used as a frequent setting. In his youth, Sirius decorated his room with muggle
paraphernalia, buys a Muggle motorcycle, befriends non-pure-blooded wizards, and gets sorted
into Gryffindor over his family’s tradition of being sorted into Slytherin.
A well-known rivalry between the Hogwarts houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin exist
within the series, with the championed founder of Gryffindor house, Godric Gryffindor allowing
all blood types into the school, and Salazar Slytherin, founder of Slytherin house, leaving the
school after his campaign to only allow young witches and wizards from magical families in.

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This is often why pure-blood obsessed wizards choose to belong in Slytherin house. Sirius
develops an intense hatred towards his pure-blood obsessed family, eventually running away at
sixteen and living with his friend James Potter and his parents. This leads to Sirius’ permanent
removal from the Black family tree, a magical collage of Black family ancestors, only displaying
those who remain true to the pure-blood way. Sirius is removed from the tree by his mother, as
are a few others who deviated from the Black family ways. When Harry questions why Sirius ran
away from home, Sirius bitterly explains, “Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents,
with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal…” (Order
of the Phoenix 111). The endogamy, as well as the parallel to royalty, is indicative of keeping
blood lines untainted within the royal family in Britain from the 11th century to the early 20th
century. The parallels of the Black family to royalty is suggestive of how blood lines were kept
“clean” within the royal family in Britain long ago. Kings and queens would marry cousins and
sometimes siblings in order the keep the royal blood lines untarnished from unworthy subjects.
Because of this many monarchs had mental illness and sociopathic tendencies when it came to
their rule. Sirius’ mother’s practice of scorching off the names of family deviants physically
keeps the Black family tree unsullied by “impure blood” as well as family deserters like Sirius.
Sirius and various members of his family are treated as skeletons in the closet of the notorious
Black family so that they can continue on their legacy of belonging to a long line of pure-
blooded wizards.
One of the greatest issues in keeping blood lines pure, is that it leads to inbreeding,
disease, and an eventual dying out of the family in question. “The pure-blood families are all
interrelated,’ said Sirius. ‘If you’re going to let your sons and daughters marry pure-bloods, your
choice is very limited, there are hardly any of us left” (Order of the Phoenix 113). Similar to

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keeping royal blood lines pure, keeping the wizarding blood line pure is an effective method of
eradicating the wizarding gene completely. Most members of pure-blood status are somehow
related, so finding a spouse within the pure-blood community becomes an issue. Many members
of the Black family, as well as others, marry first and second cousins just to keep the pure-blood
status alive. This often leads to mental disorders and genetic abnormalities, as we historically
know from keeping royal bloodlines too pure. Co-founder of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin, had a
legacy of keeping his family pure, which led to the eventual mental instability of his
descendants, the Guant family, who displayed aggressive and damaging behavior towards
themselves as well as others. Because the wizard community is much smaller than the Muggle
community, there are preexisting relations between many central pure-blooded families within
the series such as the Blacks, the Weasleys, the Malfoys, the Gaunts (from which Voldemort is
descended), and even the Potters.
Cultural Duality of a Muggle-born
One of the most controversial issues in the Harry Potter series is the very existence of
Muggle-borns. Muggle-borns are magical children born to two non-magical parents. Some
controversy comes into play in the question of how they get their magical abilities, if not from
either of their parents. Speculation throughout the series range from a random recessive gene
giving the child magical abilities, to having a distant magical relative in the family, to the
propaganda that Muggle-borns somehow steal the magic from another witch or wizard. Muggle-
borns are something that the wizarding community cannot fully understand, and so many are
unaccepting of their kind. They come from a different world and know nothing of the wizarding
world they are invited into. Others claim that Muggle-borns have an innate right to belong to the

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wizarding world since they possess magical ability equal to other witches and wizards. This
brings into question whether a person should be classified by their ancestry or their place in the
world.
Muggle-borns parallel “the other” when it comes to racial grouping. They are viewed as
impure specimens of magical ability, flawed in their hereditary makeup, and often viewed as a
separate race outside of witches and wizards. Muggle-borns are born and raised in the world of
Muggles, but given a birthright to the wizarding world on their eleventh birthday, creating a dual
identity for Muggle-borns. They cannot fully belong to either world because of their
circumstance, and while the Muggle world is kept in the dark about the existence of witches and
wizards, the wizarding world is not always kind to the place Muggle-borns hold in their world.
The cultural divides between the two worlds also act as a tributary method of showing both how
similar and different the Muggle and wizarding worlds are. When Hermione Granger (a Muggle-
born) receives a book of wizard fairytales, Ron Weasley, (a pure-blood raised by wizards) is
astounded when both Harry and Hermione are unfamiliar with these common stories he grew up
with. “Come off it!’ said Ron, looking in disbelief from Harry to Hermione. ‘You must’ve heard
of Babbitty Rabbitty---’ ‘Ron you know full well Harry and I were brought up by Muggles!’ said
Hermione. ‘We didn’t hear stories like that when we were little, we heard ‘Snow White and the
Seven Drawfs’ and Cinderella---” (Deathly Hallows 135). The differences in muggle and wizard
fairytales are a minor way of showing cultural divide, but the fact that both cultures have
fairytales is a way of showing that the two worlds are not so different after all. The seemingly
humorous scene where Ron is aware of wizarding tales and Harry and Hermione are aware of
different ones is a stroke of comparative brilliance on Rowling’s behalf, much like the
differences in religion and mythologies between cultures in contemporary society.

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Rowling’s most championed Muggle-born in the Harry Potter series is without a doubt,
Hermione Granger. Friend and ally to Harry throughout all seven books, Hermione is a brilliant
example of Muggle-born achievement and equal talent in the practice of magic. She is often
quoted as being the “brightest witch of her age” and constantly proving that her Muggle
parentage has no effect on her ability to continuously perform extraordinary magic. She makes
an effort to soak up all magical and non-magical information, receives top marks in all of her
classes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where she attends, and succeeds in
preforming complex magic far beyond her years of experience. She is a perfect specimen of
magic ability, and yet she comes from the so called “inferior” lineage of Muggles.
Hermione is an example of wrongful stereotyping, proving that outstanding magical
ability does not require coming from an all magical family. Hermione’s magical aptitude enables
us to assume that knowledge and skill are not inherent, but dependent on our choices. A common
stereotype among white academic settings, is that black students perform poorly in school
because they are black, when academic achievement has nothing to do with race. There are only
advantages given to white students over black students…better schools, more money, the
expectation of higher learning…all of these factor in to the stereotype of black students
performing under white students academically, when we know full well that individuals prove
the stereotype wrong. This is similar to blood purity having nothing to do with how well you
preform magic. There are advantages to coming from a pure-blood family in the wizarding world
in that you know more about the magical aspect, but it in no way determines ability.
The inclusion of Muggle-borns within the magical community does not come without
racial stereotypes and racial slurs from the general public. Just as we encounter various racial and
cultural slurs within our society, the wizarding world had their own slur for Muggle-borns.

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“Mudblood” is a foul term used to describe Muggle-borns, giving the connotation that their
blood is dirty and unclean. The first mention of the slur comes during the Chamber of Secrets,
Rowling’s second book in the series, when Draco Malfoy insults Hermione. “No one asked your
opinion, you filthy little Mudblood,’ he spat. Harry knew at one that Malfoy had said something
really bad because there was an instant uproar at his words” (Chamber of Secrets 112). The use
and understanding of ‘Mudblood’ gives the wizarding community license to use it to
discriminate. There are certain parallels drawn between the “other” and discriminatory language,
but it is almost never openly used to identify that “other”. “The moment that Malfoy calls
Hermione a ‘filthy little Mudblood’ in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the scandalized
reactions of the characters tell us that ‘Mudblood’ is as offensive to them as ‘nigger’ is to us (Nel
44). Though white people cannot identify with the slur nigger as blacks do, there is an agreed
upon understanding that the word is wrong at both ends. This is similar to the outrage share by
pure-bloods and half-bloods alike at hearing the term Mudblood. Slurs give life to the idea that
the people they pertain to are somehow different and sullied from the rest of the world. Although
the majority of the wizarding world does not take to the idea of tainted blood, they are members
of a society that acknowledges pure blood lines and the societal impacts of magical parentage.
Hybridity and Passing
The concept of hybridity comes into play throughout the Harry Potter series not only
through Muggles and wizards, but with magical creatures as well. Mixed identity is an issue
within the wizarding community, and since both wizards and muggle are human, it is a far less
significant issue than the mixing of wizards and creatures. While the hybridity of half-blood and
Muggle-born wizards go visually unnoticed, hybridity between wizards and magical creatures is

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a bit more telling, leading to immediate discrimination. Certain characteristics become noticeable
to anyone who can identify the hybridity of wizard and the given magical creature. Hybridity
between wizards and magical creatures is rare, but they exist within the Harry Potter universe, in
some of the most downplayed, but brilliant characters. Rubeus Hagrid, Remus Lupin, and Filius
Flitwick are all examples of mixed identity between wizard and magical creature, all who have
overcome social prejudices in the wizarding world by neglecting to draw attention to their
hybridity.
The magical creature ancestry shared by the characters of Hagrid, Lupin, and Flitwick,
are all half wizard and half magical creatures deemed dangerous by the wizarding public. Hagrid
is half giant, notorious for their brutality, Lupin is a half-blood wizard, bitten by a werewolf at a
young age, and becomes identified as a member of the vicious werewolf community, and
Flitwick who is half goblin, which are viewed as a treacherous race. None of these traits
commonly associated with these magical creatures are remotely a part of these three
personalities. Hagrid is far gentler than most wizards, Lupin is level-headed, not aggressive
because of his affliction, and Flitwick is one of the most loyal professors employed at Hogwarts.
Although these stereotypes may exist for a purpose, it is in no way a method for measuring a
man’s worth, but growing up in the wizarding world, there are certain preconceptions when it
comes to certain magical creatures. “But what’s it matter if his mother was a giantess?’ Said
Harry. ‘Well…no one who knows him will care, ‘cos they’ll know he’s not dangerous,’ said Ron
slowly. ‘But Harry, they’re just vicious, giants” (Goblet of Fire 430). Although Ron is in no way
prejudice of blood status, he has grown up in the wizarding world and has an understanding of
certain wizarding world stereotypes that Harry does not share, aiding in the judgment of Hagrid’s
giant background and other wizarding hybrids.

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One of the greatest differences between wizarding blood status and creature hybridity, is
that you can often see the hybridity at first glance. But what constitutes the race of a living
being? “I define a “race” as a vast group of people loosely bound together by historically
contingent, socially significant elements of their morphology and/or ancestry” (Lopez 966).
Taking Lopez’s definition within the wizarding world, race includes a collection of living,
intelligent beings with separate but somewhat similar cultures. If we view Muggles as a separate
race than wizards just as we view giants, werewolves, and goblins as separate, then muggle-
wizard hybridity can easily defeat immediate prejudice by passing. This concept of passing is
something that many wizard/magical creature hybrids cannot hope to accomplish. They instead
ignore their other half, focusing solely on their wizard ancestry to avoid unwanted attention, even
when the physical evidence is present.
There is no physical evidence that can out a half-blood or Muggle-born like there is for
Hagrid and his larger than normal size, or Flitwick and his unusually short stature. Being able to
pass in the wizarding world creates an easiness for the mixed individuals, but an added
uneasiness for those concerned with purity of blood. When word gets out during Harry’s third
year that Professor Lupin is a werewolf, he resigns, much to Harry’s dismay. “This time
tomorrow, the owls will start arriving from parents… They will not want a werewolf teaching
their children, Harry” (Prisoner of Azkaban 423). Almost a whole school year had passed
without any care or issue with Professor Lupin, because nobody but the Hogwarts staff knew of
his affliction. Once word had gotten out, it had become a different issue entirely. How can one
tell the pure-bloods from the Muggle-borns and magical creature hybrids when there is no
physical proof? This issue parallels the topic of racial hybridity in our culture. We design
humans to fit into a certain race according to the status quo, finding difficulty in placing

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individuals when they have black skin and almond shaped eyes, or white skin with kinky hair.
Without evidence to claim mixed race individuals, we hesitantly allow them to roam free from
conceptions, until they are ousted as the “other” like Professor Lupin.
Problematic is the notion that wizards are the superior race, and Muggles and magical
creatures exist only under them. How a dominant culture comes into power is always written,
rewritten, and smudged throughout history. Paralleling the “superior” race of wizards within the
Harry Potter series with the white “superior” race within our world, leaves us with the given
“superior” race creating and shaping existent culture. The culture of those in power as well as
those oppressed are both formed by the defined “superior” race. It becomes an issue when both
the oppressive and the oppressed begin to believe the same twisted cultural identifications.
“Culture forms our beliefs. We perceive the version of reality that it communicates, Dominant
paradigms, predefined concepts that exist as unquestionable, unchallengeable, are transmitted to
us through some culture. Culture is made by those in power -” (Anzaldua 1018). Goblins, who
are seen as treacherous in the wizarding community, have their own oppressed history beyond
the wizarding one. Wizards and Goblins coexist, yet they have very different customs and
beliefs, leading to many conflicts in the past as well as the present. Ron, having grown up in the
wizarding world, believes wizards to be in the right, since he has heard of Goblin offences over
wizard ones. The conflicting views between wizards and goblins, act as a perfect example of
protection of one’s own ancestry and race legacy. Neither side will place blame within their own
race, although as history often shows us, blame is often placed everywhere, and often times with
the majority of it belonging to the “superior” race, in this case wizards.
One of the greatest concerns with hybridity and mixed race, is the level of passing
affordable for children. Mixed race relationships during southern slavery often dealt with

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mothers praying that their child would be able to pass for white. Whether a black woman had a
white man’s child, or a white woman had a black man’s child, there was always a fear that the
baby would turn out too black, unable to pass as white if needed. A similar concern comes up in
what I call the Teddy Lupin fear. In the Deathly Hallows, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks
get married against Lupin’s better judgment. Always aware of his hybridity as a werewolf, Lupin
constantly worries about his lifestyle impacting Tonks. This worry turns quickly into fear when
Tonks becomes pregnant with Lupin’s child. There is a panic on Lupin’s part on how the baby
will turn out…will Lupin’s werewolf hybridity affect the child, or not? Teddy Lupin is
eventually born, no complications or werewolf hybridity present. The Teddy Lupin fear acts as a
constant reminder of the concern for our children in a world that often does not accept them for
who they are. The over quoted message that “children are our future” cannot be fully applied to
our society unless we as a society can accept everyone equally, so that our children can learn to
do the same through guidance.
Registration Commissions
One of the greatest dangers when it comes to race and the “other”, is when it becomes
legally obligatory to dictate your difference from the culture you live in. Historically, Jim Crow
laws in the U.S. and Nazi Germany’s Jewish registration during the Second World War, have
acted as methods of ostracizing and dehumanizing the “other” whether they be black, Jewish, or
even Muggle-borns. In the last book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Lord
Voldemort has fully risen to power, and enacts the Muggle-born Registration Commission. The
commission acts as an instrument to round up all of the Muggle-borns, hoping to prove their
guilt in stealing magic, and eliminating their rightful place in the wizarding world. The method is

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effective in scaring Muggle-borns into believing they can explain themselves, as well as scaring
non Muggle-borns into keeping quiet, for fear of being a sympathizer, or buying into the belief
that Muggle-borns are really a threat to magical blood lines. “Many wizards with sanctioned
family backgrounds indulge in bigotry against Muggle-born members of the community, even
calling for their extermination in scenes eerily reminiscent of World War II’s Holocaust, Stalin’s
purges, or ethnic cleansing in 1990’s Yugoslavia” (Schafer 236). The Muggle-born Registration
Commission creates a lawful method of elimination. There is structure and law backing up the
racism, similar to the Jewish registration and the Jim Crow laws set in place to create a stable set
of discriminatory laws to keep the “inferior” contained. Laws have a way of being overlooked as
something to benefit the general public…it often takes time and effective leaders to bring
attention to immoral laws.
History is littered with examples of unjust laws for the sake of blood purity. The
intelligence in making something a law or requirement over an unorganized crusade, gives an
overall consent and compulsion to follow the law. The illusion of a law is that it is set in stone,
when laws are most often changed by the demand of the people. This is Voldemort’s genius in
the seventh book. He acts behind the Ministry of Magic, allowing for the workers and politicians
to enact laws on his behalf, rather than openly crusading for the disposal of Muggle-borns. The
tactical prowess of Voldemort’s racial purity campaign is flawless and effective in
accomplishing his goal of eliminating Muggle-borns from the wizarding world.
The irony in Voldemort’s desire to rid the wizarding world of Muggle-borns and create
an all pure-blood race of wizards, is that he himself is of half-blood status. Voldemort is half-
blooded, like Harry, and keeps this information secret from his followers. He despises his
Muggle lineage, choosing to focus on his wizarding half, the half that descended from the great

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Salazar Slytherin. This directly parallels Hitler’s pursuit of the perfect Aryan race. Hitler was not
light haired or blue eyed, and has been historically linked to Jewish ancestry, making him not his
own ideal of the perfect human. “The Dark Lord’s zeal for Purebloods, is ‘like Hitler and the
Aryan ideal, to which he did not conform at all, himself. And so Voldemort is doing this also. He
takes his own [perceived] inferiority, and turns it back on other people and attempts to
exterminate in them what he hates in himself” (Nel 44). Although Voldemort is purging what he
finds inferior within himself from the wizarding world, there are many supporters (Death Eaters)
and general sympathizers (the Black family) who gather behind him, making his work that much
easier.
Non-prejudice Items
One of the most useful methods of disproving the validity of racial inferiority in the
Harry Potter universe is the inclusion and use of non-prejudice magical items. Though not
present within the book, the Hogwarts list is a magical parchment and quill set that keeps track of
the names of every single magical child born in the world. Mentioned by Rowling in various
interviews, this list automatically documents the birth of a wizarding child, with even Hagrid
mentioning to Harry that he’s had his name down for Hogwarts ever since he was born. The
Hogwarts list keeps no record of blood status when it comes to identifying newborn witches and
wizards, only that they possess magical ability, and are entitled to a magical education. The
function of the Hogwarts list is to document every magical child, so that he or she may have their
chance at a wizarding education, giving all different blood statuses the same starting off point in
their magical education.

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This list, beyond ignoring blood status, completely ignores race as well, something we as
a society cannot seem to do. The craft in Rowling’s writing, is that she simultaneously focuses
on, and overlooks race within her novels. “Though the use of names like Parvarti Patil and Cho
Chang evinces an awareness of the many cultures that make up contemporary Britain, Rowling
investigates the prejudices that develop around racial and cultural differences not through social
realism, but through fantasy” (Nel 44). Rowling focuses on the fantasy race lines of magical
blood purity, rather than our usual conceptions of race and color. Very little is mentioned about
Cho Chang or Parvarti Patil’s race, we as readers simply infer in reference to their non-white
names. Parvarti Patil’s race never even comes into play until the fourth book, when she wears a
traditional Indian sari to the Yule Ball with Harry. It is only then as readers that we notice
Parvarti is Indian. We realize that her physical race is viewed second, and her status as a half-
blood first within the wizarding world.
The Sorting Hat is one of the rarest magical items thought up by J.K. Rowling, used at
the beginning of every year to sort incoming first-year students into their appropriate Hogwarts
houses. The Sorting Hat has a magical consciousness and understanding of what the four houses
of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, all desire in their students. One of the most
unique aspects of the hat, besides a consciousness, is an understanding of a person’s essence
without superficial judgment on appearance or race. Although Slytherin house is notorious for
only accepting pure-blooded witches and wizards, the Sorting Hat does not take blood status into
account when sorting, even though Salazar Slytherin would have. Two notorious half-bloods
belonging to Slytherin house were Severus Snape and Tom Riddle (Voldemort). Even the
notoriety of Slytherin’s pure-blood house is a façade. Though the Sorting hat is supposed to
judge based on the qualities each founder would have regarded in high esteem, the Sorting Hat

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judges purely on personality and potential, not where someone came from or their lineage. In
many ways, the Sorting Hat is the most unbiased being within the series, generating magical
conclusions of a person’s qualifications by looking inside of their head rather than at their
outward appearance, or how they are viewed within societal constructs.
Importance of Harry’s Half-Blood Status
Although the Harry Potter novels are told in third person, the central focus is always
through Harry. He is the lens through which we view the wizarding world, and the standard to
which we hold everything. It is important in viewing racial theory within the novels that Harry is
of half-blood status, a sort of middleman between Muggle-borns and pure-bloods. Although
Harry cannot remember his parents, they play a crucial part in his life and morality, starting with
their wizarding lineage. James Potter, Harry’s father, was a pure-blood wizard, whereas his
mother Lily was a Muggle-born, giving Harry half-blood status as a wizard. He is never held up
to blood purity expectations, nor is he harassed due to his half-blood status. Half-blooded
wizards are often left alone, even under Voldemort’s rule. They are viewed as inferior by purists,
but have enough wizarding ancestry to belong to the wizarding world. The same cannot always
be said for Muggle-borns unfortunately. Harry makes an effort to keep things low key due to his
celebrity status in the wizarding world, but adamantly stands up for what he believes in and what
is just. Similar to the Sorting Hat, Harry passes judgment based on what he sees inside of a
person, ignoring any irrelevant outside factors. In a sense, Harry can see things more clearly than
pure-bloods or Muggle-borns since his blood status is never questioned or affecting his
judgment.

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Harry’s half-blood status allows him to view opposite ends of the blood lines from an
unaffected vantage point. He loves both pure-bloods through his father and his friend Ron
Weasley, as well as Muggle-borns through his mother and friend Hermione Granger. Though
Harry’s blood status rarely comes into play within the series, the blood statuses of his two best
friends frequently do. Ron and Hermione both deal with their blood status coming into question
throughout the series, sandwiching Harry between two opposite sides of the wizarding blood-line
spectrum. He sees the effect that wizarding society has on pure-bloods and well as Muggle-
borns, allowing him to take a step back from the wizarding world of prejudice and judge by
rational thought. Harry has never been, and never will be the prime example for racial prejudice
within the series, but he is certainly the best lens from which to observe these prejudices.
Ron Weasley is a pure-blooded wizard, with an overall disinterest in the blood status of
others. An issue that always seems to come into play with Ron’s pure-blood status is the fact that
he and his family are viewed as “blood traitors” by other pure-blood families. Ron’s father works
closely with Muggle culture and he idolizes them, often wondering how airplanes fly or how
electricity works. Even though the Weasleys come from a long line of pure-blooded wizards,
they make it known that they pay no mind to blood purity. Like Sirius Black, the Weasley family
are viewed as black sheep in the pure-blood community. Ron is constantly harassed and taunted
for his family’s “blood traitor” status, often by Draco Malfoy or even his father, Lucius Malfoy.
Ron ends up breaking away from his family’s pure-blood status at the end of the series, marrying
Hermione Granger and having two half-blood children, much to the delight of his parents. His
younger sister Ginny later follows suit by marrying Harry.
Hermione’s Muggle-born status is one of the greatest repeat sources for racism within the
series. As the books darken in content, so do the racial offenses. From being called a Mudblood

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by Draco Malfoy in the second book, to being tortured by Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange in the
seventh book, Hermione has experienced more than her fair share of racism. Her talent and
academic achievements draw focus on her blood lines, causing a confusion with this Muggle-
born girl who is top of her class. Because of this, Harry is often first to advocate for Hermione
and her abilities having nothing to do with her blood status as a Muggle-born. He also has no
tolerance for racism and elitism, as seen in his conversation with Professor Horace Slughorn.
“Your mother was Muggle-born of course. Couldn’t believe it when I found out. Thought she
must have been pure-blood, she was so good.’ ‘One of my best friends is Muggle-born,’ said
Harry, ‘and she’s the best in our year.’ ‘Funny how that sometimes happens, isn’t it?’ said
Slughorn. ‘Not really,’ said Harry coldly” (Half-Blood Prince 70-71). Though Professor
Slughorn is not prejudice or hateful towards Muggle-borns, he does have a preconceived notion
that they should, in normal circumstances, perform poorly in the wizarding world. He treats
those who prove themselves favorably regardless of blood status, but treats gifted Muggle-borns
as a rare, but celebrated oddity. This sort of preconceived notion is something Hermione must
constantly combat throughout her school career.
Although there is no question of Harry’s position and belonging within the wizarding
world, he was raised as a Muggle. Due to the untimely death of his parents, Harry was raised by
his magic hating aunt and uncle, who kept his wizarding ancestry a secret. Because of this, Harry
was raised as a Muggle, knowing absolutely nothing of the wizarding world, not even of his own
fame. Receiving his Hogwarts acceptance letter on his eleventh birthday comes as quite a shock
to Harry, as it does to most Muggle-borns. Ironically, Harry’s first encounter with another wizard
his own age (Draco Malfoy), immediately paints a picture of how problematic and unique
Harry’s position in the wizarding world is. “I really don’t think they should let the other sort in,

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do you? They’re just not the same, they’ve never been brought up to know our ways. Some of
them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should
keep it in the old wizarding families” (Sorcerer’s Stone 78). Here we see Draco’s prejudice,
assuming that Harry is not Muggle-born. He had no way of knowing Harry’s lineage, but rattles
off his views on Muggle-borns, or the “other sort” within the magical community. These
preconceived ideas are guided by the principles he has grown up with his whole life, being a
pure-blood from an elitist family. Harry is not Muggle-born, but he has grown up in a similar
fashion, rendering Draco Malfoy’s reasoning for not allowing Muggle-borns into Hogwarts
imprecise and ultimately flawed. The statement made by the eleven-year old Draco sets a
precedent for many of the racial views and blood purity ideals shared by the wizarding
community.
Harry’s half-blood status is believed by Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, to
be the main catalyst for the entire series. The books focus on the inescapable link and rivalry
between Harry and Lord Voldemort, which we later find out was generated by Voldemort
himself. The murder of James and Lily Potter, as well as Voldemort’s attempt on Harry’s life
when he was a baby, was put into motion by a prophecy alluding to a young boy born at the end
of July who would cause the Dark Lord’s demise. These prophetic clues could have meant
Harry, but it could have also meant another boy, a pure-blooded schoolmate of Harry’s, named
Neville Longbottom. Both boys fit the prophecy, with the only difference between the two boys
being their blood statuses. Interestingly, Lord Voldemort chooses not the pure-blooded Neville,
but the half-blooded Harry instead. Dumbledore believed Voldemort’s choice to be fueled by his
similar blood ancestry with Harry over Neville. Since both Harry and Voldemort were half-
blooded wizards, they eventually share a future where one must die and one must live. Harry

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becomes the chosen one not because of his blood status, but because Voldemort decided that his
blood status was equal to his own, therefore Harry was more of a threat to him than Neville.
Harry became the chosen one only because Voldemort marked him as his equal in every way,
making blood status the most crucial driving element within the series.
Conclusion
Examining the racial theory and blood purity concerns within the Harry Potter series can
effectively help us analyze the reasons why racism and race construction exist in our culture. The
obsession with keeping family lines pure and pruned, the issues with dual identities, the
uncertainty of racial hybrids, and the historically repeated desire for a “superior” race, all parallel
between the Harry Potter universe and the purely Muggle world we belong to. It’s easy for us to
identify with Harry and his inability to accept any preconceived racial stereotypes within the
wizarding world, but we consciously or even subconsciously acknowledge racial stereotypes in
our culture every day because we have learned them growing up. Why would we disband
Professor Lupin for being bitten as a small boy, or assume Hagrid a monster because of his
giantess mother? These assumptions are absurd for the reader as well as Harry, but stereotypes
within our own culture linger in our heads. Asians are typically good at math, African
American’s are more likely to commit crimes, Mexicans are constantly crossing the U.S. boarder
illegally…All of these racial stereotypes exist in our culture, and yet we do find them absurd
because their existence lies in what we view as general truth. What lies beyond the truth are the
variables, that Asians have rigorous schooling, African American’s have a higher poverty rate
and incarceration rate due to prejudice and slavery, and Mexicans are trying to make a better life
for themselves outside of a flawed home country. We create stereotypes to excommunicate the

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“other”, causing a world of pure-blood snobbery. In our society, we should all strive to be like
Harry, viewing race and racism as nothing more than a close-minded thing of the past in a future
that judges based on the individual alone, and not on the preconceived categorizations associated
with where one comes from.

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Schafer, Elizabeth. Exploring Harry Potter. 1st. Osprey, FL: Beacham Publishing Corp., 2000.
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Lopez, Ian F. Haney. "The Social Construction of Race." Trans. Array Literary Theory: An
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Anzaldua, Gloria. "Borderlands/ La Frontera." Trans. Array Literary Theory: An Anthology. .
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Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York: Scholastics, 1997. Print.
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