wizards and muggles and squibs... OH MY!

[Athena Appleton]

I have a totally weird and random question. I just hope I can translate what's in my head into words...

Okay, imagine Draco Malfoy (definately a pureblood wizard) had a brother or sister who was nonmagic. That sibling would be a squib.

Now, imagine Lily's family. Assuming her parents were Muggles (which I don't really think they were, but that's beside the point), they gave birth to a magical child and a nonmagical child. Is Petunia, as the daughter of Muggles, a Muggle... Or is she, as the sibling of a witch, a squib?

[choki]

While I would classified Petunia under muggle, since her family isn't a wizarding family to begin with. Squibs only refer to those born into a wizarding family who are unable to perform magic.

[Won Wheezy]

I think you'd only call somebody a squib if both his parents are wizard/witch.But I'm not sure about that.

[Ferrus]

Petunias a muggle, Squibs are pure-blooded wizards (pure-blooded in the sense that both parents are wizards, like harry, not in Voldies sense of pure-blood) that are incapable of doing magic.

[Athena Appleton]

soo.. hmm...

1 Muggle + 1 Wizard = Wizard
1 Muggle + 1 Wizard = Squib (or is it Muggle?)
1 Wizard + 1 Wizard = Wizard
1 Wizard + 1 Wizard = Squib (I'm not confused here)
1 Muggle + 1 Muggle = Wizard
1 Muggle + 1 Muggle = Muggle (not confused here)
1 Squib + 1 Muggle = Squib (or is it Muggle?)
1 Squib + 1 Squib = Squib (how many generations can squibs be squibs before they're Muggle?)

have I gotton everyone thouroughly confused yet?

[choki]

Tough questions....ermmm
In my view,

1 muggle + 1 wizard = muggle with wizard blood (meaning if he/she have kids, the kids might show magic abilities)

1 muggle + 1 squib = muggle with wizard blood (next generation, may exhibit)
It is also possible that the above combination may give a wizard!

1 squib + 1 squib = definitely a squib (however he/she may exhibit magical power)
It is also possible that the above combination may give a wizard!

Mendel's law of genetic inheritance and law of segregation! Hahaha

[Athena Appleton]

oy... so very confusing...

the reason I'm asking is this: Lily's parents were supposedly Muggles, but I think there's some reason to believe they were, in fact, squibs. What I'm wondering is: could it be that Lily's parents were the children of squibs, so it's been a few generations since there was wizarding blood. If, after a few generations of squibs, they are considered Muggles, this could explain how they would be nonmagical but also be so proud of Lily that she was... like, it wasn't that long ago their family was magical...

dunno...

[choki]

Well, Lily's parent could have been simply muggles. Mr. and Mrs. Granger are proud and definitely happy about Hermione being a witch even though they are muggles.

It is kind of having a genius born into a normal family, without clear inheritance of intelligence.

[Athena Appleton]

oh yeah, I know there's no proof that Lily's parents were squibs instead of Muggles, they could very well have been Muggles... and you do have a point about Mr. and Mrs. Granger...

It's kind of the pride they had in having a witch in the family and the Mark Evans thing (the ten-year-old Dudley & Co. beat up). I think Mark Evans, who was ten in OotP will be at Hogwarts this year (no real proof of that, but I do think he will be). Evans being Lily's maiden name, I find it odd that pure Muggles would have a daughter who's a witch and some other relative who's magical... and no, I can't prove any of this, but as far as I know, it can't be disproven, either... I don't think J.K. Rowling would have slipped a ten year old with the same last name as Lily's maiden name in there for no good reason, though... So far, if someone is mentioned once, they are brought up again as a major story character later...

[Jotomicron]

Going a little above, in my point of view:

Muggle + Muggle = Wizard or Muggle
Muggle + Wizard = Wizard or Muggle
Muggle + Squib = Wizard or Muggle
Wizard + Squib = Wizard or Squib
Wizard + Wizard = Wizard or Squib
Squib + Squib = Wizard or Muggle

About this last one, you may say: of course he/she would be a squib, not a muggle... But then, a squib is someone whose both parents are wizards, and I think someone without magical power, son/daughter of two squibs would be considered a muggle.

[Athena Appleton]

lol thank you! that was my main question: how many generations of squibs do you have before you have yourself a muggle?

also, if two squibs marry and have a squib (muggle), that muggle would most likely still be in some contact with the wizarding world... squibs seem to be, at least... Mrs. Figg and Filch are both active in the wizarding world, only as squibs instead of wizards... so if Mrs. Figg had a muggle child, it would still grow up knowing about the wizarding world... also, it does seem that squibs use the wizarding products, so muggle kids born to squibs would still have that tie to the wizarding world... *shrug* man, okay, my brain's tired now...

[pinky p]

yikes, this IS rather confusing!

i agree with joto...

squib + squib= muggle or wizard (not a squib, since neither one of their parents have wizarding abilities.)

but... what if it went like this: a squib and another squib have a kid, and that kid is a muggle, then that kid marries another muggle (with or without wizard blood in 'em) and has a kid which is a wizard... ??? is that kid a wizard that just popped out of a muggle family, or is it from the great-grandparent's wizarding blood?

also... the wizards that pop out of muggle families, is it possible that they really have some wizarding blood in them, it's just that it was so long ago or it was from a squib, it's not in the records? have i totally confused everyone else along with myself??

[Athena Appleton]

Yes.

Actually, that's the same question no one seems to be able to answer. It's turning into a riddle. How many generations of squibs do you have before you're not a squib anymore?

Maybe that does explain the mystery of how wizards can be born to a long line of Muggle... *shrug*

[Gower]

Maybe if you trace back far enough, every family will have had someone who could do magic at some stage. So their could be no such thing as a purely muggle family.

[pinky p]

if theres no such thing as a purely muggle family, is there no such thing as a purely wizard family? i mean, sure, the malfoys and a couple others claim that they are 100% pure blood, but is that really very likely? i mean, some where along the line, in all those years, some wizard relative of theirs must have had a kid with a muggle......


also.... which came first: muggles or wizards? if all wizards have a hint of wizard ancestry in them some time, they must have come first, and then muggles just developed from generations of squibs... if not, if muggles came first, then wizards must have popped up magically (hehe) somewhere along the line, so chances are it could happen again and it is possible that wizards can pop out of 100% muggle families, without even a trace of magic blood...