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by Dave Haber, Wizard News Wizard

There are three new items today on the FAQ section on J.K. Rowling's official website, www.jkrowling.com, concerning future happenings in the Harry Potter books and a small but important insight into one big mystery.

In two FAQ entries, J.K. states briefly that Arthur Weasley will not be the next Minister of Magic. She also denies rumors by verifying that Tom Riddle is not the Half Blood Prince, since Tom Riddle and Voldemort are the same person, and she's previously stated Voldemort is not the Half Blood Prince. There is also a new FAQ entry which explains the connection between Half Blood Prince and Chamber of Secrets.

However, she also makes a FAQ entry that, while answering a simple question, lays a very important clue about something we know hardly anything about yet, the families of Harry's parents.

In the FAQ, J.K. writes:

Why are some people in the wizarding world (e.g., Harry) called 'half-blood' even though both their parents were magical?

The expressions 'pure-blood', 'half-blood' and 'Muggle-born' have been coined by people to whom these distinctions matter, and express their originators' prejudices. As far as somebody like Lucius Malfoy is concerned, for instance, a Muggle-born is as 'bad' as a Muggle. Therefore Harry would be considered only 'half' wizard, because of his mother's grandparents.

If you think this is far-fetched, look at some of the real charts the Nazis used to show what constituted 'Aryan' or 'Jewish' blood. I saw one in the Holocaust Museum in Washington when I had already devised the 'pure-blood', 'half-blood' and 'Muggle-born' definitions, and was chilled to see that the Nazis used precisely the same warped logic as the Death Eaters. A single Jewish grandparent 'polluted' the blood, according to their propaganda.

In this FAQ entry, J.K. is stating, for the first time, that Harry's mother's grandparents were Muggles. Previously we could only guess about Harry's mother's family from Petunia's (Lilly's sister) description that day in the hut on the rock of the events surrounding Harry's birth.

Because of this fact, we now know more about Harry's family. By telling us that the Muggle-blood in Harry comes from his great-grandparents, she seems to saying that both of Harry's grandparents, his Mother's parents, were Wizards. This is important, because now Petunia's status as a possible Wizard is much more likely, and if Petunia is a Wizard (or a squib) that also means that Dudley is a half-blood Wizard as well.

To read all the FAQs, go to www.jkrowling.com, and then click on the little pile of paper clips. The newest entries can be read by clicking on the envelope that is stamped "About The Books". ©

Published July 26, 2004

This article is Copyright © 2004, David Haber, and may not be reproduced on other web sites or in print, in whole or in part, without expressed permission

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