Weasley dad won't be Minister; Tom Riddle not 'Prince'

  July 26, 2004 at 8:13 AM ET
  Geri     HPANA (via JKRowling.com)
  jk rowling, half blood prince, harry potter and the half blood prince


JK Rowling has updated her websiteopens in new window to address pressing questions about Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

She answers questions about Arthur Weasley (Ron's dad), Tom Riddle (the future Voldemort) and what is the relation between Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (book 2) and the upcoming book six.

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.

Read the additional questions and answers:

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