As we found out in detail in The Order of the Phoenix, all “pureblood” wizarding families are intertwined in their ancestry. In order to keep the magic real, the families have had to marry each other instead of mixing with muggles and squibs. We learned about the Black family tree, which had some of the oldest wizarding families within it.

We know from the tree that some of the major surnames of the wizarding world are Weasley, Malfoy, Black,and Lestrange. Even though these people are pure, it does not necessarily make them the most powerful. In fact, two of the most powerful wizards we know (Harry and Voldemort) are both “half-blood.” If we were to make assumptions about this piece, we could assume that all of the most powerful wizards are half-blood. This would mean that Dumbledore and some others (Grindelwald, Gryffindor, et cetera) might also be only half-blood. I realize that this is a stretch, but it might get us closer to answering the question of where the Potters fit in.

We know from what we hear about Harry that his mother was a witch born to muggles. Although this is hard to believe, particularly after certain events in The Order of the Phoenix, we have to assume that what the characters are telling us is correct. With this in mind, we can then assume that James Potter is at least half-blood. Let us look at this angle for a moment. If we were to assume that James is only half-blood, his mother could be from one of the old wizarding families (I use this because of the patriarchal descent of surnames). Perhaps we saw his mother on the family tree, but did not recognize her because she married a muggle (James’ father, we will call him Male Potter). If this were true, then perhaps the bond that James and Sirius had was more than just good friends were, they were actually cousins.

Something that is also interesting is that in every prominent wizarding family, there is a Black. With the Weasleys, Arthur is the second cousin once-removed from Sirius meaning that a Black married a Weasley a couple generations ago. For the Malfoys (whom we can assume are fairly pureblood), there is Narcissa Black, who is Sirius’ first cousin. Andromeda (Black) Tonks married Ted Tonks (a muggle). Bellatrix (Black) Lestrange married Rudolphus Lestrange. If going along with this, that would mean that all pureblood families would have to have a Black in it. Sooo, if the Potters were purebloods, then there would have to be someone in the Black family on it.

Let us switch gears for just a moment here. Have you ever wondered why ALL of Harry’s family is dead? We are led to assume that Petunia is Harry’s only living relative. Further, we never hear about Petunia’s family coming to visit, and we do not even know for sure if they are dead. Obviously, Harry’s family has an even larger significance than we may have originally believed. Taking this into account, we must come to some sort of conclusion: Petunia and Lily were the only children of their parents, and James was an only child. It is safe enough, I think, to assume this because we never hear about James having any siblings. If James had a sibling, there would have to be some record of him at Hogwarts….unless he was a squib or a half-brother. This could be taking the Potter heritage into way too many twists, but it could happen. Let us look at this theory from a different angle.

Since we assumed earlier that James’ mother was a witch and his father was a muggle, what if we did see the mother on the Black family tree? What if the reason James and Male Potter were not on there was because James was an illegitimate child? Perhaps there are more living relatives to Harry, but they do not know about or accept it because his grandparents were not married? It is difficult to believe that there are no affairs in the wizarding world (perhaps a theme Rowling would not get into), but with all of the social hierarchy that is portrayed, it is very easy to see why an affair and/or illegitimate child would be so hush-hush and taboo. Could this be why the Malfoys loathe Harry so much? This could also answer why Sirius was so open to James; they were relatives and therefore friends when no one else in the family would accept him. Do I have any ideas about who this could be? No…but if you do, please tell me using the feedback form!

Alright, new character. In Order of the Phoenix, we hear about a young man named Mark Evans. Evans is the maiden name of Lily before she was married to James, but do we really know that Petunia’s maiden name was also Evans? A good explanation to why Petunia and Lily were so different is because they may have had different fathers. If this were true, Petunia may not know of any of Lily’s biological family. Mark could actually be related to Harry without anyone knowing it. Again, Rowling does not make coincidences, especially since we finally learn the maiden name of Lily in the same book that Mark Evans is mentioned. If Mark were to be some random kid, she probably would have picked Mark Doe or something. Even more curious than his surname, though, is his given name: Mark. Does “mark” make you think of “scar?” Or maybe “Dark Mark?” I think that Rowling may have put this in as a sort of foreshadow to the significance of Mr. Mark Evans. That has yet to be revealed, however.

So let us look at where we are so far. All of Harry’s family is dead as far as we know (except the Dursleys). It is so stunning to think that everyone else in his family is dead, but it seems as though that might be the truth. The Order of the Phoenix has a particular passage that is especially interesting in throwing this entire theory off. In the passage where Sirius is talking to Harry about the Black family tree, Sirius talks about how his family disowned him after he ran away from home at age sixteen. Sirius tells Harry that he went to live with James and Mr. and Mrs. Potter. Using this comment, we can assume that James’ parents were married. We still do not know if James was an only child, because Sirius never mentions any siblings. Sirius said that the Potters treated him as if he was their own son. This sounds familiar, right? (Think red hair and you will get it).

Perhaps we did not really come to any conclusions with this information, but it definitely got me thinking about how the characters may all be related. If you have any further evidence, please be sure to let me know with the feedback form! I will keep looking and going over the evidence to see if I can come to some better conclusions. Keep your heads up for the next Quibbler. This topic is one that many people have asked about: Harry’s peers and their roles. Many new characters and even old characters taking new roles appeared in Order of the Phoenix, so what can we predict about the roles they will play in the future? This one will help you out….

4/11/04