Blood Status in Harry Potter: Advantage or Disadvantage?

Hello, Fanaticals! Today we are going to dive into the other side of blood status in Harry Potter. While yesterday we discussed the possibilities of Muggleborns not actually being "Muggle born" but we didn't get the chance to cover the potential disadvantages it gives outside of the fact that Hermione is only the second Muggleborn Minister in wizarding history.

It is also very rare that we see or hear of a Muggleborn having a high-ranking position in the Ministry overall. This begs the question of WHY? Obviously, for a long time there was the prejudice issue with blood supremacy and Voldemort; but before him there was also Grindelwald who preached the same thing. So, why when the kids enter Hogwarts does it feel like some are just better than others? Let's take a look at a common theme in the "Harry is wizard-raised" fics that actually makes a lot of sense and is a great theory!

Magic During Summer

A reoccurring theme in "Harry is wizard-raised" fics is a couple different reminders. Despite the fact that each wand has a trace, there are still sometimes that underaged magic goes unnoticed. Why? There are multiple theories about that, but one major one is the wards. Most wizarding residences seem to have wards around them that prevent magic from being tracked. If this is true, then wouldn't that give Purebloods and Halfbloods who are wizard-raised an unfair advantage? We all know that kids like Draco Malfoy and probably even Neville Longbottom were doing magic in their homes from a young age. Even Bill and Charlie Weasley at one point took their parent's wands. While we don't know if they got in trouble with the Misuse of Magic office, we know Molly Weasley and they were definitely in trouble with her!

While parents like the Weasleys may not encourage or allow it, this does not mean that their children could not LEGALLY do it as children. This could be either because their house is surrounded by wards, or due to the fact that they are Purebloods the Ministry system would not be able to tell the difference between a wizarding child's magic and the parent's magic. This would be especially true if the child used their parent's wand rather than their own.

If we take these theories as truth, then does this not mean that Pureblood and wizard-raised Halfbloods have an unfair disadvantage of the Muggle-raised Halfbloods and Muggleborns? Most the school would be able to practice magic, reviewing the past year and even studying ahead, without getting into trouble. While some parents might not allow their children to take advantage of this, and would rather adhere to the law, there are definitely some families that I could see not caring as long as it can't be traced back to the kids.

Looking at Book 5, when everyone is at Grimmauld Place, it's a confusing reason as to why Ron, Hermione, and Ginny wouldn't be allowed magic as the house was under the Fidelius Charm. Even though we've discussed this charm before, I feel it's important to point out its importance in this case, as it's made very clear that when then Fidelius is in place literally NO ONE who does not know the secret can find it. Meaning that it is the heaviest of wards, that can even block out the Ministry. If that is true, then why did Molly continue to tell the three of them (and the Harry) that they were not allowed to use magic if it was literally untraceable?

Personally, I can see why Molly would be that way due to her constant wish to uphold the laws of the wizarding world. However, making them clean an extremely dark house by hand when under the Fidelius and can do magic untraceably seems a bit over the top and dangerous. She, personally, ran into the Boggart. What if it had been one of the kids who had been told not to use magic? Personally, especially in Harry's circumstance, I find that appalling. But, I digress.... Regardless of Molly's views, there is sound proof that anyone who is not Muggle-raised has the possibility of disadvantage compared to wizard-raised.

Does this advantage/disadvantage carry over into school itself?

Self-Study or Time-Turners?

In Third Year, Hermione is granted a time-turner in order to take every single class available. As she is top of her year, it is almost not a surprise. However, there are three recorded and confirmed wizards who all held 12 OWLs meaning they also took every single class available: Bill Weasley, Percy Weasley, and Barty Crouch Jr. All across the internet, people question this. I may have a few answers for you.

While it is absolutely possible that all four characters used time-turners, that would mean that they would have had to be top of their classes with exemplary performances. Considering how powerful Bill is, that he became a very famous Curse-Breaker at a young age, and how much we know Percy put his nose to the ground in both study and work it's not a far reach to believe that-despite how little we know about him, and his school days-Barty Jr was also very studious.

This, though, also ties back into the Purebloods have an advantage theory, because notice how all three were Purebloods. Many fics will have a story line about "self-study", but it seems like only Purebloods are aware of or can take advantage of it. There are mentions of being able to take, retake, or take extra of your OWLs and NEWTs at the Ministry; while this is all fanon, the three record OWL holders make you wonder if this is true or not. The only two real options for these three would be either self-studiers, or they also had time-turners. Considering the family that Bill and Percy come from, I could see the two of them using time-turners. However, when you think about the Crouch family, it could go either way whether Barty self-studied or used a time-turner.

With the theories behind Dumbledore's manipulations, that could quite easily explain why Hermione was given this opportunity, as it seems more often than not that the Purebloods always have some form of advantage. While the results are unknown, it is likely that the three boys also achieved 12 NEWTs.

There are other theories that run alongside this that some of those OWLs/NEWTs are not even subjects that are offered at Hogwarts. Some of these-as usual-run along with Dumbledore's manipulations that he wanted to cut out anything "dark", trying to keep everyone as meek little sheep who could not defend themselves so that he would constantly be seen as their Saviour. This would then fall under the "self-study" part of the theory; and would actually totally explain how Bill is such an amazing curse breaker, if any of the subjects he took were self-studied.

Could being a Pureblood give someone an advantage in magic? Is this part of the prejudice against Muggleborns? What do YOU think? COme join our community and let us know what you think! Meanwhile, join me tomorrow as we look at more possible manipulations in the Wizarding World. Until then, keep on theorizing!