Idle Harry Potter Thoughts

With the soon advent of the final Harry Potter novel, I’ve been roaming around, looking up interesting information to refresh myself with about various things that aren’t extremely obvious in the books. One of the really interesting things is plotting out how everyone is linked to each other (this was greatly aided by Rowling’s release of a segment of the Black Family Tapestry last year).

Ron has a line (I think in Chamber of Secrets) where he mentions that it was important for wizards to marry Muggles or Muggle-born wizards or the line would have died out. When one examines the genealogy of the various pureblood (or near pureblood) families, one can easily see how correct Ron is. Nearly all the principle characters that hail from pureblood lineages (including Harry) are related in some fashion to each other. In fact, nearly all these characters share descent from Phineas Nigellus Black.

Looking at things from Harry’s point of view, we note that Sirius Black (his godfather) is also his second cousin, as is Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy. This in turn makes both Tonks and Draco Malfoy his second cousins, once removed. Turning over to the Weasleys, Harry’s best friend (Ron) and his girlfriend (Ginny) are his third cousins. There is also speculation that Neville Longbottom is Harry’s third cousin, once removed; but it is not absolutely clear if the Harfang Longbottom mentioned in the tapestry is in fact Neville’s great-grandfather. It is also possible that Barty Crouch Jr. was Harry’s third cousin as well, but again, the tapestry stops when it comes to naming descendents not tied strongly to the male Black line.

Its also interesting to see the strong Slythern link that runs through the family lines. Draco’s grandmother was a Rosier, his great grandmother was a Crabbe, his great, great grandmother was a Bulstrode, and his great, great, great grandmother was a Flint. One could easily imagine these various families swirling in and out of each other with relative ease. The female Bulstrode and Flint are Harry’s ancestors as well, although one generation back.

Another thing to speculate about is who will take over for the various offices (assuming Hogwarts stays open). Given the problems the Ministry generated by stepping in with Umbridge, it’s likely that Professor McGonagall will be appointed Headmistress. This leaves vacancies in Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, the Deputy Head position, and the head of Gryffindor House (assuming that Professor Slughorn stays on). It is possible that one of the minor class teachers (Prof. Sinistra, Madam Hooch, Prof. Vector, Prof. Babbling, the Muggle Studies teacher) could be of Gryffindor House and could take over, but its also possible that McGonagall could just appoint the new Transfiguration teacher as the head of the house.

Given the history of the DADA job, I would think it somewhat unlikely that whoever gets that job would be appointed to be a head of house, until there is some evidence that the curse against it has been broken. Some circles have suggested that Hagrid might be the most senior Gryffindor and could get the head of house nod, but his lack of being a qualified wizard would probably count against him. What’s more, Prof. McGonagall, while fond of Hagrid, has been shown to be highly dubious of Hagrid’s decision making capabilities and is unlikely to place him in a position of heavy responsibility and power. Likewise, Prof. Binns is probably out of the running due to his being a ghost.

My own personal guess is that Prof. Flitwick is probably on the inside track to being appointed Deputy Headmaster.