Do all Hogwarts students have magical parents?

It would be easy to think that every person that has magic must come from a wizarding background. Surely magic is passed down through the generations? Yet, while there are some Hogwarts students that come from a long line of witches and wizards, there are others whose parents aren’t magical at all. 

Firstly, you have pure-bloods – students whose parents are both from magical families. Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Draco Malfoy were all pure-bloods. Some people who come from this background think that this makes them better than everyone else. Draco Malfoy certainly took a lot of pride in his ‘blood status’ and looked down on anyone whose blood wasn’t ‘pure’. Although, there are plenty of pure-bloods who don’t think this way. Ron Weasley may have been from a long line of witches and wizards, but he didn’t care about any of that and was welcoming to all. 

Then there are half-bloods. These are the students who have one pure-blooded parent and one Muggle, or Muggle-born, parent. Harry Potter is famously a half-blood. His father, James Potter, was from a pure-blooded family. His mother, Lily Potter, came from a Muggle background – though she was a witch herself.  

Which leads us nicely on to Muggle-borns. These are the students whose parents were Muggles, and they grew up not knowing anything about the wizarding world. Hermione Granger was a Muggle-born – both her parents were dentists! Though Muggle-borns probably sensed they were different from a young age. Magical children tend to accidentally perform acts of magic – especially when they are scared or angry. Like the time Aunt Petunia gave Harry a terrible haircut and it grew back overnight.  

So, we imagine it must be rather a relief when a Hogwarts professor comes to give a Muggle-born their school letter and to tell them who they really are! Finally, there’s an explanation for all the strange things that have happened around them.  

To be a witch or wizard, you don’t have to have magical parents. There are lots of different students from plenty of backgrounds. As long as you can perform magic, you can go to a magical school.