A Squib + A Muggle = ?

[Something Sinister]

...Would it be possible for a Squib from a Half-blooded family and a Muggle to produce a pair of [fraternal] magical twins? Also, what would they be called? I think they would be considered a Half-blood, but I'm not too sure.

I think this is similiar to Muggleborn cases, but again, I'm not too sure.

[Sonorus]

I think it certainly would be possible, there doesn't seem to be any restriction in theory for any children as to the lineage of their parents. The situation you describe would certainly be seen as unusual, but not impossible.

Technically speaking, I guess you would consider them Half-bloods, as they do have a magical grandparent (through the Squib), but you can bet that any pure-blood fanatics would consider them to be Mudbloods.

[LucillaJoanna]

A Squib is still of magical blood. They just don't have magic.

Magic is a dominant gene. So yes, it is possible for a Squib to beget a wizard or a witch with a Muggle. I mean, look at Merope Gaunt! She's not just a Squib, her blood's even tainted with deformities from inbreeding, but look at how her son, Tom Marvolo Riddle turned out. Insane and psychopathic, yes, but very magically gifted.

Good luck!

~Joanna

PS: On second thought, perhaps Merope's magic was just kinda stunted inside her because of the mistreatment she received from her father and brother. But still, would they have been so hateful of her in the first place if she had shown some magical aptitude? An only daughter, after all... Anyway. There you go. Look at Voldy and his immediate ancestry.

[hazeltwilight]

Sure it would be possible (if rare because there not identical twins). But to explain it you have to use pseudo science, this is because despite what JK says (gasp!) magic shows both the signs of a recessive and a dominate trait. It would have to be that magic has two separate genes that give enable magical abilities. One recessive and one dominate. This the only way I could think of it working.

For the half-blooded family:

Muggle parent genes look like this: :-) :/ The smiley face is recessive magical gene, the frowny face is no magic.

The magical parent: ;D :-) The really big smile is the dominate magical gene

Their children would be like this:
Child one: ;D :-) - magical
Child two: ;D :/ - magical
Child three: :-) :-) - magical
Child four: :-) :/ - non-magical, but a carrier (the squib)

The next generation family would need to look like this:

Parent one: :-) :/ - The squib
Parent two: :-) :/ - The muggle

Children:
Child one: :-) :/ - Magical
Child two: :-) :/ - Non-magical, but a carrier
Child three: :-) :/ - Non-magical, but a carrier
Child four: :/ :/ - Non-magical

Magic also seems like it would need many different genes to determine how ones magic manifests itself. The different strength and weakness in the magic of any one witch or wizard. I mean there something like 8 different genes that determine eye color alone, and magic is much more complicated. In my example I'm working on the theory that this gene is specifily related to accessing magic, kinda of a gate-way gene, so to speak.

You should also remember that this is a broad ratio, not that if a couple had four childrens that that would happen with there children.

Once again the theory isn't air tight, there are more squibs with this theory then there probably really are. But then again I think pseudo science can be allowed when dealing with magic.

I hope that made sense.

As for what they would be call, it's probably so rare that no one even has come up with a name for it.

[chasing_willow]

It sounds exactly like Mafalda (she never made it into the books, but hey..) who was born to a Squib and a Muggle accountant.

It's an interesting topic to ponder.. 'Cause the way it seems to be working out, Muggle-borns are not at all uncommon (even less so are Half-bloods), but Squibs are extremely rare (we only get mentions of four - Arabella Figg, Argus Filch, Marius Black and.. I *think* there was one more) and typically hushed and sent off to live among Muggles.

Magical fraternal twins, eh? It's.. a stretch - the fact that they are fraternal implies that they have two different sets of chromosomes (as opposed to identical twins whose genetic information is exactly the same) and both of them lucked out with a dominant (rather than dormant, recessive) magical gene.
Though given how dominant wizarding genes tend to be.. (Jo said they were)

I do agree they would be Half-bloods.

Wait, does the Muggle side of that equation know that his or her spouse is of magical blood?

[jediprankster]

I guess the real question is how one is born a Squib. Does the magic gene just go dormant in the Squib, in which case it could be passed on the offspring and be active? Or perhaps a Squib just did not get the magic gene? I am assuming that the magic gene exists in Muggles, but it needs to be combined with some other component from the other parent for the children to be magical. If a Squib has a dormant magic gene, then it could be passed on to children, but if he has no magic gene, then it could not. I would say it is possible, depending on how you want the genetics to work.

[Amanda Vega]

I've written a very detailed theory on magical genetics; I can post it up if you like, but just be aware that it may not be 100% true. I tried to follow every Jo has told us, but I could always be wrong, and I'm going to say right out that I'm not a geneticist so there's no guarantee I've done it correctly. (That, and it involves lots of Punnet Squares, which are rather hard to show through text xD)

If I remember this stuff correctly, I think it's possible, although it would be very, very rare to happen, especially, as Willow said, with the fraternal gene going on as well.

***********

And here it is:

The (Probably Incorrect and Slightly Incomprehensible) Genetics of Magical Ability
By The One Known As Amanda Vega

------------

There are three genes in the magical gene group:
M – m1 – m2

M is nonmagical.
m1 is magical.
m2 is nonmagical.

m1 is dominant over m2. M is dominant over both m1 and m2.

There are six possible gene pairs:
MM = nonmagical
Mm1 = nonmagical, carries magical gene
Mm2 = nonmagical
m1m1 = magical
m1m2 = magical, carries nonmagical gene
m2m2 = nonmagical

And it is around here that you see the flaw: according to Jo, magic is a dominant gene, and here it is recessive. But! It is still dominant over the m2 gene. This will get a more in-depth explanation later.

Using the above genes, I have made Punnet Squares that show the possibilities for each type of magic to occur. For convenience reasons, I’m going to call witches and wizards with one magical parent halfbloods, and with two magical parents purebloods, regardless of whether or not they have Muggle grandparents.

VERY IMPORTANT Punnet Squares and Explanations:



I do realize I left out the m2m2 / m1m2 duo, but it doesn’t change much of the answer.

And that is basically the gist of it. This theory is very malleable, as evident by the commentaries along with the Punnet Squares [: but it is also fairly plausible.

** A Squib could also be the result of genetic mutation, and the same with Muggleborns. **

-------------

And now to answer the question of: Could a Muggle and a Squid produce magical children?
According to my theory, yes.

(the m2m2 is the only possible Squib pairing, and the m2m2 / Mm2 is irrelevant)
There is a 50% chance of it happening. So essentially, it’s very possible for a Squib and a Muggle to have magical children, if you follow what I laid out, and even if you don’t (I’ve seen other theories that all have it mostly possible). I cannot assure you on fraternal thing, but I would assume that it would be possible as well.