Squib Possibility

[ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor]

Most of you seem to insist that there is no different between a Squib and a Muggle, but that is not accurate.

If a Squib was the same as a Muggle, then Mrs. Figg would have never seen the Dementor that had attacked Harry and Dudley. She did/Dudley didn't, and she's a Squib/he's a Muggle, so, henceforth, Squib ≠ Muggle.

Squibs are supposed to have a low level of magical intelligence, hence Filch could access Hogwarts and wasn't replelled by the anti-Muggle Charms.

Now, this makes sense, plus it also corresponds with what I said above. It seems that all Squibs have some latent bit of magic in them, but they simply don't have enough to actually perform magic like wizards do.

[AidaLuthien]

I thought Mrs. Figg didn't see the Dementor. She could sense it and her testimony was acceptable to the Council since she already knew about the wizarding world, being a Squib unlike Dudley who's testimony was unacceptable as a Muggle. Does someone have OotP handy and can check this?

I thought Fudge made a big deal out of Mrs. Figg not being able to actually see the Dementor since she's a Squib... but it's been awhile since I read OotP.

[Sapphire at Dawn]

It's emphasised that she didn't see it. I don't have the exact quote, but Harry is rather dismayed by her descriptions of them, thinking that she had probably only ever seen a picture of a Dementor. So no, she can't see them. She says that she can, but she's lying.

Sarah x

[Equinox Chick]

But I though the gene that passed down magical ability was a dominant gene, seeing as almost all children born to one wizard and one Muggle are born with magic.

Dominant genes don't necessarily mean that they will be prominent.
I have brown eyes, my husband has blue, yet we have three children one with brown eyes, one with green eyes and one with blue.

And yes, they all have the same mother and father ...

There is also the concept of throwback genes where something suddenly resurfaces, or a mutation of a gene.

In the British Royal Family, Queen Victoria passed on the haemophilia gene with disastrous consequences for the Russian Royal family. Not all Quessn Victoria's son's were haemophiliac, and not all her daughters were carriers, but the daughters that were passed on the disease to their sons.
Before Queen Victoria came to the throne there had been no incidence of haemophilia in the British Royal family - her father was not a sufferer. The suggestion is either that he wasn't her real father or else the fact that he was old when she was conceived (I think he was 54) caused a mutation in the gene.

Could this not be possible in magical families? They are longer lived that Muggles.

Mrs Figg is interesting. I believe JKR confirmed that she didn't see the Dementors, but she must have had some sense that they were there, more of a sense than Dudley, for instance, because she knew what was happening. She knew there was a Dementoir around and immediately toild Harry to keep his wand out.

~Carole~

[Inverarity]

Mrs Figg is interesting. I believe JKR confirmed that she didn't see the Dementors, but she must have had some sense that they were there, more of a sense than Dudley, for instance, because she knew what was happening. She knew there was a Dementoir around and immediately toild Harry to keep his wand out.

Well, Dudley sensed the Dementors too, he just had no idea what he was sensing.

I think there's probably no real difference between Muggles and Squibs, though as I said earlier, a Squib with wizarding parents might have a higher probability of having magical children than a Muggle with Muggle parents.

[Equinox Chick]

I think there's probably no real difference between Muggles and Squibs, though as I said earlier, a Squib with wizarding parents might have a higher probability of having magical children than a Muggle with Muggle parents.

Except that Filch was able to live and work in Hogwarts. A Muggle wouldn't get near the building because of the Muggle repelling spells and large Keep Out signs. Filch is also able to frequent Hogsmeade. He can't do magic, but he's very aware of it.

I've just looked at JKR's official site and was going to c and p her words on Squibs, but it won't let me

so here goes ... (this kinda contradicts a lot of what I said before, but it's from the oracle herself.)

A Squib is almost the opposite of a Muggle-born wizard; he is a non-magical person born to at least one magical parent. Squibs are rare; magic is dominant and the resilient gene.
Squibs would not be able to attend Hogwarts as students. They are often doomed to a rather sad kind of half-life (yes, you should be feeling sorry for Filch), as their parentage often means that they will be exposed to, if not immersed in, the wizarding community, but they can never really join it.
Sometimes they find a way to fit in; Filch has carved himself a niche at Hogwarts and Arabella Figg operates as Dumbledore's liaison between the magical and Muggle worlds. Neither of these characters can perform magic (Filch's Kwikspell course never worked) but they still function within the wizarding world because they have access to certain magical objects and creatures that can help them (Arabella Figg does a roaring trade in cross-bred cats and Kneazles ...) Incidentally, Arabella Figg never saw the Dementors that attacked Harry and Dudley, but she had wnough magical knowledge to identify correctly the sensations they created in the alleyway.

J. K. Rowling has stated that Muggle-born witches and wizards are descended from Squibs who married Muggles; the magical gene resurfaces after many generations unexpectedly.

I thought this was interesting, but as there's no reference attached it could just be hokum from Wiki. I shall keep digging. I think there's something mentioned in Beedle the Bard about this.
EDIT:I dug out my copy of Beedle the Bard and in Dumbledore's notes and JKR's footnotes there's a reference to Muggle-borns and how it was thought they were random occurrances but on close examination it was revealed that they had a magical ancestor somewhere in their history.

~Carole~

[DeadManSeven]

It's also hinted at when Slughorn asks if Hermione is somehow related to a Someone-or-Other Granger, who was a talented potioneer.

[TM_WandStick]

Except that Filch was able to live and work in Hogwarts. A Muggle wouldn't get near the building because of the Muggle repelling spells and large Keep Out signs. Filch is also able to frequent Hogsmeade. He can't do magic, but he's very aware of it.

I'm not sure if this is possible, but it may be that Dumbledore was somehow able to make the Muggle repelling charms, ect. work around Filch. As in, he could somehow make the spells treat Filch as an exception, where they would normally repel him. Just a thought, but if that's the case, then that there might not be any genetic difference between squibs and muggles.

[Virgil]

there might not be any genetic difference between squibs and muggles.

I think that there are probably genetic differences between Squibs and Muggles. Like, let's say that there's some sort of "Wizard Gene" that allows people to do magic. I think that Squibs would sort of carry this wizard gene but not show it, in the same way that a gene for a genetic disease can be carried, but the person wouldn't necessarily have the disease. They could pass it down to their child, though.

Just food for though...
If a Squib and a Muggle have a child, is there a possibility that he could be a wizard?

I think that the answer would be yes, because of my theory that Squibs still carry the wizard gene. Of course, I'm not entirely sure. Maybe their great-great grandkid could be a wizard or witch?

J. K. Rowling has stated that Muggle-born witches and wizards are descended from Squibs who married Muggles; the magical gene resurfaces after many generations unexpectedly.

Ah-ha! Of course, you can never really trust anything with the word "wiki" in it... but still.

Peace,
Virgil

[OliveOil_Med]

Wow!This thread has really taken on a life of its own. And now I have more questions.

If there really is a difference between a Squib and Muggle (might it be some sort of awareness of magic), why would a children born to a wizard and a Muggle without magic be a Muggle with no magical understanding as opposed to a Squib with a limited understanding.

I still maintain that magic is a dominant gene and all children born to mixed couples will be born wizards.

As to Squibs, I think it is more likely that a Squib would give birth to a wizard. Two Muggles that carry the gene would have a one in four chance of having a wizard child, while a Squib and a Muggle carrier, the odds would be one and two.