Squib Possibility

[AidaLuthien]

*climbs back on the genetics platform*

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.

To give yourself a little more leeway, you could just argue that it's several genes at play. Most phenotypical things (hair color, eye color) are several genes. Thus it's possible for two families of brown eyed people to suddenly produce a blue eyed child. It's several genes at play and when they line up just right, you get someone with blue eyes when it's unexpected.

If you want to play it like that, you could say that as it's several genes but primarily recessive (like blue eyes), you can get Muggle born wizards and witches, and pure-blood families generally producing wizards and witches, while half-bloods would be more of a crap shoot.

Dimples are actually one gene, I recall. Very random thought. Genetic diseases and defects occur because something went wrong in a specific part of the chromosome (something snapped off, something repeated too many times, something flipped itself, etc, etc.)

[DeadManSeven]

Or it could be something like a gene, but not a part of the human genome as such that could, in theory, be turned on or off with the aid of not-too-distant future science. Calling what makes wizards wizard a gene is well and good, but I don't think I really like the idea of it actually being a piece of genetic coding.

This also neatly sidesteps the whole issue of the number of wizards vs the number of muggles in the world not making sense, if it's a dominant gene - a magic "gene" doesn't have to function the exact same way a proper gene does.

[ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor]

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

Ooh, very well spotted. That is an excellent point, plus having a gifted wizard in the ancestry would definitely make sense for Hermione.


If a Squib and a Muggle have a child, is there a possibility that he could be a wizard?

Very good question. At the moment, I'm thinking that, while it's possible, it's improbable. At no point in the series are there any characters who have a Squib for a parent. That's not to say that there's never been one, but out of over a hundred characters, none of them have a Squib mum or dad. Sure, there are quite a few Muggle-borns, but none of those would have had a Squib parent; that just seems like something that would have been noted.

Personally, I think a Squib who had a wizard child would be bitter toward his/her child.



Another question that popped into my head: What do you think the likelihood is of Madam Pince being a Squib?

[Sapphire at Dawn]

What do you think the likelihood is of Madam Pince being a Squib?

I don't think Madam Pince is a Squib because in one of the books (can't remember which one, but it might be GoF), she catches Harry and Ginny eating chocolate in the library and uses her wand to make their books and bags chase them out.

If a Squib and a Muggle have a child, is there a possibility that he could be a wizard?

I agree that it's probably possible, but very unlikely. Ron says that Squibs are rare, so the child of a Squib would be rarer still, I think.

Sarah x

[ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor]

What do you think the likelihood is of Madam Pince being a Squib?

I don't think Madam Pince is a Squib because in one of the books (can't remember which one, but it might be GoF), she catches Harry and Ginny eating chocolate in the library and uses her wand to make their books and bags chase them out.

I hadn't thought of that. I just didn't ever remember her doing magic, and it just seemed like a natural evolution that, with her rather acid attitude, that she was like Filch: a veritable outsider.

[Sapphire at Dawn]

I hadn't thought of that. I just didn't ever remember her doing magic, and it just seemed like a natural evolution that, with her rather acid attitude, that she was like Filch: a veritable outsider.

When I first read the TQ I though it was possible. She does seem the type, like Filch. But then I remembered that incidence. Also, I think it's mentioned somewhere, perhaps in those Fantastic Beast and Quidditch Through the Ages books, that she puts spells on the books to stop them from being mistreated. I think that she's just naturally a bit protective of her books...

Sarah x

[Virgil]

This also neatly sidesteps the whole issue of the number of wizards vs the number of muggles in the world not making sense, if it's a dominant gene - a magic "gene" doesn't have to function the exact same way a proper gene does.

That's a really good point - if the wizard "gene" functions like a proper gene, then why is the wizard:Muggle ratio so low? I think that the answer probably has to do with the fact that the majority of wizards tend to marry and have children with witches. Even those who are not prejudiced, like the Weasleys, tend to marry into other magical families simply because the Wizarding community is so cut off that it is not very likely that a wizard or witch would be in a situation where they could meet and fall in love with a Muggle. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, but that's just an explanation for the relationship between the dominant "gene" and the low ratio. I'd estimate that only about 15% or so of wizards/witches end up marrying Muggles.

Peace,
Virgil

[AidaLuthien]

I just had a random thought today on the bus about the difference between Muggles and Squibs. I hope it makes sense.

What if genetically Muggles and Squibs are the same and the only difference is a legal one? Thus Squibs are exempt from things like the Statute of Secrecy and can testify in wizarding court (like Mrs. Figg).

[OliveOil_Med]

But then again, there is still the point that Mrs. Figg was able to 'sense' the presence of the Dementors in OotP, even if it isn't clear if she could see them for herself.

But something else I wonder about this. Would a Muggle notice the chill in the air and the sudden unhappiness that comes with the presence of the Dementors? Maybe it is just that Mrs. Figg felt these things and was just aware of what they meant.

[AidaLuthien]

But then again, there is still the point that Mrs. Figg was able to 'sense' the presence of the Dementors in OotP, even if it isn't clear if she could see them for herself.

But something else I wonder about this. Would a Muggle notice the chill in the air and the sudden unhappiness that comes with the presence of the Dementors? Maybe it is just that Mrs. Figg felt these things and was just aware of what they meant.

What does Dudley feel in this passage? I thought that he could feel a chill and got scared too.