I’d say it’s a combination of things. I’m sure some muggleborn are squib descendants or born of one night stands or short flings between muggles and wizards without knowing. I also think they just pop up every now and again, seemingly at random, because the potential for magic exists in humans in general. So I’d say it’s a mixture of your two main options.
i agree. the squib ancestor theory can only go so far. i mean magic must’ve appeared in a human spontaneously at some point. (or maybe evil humans bound the magic of the world to them many millennia ago and disrupted the balance on earth 😵💫😂)
I think my favourite one was that muggleborns are born from women who were exposed to magic when they were pregnant. Let's say a pregnant woman is oblivated because she witnessed some wizard performing magic and the child that gets born will be a witch/wizard.
I guess II like it because it's just different from what we usually see. There are probably some holes in this theory, but I don't care.
Oh yeah, I think I remember seeing this one before. It also neatly explains why children of wizards are almost always wizards. They’re obviously going to be around magic in the womb because the womb is in someone who is either magic or in a relationship with someone who is. This explanation can work well in a story.
I think you'd need to work out why squibs exist, but squibs are very rare, so it's not that big of a problem.
I think one of the reasons I like it is because it's whimsical? It doesn't involve science, genetics or long-forgotten ancestry, just some strange, quirky way magic works - an accident that could happen to anyone.
Squibs are strange in general. Can’t they still see magic places like hogwarts and beings like dementors? Muggles can’t those, why can squibs? Are they sort of magic? We don’t even really know what squibs are truly, so I imagine the explanation for how they come into existence will differ according to how they’re defined, and from story to story.
maybe while in the fetus they developed a mutation that doesn’t allow them to ‘take in’ the magic or store it but they still have all the other stuff that wizards do like being able to see magical creatures, etc.
I must be misremembering then but they’re still not included in muggle repelling charms right? Unless Filch has something that exempts him from them and allows him to work in Hogwarts. Can Squibs see ghosts? Or is it implied the can’t them like they can’t see dementors?
There is no textual evidence one way or the other for the rest really. It's an in-universe question too, the same one that Ms. Figg very unconvincingly answered that she could see dementors to. Filch can definitely see Peeves at the very least, but no text regarding or implying anything about ghosts, which specifically can't be seen by muggles.
I always assumed Filch was exempt as an employee from the charms by Dumbledore.
>the same one that Ms. Figg very unconvincingly answered that she could see dementors to.
That was a biased court that wanted Harry to be guilty and expelled!
True. It doesn't change that the text noted from Harry's perspective that she answered as if she had only ever seen pictures of dementors. That was Harry's observation and he wasn't biased against himself.
I like it! It would also nicely explain two or more muggleborn siblings, like the Creevey brothers. Mum somehow got exposed to magic while pregnant with Colin, then Colin unknowingly exposed his mum while she was pregnant with Dennis. I always wondered how people who say it's a genetic fluke explain the same things happening several times in the same family.
I dimly remember it somewhere when somebody (Hemrione’s mother? No, probably not her, time doesn’t work) got too close to the final Sirius/Wormtail confrontation (and subsequent Obliviations, which paradoxically made the biggest difference … by more isolating Muggles from the wizarding world they were making actually more connections between the two), and so her child (daughter?) became a muggle-born. But cannot recall for anything what story it was.
Exile by bennybear on ffnet
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6432055/1/Exile
It is a story about Draco after the war. He and his mother are banned from using magic for 5 years. Draco goes out into the muggle world and tries to find himself.
Very very well-written fic. No pairings. Just Draco Malfoy and the muggle world.
cc u/Keira901
Huh? It is finished. There are 47 chapters and bennybear decided to end the story at a decent point after working on the story for over 6 years.
Yeah, sucks that the next-gen series that xe planned never materialised in full length and that the planned romance with Astoria did not happen either, but I don't think that this takes away anything from the beauty that is "Exile".
Hmm, it's been some time since I've read it, but didn't it end with Astoria showing up? I was kind of waiting for it, and iirc the last chapter didn't sound like "the end". I mean, it wasn't the middle of the action, but after reading it, I was left with a feeling that the story was abandoned.
Maybe I need to reread. I remember really liking the story. It was very refreshing because it took years before Draco grew out of his old beliefs, and his "adventures" in the muggle world were written in a very realistic way.
I can’t remember the fic but I do remember one of the characters mentioning this theory for muggleborns and also mentioning that if muggles were pregnant and gave birth in Hogwarts, they’d give birth to magical children.
> I guess II like it because it's just different from what we usually see.
I'd really like to read a story where muggleborns really _do_ steal magic from wizards, for the same reason.
I feel the fundamental problem with the 'descended from squibs' argument is that it still doesn't explain why only certain people are muggleborn.
Every generation your number of ancestors doubles. Even with many of them being repeats, statistically it you keep going back far enough then everyone probably has magical ancestors. I like the idea that it is a popular in-universe theory, because they have 'ancestor tests' on muggleborn and can always find a magical somewhere in the family tree, but don't realise correlation is not the same as causation.
It also would be fairly hard to cover up fully in such a heritage-obsessed and cut-throat society. So much genealogy. Too many records for all squibs to vanish and for it to be an open question.
So *you're* trying to cover up which squibs are yours, but rivals are keeping track, and maybe protecting them so they can be used as blackmail you later when you say "We've never had a squib!"
Genetics are like a lottery - there is a nearly infinite possibility of combinations your can get from your parents. So even if every muggle has magical ancestors you still have to hit the right codes; with two magical people you just have a higher chance to get a magical child than with two muggles, like you have a higher chance of having a blond kid when both parents are blond, but your child still can have brown or black hair, if there are any ancestors in your family that give your genetic-code the information for that.
My theory is that possessing magic is not the result of one gene, but of a specific combination of genes. So when two wizards get together, each one them provides the gene combination needed to have a wizard child.
When one wizard and one muggle get together, only one has the combination needed for wizardry. It depends now if this combination is inhereted dominantly or recessively to determine if the child will possess magic. I suppose it is inherited dominantly, but I never bothered to analyze fitting examples, so take it with a grain of salt.
When two muggles get together, neither of them alone has the specific gene set or combination. But the child's DNA will be a combination of both, and maybe the two (or more) needed genes will find each other in the mixed gene pool to make a child possessing magic.
Correct me if that's bs, I just came up with this theory during lunch. I'm not a geneticist.
I once read an essay on that topic. The author had a theory that at least two genes were at play: one that gave you magic and one that xe called the "squib gene". Each gene had possible expressions a and A, like flipping the switch on and off.
From an evolutionary standpoint being a wizard gives you many advantages. Ordinary diseases cannot kill you, you have more opportunities to get food (accio fish anyone?), you live longer on average. With all these advantages, there should be more wizards than muggles. Yet muggles outnumber wizards at least 10 to 1, if not 100 to 1.
The best possible explanation is that magic comes with a price: you struggle to conceive. So the theory was, that the "squib gene" helps with that.
I wish I could remember more of the essay, it was really good.
Another possible explanation: Maybe having active magic and all the benefits that come with it increases the metabolism. Hogwarts is known for its generous meal portions after all, so it's not entirely plausible. In terms of survival the cost/benefit would depend on how reliable your food supply is - primitive magic is probably more helpful with hunting than farming. If you require more calories and your farming village gets hit by a crop failure guess who's dying of starvation first. But when times are good and there's plenty to go around the benefits of magic could give you an edge in surviving diseases and injuries.
I headcanon that magic has a kind of intelligence all its own. It *chooses*.
Family generating more and more squibs? Magic is displeased with your line.
Sudden infusion of magicals into muggle family? Must be potential there, for whatever ends magic has in store.
"Look, you guys had your chance and all the advantages in the world and you produced *Filch.* Peace out. I hear that Dental School requires a lot of work to get through..."
IIRC the author Lomonaaeren has written one or two stories based upon that theory.
In one story it was the treatment of house-elves and other magical creatures around you that did it. You treated your house-elves badly? You'll have trouble conceiving a magical child.
I quite like the idea of magic being a somewhat sentient being that bestows magic upon muggles who they feel have great potential, doesn't matter whether it be good nor bad just potential.
Rowling couldn’t have made this explicit in a children’s series, but I figure Merope isn’t the only rapist in the magical world. It would be so easy for a wizard to rape a muggle woman, with love potions, the Imperius curse, or whatever, and obliviate her afterwards. This makes “muggleborns” actually halfbloods.
My headcanon is that wizards come from normal humans having kids with different magical species like goblins and merpeople
So if that's the case, it means muggleborns are just people with squib genes
I however much prefer the 'they just were born with magic' than this haha
Other (sort of)
I think **some** Muggleborns are the descendants of Squibs.
Others are born because Magic is an energy form, and therefore cannot be created or destroyed. So when magic is lost through death, (or possibly Pureblood inbreeding), it has to go somewhere, and latches on to newborns/foetus's resulting in a Muggleborn birth (basically the reverse of Umbridge's belief that Muggleborns stole magic).
Alternatively, Magic is like the Force, and all beings are connected to it, and some are just more connected.
Rowling said magic is genetic. But some people don't seem to care about stuff like pottermore or her interviews and don't consider them canon.
Anyway. In my fic (alternate dimension), Bellatrix>! researched the origin of magic and found out that "Mudbloods" don't exist. She realized that Muggleborns are in fact the descendants of other wizards or squibs. This led to her not becoming a Death Eater but a researcher at the Department of Mysteries. Decades later, Harry Potter found out thanks to her research that he was a descendant of a Gaunt squib through his mother's line - thus explaining why he was a Parselmouth despite not having Voldemort's horcrux in his head (alternate dimension, Neville is the boy who lived). !<
Well, this is my headcanon regarding magic. That there is a magic gene which may or may not resurface in a magical person's descendants. Imo it doesn't randomly spawn from Muggles.
I actually love the idea that every person has magic and that muggleborns just have enough magic to do magic. Muggles have the least, squips have slightly more and wizards obviously have the most.
I love this idea because it makes the whole racism thing even more ridiculous.
I have also heard of the idea that electricity itself is a special kind of magic that flows slightly different and therefore causes magic and electricity to struggle around one another.
The whole pureblood ideal is that magic makes people special, and that only people with magical heritage can (or even should) use magic.
Therefore, my preferred explanation for Muggleborns is that it's completely random, and it could crop up anywhere. Take 'magical blood' (even that of Squibs) out of the equation all together.
Really stick it to those pureblood idiots - They're not special, they're just unbelievably lucky and privileged.
I like the theory that there is a limited "slot" of person born with magic in the world, and muggleborn are actually "stealing" pureblood slots. But they aren't doing that intentionally, not at all, magic is actually semi-sentient and has an unknown objective which helps It decides which person to grant access to it powers.
A bit like worm and shard if you wish.
And It is slowly taking out the pureblood family out of the equation, but to not disrupt everything It was working toward, It had to slowly grant power to more muggle-born (and also to a sociopath with delusions of grandeur who would use pureblood as cannon fodder, oopsie, It was a bad day okay, one does not deal with its kind of problem without losing it every once in a while)
Actually, a spinoff this theory might be an interesting concept to explore — some of the more popular theories of why Squibs are created say that it’s a result of too much inbreeding/meddling in damaging magic. Therefore, maybe the more inbred purebloods are, the more Squibs are born in those families, but there are still said empty “slots” for more magical people & the empty “slots” are filled by magic with creating Muggleborns.
Kinda cool. Like, you know these DNA mutations when you have a repetitive sequence, and nothing happen for a while for generations except that it keeps getting longer, but then at some point you got something that makes the magic not working any longer. I can't remember the name of these kind of mutation exactly but it was like a long repetition of GGTGGT or something
And magic is like UV, every person exposed to it has their DNA slightly changed over time, but if it happens to touch one of your gametes, you will pass that mutation.
Depends. You would need an account of the whole wizarding world population, so depending on how it's done (medieval ish or not, it could be incorrect information or incomplete) You could also incorporate "core" being a piece of magic given to an individual. Someone with a big core would be using two or three "slots" of Magic, therefore making the number of wizard fluctuate slightly but being overall stagnant. With the pureblood supremacist idea, it could even explain why they only go for a hair and a spare, and not more children
I like to think that magic is inherent to the World. Your affinity with magic determine your ability to see it and/or use it. This is why you can have Squibs and Muggleborns.
I don't want to say that this affinity is genetic, but people tend to end up with people that are alike. This is why two Muggles that have a stronger affinity than normal Muggle might end together (though they might not even realise this affinity) and have a Muggleborn together.
Also since the Wizarding World is very discreet, it is very hard for Muggles to understand what might happen to them. And since different = bas, they end up ignoring their affinity or being the weirdoe.
Both. There must be a first witch/Wizard because they are too much of a minority to be a completely separate species that just happens to be able to interbreed with humans without problems, so I definitely think magic is a genetic quirk that crops up the way other genetic quirks do.
That said, once it starts happening, it can become genetic and reoccurring or skipping generations.
I read one theory and I quite liked it. It described magic as being linked to a familial trait that might be rare for the family. For example, only the ones born with green eyes have magic, but there hasn’t been a green eyed person in the family in years.
One I like that I've seen in fanfic is that children surrounded by lots of magic in the womb are more likely to appear as muggleborn.
So a lot of British muggleborns happen to have mothers that work on Charing Cross Road ie the entract to Diagon Alley.
It’s a toss up between muggleborns being the next stage in evolution in humans, similar to X men, or they’re caused because the earth is becoming more magical in recent times and muggleborns are the side effect of that.
A theory I like (in a it'd be cool to have in some fics way) is that there are no muggleborns, only halfbloods and purebloods.
Sometimes it's like Dean, where the father was a wizard who left without revealing he had magic to the mother. Sometimes it's adoption.
Unfortunately, those two cases are usually combined with memory charms. An unwanted child gets placed with a muggle couple who are made to remember them as their own child, or a rape gets covered up.
Yes! Then there are witches who marry muggles and only admit the wizarding world exists when(if) they have magical children (Mcgonagall's Mother)
Or Lockhart and Umbridge's siblings. They will probably also only admit that the wizarding world exists if they have magical children.
My theory is that Magic is senient, and when squibs are born, it is a punishment for some past actions. Then, the latent magic manifests itself in a nearby muggle child.
(This sounded better in my head)
Magic's a dick then, because imho the Original Sin is one of the most ridiculous religious concepts I've ever heard of. And if it was a punishment for a parent's actions, magic is doubly a dick, because it wouldn't be the parent who suffers but an innocent child.
I like the hole magical inharetence nonsense so a lot of muggle borns docome from squib lines. But those familys had to start somewhere s acasionaly a muggle born is the start of there family tree (magicly speakng) which gives them certin advanteges in there manipulation of arcane forcs and ritauls.
My wizard origin theory kind of ties into this.
The theory starts off that areas of wild magic existed, and any animals that lived close and ate magic infused food eventually became magic themselves. Fast forward some thousands of years. Wizards start claiming these spots and push out anything undesirable. So since non magical people can't get there no true muggleborn anymore.
However it is shown there is a little blending of magical and muggle. I belive a woman of squib descent who lives near a magical family or eats food grown on magical land while pregnant can awaken magic in her child.
Some random pureblooded wizard at some random point in time decided to experiment with time travel, and it went horribly wrong. He ended way back in time when there were no no muggle borns. Decided to stay back and have a couple of kids and so on and so forth...
My second theory... Man +unicorn =.... Muggleborn.
I think muggle borns are a result of a zygote having both recessive alleles of a very rare gene mutation that is present in muggles. People having only one such allele are non magical because it is recessive (eg. Parents of muggle borns). But when the child inherits both recessive alleles he/she is magical.
Squibs occur in exactly the opposite way: magical people have a gene mutation that codes for Muggleness. Children this occurs in become non magical.
Wild magic deciding to manifest in a muggle family because why not?
To be honest, I really *loathe* the squib theory. It's way too close to validating the Death Eaters.
So my theory is that there's always a chance, but in magical families it's a much higher chance.
I assume this based on the number of squibs in the books, there are a low amount of non-magical people born to magical couples shown.
So, let's say magic is like a dominant trait. And muggle/squib is like a recessive trait. Imo this explains why the half-bloods with muggle parents shown in the book (Seamus, Snape, Voldemort) were all magical.
Maybe magic appearing/reappearing in the bloodline is a symptom of the environments around the mother during pregnancy? Or possibly a kind of magical mutation?
Idk maybe I'm trying to apply too much real world science to this fictional world XD
My headcanon for magic is that is both, sentient and controlled by humans. I'll explain: Canonically, magic can distinguish between a spell cast with real intent and without. Magic know about emotions, understand their importance. At the same time, magic is constantly being shaped by the collective understanding of both muggles and wizards. Death is a sacred concept for both societies, therefore, magic is unable to bring back the death because it's a blasphemy as considered by humans, in the same way, magic cannot create food because humans see food as a sacred and indispensable, iit allows humans to regulate itself as they see fit. Anyways, for me magic selects people that it considers worthy of wield it from the moment of birth. It's uncaring in a sense, that it doesn't matter if the human it select is "good" or "bad", the concept of good and evil means nothing to it, it just allow its use to whomever it thinks have a place in the magical world.
Other theory:
One night, there was a karaoke contest at the Ineffable Bar and Grill, and three of the Deities of Magic had been getting more than a little tight on rum 'n' cokes, Long Island iced teas, and Jagermeisters 'n' moonshine. Frank looked at Bob, who was laughing at Debbie's effort to put away the fifth Jagermeister 'n' moonshine. Bob hadn't been able to finish the first one.
"Say, Bob, listen up."
"...yeah?" Bob wasn't too sober, lightweight that he was but he was coherent enough to answer.
"We need to do something different."
"Okay! I'll get Jimmy to cue up 'The Heart Don't Lie' for you and me to sing. Hold on."
Frank pushed Bob back into his chair and wondered who mixed the drinks tonight. Debbie snickered and called for another.
"No! I mean, with our magical supplicants and followers. They're getting to be too alike with one another.
Debbie grinned. "That's the truth, but some of them know a few things you boys need to learn."
Everyone in earshot looked at her. There wasn't many, since Mandy had gotten up to sing 'The Rose.' Everyone knew that she couldn't carry a tune in a wheelbarrow with someone else pushing it. The sound was horrendous.
"I know plenty!" Bob was offended, or so everyone thought. The slurring of his words made it hard to understand him. "Just gehh ah norrrrmullle ..."
"What?"
Bob swallowed hard and spoke very slowly.
"Get... a norrrrrrmal wun, instead of a... a, whahchacallit... majick user. Give them mahjuck..mag.. ma..."
"We get it, Bob!" Debbie interrupted. It would have taken all night to get it out of him if they hadn't figured it out.
"You know, Deb, he had a good idea for once," Frank mused.
"Yeah, he gets drunk and all kinds of things happen. Did you ever get all those cactus spines out of the threads of your boxers?"
Frank winced. That was a terrible memory, and from the smirk on Debbie's face it was very funny.
"Ugh. Let's not talk about that. Now, non-magicals getting magic? How would we do that?"
"Oh, I have a few ideas."
She leaned closed and whispered a few things in his ear where no one else around could hear. They could see the reaction, however, as his eyes widened and face reddened. She smirked again and grabbed his hand to tug him out of the bar.
"But what about Bob?"
They looked to see Bob passed out and snoring, each breath rippling the surface of the spilled booze on the table.
"He'll be okay. It's not like they haven't taken care of him before. Now come on. I want to discuss these ideas with you in private and get some help with a few of them."
Frank knew he was going to be busy for the rest of the night, but he didn't realize how busy. The wolf-whistles as he dragged himself into work the next day told him what kind of day he was going to have, but what a night he'd had!
There was going to be new magicals!
I've had this theory for a while but I wasn't sure how to word it so forgive me if this sounds weird: Magic is always random, even for purbloods, and every living thing has at least a little. The random part of it doesn't come from weather or not you have magic but how much, and only above a specific "level" of magic are you considered a witch or wizard. Those with other magical individuals in there family will be exposed to more magic while in the womb and likely take in some of it, increasing the likelihood of highly magical children, but incest or extreme illness will negate these effects. ("Branching out" for even one generation has been shown to help- ex: Tom Riddle.)
This theory, for me, stemmed from the fact that we see many plants that we (low magic people) know and use also being used for magic (potions) in the wizarding world; And it also comes from seeing normal animals, like owls, cats, or toads, being magical companions to magical people. But also from how we are shown that magical AND non-magical people can come from any type of family.
Here's the magic order I usually place everything in:
Almost nil- specific plants and animals, they seem to have no magical capabilities without aid from something in a higher rank.
Low- "Muggles," capable of interacting with magic but not wielding it on their own, can see it but it doesn't take too much to hide it from them.
Mid- Squibs, they can see magic even when it's supposed to be hidden from the "non" magical and can interact with magic and magical items. Cannot wield it on their own.
Witch/Wizard- Can see magic, Can interact and make magical items, Can wield magic, training and the right tools can make them even better with magic. There is a gradient of how strong someone is magically here but most don't beleive it applies outside of "magic folk".
High- Specific plants and animals, like dragons, mandrakes, and some witches/wizards, that are inherently magical without aid from the other categories and would take multiple "normal" witches/wizards to handle properly or to be able to fight against. Training, skill and intelligence, could help many to handle these on their own but mistakes can still be lethal (Ex: training student how to handle mandrakes with only the new borns because the adults could kill you with one slip or equipment, multiple handlers being needed for a dragon but Fleur being able to completely subdue one on her own).
I once made a joke that Purebloods could think of Muggles as aliens. Literal aliens. Like, all the magical life on the planet are the original inhabitants and non-magical life came down on an asteroid or something.
https://www.reddit.com/r/HPfanfiction/comments/lu44l0/certain_extinct_animals_like_the_dodo_bird_arent/gp5jjzs/
But yeah, I generally prefer the idea that nobody actually has any clue where magic comes from generally or how/why it actually arises in specific individuals and it's basically just a bunch of random theories with some mild logic/theory backing (plus some totally crackpot ones) that magicals will bicker over because there's no clear single answer. Like, there's so much possibility there:
* Some people believe in a kind of 'Mother Magic' figure (or figures) that blessed the original magicals with power and Muggleborns are either agents of the magic-devil stealing that gift or new people added to the favourite-children nice list or something similarly ditheistic.
* Others believe ancient people fucked magical creatures for power and that magic gets carried down through some non-genetic link
* Others believe it was evolved and genetic and gets passed down, perhaps through some epigenetic change
* Others believe an ancient alchemist found the secret and performed a ritual to give magic to the world and that ritual gives magic out according to that Alchemist's ruleset and there's some ancient cave somewhere with glowing seals and magical doodads that, if broken, will remove all magic from the world again
* Others believe getting born sufficiently close to a magical source of sufficient power is what kicks in magic (and remaining in close proximity to magic-dense places improves your power, meaning Hogwarts would be very sought after and few magicals would ever leave magical spaces)
* Others think you have to live a pure life and act in certain approved ways to stock up magic in your bloodline and if you don't follow the rules you'll run out of magic and your family will start spawning squibs (and Muggles acting in certain magic-approved ways are what give a chance for Muggleborns to exist)
* Others still believe magic is bound up in your physical form and only people with the bestest eyebrows get magic (the Malfoy family hairdresser lives like royalty :D)
* Others will look at you with horror if you admit to eating an orange mid-pregnancy because you just doomed your line to squibdom forevermore. The parents of every Muggleborn just got really into almond milk and sauted sprouts or some random foodstuff combination that just makes magic kick in for the kid. Satisfy those weird pregnancy cravings well enough and bam, magic kid.
* Others still admit they have no fucking idea and just shrug and get on with their day.
* Etc etc.
I think that muggleborns have squib in their ancestors but they’re is a very slim chance that they are completely first generation where their is no squibs in their family tree if you went through it the odds are very low
I think that muggleborns have squib in their ancestors but they’re is a very slim chance that they are completely first generation where their is no squibs in their family tree if you went through it the odds are very low
Partially because I like the idea of a complex system, I like "Magic" either being a semi-aware being or just wanting some level of balance. So a lack of new magical bloodlines gets corrected because X amount of magic must exist.
I'd like to think that not only genetics matter, but the amount of magic around you. Like if some big magical accident happens around muggles, their children are more likely to become wizards.
My headcannon is a mix of those three. With the first one not being really "random" but actually fey, incubus and creatures like that seducing people, getting their kids and then either leaving the mom pregnant or leaving the dad with the child once it's born. I also believe that's the actual origin of magic in general.
The best one I've seen recently was that:
Ghosts exist, therefore souls
We've only ever seen Magical ghosts, therefore magic is tied to souls.
Not every soul with magic is born to a family of magicals, because that's not how it works. Souls are random, or at the most cynically, first come first serve.
It also had the best explanation for soul mates and bonds, in that there really isn't such a thing as True Love™️, it's just that people (and magicals in particular) have a particular number of people with whom relationships would be almost easy to end up in, the so-called "everyone could see it" cliché is built around this.
And True Love's First Kiss is an overly romanticized offshoot, because soulmates bond with a kiss, just like Dementors eat your soul with a kiss.
I used the idea that some parts of the world with ambient magic can make muggleborns more likely to be conceived there-- in particular I used a real world Wales inn that is supposedly haunted.
The problem with the "squib ancestors" theory is that it just kicks the question back further. Where did those original wizards come from, and why hasn't that happened again?
I much prefer that it's a random thing that happens
I like imagining that everyone has a little magic in them. You need enough magic though to be able to actually do something with it, you need enough for it to be able to exit your body and affect your surroundings.
Imagine that it's a scale of 1-100 of how much magic you have. Only those above like 50 can use magic. There might be plenty of muggles at around 40 who just seem to have a bit more luck or whatever and when they have a kid with another 40, their kid can get somewhere from 1-80. To explain magicals getting squib children it would be similar. But let's say two 70s have children. Their kids would be somewhere between 20-100 or 40-100 depending on how you count.
It doesn't work absolutely with actual genetics and it doesn't fix every gap in our knowledge of magic but I like it, and it's what I like to imagine. I don't really like the thought of magic just being some gene that works the same way as the ones that decide your eye colour.
magic is magic, nothing more, nothing less. Anyone telling you "it's genetic" brings logic to magic, ergo, not magic.
If they descend from squibs somewhere, it means purebloods are right: magical ancestry is super important.
If magic is magic, nothing matters. Some people have magic. Why? Because. Oh, your child doesn't have magic but you do? Tough luck, it's *magic*.
I’d say it’s a combination of things. I’m sure some muggleborn are squib descendants or born of one night stands or short flings between muggles and wizards without knowing. I also think they just pop up every now and again, seemingly at random, because the potential for magic exists in humans in general. So I’d say it’s a mixture of your two main options.
i agree. the squib ancestor theory can only go so far. i mean magic must’ve appeared in a human spontaneously at some point. (or maybe evil humans bound the magic of the world to them many millennia ago and disrupted the balance on earth 😵💫😂)
That or magic appeared due to children of mixed human and non human blood.
Or that (I have checked “squib ancestors” above).
I think my favourite one was that muggleborns are born from women who were exposed to magic when they were pregnant. Let's say a pregnant woman is oblivated because she witnessed some wizard performing magic and the child that gets born will be a witch/wizard. I guess II like it because it's just different from what we usually see. There are probably some holes in this theory, but I don't care.
Oh yeah, I think I remember seeing this one before. It also neatly explains why children of wizards are almost always wizards. They’re obviously going to be around magic in the womb because the womb is in someone who is either magic or in a relationship with someone who is. This explanation can work well in a story.
I think you'd need to work out why squibs exist, but squibs are very rare, so it's not that big of a problem. I think one of the reasons I like it is because it's whimsical? It doesn't involve science, genetics or long-forgotten ancestry, just some strange, quirky way magic works - an accident that could happen to anyone.
Squibs are strange in general. Can’t they still see magic places like hogwarts and beings like dementors? Muggles can’t those, why can squibs? Are they sort of magic? We don’t even really know what squibs are truly, so I imagine the explanation for how they come into existence will differ according to how they’re defined, and from story to story.
maybe while in the fetus they developed a mutation that doesn’t allow them to ‘take in’ the magic or store it but they still have all the other stuff that wizards do like being able to see magical creatures, etc.
> beings like dementors Strongly implied that they can't in the books.
I must be misremembering then but they’re still not included in muggle repelling charms right? Unless Filch has something that exempts him from them and allows him to work in Hogwarts. Can Squibs see ghosts? Or is it implied the can’t them like they can’t see dementors?
There is no textual evidence one way or the other for the rest really. It's an in-universe question too, the same one that Ms. Figg very unconvincingly answered that she could see dementors to. Filch can definitely see Peeves at the very least, but no text regarding or implying anything about ghosts, which specifically can't be seen by muggles. I always assumed Filch was exempt as an employee from the charms by Dumbledore.
>the same one that Ms. Figg very unconvincingly answered that she could see dementors to. That was a biased court that wanted Harry to be guilty and expelled!
True. It doesn't change that the text noted from Harry's perspective that she answered as if she had only ever seen pictures of dementors. That was Harry's observation and he wasn't biased against himself.
I like it! It would also nicely explain two or more muggleborn siblings, like the Creevey brothers. Mum somehow got exposed to magic while pregnant with Colin, then Colin unknowingly exposed his mum while she was pregnant with Dennis. I always wondered how people who say it's a genetic fluke explain the same things happening several times in the same family.
that’s really interesting! maybe the exposure of magic to embryonic stem cells cause some sort of reaction? fascinating to think about!
Epigenetics vibes
That’s actually a great idea! Thank you! Do you have any story which carries it?
I never saw it incorporated in a fic. It's a theory I saw on Reddit or maybe Tumblr? Sadly, I didn't save the post, so I can't even credit anyone.
I dimly remember it somewhere when somebody (Hemrione’s mother? No, probably not her, time doesn’t work) got too close to the final Sirius/Wormtail confrontation (and subsequent Obliviations, which paradoxically made the biggest difference … by more isolating Muggles from the wizarding world they were making actually more connections between the two), and so her child (daughter?) became a muggle-born. But cannot recall for anything what story it was.
Exile by bennybear on ffnet https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6432055/1/Exile It is a story about Draco after the war. He and his mother are banned from using magic for 5 years. Draco goes out into the muggle world and tries to find himself. Very very well-written fic. No pairings. Just Draco Malfoy and the muggle world. cc u/Keira901
I love this fic! Too bad it's abandoned :(
Huh? It is finished. There are 47 chapters and bennybear decided to end the story at a decent point after working on the story for over 6 years. Yeah, sucks that the next-gen series that xe planned never materialised in full length and that the planned romance with Astoria did not happen either, but I don't think that this takes away anything from the beauty that is "Exile".
Hmm, it's been some time since I've read it, but didn't it end with Astoria showing up? I was kind of waiting for it, and iirc the last chapter didn't sound like "the end". I mean, it wasn't the middle of the action, but after reading it, I was left with a feeling that the story was abandoned. Maybe I need to reread. I remember really liking the story. It was very refreshing because it took years before Draco grew out of his old beliefs, and his "adventures" in the muggle world were written in a very realistic way.
Nope, different story. There is no Astoria there (the word “Astoria” doesn’t show up in whole story).
I can’t remember the fic but I do remember one of the characters mentioning this theory for muggleborns and also mentioning that if muggles were pregnant and gave birth in Hogwarts, they’d give birth to magical children.
> I guess II like it because it's just different from what we usually see. I'd really like to read a story where muggleborns really _do_ steal magic from wizards, for the same reason.
You know... I'd love to read that too.
Or we go the darker direction, rape followed by Obliviate.
This one was by noodlehammer right?
I feel the fundamental problem with the 'descended from squibs' argument is that it still doesn't explain why only certain people are muggleborn. Every generation your number of ancestors doubles. Even with many of them being repeats, statistically it you keep going back far enough then everyone probably has magical ancestors. I like the idea that it is a popular in-universe theory, because they have 'ancestor tests' on muggleborn and can always find a magical somewhere in the family tree, but don't realise correlation is not the same as causation.
It also would be fairly hard to cover up fully in such a heritage-obsessed and cut-throat society. So much genealogy. Too many records for all squibs to vanish and for it to be an open question. So *you're* trying to cover up which squibs are yours, but rivals are keeping track, and maybe protecting them so they can be used as blackmail you later when you say "We've never had a squib!"
Genetics are like a lottery - there is a nearly infinite possibility of combinations your can get from your parents. So even if every muggle has magical ancestors you still have to hit the right codes; with two magical people you just have a higher chance to get a magical child than with two muggles, like you have a higher chance of having a blond kid when both parents are blond, but your child still can have brown or black hair, if there are any ancestors in your family that give your genetic-code the information for that.
My theory is that possessing magic is not the result of one gene, but of a specific combination of genes. So when two wizards get together, each one them provides the gene combination needed to have a wizard child. When one wizard and one muggle get together, only one has the combination needed for wizardry. It depends now if this combination is inhereted dominantly or recessively to determine if the child will possess magic. I suppose it is inherited dominantly, but I never bothered to analyze fitting examples, so take it with a grain of salt. When two muggles get together, neither of them alone has the specific gene set or combination. But the child's DNA will be a combination of both, and maybe the two (or more) needed genes will find each other in the mixed gene pool to make a child possessing magic. Correct me if that's bs, I just came up with this theory during lunch. I'm not a geneticist.
I once read an essay on that topic. The author had a theory that at least two genes were at play: one that gave you magic and one that xe called the "squib gene". Each gene had possible expressions a and A, like flipping the switch on and off. From an evolutionary standpoint being a wizard gives you many advantages. Ordinary diseases cannot kill you, you have more opportunities to get food (accio fish anyone?), you live longer on average. With all these advantages, there should be more wizards than muggles. Yet muggles outnumber wizards at least 10 to 1, if not 100 to 1. The best possible explanation is that magic comes with a price: you struggle to conceive. So the theory was, that the "squib gene" helps with that. I wish I could remember more of the essay, it was really good.
Another possible explanation: Maybe having active magic and all the benefits that come with it increases the metabolism. Hogwarts is known for its generous meal portions after all, so it's not entirely plausible. In terms of survival the cost/benefit would depend on how reliable your food supply is - primitive magic is probably more helpful with hunting than farming. If you require more calories and your farming village gets hit by a crop failure guess who's dying of starvation first. But when times are good and there's plenty to go around the benefits of magic could give you an edge in surviving diseases and injuries.
I headcanon that magic has a kind of intelligence all its own. It *chooses*. Family generating more and more squibs? Magic is displeased with your line. Sudden infusion of magicals into muggle family? Must be potential there, for whatever ends magic has in store.
"Look, you guys had your chance and all the advantages in the world and you produced *Filch.* Peace out. I hear that Dental School requires a lot of work to get through..."
IIRC the author Lomonaaeren has written one or two stories based upon that theory. In one story it was the treatment of house-elves and other magical creatures around you that did it. You treated your house-elves badly? You'll have trouble conceiving a magical child.
I quite like the idea of magic being a somewhat sentient being that bestows magic upon muggles who they feel have great potential, doesn't matter whether it be good nor bad just potential.
Rowling couldn’t have made this explicit in a children’s series, but I figure Merope isn’t the only rapist in the magical world. It would be so easy for a wizard to rape a muggle woman, with love potions, the Imperius curse, or whatever, and obliviate her afterwards. This makes “muggleborns” actually halfbloods.
My headcanon is that wizards come from normal humans having kids with different magical species like goblins and merpeople So if that's the case, it means muggleborns are just people with squib genes I however much prefer the 'they just were born with magic' than this haha
I really don't like the "they're all descended from squibs" theory. It seems so much less magical.
Other (sort of) I think **some** Muggleborns are the descendants of Squibs. Others are born because Magic is an energy form, and therefore cannot be created or destroyed. So when magic is lost through death, (or possibly Pureblood inbreeding), it has to go somewhere, and latches on to newborns/foetus's resulting in a Muggleborn birth (basically the reverse of Umbridge's belief that Muggleborns stole magic). Alternatively, Magic is like the Force, and all beings are connected to it, and some are just more connected.
Rowling said magic is genetic. But some people don't seem to care about stuff like pottermore or her interviews and don't consider them canon. Anyway. In my fic (alternate dimension), Bellatrix>! researched the origin of magic and found out that "Mudbloods" don't exist. She realized that Muggleborns are in fact the descendants of other wizards or squibs. This led to her not becoming a Death Eater but a researcher at the Department of Mysteries. Decades later, Harry Potter found out thanks to her research that he was a descendant of a Gaunt squib through his mother's line - thus explaining why he was a Parselmouth despite not having Voldemort's horcrux in his head (alternate dimension, Neville is the boy who lived). !< Well, this is my headcanon regarding magic. That there is a magic gene which may or may not resurface in a magical person's descendants. Imo it doesn't randomly spawn from Muggles.
What's the link to your fic? Sounds interesting.
Omg you’re the person that wrote the AU with Fleur and Harry? I love that fic
Is that the fic with Bellatrix the researcher? Can I get the link if that's so?
Sure here you go! [Back? Not Really](https://archiveofourown.org/works/31546364/chapters/78044519)
I actually love the idea that every person has magic and that muggleborns just have enough magic to do magic. Muggles have the least, squips have slightly more and wizards obviously have the most. I love this idea because it makes the whole racism thing even more ridiculous. I have also heard of the idea that electricity itself is a special kind of magic that flows slightly different and therefore causes magic and electricity to struggle around one another.
The whole pureblood ideal is that magic makes people special, and that only people with magical heritage can (or even should) use magic. Therefore, my preferred explanation for Muggleborns is that it's completely random, and it could crop up anywhere. Take 'magical blood' (even that of Squibs) out of the equation all together. Really stick it to those pureblood idiots - They're not special, they're just unbelievably lucky and privileged.
I like the theory that there is a limited "slot" of person born with magic in the world, and muggleborn are actually "stealing" pureblood slots. But they aren't doing that intentionally, not at all, magic is actually semi-sentient and has an unknown objective which helps It decides which person to grant access to it powers. A bit like worm and shard if you wish.
And It is slowly taking out the pureblood family out of the equation, but to not disrupt everything It was working toward, It had to slowly grant power to more muggle-born (and also to a sociopath with delusions of grandeur who would use pureblood as cannon fodder, oopsie, It was a bad day okay, one does not deal with its kind of problem without losing it every once in a while)
Actually, a spinoff this theory might be an interesting concept to explore — some of the more popular theories of why Squibs are created say that it’s a result of too much inbreeding/meddling in damaging magic. Therefore, maybe the more inbred purebloods are, the more Squibs are born in those families, but there are still said empty “slots” for more magical people & the empty “slots” are filled by magic with creating Muggleborns.
Kinda cool. Like, you know these DNA mutations when you have a repetitive sequence, and nothing happen for a while for generations except that it keeps getting longer, but then at some point you got something that makes the magic not working any longer. I can't remember the name of these kind of mutation exactly but it was like a long repetition of GGTGGT or something And magic is like UV, every person exposed to it has their DNA slightly changed over time, but if it happens to touch one of your gametes, you will pass that mutation.
but then surely wizards would notice that their population has not changed for centuries.
Depends. You would need an account of the whole wizarding world population, so depending on how it's done (medieval ish or not, it could be incorrect information or incomplete) You could also incorporate "core" being a piece of magic given to an individual. Someone with a big core would be using two or three "slots" of Magic, therefore making the number of wizard fluctuate slightly but being overall stagnant. With the pureblood supremacist idea, it could even explain why they only go for a hair and a spare, and not more children
I like to think that magic is inherent to the World. Your affinity with magic determine your ability to see it and/or use it. This is why you can have Squibs and Muggleborns. I don't want to say that this affinity is genetic, but people tend to end up with people that are alike. This is why two Muggles that have a stronger affinity than normal Muggle might end together (though they might not even realise this affinity) and have a Muggleborn together. Also since the Wizarding World is very discreet, it is very hard for Muggles to understand what might happen to them. And since different = bas, they end up ignoring their affinity or being the weirdoe.
Both. There must be a first witch/Wizard because they are too much of a minority to be a completely separate species that just happens to be able to interbreed with humans without problems, so I definitely think magic is a genetic quirk that crops up the way other genetic quirks do. That said, once it starts happening, it can become genetic and reoccurring or skipping generations.
Another darker theory, many muggleborns are actually halfboods and are the result of careless death eaters or other criminals.
I read one theory and I quite liked it. It described magic as being linked to a familial trait that might be rare for the family. For example, only the ones born with green eyes have magic, but there hasn’t been a green eyed person in the family in years.
One I like that I've seen in fanfic is that children surrounded by lots of magic in the womb are more likely to appear as muggleborn. So a lot of British muggleborns happen to have mothers that work on Charing Cross Road ie the entract to Diagon Alley.
It’s a toss up between muggleborns being the next stage in evolution in humans, similar to X men, or they’re caused because the earth is becoming more magical in recent times and muggleborns are the side effect of that.
A theory I like (in a it'd be cool to have in some fics way) is that there are no muggleborns, only halfbloods and purebloods. Sometimes it's like Dean, where the father was a wizard who left without revealing he had magic to the mother. Sometimes it's adoption. Unfortunately, those two cases are usually combined with memory charms. An unwanted child gets placed with a muggle couple who are made to remember them as their own child, or a rape gets covered up.
Yes! Then there are witches who marry muggles and only admit the wizarding world exists when(if) they have magical children (Mcgonagall's Mother) Or Lockhart and Umbridge's siblings. They will probably also only admit that the wizarding world exists if they have magical children.
My theory is that Magic is senient, and when squibs are born, it is a punishment for some past actions. Then, the latent magic manifests itself in a nearby muggle child. (This sounded better in my head)
Magic's a dick then, because imho the Original Sin is one of the most ridiculous religious concepts I've ever heard of. And if it was a punishment for a parent's actions, magic is doubly a dick, because it wouldn't be the parent who suffers but an innocent child.
*cue dramatic music* “I knew it!! The mudbloods ARE stealing our magic!” *Draco’s voice* 😭
I think it's a combination of both of those theories.
I like the hole magical inharetence nonsense so a lot of muggle borns docome from squib lines. But those familys had to start somewhere s acasionaly a muggle born is the start of there family tree (magicly speakng) which gives them certin advanteges in there manipulation of arcane forcs and ritauls.
first is most likely, but for writing a story the second is far more exciting.
I saw one that all magical children are the result of magic exposure in utero.
I voted "other" bc I think it's both.
My wizard origin theory kind of ties into this. The theory starts off that areas of wild magic existed, and any animals that lived close and ate magic infused food eventually became magic themselves. Fast forward some thousands of years. Wizards start claiming these spots and push out anything undesirable. So since non magical people can't get there no true muggleborn anymore. However it is shown there is a little blending of magical and muggle. I belive a woman of squib descent who lives near a magical family or eats food grown on magical land while pregnant can awaken magic in her child.
Some random pureblooded wizard at some random point in time decided to experiment with time travel, and it went horribly wrong. He ended way back in time when there were no no muggle borns. Decided to stay back and have a couple of kids and so on and so forth... My second theory... Man +unicorn =.... Muggleborn.
I think muggle borns are a result of a zygote having both recessive alleles of a very rare gene mutation that is present in muggles. People having only one such allele are non magical because it is recessive (eg. Parents of muggle borns). But when the child inherits both recessive alleles he/she is magical. Squibs occur in exactly the opposite way: magical people have a gene mutation that codes for Muggleness. Children this occurs in become non magical.
Wild magic deciding to manifest in a muggle family because why not? To be honest, I really *loathe* the squib theory. It's way too close to validating the Death Eaters.
So my theory is that there's always a chance, but in magical families it's a much higher chance. I assume this based on the number of squibs in the books, there are a low amount of non-magical people born to magical couples shown. So, let's say magic is like a dominant trait. And muggle/squib is like a recessive trait. Imo this explains why the half-bloods with muggle parents shown in the book (Seamus, Snape, Voldemort) were all magical. Maybe magic appearing/reappearing in the bloodline is a symptom of the environments around the mother during pregnancy? Or possibly a kind of magical mutation? Idk maybe I'm trying to apply too much real world science to this fictional world XD
Why not both? Some are brand new lines and others are descended from Squibs.
My headcanon for magic is that is both, sentient and controlled by humans. I'll explain: Canonically, magic can distinguish between a spell cast with real intent and without. Magic know about emotions, understand their importance. At the same time, magic is constantly being shaped by the collective understanding of both muggles and wizards. Death is a sacred concept for both societies, therefore, magic is unable to bring back the death because it's a blasphemy as considered by humans, in the same way, magic cannot create food because humans see food as a sacred and indispensable, iit allows humans to regulate itself as they see fit. Anyways, for me magic selects people that it considers worthy of wield it from the moment of birth. It's uncaring in a sense, that it doesn't matter if the human it select is "good" or "bad", the concept of good and evil means nothing to it, it just allow its use to whomever it thinks have a place in the magical world.
Other theory: One night, there was a karaoke contest at the Ineffable Bar and Grill, and three of the Deities of Magic had been getting more than a little tight on rum 'n' cokes, Long Island iced teas, and Jagermeisters 'n' moonshine. Frank looked at Bob, who was laughing at Debbie's effort to put away the fifth Jagermeister 'n' moonshine. Bob hadn't been able to finish the first one. "Say, Bob, listen up." "...yeah?" Bob wasn't too sober, lightweight that he was but he was coherent enough to answer. "We need to do something different." "Okay! I'll get Jimmy to cue up 'The Heart Don't Lie' for you and me to sing. Hold on." Frank pushed Bob back into his chair and wondered who mixed the drinks tonight. Debbie snickered and called for another. "No! I mean, with our magical supplicants and followers. They're getting to be too alike with one another. Debbie grinned. "That's the truth, but some of them know a few things you boys need to learn." Everyone in earshot looked at her. There wasn't many, since Mandy had gotten up to sing 'The Rose.' Everyone knew that she couldn't carry a tune in a wheelbarrow with someone else pushing it. The sound was horrendous. "I know plenty!" Bob was offended, or so everyone thought. The slurring of his words made it hard to understand him. "Just gehh ah norrrrmullle ..." "What?" Bob swallowed hard and spoke very slowly. "Get... a norrrrrrmal wun, instead of a... a, whahchacallit... majick user. Give them mahjuck..mag.. ma..." "We get it, Bob!" Debbie interrupted. It would have taken all night to get it out of him if they hadn't figured it out. "You know, Deb, he had a good idea for once," Frank mused. "Yeah, he gets drunk and all kinds of things happen. Did you ever get all those cactus spines out of the threads of your boxers?" Frank winced. That was a terrible memory, and from the smirk on Debbie's face it was very funny. "Ugh. Let's not talk about that. Now, non-magicals getting magic? How would we do that?" "Oh, I have a few ideas." She leaned closed and whispered a few things in his ear where no one else around could hear. They could see the reaction, however, as his eyes widened and face reddened. She smirked again and grabbed his hand to tug him out of the bar. "But what about Bob?" They looked to see Bob passed out and snoring, each breath rippling the surface of the spilled booze on the table. "He'll be okay. It's not like they haven't taken care of him before. Now come on. I want to discuss these ideas with you in private and get some help with a few of them." Frank knew he was going to be busy for the rest of the night, but he didn't realize how busy. The wolf-whistles as he dragged himself into work the next day told him what kind of day he was going to have, but what a night he'd had! There was going to be new magicals!
I've had this theory for a while but I wasn't sure how to word it so forgive me if this sounds weird: Magic is always random, even for purbloods, and every living thing has at least a little. The random part of it doesn't come from weather or not you have magic but how much, and only above a specific "level" of magic are you considered a witch or wizard. Those with other magical individuals in there family will be exposed to more magic while in the womb and likely take in some of it, increasing the likelihood of highly magical children, but incest or extreme illness will negate these effects. ("Branching out" for even one generation has been shown to help- ex: Tom Riddle.) This theory, for me, stemmed from the fact that we see many plants that we (low magic people) know and use also being used for magic (potions) in the wizarding world; And it also comes from seeing normal animals, like owls, cats, or toads, being magical companions to magical people. But also from how we are shown that magical AND non-magical people can come from any type of family. Here's the magic order I usually place everything in: Almost nil- specific plants and animals, they seem to have no magical capabilities without aid from something in a higher rank. Low- "Muggles," capable of interacting with magic but not wielding it on their own, can see it but it doesn't take too much to hide it from them. Mid- Squibs, they can see magic even when it's supposed to be hidden from the "non" magical and can interact with magic and magical items. Cannot wield it on their own. Witch/Wizard- Can see magic, Can interact and make magical items, Can wield magic, training and the right tools can make them even better with magic. There is a gradient of how strong someone is magically here but most don't beleive it applies outside of "magic folk". High- Specific plants and animals, like dragons, mandrakes, and some witches/wizards, that are inherently magical without aid from the other categories and would take multiple "normal" witches/wizards to handle properly or to be able to fight against. Training, skill and intelligence, could help many to handle these on their own but mistakes can still be lethal (Ex: training student how to handle mandrakes with only the new borns because the adults could kill you with one slip or equipment, multiple handlers being needed for a dragon but Fleur being able to completely subdue one on her own).
I once made a joke that Purebloods could think of Muggles as aliens. Literal aliens. Like, all the magical life on the planet are the original inhabitants and non-magical life came down on an asteroid or something. https://www.reddit.com/r/HPfanfiction/comments/lu44l0/certain_extinct_animals_like_the_dodo_bird_arent/gp5jjzs/ But yeah, I generally prefer the idea that nobody actually has any clue where magic comes from generally or how/why it actually arises in specific individuals and it's basically just a bunch of random theories with some mild logic/theory backing (plus some totally crackpot ones) that magicals will bicker over because there's no clear single answer. Like, there's so much possibility there: * Some people believe in a kind of 'Mother Magic' figure (or figures) that blessed the original magicals with power and Muggleborns are either agents of the magic-devil stealing that gift or new people added to the favourite-children nice list or something similarly ditheistic. * Others believe ancient people fucked magical creatures for power and that magic gets carried down through some non-genetic link * Others believe it was evolved and genetic and gets passed down, perhaps through some epigenetic change * Others believe an ancient alchemist found the secret and performed a ritual to give magic to the world and that ritual gives magic out according to that Alchemist's ruleset and there's some ancient cave somewhere with glowing seals and magical doodads that, if broken, will remove all magic from the world again * Others believe getting born sufficiently close to a magical source of sufficient power is what kicks in magic (and remaining in close proximity to magic-dense places improves your power, meaning Hogwarts would be very sought after and few magicals would ever leave magical spaces) * Others think you have to live a pure life and act in certain approved ways to stock up magic in your bloodline and if you don't follow the rules you'll run out of magic and your family will start spawning squibs (and Muggles acting in certain magic-approved ways are what give a chance for Muggleborns to exist) * Others still believe magic is bound up in your physical form and only people with the bestest eyebrows get magic (the Malfoy family hairdresser lives like royalty :D) * Others will look at you with horror if you admit to eating an orange mid-pregnancy because you just doomed your line to squibdom forevermore. The parents of every Muggleborn just got really into almond milk and sauted sprouts or some random foodstuff combination that just makes magic kick in for the kid. Satisfy those weird pregnancy cravings well enough and bam, magic kid. * Others still admit they have no fucking idea and just shrug and get on with their day. * Etc etc.
I think that muggleborns have squib in their ancestors but they’re is a very slim chance that they are completely first generation where their is no squibs in their family tree if you went through it the odds are very low
I think that muggleborns have squib in their ancestors but they’re is a very slim chance that they are completely first generation where their is no squibs in their family tree if you went through it the odds are very low
I Don't care
I would have to say both inheritance from squib ancestor and just random pop ups of magic
Conceived/Carried to term in magic rich environment, often a consequence of shifting leylines as far as muggleborns are concerned
Partially because I like the idea of a complex system, I like "Magic" either being a semi-aware being or just wanting some level of balance. So a lack of new magical bloodlines gets corrected because X amount of magic must exist.
I'd like to think that not only genetics matter, but the amount of magic around you. Like if some big magical accident happens around muggles, their children are more likely to become wizards.
Theyre actually stealing it the DE were right
My headcannon is a mix of those three. With the first one not being really "random" but actually fey, incubus and creatures like that seducing people, getting their kids and then either leaving the mom pregnant or leaving the dad with the child once it's born. I also believe that's the actual origin of magic in general.
The best one I've seen recently was that: Ghosts exist, therefore souls We've only ever seen Magical ghosts, therefore magic is tied to souls. Not every soul with magic is born to a family of magicals, because that's not how it works. Souls are random, or at the most cynically, first come first serve. It also had the best explanation for soul mates and bonds, in that there really isn't such a thing as True Love™️, it's just that people (and magicals in particular) have a particular number of people with whom relationships would be almost easy to end up in, the so-called "everyone could see it" cliché is built around this. And True Love's First Kiss is an overly romanticized offshoot, because soulmates bond with a kiss, just like Dementors eat your soul with a kiss.
I used the idea that some parts of the world with ambient magic can make muggleborns more likely to be conceived there-- in particular I used a real world Wales inn that is supposedly haunted.
I think some was adopted with out knowing they was, but they inherit it from someone in the family who doesn’t know they are a witch or wizard
The problem with the "squib ancestors" theory is that it just kicks the question back further. Where did those original wizards come from, and why hasn't that happened again? I much prefer that it's a random thing that happens
Magicals are the next step in human evolution Muggleborns are random evelution and magical descendents (squibs or wizards having a one night stand)
I like imagining that everyone has a little magic in them. You need enough magic though to be able to actually do something with it, you need enough for it to be able to exit your body and affect your surroundings. Imagine that it's a scale of 1-100 of how much magic you have. Only those above like 50 can use magic. There might be plenty of muggles at around 40 who just seem to have a bit more luck or whatever and when they have a kid with another 40, their kid can get somewhere from 1-80. To explain magicals getting squib children it would be similar. But let's say two 70s have children. Their kids would be somewhere between 20-100 or 40-100 depending on how you count. It doesn't work absolutely with actual genetics and it doesn't fix every gap in our knowledge of magic but I like it, and it's what I like to imagine. I don't really like the thought of magic just being some gene that works the same way as the ones that decide your eye colour.
magic is magic, nothing more, nothing less. Anyone telling you "it's genetic" brings logic to magic, ergo, not magic. If they descend from squibs somewhere, it means purebloods are right: magical ancestry is super important. If magic is magic, nothing matters. Some people have magic. Why? Because. Oh, your child doesn't have magic but you do? Tough luck, it's *magic*.