The Harry Potter family tree, explained

Even after many years, of reading all the books and watching all the movies, it’s perfectly fair to have questions about Harry Potter’s family tree. Things become very complex after you go back and realize how far back the Potter lineage goes and how they’re connected to the other prominent wizarding families.

Most fans know the basics, which have been reinforced throughout the series. Harry was the son of Lily Potter (née Evans) and James Potter, who were both murdered when their son was a baby. And if you’ve followed Harry’s story until the end, you know that he married his best friend’s younger sister, Ginevra “Ginny” Weasley, and had three children, James Sirius, Lily Luna, and Albus Severus.

Beyond that, many people struggle to connect the lineage dots. So here’s what you need to know about the Harry Potter family tree.

Dating back many centuries

The Potters are descended from the youngest Peverell brother, Ignotus, who was gifted one of the Deathly Hallows, the Cloak of Invisibility. His granddaughter, Iolanthe married Hardwin Potter, one of the six children of Linfred of Stinchcombe, a pioneering potioneer best known for his nickname The Potterer.

This means that the roots of the Potter family date back to the 12^th century, and that Harry and Tom Riddle share a common, if remote, ancestor lineage in the Three Peverell Brothers.  

Fast forward

Many generations later, in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries one Mrs. Fleamont married one Mr. Potter and together they had Henry Potter. Around the time Henry Potter lived, between the 19^th and 20^th centuries, Charles Potter, a younger relative of his, married Dorea Black. That means that at some point the Blacks and the Potters connected in the family tree, although this branch doesn’t lead to Harry’s direct bloodline.

Henry Potter was Harry’s great-grandfather. Sometime in the 20^th century, Henry’s child, Fleamont married Euphemia and had a son, James Potter. Both of James’ parents died in 1979 of Dragon Pox, which led him to inherit the family fortune. According to the book timeline, Harry was born the following year, in 1980.

Meanwhile, Harry’s mother Lily came from a muggle family, who we know comparatively little about. She had a sister, Petunia, who married Vernon Dursley. Vernon also has a sister named Marjorie “Marge” Dursley, who was inflated into a human balloon in the third installment of the series. Petunia and Vernon’s child is Dudley, Harry’s cousin born in the same year. The Dursleys are who Harry is living with at the start of the first book.

That’s about it for the Potters, but who knows, perhaps we’ll one day get to know who Harry’s descendants are too?