Once a genealogist learns the basics about how to put together a family tree, it is time to have some fun with it. Choose a fictional character, such as Harry Potter. Dig around, and see how much of a family tree you can create starting with the character you selected. This is a good way to brush up on your skills, and also, to have some fun with genealogy.
Harry Potter is the main character in the extremely popular book series created by the author J. K. Rowling. The popularity of the books has lead to the creation of movies that were based on the books. At this point, I think that even people who have never seen any of the movies, and who have never read any of the books, can still identify who Harry Potter is.
If you search around online, you can find intricately detailed family trees that have been created by fans of the Harry Potter series. A genealogist can get as deep into the creation of Harry Potter’s family tree as he or she would care to. J.K. Rowling herself once sketched out a family tree for Harry Potter that extends into the future, and tells who he marries, and the names of his children.
It might be best to keep things simple. Start with Harry Potter himself. His parents were James Potter and Lily Evans (Potter). Harry was an only child. Early in the series it is revealed that Harry’s parents both died when Harry was still an infant.
Since Harry was not being raised by his birth parents, you could say that Harry was adopted by some of his relatives. His mother had a sister named Petunia Evans (Dursley). She got married to Vernon Dursley, and the two eventually became the foster parents for Harry Potter.
Vernon and Petunia Dursley had a son named Dudley Dursley. Biologically speaking, Harry and Dudley are first cousins. They share a set of grandparents. Harry’s biological mother and Dudley’s biological mother were sisters. The sisters shared the same set of parents, (known only as Mr. Evans and Mrs. Evans). Mr. and Mrs. Evans would be the grandparents of both Harry and Dudley.
Considering their living arrangements, one could also consider Harry and Dudley to be foster siblings. Although, clearly, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were not good parents to their adopted son/ foster child.
Although they two are not biologically related, you could say that Harry has a family connection to Sirius Black. When Harry’s parents were younger, they met Sirius Black when the three were attending school at Hogwarts. They all became good friends. Harry’s parents named Sirius Black as Harry’s godfather.
Image by Tiago Augusto on Flickr