Purebloods are often considered the creme de la creme of wizarding society. Many of the purebloods we meet in JKR's world are rich, respected and influential. The exception of course being the Weasley family, but more on them later. Over the course of many rps in the Harry Potter fandom spanning many eras I have discovered that some people fail to give any thought to how the isolationist nature of the "old" purebloods would effect their culture and their habits. To protect themselves from muggle witch hunters and religious authorities, wizards grouped themselves into hidden communities. What this caused was an isolation which led to a distinct culture, currency, manner of speaking and attitudes which, especially as the centuries went by, made them more and more distinct from the muggles of their country.

One of the first major differences between muggles and wizards, besides magic, is the lack of religion. This is rather understandable as religious authorities were often responsible for witch hunts. What this does is create a different type of slang and swearing for wizarding use as "God," "Jesus" or any other divinity has no bearing on their lives. Instead mythical magical figures like Merlin or dangerous creatures take their place which has led to phrases such as "Merlin's Pants!" or "Dragon Dung"in place of "Jesus Christ" or "bullsh*t." This basically boils down to the fact that your pureblood student should not use any religious colloquialisms unless they are extremely close to a muggleborn or muggle influenced halfblood. (Other swears like f bombs are generally fine as they refer to body parts/functions and not religion.)

The next item is one that is generally the most annoying - clothing. Purebloods are known for wearing robes and use them for every occasion. The clothing under the robes does not match up to contemporary fashion. While muggleborns and some halfbloods will sport jeans, shorts, short (above the knee) skirts, tank tops, sneakers and sport shirts, purebloods can't tell one piece of these from the next. In many of the Harry Potter books, there's at least one or two examples of wizards wearing a laughably strange collection of muggle clothes in an attempt to blend in. When making pureblood characters in Maurader Era or later, use Victorian styled clothing as an inspiration for what your pureblood would be wearing under their robes - particularly if they are from a wealthy family. The exception to this would be a blood-traitor family, like the Weasleys.

Which now brings us to money. Several pureblood families are stinking rich. The Blacks were one, the Malfoys another. Of course these wealthy families are also the ones who tend to have more "darker" connections. Please note though that this wealth can only be used in cash - wizards do not have credit cards! In Potter or Pre Potter eras, blood traitor families and half blood families are not as wealthy and could only have a middle class type of living at the most. However the breadwinner's career and position will also have an influence in the family wealth in Galleons. Please note however that with more money, a certain set of social graces and mannerisms are expected so make sure that your rich character doesn't constantly use street slang or casually flop on the furniture or look like a punk rocker - particularly if they come from old money.

The amount of muggle influence on Wizarding society is generally where you see the most slip ups in an application or in rp. Wizards have pretty much kept to an isolationist policy for centuries. At first it was simply out of necessity but now it is also convenience and helps ensure their survival as a culture. This means that wizards do not have much knowledge about the state of technology (consider them approximately 50 - 60 years behind), the slang that goes with it, muggle politics or how muggles get along without magic on a day to day basis. The only exceptions to this is if they are married to a muggleborn/halfblood, have halfblood relatives who they are close to or work in the Muggle Liaison Office at the Ministry. (But even then their knowledge will be incomplete.) This isolationist nature also means that ideas take a long time to trickle their way through society. Purebloods, even if they don't subscribe to the Purer is Better philosophy, are still bound by a social code which is probably Victorian at best. So pureblood boys can have libidos and shag whoever they want but pureblood girls are expected to remain pure until marriage or an unbreakable engagement is made. An icky double standard, but unfortunately in place. Another double standard to note is that in "old" families, girls do not rate as highly as boys and would not be taught flying or dueling, even if an aptitude is shown. The exception here is if the family values fighters (very rare) or athletic females (rare). This would not happen in "Slytherin" families. Speaking of children, like King Henry VIII, having a male heir is of the utmost importance - after all the boy carries the name. Most "old" families, wanting to keep the fortune intact, will not have many children. The only time you would see a family with more than two children would be in a family that doesn't care (ie the Weasleys) or in a family that keeps trying to produce a boy and has a slew of girls.

With these Victorian notions, purebloods will generally wear more conservative fashions than their muggleborn peers and very few will expect a marriage for love. Betrothals are common for "old" families and once the vows are exchanged, only death gets you out of it. Muggle marriages have a divorce rate of almost 50% but a wizarding marriage bonds the couple for life. No ands, ifs or buts. Even if their parents do not get along and hate each other's guts, a pureblood would still consider divorce to be vulgar and not an option. The birth of a squib is considered to be a shaming event and a semi-scandal. Squib children are usually emotionally neglected and shoved into the muggle world as soon as possible while the rest of the family is encouraged to forget about them.

Written by Admin SJ