The Potter Family
In the Muggle world \"Potter\" is an occupational surname, meaning a man who creates pottery①. The wizarding family② of Potters descends from the twelfth—century wizard Linfred of Stinchcombe, a locally well-beloved and eccentric③ man, whose nickname,\"the Potterer\", became corrupted in time to \"Potter\". Linfred was a vague and absent-minded fellow whose Muggle neighbours often called upon his medicinal services. None of them realised that Linfred’s wonderful cures for pox and ague④ were magical; they all thought him a harmless and lovable old chap. His reputation as a wellmeaning eccentric served Linfred well, for behind closed doors he was able to continue the series of experiments that laid the foundation of the Potter family’s fortune.
Linfred’s eldest son, Hardwin, married a beautiful young witch by the name of Iolanthe Peverell, who came from the village of Godric’s Hollow. She was the granddaughter of Ignotus Peverell. In the absence of male heirs, she, the eldest of her generation, had inherited her grandfather’s invisibility cloak⑤. It was, Iolanthe explained to Hardwin, a tradition in her family that the possession of this cloak remained a secret, and her new husband respected her wishes. From this time on, the cloak was handed down to the eldest in each new generation.
Occasionally, a Potter made it all the way to London, and a member of the family has twice sat on the Wizengamot: Ralston Potter, who was a member from 1612-1652, and who was a great supporter of the Statute of Secrecy (as opposed to declaring war on the Muggles, as more militant members wished to do) and Henry Potter (Harry to his intimates), who was a direct descendant of Hardwin and Iolanthe, and served on the Wizengamot from 1913 - 1921. Henry caused a minor stir when he publicly condemned then Minister for Magic, Archer Evermonde, who had forbidden the magical community to help Muggles waging the First World War. His outspokenness on the behalf of the Muggle community was also a strong contributing factor in the family’s exclusion from the ’Sacred Twenty-Eight’.
Henry’s son was called Fleamont Potter. Fleamont was so called because it was the dying wish of Henry’s mother that he perpetuate her maiden name, which would otherwise die out. It was Fleamont who took the family gold and quadrupled⑥ it, by creating magical Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion ( \"two drops tames even the most bothersome barnet\" ). He sold the company at a vast profit when he retired, but no amount of riches could compensate him or his wife Euphemia for their childlessness. They had quite given up hope of a son or daughter when, to their shock and surprise, Euphemia found that she was pregnant and their beloved boy, J ames, was born.
Fleamont and Euphemia lived long enough to see J ames marry a Muggleborn girl called Lily Evans, but not to meet their grandson, Harry. Dragon pox carried them off within days of each other, due to their advanced age, and J ames Potter then inherited Ignotus Peverell’s Invisibility Cloak.

在麻瓜的世界里,波特是一個帶有職業屬性的姓氏,意為“制陶者”。波特巫師家族是十二世紀林弗雷德·斯延奇庫姆的后裔,他是一個深受當地人愛戴的怪人,被他們稱為“制陶者”,隨著時間的流逝,當初的綽號漸漸被遺忘,“波特”的名字慢慢被人稱慣。林弗雷德在給他的麻瓜鄰居們看病時,總是表現出一副表情呆滯、心不在焉的模樣。周圍人都沒有意識到林弗雷德治療疹子和瘧疾的神奇手法是通過魔法辦到的;而且都認為他是一個沒有危險又可愛的老家伙。林弗雷德對大家認為自己是一個心地善良的怪人的評價感覺很滿意,在關上門之后,他還可以在屋子里繼續做一系列實驗,這也為波特家族的財富奠定了基礎。
林弗雷德的大兒子哈德溫,娶了一個名叫約蘭特·佩弗利爾的年輕漂亮女子,她來自高錐克的空回山谷。她也是伊閣諾圖斯·佩弗利爾的孫女。在沒有男性繼承人的情況下,她作為這一代家族里最年長的,便繼承了其祖父的隱形斗篷。約蘭特向其丈夫哈德溫解釋說,在她傳統的家庭里擁有這種斗篷對別人來說仍然是一個秘密,她的丈夫尊重她的意愿。從那之后,斗篷便傳給每個新一代里的長子。
偶爾,波特家族的人會一路去往倫敦,家族里有一個叫羅爾斯頓·波特的人,在1612—1652年間曾兩次成為威森加摩里的成員,是對保密法規提倡支持的人(他反對向麻瓜們宣戰,而激進分子卻不這么想),亨利·波特(他的密友叫其Harry)是哈德溫和約蘭特的直系后裔,在1913—1921期間在威森加摩工作過。亨利曾公開譴責過當時的魔法部長阿徹·埃弗蒙德,那個在第一次世界大戰年間禁止魔法社團人員幫助麻瓜的人,他因此引起了微小的騷動。他代表麻瓜社會而直言不諱,這成為波特家族被排除在“28個神圣純血統家族”之外的一個強有力的因素。
亨利的兒子叫福利蒙特·波特,他之所以叫福利蒙特,是因為亨利母親的遺愿是希望孩子能繼承自己的婚前姓氏,使她的家族得到延續。福利蒙特制作出的輕松亮發魔藥使得家族的財產翻了四倍(只要兩滴,再難看再枯焦不堪的頭發也可以變得完美)。他在退休時把公司賣掉賺得了一大筆錢,但是再多的財富也無法撫慰他和妻子尤菲米婭沒有孩子的傷痛。就在他們早已放棄能有個孩子的想法時,發生了一件既震驚又驚喜的事,尤菲米婭發現自己懷孕了,就這樣,他們心愛的兒子詹姆斯出生了。
福利蒙特和尤菲米婭在有生之年看到了詹姆斯迎娶一位麻瓜女孩為妻,名叫莉莉·伊萬斯,遺憾的是,沒能看到他們的孫子亨利的出生。因為龍痘病,在很短時間里便奪走了兩位老人的生命,由于他們年長,詹姆斯·波特繼承了伊閣諾圖斯·佩弗利爾的隱形斗篷。