So here's the problem: we have seen "full-blooded" Veela, all of whom appear to be female. An all-female population of a species should not be able to reproduce and have their progeny be full blooded, because they cannot reproduce with other full-blooded members of the species as they are also female. As such, all Veela progeny should be "half-blood" Veela.

And yet we know that there are full blooded Veela.

As such, one of the following must be true:

1) Female Veela are able to sexually reproduce with each other.

2) Veela are able to reproduce asexually (perhaps by laying an egg?) and a half-blood is only born if they are fertilised by a male from another species. Otherwise they effectively give birth to clones.

3) Male Veela exist.

4) Veela are spontaneously occurring magical creatures who are not born but rather appear under certain conditions, like Dementors.

5) There are no half-blooded Veela. Any female child of a Veela is also a full-blooded Veela.

6) Veela are immortal and all the full-blooded Veela we see are the "original" Veela, with all their descendants being half-blood or less.

So what solution do you favour?

I think #5 sounds the least fantastical of them, but I think Fleur is a real problem for this. Firstly because socially she is not treated in the same way as other Veela, who are kinda in the status of magical creatures not beings on the same level as wizards and witches. It's not even clear if Veela are allowed to hold wands. Every other magical creature we see - House Elves, Goblins - are not permitted wands. Secondly because she is actively referred to in the narrative as quarter-Veela. That is of course a narrative coloured by Harry's PoV but the sense is that it is not supposed to be misleading or inaccurate. Thirdly because there are certain abilities that Veela have which Fleur seems to lack - turning into a bird, throwing fireballs, enchanting people with her voice and dancing. All she seems to have inherited are supernaturally good looks.

So instead I lean towards #2, which is just about weird enough to think about that it is reminiscent of Hagrid's father reproducing with his giantess mother.

The mythological origins of Veela, however, may indicate #4:

Incidentally, if the folklore origins are to be taken seriously, then it's possible someone killed Fleur's grandmother to make what became Fleur's wand:

 

Pretty interesting problem if you're able to actually think about it for a bit. Sadly, many people (including me) are still stuck imagining various scenarios for option 1).

On a serious note though, I'm leaning towards option 5) with exceptions in the direction of veela purity being diluted in some cases, rather than the other way around, with special circumstances needed for the child to be full veela.

 

For simplicity's sake, I headcanoned Veela as Potterverse Asari.

 

If we were to speculate based on canon I think option 3 makes the most sense. Male veela might just be more secretive and reclusive than their female counterparts.

 

I've seen a lot of people argue number 5. They usually handwave away people calling Fleur a half-veela as ignorance on the topic. I really don't like that argument though.

 

How is #5 less fantastical than #3?

 

I like the idea that Veela who have children with muggles have full Veela children, it's only when wizards get them pregnant that you get hybrids.

 

I would think that #3 exists based on canon. Iirc the only time we see full blooded Veela is at the World Cup in GoF. Doesn't really make sense to have male cheerleaders, Veela or not. Considering that there are known unions of Wizards and female Veela, I would think that Veela are biologically wired to be sexually attracted to males >>>> male counterparts of their species exist. This is in light of the fact that Fleur is referred to as a quarter Veela.

#5 seems to the most common in fanfiction. With lack of knowledge being the most cited reason why Fleur is referred to as a quarter Veela in canon. The muggle + veela = Full Veela and wizard + Veela = hybrid idea sounds nice though I cannot remember specifically where i saw it.

 

My headcanon is this.

 

That sounds good to be honest. New headcanon.

 

That's what I always assumed.

 

I'm more on board with the specific circumstances origin tbh. I prefer letting monsters keep their monstrousness.

 

Another option is that only some of the offspring of veela become full blooded. Either through some ritual, or just being born under some specific conditions.

Than again what is a "full blooded veela" anyways? Since I think the only instance I can think of, in canon, where they are even mentioned is during the world cup and that didn't really describe them to any great extent.

 

I'm ok with this.

 

A suggestion for a 3b)

There is a species which can be considered 'male' veela but they are not known as veela nor are they particularly similar. Rather, there is a species of all male magical creatures related to male sexuality, maybe Satyrs/Fauns in their more sexual incarnations via Pan.

Male children of a Faun-Veela paring are fullblooded fauns. Female children are fullblooded veela. Likewise, Faun-Wizard pairings can produce half-Fauns.

 

Male children of veela carry the veela gene but don't exhibit any veela traits, beyond being rather 'pretty.'

Should one of these 'veela males' have a child with a veela, you get a full veela. If any other male has a child with a veela, you start with the fractions.

It's one option, at least, and not as unbelievable as some that I have seen.

Of course, what my suggestion provides in rationality, it fails to provide in fetish fuel. :mrgreen:

 

I hadn't at all considered the supernatural origin idea for Veela. I had taken as sensible and interesting enough JBern's idea that you get full-Veela from mating with men and percentage-Veela from mating with wizards. But that doesn't exactly explain where Veela come from in the first place (although you could wave that away with magical ritual/curse or something).

But now my Headcanon has changed. Veela are Veela and any children they have become percentage-Veela. If you add into that the death of a Veela from hair-theft, I think this makes a particularly moving backstory to Fleur's wand. It textures her a bit, which I need with that character.

 

I really like the spontaneous generation origin. It's not overdone in the fandom and is by far the most interesting. It also provides a pretty good illustration on why Veela are magical creatures rather than just pretty magic women who sometimes do things without spells that you can do with spells.

So, all full Veela would just appear in certain conditions, but they are reproductively compatible with humans so you get hybrids that are born like normal people.