"Very basic, but pretty much right. I guess you get the long version then. So let's start at the beginning. The Greengrasses are a relatively old family, though not as old as the Potters. The first mention of a Greengrass in the records is of a Henry Greengrass who received special recognition during the Goblin Rebellion of 1476. Whether he was a half-blood or a muggleborn is still being debated in my family."
"What? I thought your family was pureblooded?" Harry asked in shock.
"They are now, but how do you think every pureblooded family gets started? Somewhere at the very top of every family tree is a muggleborn wizard. That's part of the pureblood hypocrisy that they try to ignore. But we go along with it because in this society it is better to be a part of an influential family. Even the idiots like the Malfoy's know that the originator of their line was a mudblood." Daphne said, laughing.
"I guess I had just never thought about it, but that makes sense. You said my family was older, how do you know about them?"
"Because every 'proper' pureblood is taught the histories of the other families so you will know where you stand in terms of age and respect. The Potters are only about fifty years older, but they are also the last surviving official branch of the Peverell's and they can be traced to the very beginnings of wizarding Britain. They were also known to claim some relationship to Godric Gryffindor, but that isn't proven. Either way, if you wanted to play the part of a snobbish pureblood you have a good enough name to get away with it."
"But I'm a half blood."
"That wouldn't matter. The name is the important thing. Now, as I was saying before you distracted me, for the next few hundred years the Greengrasses built up a reputation of being a relatively dark family. Sometimes allying with dark lords, mostly staying neutral, and in a few rare cases opposing them."
"You make it sound like there is always a dark lord around."
"That isn't far from the truth, actually. Normally a minor dark lord will rise up every twenty years or so and stick around for a couple of years before finally being defeated. Major dark lords are rarer, they usually only come about once every 200 years but when they do they could stay in control for decades. This century has been an exception to the rule with two major dark lords coming to power."
"Grindelwald and then Voldemort." Harry answered.
"Exactly. On the bright side they managed to kill off any competing minor dark lords, but does not help everyone else out much. The Greengrasses are considered a dark family, although not nearly as dark as the Malfoy's or the Nott's or the Black's."
"My godfather's family?" Harry asked, and then after thinking about it began to nod.
"Yes. Don't forget that his brother was a Death Eater, so was his cousin Bellatrix, and his other cousin might as well be after ending up married to a Malfoy."
"I'll have to remember to ask Sirius what he thinks about that." Harry said with a laugh.
"Opinions on my family changed a little bit fifty years ago when my grandfather, Darius Greengrass, joined the fight against Grindelwald." Daphne said, trying to get back on topic.
"Why?"
"That war was different than the one against You-Know-Who, even if some of their propaganda is similar. It might surprise you to find out how many of the darker families fought against Grindelwald, and how many others stayed neutral. The reason is that a lot of the families saw Grindelwald as a foreigner looking to impose his will on wizarding Britain and they didn't like that, especially since his plans would cost them wealth and political power. The difference in the last two wars is like the difference between a nation being attacked by another nation and one fighting itself in a civil war. So, thinking it was in the family's best interest, he joined the war against Grindelwald. Apparently, this is when he started to really not like Dumbledore."
"But Dumbledore is the one who defeated Grindelwald, why wouldn't your grandfather like him if they were on the same side?"
"Because Dumbledore just wanted to defend and never wanted to attack. He sat back and did nothing as Grindelwald's forces killed almost fifty percent of the witches and wizards in Moscow, including some of my grandfather's friends. The history books say that Dumbledore was doing all he could, but apparently that was something my grandfather could never accept. By the time Dumbledore finally was willing to face and defeat Grindelwald most of the wizarding communities in Europe had been destroyed along with the muggle cities. A lot of the other families felt the way my grandfather did once the war was over."
"It is a shame they don't teach this in History, I would actually stay awake for that." Harry said, still very interested in where her story was headed.