Thoughts on Ages of Bill, Marauders, and Lucius

Posted to the Marauder’s Slash List

March 2004

 

First off, I'm a canon!whore. Big-time. But I take what JKR says in
interviews to be as close to canon as it comes (as opposed to movie
details, etc.) I don't like writing fics that contain details that
could be clarified later on... which is why I've never ever given
Remus a middle name and I was bouncing up and down this morning when
I found it out (I've never been in the camp that believed the J. was
James) Anyway, with that being said, I still really like the concept
that Bill was in school with the Marauders mainly because after
Sirius' death, I ship a very awkward and hesitant Remus/Bill and
that common year or years at school has been fun to explore... and
it makes them closer in age for a good relationship.

I tend to believe the calculations which are posted on the Lexicon
(bottom of the Weasley's page) based on all the other details given
in the books (like Ginny commenting about Charlie getting his letter
to Hogwarts):
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizards/weasley.html
and their years at school as posted in the listing:
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizards/wizards-v-z.html

So in the notes I use when I write fanfics, I have:
Lucius Malfoy      Born-1954            Hogwarts-1965-72
Marauders/Snape      Born-1960            Hogwarts-1971-78
Bill Weasley      ? ?

Charlie Weasley      Born-1967            Hogwarts-1978-85
 
Lucius was in 7th year when Snape/Marauders were in 1st.
Bill HAD to have been in Hogwarts at least one year with the
Marauders since he's older than Charlie.


Okay, so that's what I write by.
Now, assuming Bill is two years older than Charlie, that gives him 2
years of overlap with the Marauders... which messes up a couple of
my fics (Grrr!) but I can rewrite them. It's not that crucial to
their plots. I hate being anal about canon, but I like when fics
don't contradict canon (I'm not a huge fan of AU's, though I suppose
a number of my Sirius stories are now anyway). I like stories best
when they fit within the universe... contradictions pull me out and
make me confused. And I can't knowingly write them. So rather than
invent things that could be later thrown out, I avoid them. That's
just me, though.

And I know she said today that Charlie was only two years older than
Percy and all that... but she didn't have her notebooks with her and
we all know she's not the best at math (or maths, for that matter)
or remembering details off the top of her head. So until I'm told in
canon what their ages are, or see her read it straight out of her
notebook, I'm just going to believe what I originally thought...
because, again, I include their shared year(s) in my Bill/Remus
stories.

>In GoF, however, Molly comments that the Whomping Willow (planted
>to keep Moony at bay) was planted the year she was leaving school.
>A year before or the same year the Marauders entered school.
As for GoF- I don't think she gave a time frame about the Whomping
Willow's planting. *checks book* Okay, in the American hardback,
page 617: "Mrs.Weasley was intrigued by the Whomping Willow, which
had been planted after she had left school..."
So that's not a year after... just any time after. All it explains
is that she graduated before they arrived... could have been a year,
could have been 10.
Whoo, that was exciting... usually I just use the audio versions for
canon-lookup. It's nice to pull out the book again :-)

Just to throw more in there... some people argue that just because
of the fact that he should have been a 7th year doesn't mean
anything. It's possible, based on the month his birthday falls in,
that he started school early and thus JKR is right age-wise but he
wouldn't have been in Hogwarts as a 7th year when Harry was a 1st
year. And that could be. I don't have anything from canon to back
that up, though, so I prefer the version I have above though I'll be
the first to admit Ginny's comment could also just be a lapse in the
author's judgment and not something to base a whole theory off of...
but, again, I like canon :-)

Additionally... I sort of like the gap in ages of the boys... it
makes sense to me for Molly & Arthur to have waited a number of
years in between Charlie and Percy. The war was just starting
up/gathering speed. It's possible that Percy was a mistake... or
they had a change of heart (not wanting to be intimidated, wanting
to have more "good" brought into the world, etc. All the reasons I
give for the Potters to have had a kid in the middle of the war)
Just gives me more to think about if there is a gap. I like that. :-)

Just some thoughts :-) Point is, I consider myself a slave to canon,
including interviews, and even I'm not believing the age thing right
now.