Birthdates of the Harry Potter characters

Birthdates in the Harry Potter universe:
an examination of what we know or can deduce about the dates of birth of various Potterverse characters, with an explanation for the apparent anomalies relating to dating Charlie Weasley. For a summary listing known or surmised dates for all characters, jump to end.

Birthdays:

Birthdays on JKR's website Name Day Month Severus Snape 9 January Arthur Weasley 6 February Ron Weasley 1 March Remus Lupin 10 March Fred & George Weasley 1 April Pomona Sprout 15 May Draco Malfoy 5 June Dobby 28 June Neville Longbottom 30 July Harry Potter 31 July Ginevra Weasley 11 August Percy Weasley 22 August Hermione Granger 19 September Minerva McGonagall 4 October Filius Flitwick 17 October Molly Weasley 30 October Bill Weasley 29 November Rubeus Hagrid 6 December Charlie Weasley 12 December

JK Rowling's official website opened in May 2004. Starting from July 2004 onwards, the website has posted annual birthday greetings and e-cake to various characters from the Harry Potter books. By this method, she has established birthdays for many of the major characters.

Birthdays derived from the books Name Day Month Comments Lily Evans 30 January James Potter 27 March Dudley Dursley 30 June or 23^rd June Tom Riddle 31 December

In addition, internal evidence in the books sheds light on some other birthdays, although in the case of James Potter that evidence is conflicting.

James really ought to have been born some time between early June and the end of August, because the bullying incident which Harry saw in the Pensieve took place during James's OWLs, which would normally be held during the first two weeks in June in the students' fifth year, when they were either fifteen or sixteen, and Lupin says that James was still fifteen at that point.

Harry moved around behind Snape and read the heading of the examination paper: DEFENCE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS -- ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL.
So Snape had to be fifteen or sixteen, around Harry's own age. [OotP ch. #28 p. 564/565]

Then Lupin said quietly, 'I wouldn't like you to judge your father on what you saw there, Harry. He was only fifteen --' [OotP ch. #29 p. 590]

James Potter, born 27 March 1960, died 31 October 1981
Lily Potter, born 30 January 1960, died 31 October 1981
[DH ch. #16; p. 268]

But either JK just forgot about that or Lupin was getting mixed up, because the tombstone at Godric's Hollow in Deathly Hallows states flatly that he was born on the 27^th of March (and Lily Evans was born on 30^th January). Perhaps Lupin was susbconsciously thinking of the werewolf "prank", which you would think would prey on his mind rather; in which case this would be evidence that that incident occurred prior to the 27^th of March. 'New Year's Eve and bitter cold, snowing, you know. Nasty night. And this girl, not much older than I was myself at the time, came staggering up the front steps. Well, she wasn't the first. We took her in and she had the baby within the hour.' [HBP ch. #13; p. 249]

Tom Riddle's birthday is quite definite. HBP clearly states that he was born on New Year's Eve, or just possibly on New Year's Day, depending on how late on New Year's Eve his mother arrived at the orphanage. JKR was asked about this on her website, and said New Year's Eve.

[cut] Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a cine-camera, a remote-control aeroplane [PS ch. #02; p. 21]

It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. [PS ch. #02; p. 24]

The month-old cine-camera was lying on top of a small, working tank [PS ch. #03; p. 32]

Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. [PS ch. #03; p. 32]

The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. [PS ch. #03; p. 33]

On Friday, no fewer than twelve letters arrived for Harry. [PS ch. #03; p. 34]

On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. [PS ch. #03; p. 34]

On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy. [PS ch. #03; p. 34]

'It's Monday,' [Dudley] told his mother. 'The Great Humberto's on tonight.' [PS ch. #03; p. 36]

The lighted dial of Dudley's watch [cut] told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. [PS ch. #03; p. 38]

'[Harry's] a month younger than Dudley' [HBP ch. #03; p. 56]

Dudley Dursley's date is more approximate, and is based on calculations given on the Harry Potter Lexicon. We know that Dudley received a cine-camera for his eleventh birthday, which was a Saturday. We know that Harry's birthday was July 31^st. The day before Harry's birthday was the day they woke up at the hotel and all rowed out to the island, and it was a Monday, so Harry's birthday was a Tuesday (in Rowling-time: in real life it was a Wednesday).

The day before they went to the island was the day they left home and drove to the hotel, which is confirmed as a Sunday. Saturday and Friday are also specified. The day before that, which was the day Harry trod on Vernon's sleeping face, was therefore a Thursday. The day the letters began arriving addressed to Harry in The Smallest Bedroom was the Wednesday and the day they first started arriving was Tuesday 24^th July, one week before Harry's birthday - and it was on that day that Harry moved from his cupboard to Dudley's second bedroom. On that day, he saw the cine-camera and thought of it as being a month old, so Dudley received the camera approximately five weeks prior to Harry's birthday.

Dudley's birthday was therefore round about 24^th June, if Harry means the camera is a calendar month old, or 26^th June if he means it's four weeks old. The 26^th of June, being four weeks earlier than the 24^th July, would also have been a Tuesday (Rowling time). Dudley's birthday was on a Saturday so it would have been either 23^rd June or 30^th June. The Lexicon has plumped for 23^rd June because it is the closest Saturday to 24^th June. I'm more inclined to go for 30^th June because it fits better with Petunia's statement that Harry is a month younger than Dudley.

The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new cine-camera [PS ch. #03; p. 28]

A birthday on the 30^th June also reduces the otherwise improbably long time Harry spent locked in his cupboard after the snake incident, since we know he was shut in (at least in the evenings: we don't know whether he was still going to school or not) from the evening of Dudley's birthday until after school ended for the summer, which would be in the third week in July.

As the next day was Saturday, most students would normally have breakfasted late. [GoF ch. #16; p. 228]

       The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this morning. As it was Hallowe'en, a cloud of live bats was fluttering around the enchanted ceiling [cut]
       'Are you seventeen, then?' asked Harry. [cut]
       'I had my birthday last week,' said Angelina. [GoF ch. #16; p. 229/230]

In addition, we know that Angelina Johnson was born in the last week of October, since she turned seventeen during the week prior to the Hallowe'en in GoF (and that Hallowe'en was a Saturday in Rowling-time, so there's no ambiguity between "the previous calendar week" and "the previous seven days").

Wood had pointed out Cedric Diggory to him in the corridor; Diggory was a fifth year and a lot bigger than Harry. [PoA ch. #09; p. 131]

Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen. [GoF ch. #06; p. 67]

[cut] the selection of the three champions will take place at Hallowe'en. [cut]
'Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts,' he said, 'the Heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration.' [GoF ch. #12; p. 166]

By the time Harry reached the bottom of the marble staircase, Cedric was at the top. He was with a load of sixth-year friends. [GoF ch. #20; p. 297]

We also know that Cedric Diggory was one of the oldest students in his year, with a birthday probably in early September. We know that he was a fifth-year in PoA so he was a sixth-year in GoF, and this is confirmed by the fact that he had a group of friends in sixth-year. He had to have turned seventeen by Hallowe'en of GoF in order for his name to be entered into the draw for the Triwizard Tournament, but in any case we are told that he was "around seventeen" at the World Cup.

But there was still a fortnight to go before he went back to school. [GoF ch. #02; p. 24]

[cut] the final of the Quidditch World Cup takes place next Monday night [GoF ch. #03; p. 32]

[cut] allowing Harry to disappear to the Weasleys' for the rest of the summer would get rid of him two weeks earlier than anyone could have hoped, [GoF ch. #03; p. 33]

By twelve o'clock next day, Harry's trunk was packed [GoF ch. #04; p. 39]

'You really should be in bed, the whole lot of you, you'll be up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup.' [GoF ch. #05; p. 60]

Neither Mr Weasley nor Percy was at home much over the following week. [cut]
'It's been absolute uproar,' Percy told them importantly, the Sunday evening before they were due to return to Hogwarts. [GoF ch. #10; p. 135]

There was a definite end-of-the-holidays gloom in the air when Harry awoke next morning. Heavy rain was still splattering against the window as he got dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt; they would change into their school robes on the Hogwarts Express. [GoF ch. #11; p. 141]

The World Cup took place two weeks before the start of the autumn term 1994, which was presumably on September 1^st as usual. We know that term started on a Monday, and that the World Cup was on a Monday. It's ambiguous whether nearly-one or nearly-two weeks pass at the Weasleys' house between the day after the World Cup (a Tuesday) and the day before the start of term (a Sunday), but we know that Harry receives his invitation to the World Cup about two weeks before the start of term, that he set off for The Burrow the day after he received the invitation, and that the World Cup was the day after that. So he received the invition on Saturday 16^th August (Rowling-time) and the World Cup took place on Monday 18^th August.

At that time, Cedric can't have been quite seventeen, or he would have been going into seventh year, not sixth (unless he repeated a year). Yet, in order to be "around seventeen" he must have been very nearly seventeen, so his birthday was in September, and probably in the first half.

'He's unbelievable. He's really young, too. Only just eighteen or something.' [GoF ch. #07; p. 77]

It was hard to believe he was only eighteen. [GoF ch. #08; p. 95]

According to Ron, at the World Cup, Viktor Krum was only just turned eighteen, so if that's right we can assume he was born in July or early August, yet he was still a schoolboy the following academic year. If he was a Hogwarts student that wouldn't be possible, unless he was repeating a year, because a student whose birthday fell during the summer would be one of the youngest in his year and would finish NEWTs before his eighteenth birthday. But Durmstrang may set the barrier which decides which birthdates go into which academic year earlier than Hogwarts - perhaps August 1^st rather than September 1^st - or their course may be a year longer.

Birth years:

'Well, this Hallowe'en will be my five hundredth deathday,' said Nearly Headless Nick [CoS ch. #08; p. 99]

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington
died 31st October, 1492
[CoS ch. #08; p. 102]

We know the years in which the books are set, because during the autumn (first) term of Harry's second year he attended a party to mark the five hundredth anniversary of the death of Nearly Headless Nick, and there was a banner proclaiming that Nick had died in 1492. We know, therefore, that Harry's second academic year was 1992/93. Harry started at Hogwarts in 1991 and he turned eleven that year, so he was born in 1980. This is consistent with his parents' date of death, which is given in Deathly Hallows as Hallowe'en 1981.

We know that pupils start at Hogwarts no earlier than the September 1^st after they turn eleven, because JK said on her website that "... you must be at least eleven to attend Hogwarts...." - although it isn't clear what happens if your birthday is actually September 1^st. But since that doesn't apply to any of the students whose birthdays we know, we can infer that if Harry was born in 1980 then Hermione was born in 1979 and Ron, Neville, Draco and Dudley in 1980. Everyone in Harry's year (unless they are repeating a year) was born between September 1979 and August 1980. Looking up, he saw the very small, mousy-haired boy he’d seen trying on the Sorting Hat last night [cut]
'All right, Harry? I'm - I’m Colin Creevey,' he said breathlessly, [CoS ch. #06 p. 75]

'Creevey, Dennis!'
Tiny Dennis Creevey staggered forward, tripping over Hagrid's moleskin [GoF ch. #12 p. 158]

'No you're not,' said Ginny sharply. 'Neville Longbottom -- Luna Lovegood. Luna's in my year, but in Ravenclaw.' [OotP ch. #10 p. 169]

'You're under-age!' Mrs Weasley shouted at her daughter as Harry approached. 'I won't permit it!' [cut]
'She's sixteen!' shouted Mrs Weasley. [DH ch. #30 p. 486]

[cut] Colin Creevey, though under-age, must have sneaked back [DH ch. #34 p. 556]

Colin Creevey and Luna Lovegood are in the academic year below Harry, which means that in theory they could have been born any time between 1^st September 1980 and 31^st August 1981. However, we know that Colin was not yet of age (not yet seventeen) at the time of the battle of Hogwarts and an attempt is made to bar him from combat as a result. Ginny (who we know has an August birthday) is also told she's too young because she's not quite seventeen yet, whereas no-one suggests that Luna shouldn't be there; so we can assume that Luna was of age. Dennis Creevey is two academic years below his brother, since we first see him in GoF, but we do not have any other input on his age.

'My son, Draco, is home for his Easter holidays. [DH ch. #23 p. 370]

Harry stood quite still, eyes glazed, watching the place where a bright gold rim of dazzling sun was rising over the horizon. [cut]
'I need to speak to Griphook and Ollivander,' Harry said. [DH ch. #24 p. 391]

[cut] three days after they had arrived at the cottage [cut]
''Arry, Grip'ook would like to speak to you.' [DH ch. #25 p. 407/408]

Slowly, the days stretched into weeks. [DH ch. #25 p. 411]

'I'm sorry,' he told Fleur, one blustery April evening [DH ch. #25 p. 412]

It was a relief when six o'clock arrived and they could slip out of their sleeping bags, dress in the semi-darkness, then creep out into the garden, where they were to meet Hermione and Griphook. The dawn was chilly, but there was little wind now that it was May. [DH ch. #26 p. 421]

The battle of Hogwarts occurred early in May 1998. We know it was in May because it was the night after the raid on Gringotts, which was in May. We can surmise that it was early May because we know the fight at Malfoy Manor took place during the Easter holidays, so in late March or early April, and whilst the Trio then stayed at Shell Cottage for some weeks there is no suggestion of it being well over a month.

So we know the battle was in early May, and therefore that Luna was born between 1^st September 1980 and early May 1981, and Colin between early May 1981 and 31^st August 1981. If Luna should happen to be one of the oldest pupils in her year she could be as little as four and a half weeks younger than Harry.

Angelina Johnson turned seventeen in October 1994, and Cedric Diggory turned seventeen in September 1994, so they must both have been born in 1977. Viktor Krum turned eighteen the same year Cedric turned seventeen, so he was born in 1976.

'Oh, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?' Harry asked Ginny.
She nodded, blushing to the roots of her flaming hair. [CoS ch. #04 p. 38]

Harry glanced back at the photograph. Percy, who was in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, was looking particularly smug. He had pinned his Head Boy badge to the fez perched jauntily on top of his neat hair [PoA ch. #01 p. 13]

At that moment Mrs Weasley entered the bar, laden with shopping bags and followed by the twins, Fred and George, who were about to start their fifth year at Hogwarts [PoA ch. #04 p. 50/51]

Then we can work out the ages of the other Weasley children. When Harry is in third year Percy is in seventh year and the twins are in fifth year: so the twins were born in April 1978 and Percy in August 1976. Ginny starts school in Harry's second year so she was born in August 1981. [It may be worth noting that both Percy and Ginny are among the youngest students in their respective years.]

'Bill and Charlie have already left -- Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch.' [PS ch. #06 p. 75]

'Charlie's in Romania studying dragons and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts,' [PS ch. #06 p. 80]

'It's great being back here,' said Bill, looking around the chamber [cut] 'Haven't seen this place for five years.' [GoF ch. #31 p. 535]

Bill's and Charlie's ages are more problematic. We know that both boys had already left Hogwarts by the time Harry started in September 1991, and that Bill was born in November and Charlie in December. Bill was Head Boy, so we know he stayed on for NEWTs and did the full seven years at Hogwarts. In June 1995, just before the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, he tells Harry that he hasn't seen Hogwarts for five years.

This does not prove that Bill started at Hogwarts in 1983 and finished seventh year in 1990, for there are various reasons why a student might repeat a year, or start late, or visit the school again after completing NEWTs. However, it does tell us he finished school by June 1990. So he started at Hogwarts no more recently than September 1983 (assuming he started normally at age eleven) and was born (since he has a November birthday and should therefore have started at Hogwarts during the year in which he turned twelve) no more recently than 1971.

'I'm going to be expelled!' Ginny wept as Harry helped her awkwardly to her feet. 'I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and -- w-what'll Mum and Dad say? ' [CoS ch. #17 p. 238]

Ginny Weasley speaks of remembering Bill going to Hogwarts, and wanting to go too. She was born in August 1981, so if she means that she remembers him starting at Hogwarts it's very unlikly that she would remember it, and remember that she understood what was happening at the time, if he started in 1982 when she was only a year old. That would peg Bill's birth to November 1971, unless for some reason he started at Hogwarts when he was older than eleven.

Then again, it's pretty unlikely she would remember it that clearly even if she was two. She probably just means that she remembers Bill going to Hogwarts - not that she remembers his first going there. If Bill was born in e.g. 1970 then he left Hogwarts in summer 1989 when Ginny was not quite eight, so it would still be a memory from the fairly distant past, from the perspective of an eleven-year-old.

If she does mean that she remembers him actually starting at Hogwarts, then he could have been born in 1971 and started in 1983 when she was two, but she'd have to have had a very well-developed memory and understanding for a two-year-old. Or he started late, when she was older - perhaps he'd been ill, or had been at another school - and in that case it tells us nothing about his birth-year. On the whole it seems most likely that she just means "I remember when Bill was attending Hogwarts", so it doesn't bear on whether he was born in 1971 or earlier.

Bill was the oldest Weasley brother. He and the next brother, Charlie, had already left Hogwarts. [CoS ch. #04 p. 40]

We know that Charlie is younger than Bill and older than Percy. In JK Rowling's World Book Day Chat on March 4^th, 2004, she was specifically asked: "How old are Charlie and Bill Weasley in relation to their other siblings?" She replied "Oh dear, maths. Let me think. Bill is two years older than Charlie, who is two years older than Percy." According to Accio Quote! she subsequently revised this on her website to say that Bill is two years older than Charlie who is three years older than Percy, although the link given to the original quote on her website is no longer valid.

Since Charlie was born in December and Percy in August it's a bit problematic to say Charlie is three years older than Percy. It could mean that Charlie was three academic years ahead of Percy, was born in 1972 and starting at Hogwarts in 1984, and that Bill was born in 1970. It could mean Charlie is two years, eight and a bit months older than Percy, that Charlie was born in 1973 and started at Hogwarts in 1985, and that Bill was born in 1971.

'Bill and Charlie have already left -- Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch.' [PS ch. #06 p. 75]

'He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive,' Professor McGonagall told Wood. 'Didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it.' [PS ch. #09 p. 113]

'I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks ...' [PS ch. #09 p. 113]

'I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year,' said Fred. 'We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. [PS ch. #09 p. 114]

'We know Oliver's speech by heart,' Fred told Harry, 'we were in the team last year.' [PS ch. #11 p. 136]

'This is our last chance -- my last chance -- to win the Quidditch Cup,' [cut]
'Gryffindor haven't won for seven years now.' [PoA ch. #08 p. 108]

'Seriously,' said Professor McGonagall, and she was actually smiling. 'I daresay you'll need to get the feel of it before Saturday's match, won't you? And Potter -- do try and win, won't you? Or we'll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row, as Professor Snape was kind enough to remind me only last night ...' [PoA ch. #12 p. 184]

The whole of Gryffindor house was obsessed with the coming match. Gryffindor hadn't won the Quidditch Cup since the legendary Charlie Weasley (Ron's second-oldest brother) had been Seeker. [PoA ch. #15; p.221/222]

We have a great deal of rather confusing information about Charlie's Quidditch career at Hogwarts, which may help us to establish his birthdate.

We are told that Charlie was a famously good Gryffindor Seeker, and also Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. In autumn 1991 Fred comments that Gryffindor haven't won "since Charlie left", in the same sentence as a comment about having a chance at the Quidditch Cup this year.

Fred also strongly implies that Oliver Wood was Quidditch Captain the previous year, 1990/91, and in autumn 1991 Minerva McGonagall comments that the previous academic year's team, 1990/91, was very bad. This would seem like an odd thing to say if Charlie was still Captain and he was as good a player as her statement that "Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it" - used, as it is, as a mark of awe at Harry's prowess rather than a criticism of Charlie - suggests, so it confirms that Charlie had ceased to be Captain well before the end of the academic year 1990/91

During academic year 1993/94, Oliver Wood says that Gryffindor haven't won the Quidditch Cup for seven years. It's not entirely clear whether he means "There have been seven clear years during which we didn't win the cup" or "We last won the Cup seven years ago", but a comment by McGonagall about potentially being out of the running for the Cup for the eighth year in a row shows that they haven't won it for seven clear years, and their last win was in 1986. 'At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup' [PS ch. #07 p. 85]

'I'm holding the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup' [PS ch. #12 p. 155]

If they won their next match, against Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the House Championship for the first time in seven years. [PS ch. #13 p. 158]

[cut] 'and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor.'
'Fifty?' Harry gasped - they would lose the lead, the lead he'd won in the last Quidditch match. [PS ch. #15 p. 178]

It was decked out in the Slytherin colours of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the House Cup for the seventh year in a row. [PS ch. #17 p. 220]

Against that, we have an apparently flatly contradictory statement in PS, where Harry thinks - in January 1992, because it's early in the term after Christmas - that if they win their next Quidditch match, against Hufflepuff, they will overtake Slytherin in the House Championship for the first time in seven years. That would mean they last won in 1985, and if he's referring to the Quidditch Cup there's no way that can be compatible with what both McGonagall and Wood say in PoA.

However, we know that the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup are two separate entities, and that had Slytherin been allowed to keep their victory in the House Cup that year, it would have been the seventh year in a row that they had won it. We are actually told that wins at Quidditch contribute points towards winning the House Cup - when McGonagall docks points after the escapade with Norbert, we see Harry think that he is losing the points which he had gained at Quidditch. We can surmise, then, that when Harry links a win at Quidditch to a House Championship in which Gryffindor haven't beaten Slytherin for seven years as at 1992, he is referring to the House Cup. So we can discount this statement as evidence for Charlie's dates: all it means is that even though Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup in 1986, Slytherin won the House Cup.

Altogether, then, we have the following information about Bill and Charlie's dates:

1)	Bill was present at Hogwarts in summer 1990, although we don't definitely know that he was a student at that point.
2)	Bill did NEWTs at Hogwarts, was not present at Hogwarts after summer 1990 (except for the Triwizard Tournament) and was therefore born no more recently than 1971, and started at Hogwarts no more recently than September 1983 (unless he started later than first year).
3)	Ginny was born in August 1981.
4)	Ginny remembers Bill going to Hogwarts, and she understood at the time that that was what was happening. It is not clear however whether she means she remembers him starting there.
>5)	Charlie is two years younger than Bill, so he was born no more recently than 1973 and started Hogwarts no more recently than 1985.
6)	Charlie is either 2 years 8 months or 3 years 8 months older than Percy, who was born in August 1976, so Charlie was born in 1973 or 1972.
7)	Charlie had left Hogwarts by September 1991.
8)	At some point in his school career Charlie was Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.
9)	Charlie was a famously good Seeker.
10)	Gryffindor last won the annual Quidditch Cup in 1986.
11)	The last time Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup Charlie was Seeker (so Charlie was Seeker by the end of 1986).
12)	The Gryffindor team have not won "since Charlie left" although it is ambiguous what they didn't win and in what sense he left.
13)	Charlie's period of tenure on the team is spoken of as if it was some sort of Golden Age.
14)	The 1990/91 Gryffindor Quidditch team was extremely bad.
15)	The 1990/91 Gryffindor Quidditch team was captained by Oliver Wood for at least part of the year.

How can we make sense of the facts that Charlie was Quidditch Captain, that Charlie was considered to be the exemplar of excellence as a Seeker, that Charlie didn't start at Hogwarts until 1984 at earliest, that Gryffindor haven't won since Charlie in some sense "left" and that the last time Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup was apparently in 1986?

We're told that they they haven't won the Cup since Charlie was Seeker, rather than since Charlie was Captain, so he may well not have been Captain yet when they last won the Cup. Indeed, it's very unlikely he could have been Captain in second year, and even less so in first year, so the sequence must have been: Charlie becomes Seeker; Gryffindor win the Cup; Charlie becomes Captain.

What did Fred mean, when he said that they hadn't won since Charlie left?

a) They hadn't won the Quidditch Cup since Charlie left school. No, because they last won the Cup in 1986 and we know Charlie was at Hogwarts long after that date. He couldn't have been more than a second year in 1986, it's most unlikly that he was Captain in second year, and we know he did become Gryffindor Captain - so he didn't e.g. suddenly leave in 1986 to go to another school. Ergo, he was at Hogwarts well after the last time Gryffindor won the Cup, so there's no reason why Fred would link Charlie leaving Hogwarts with Gryffindor last winning the Quidditch Cup.

b) They hadn't won the Quidditch Cup since Charlie ceased to Captain. No, because they last won the Cup in 1986, when Charlie couldn't have been more than a second year. It's most unlikly that he was already Captain in second year, so his Captaincy happened later and was a separate thing from winning the Cup. So there's no reason why Fred would link Charlie ceasing to be Captain with Gryffindor last winning the Quidditch Cup.

c) They hadn't won the Quidditch Cup since Charlie ceased to be Seeker. Possible but unlikely. We know Charlie was Seeker when they last won the Cup, and he could have suffered an injury or a growth-spurt which forced him to resign as Seeker soon afterwards. But since he went on to captain the team it's unlikely that Fred would characterise his ceasing to be Seeker as his having "left".

d) They hadn't won any matches at all since Charlie left school. Not if Charlie did the full seven years at Hogwarts, because the earliest he could have been born was 1972, which would leave him attending Hogwarts from 1984 to 1991. If Charlie only left Hogwarts in June 1991 it would make no sense for Fred to say, in September 1991, that they hadn't won any matches since Charlie left school. They haven't had a chance to play any matches since Charlie left school. However, it makes perfect sense if Charlie left school earlier than seventh year/1991. If he left school after OWLs, or at the end of sixth year (if he was born in 1972), Gryffindor could perfectly well have won no matches since.

e) They hadn't won any matches at all since Charlie ceased to Captain. Possible, but it would require him to have resigned as Captain before the end of his seventh year, which could not have been earlier than 1990/91. So if he was still at school, he would have sat on the sidelines and watched the disaster which was the 1990/91 Gryffindor team, and not intervened.

f) They hadn't won any matches at all since Charlie ceased to be Seeker. Possible but unhelpful. We know Oliver Wood was Captain in 1990/91, so Charlie had either left school or resigned as Captain. That he might have resigned as Seeker at the same time as ceasing to be Captain tells us nothing extra. And if he ceased to be Seeker at some point before he ceased to be Captain, Fred would be unlikely to see that as him "leaving".

Of these, d) (always assuming that Charlie left school prior to seventh year) and e) are the only ones that work. The idea that Gryffindor hadn't won any matches for a year or even two years would explain why McGonagall was desperate enough to bend the rules to allow a first year to join the team, and to own his own broom....

[cut] this would probably be the best Christmas he'd ever had. Ron and his brothers were staying too, because Mr and Mrs Weasley were going to Romania to visit Charlie. [PS ch. #12 p. 144]

'[cut] you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania.' [PS ch. #12 p. 169]

We do have another hint that Charlie left Hogwarts itself, not just the Gryffindor Quidditch team, earlier than 1991. At or just after Easter 1992 Ron tells Harry 'You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild [dragons] in Romania.' Ron did not go home at Christmas or Easter that year, so unless he has been fire-calling Charlie without Harry's knowledge, he has to be referring to burns which he has seen on Charlie prior to September 1991. It's possible that Charlie had been doing summer work with dragons for some years before he left school, or that he left school in June 1991 and started work with dragons immediately, so that he had already managed to accumulate some impressive scars only two months later. But it certainly does sound more as if Charlie had been working with dragons for some considerable time before Ron started at Hogwarts, and that would make sense if he left school after OWLs.

Having Charlie leave after OWLs also explains why he didn't become Head Boy, despite being both a prefect and a Quidditch Captain - although of course that may also be true of whoever did become Head Boy.

It is worth noting, incidentally, that it is common and acceptable for British pupils to leave school at sixteen. I went to a grammar school - i.e., a school whose pupils had been selected on the basis of high academic potential - in the 1970s. A high proportion of the students were Jewish or Asian - that is, from cultures which emphasize the importance of education. We had an excellent academic reputation all round. And even so, only about a third of students stayed on after sixteen. It is ridiculous, therefore, to expect that among the Hogwarts students we know of, there wouldn't be some who left after OWLs.

The following scenarios fit everything we've been told:

A: Bill was born in 1971, started at Hogwarts in 1983 and left in 1990.

Charlie was born in 1973 and is two years, eight and a half months older than Percy (which is the closest he can be to being three calendar years older, given their respective birthdays), and two academic years ahead of him. If Charlie had done the full seven years at Hogwarts his years would have been 1985/92, but he in fact left after OWLs in 1990.

Like Harry, Charlie became Seeker when only a first year. However, it remains true that Harry was the youngest Seeker for a century, because he was only eleven when he joined the team, whereas Charlie with his December birthday would probably have been twelve.

Gryffindor last won the annual Quidditch Cup in 1986, when Charlie was a Seeker and was in his first year. Charlie didn't become Captain until after that last win, and although he was an excellent Seeker the rest of the team was not so good, or the other sides were better, and Gryffindor never won the Quidditch Cup during Charlie's term as Captain. Charlie left Hogwarts in 1990, following his OWLs, and Gryffindor won no matches during the single academic year 1990/91.

B: Bill was born in 1970. If he attended Hogwarts from age eleven to eighteen in the normal way he was there from 1982 to 1989, in which case he must have visited the school in summer 1990 for some other reason. Or he might have started a year late or had to repeat a year, perhaps due to illness or injury, and sat NEWTs in 1990.

Charlie was born in 1972 and is three years, eight and a half months older than Percy, and three academic years ahead of him. If Charlie had done the full seven years at Hogwarts his years would have been 1984/91, but he in fact left either after OWLs in 1989, or at the end of his sixth year in 1990.

Gryffindor last won the annual Quidditch Cup in 1986 when Charlie was Seeker and was in his second year: it is unlikly that he was already Quidditch Captain and have led his team to victory, but he certainly became Captain later. However, Gryffindor did not win the Cup again during Charlie's term of office. If he left Hogwarts in 1989, Gryffindor won no matches during the two academic years 1989/90 and 1990/91; if he left in 1990, they won no matches during 1990/91.

'Seeker?' [Ron] said. 'But first years never -- you must be the youngest house player in about --' [QTtA ch. #06 p. 28]

Against version A), we have Ron's surprise when Harry is made Seeker, and his statement that "first years never --", which is anomalous if Charlie was Seeker in first year. If Charlie was a first year Seeker he must have been appointed very late in the year, and perhaps only by default after an existing Seeker was injured, for Ron to be so surprised by Harry's appointment.

On the other hand version B), in which Charlie became Seeker in second year, requires us to accept that Bill either stayed at Hogwarts until he was nineteen or re-visited it a year after his NEWTs. It also means that either Gryffindor didn't win any matches at all for two years running, 1989/90 and 1990/91, or Charlie in fact didn't leave until the end of his sixth year.

Since both scenarios require Charlie to have left school before NEWTs, the first is much tidier so long as we can accept another first-year Seeker. It does not result in any need to work round the fact that Bill was last at the school in 1990, and it only requires Gryffindor to have failed to win any matches at all for a single year, not two. However, the fact that nobody ever says to Harry "Charlie was a Seeker in first year too" leads me to conclude, reluctantly, that B) is the more likely scenario.

That leaves us with Bill being present at the school in summer 1990, when he was nineteen. He could have been visiting, or been called in as a Curse-Breaker to investigate the curse on the Defence Against the Dark Arts post. He could have done an extra year at Hogwarts: perhaps he missed a year due to illness or injury. Or perhaps for some reason he started a year late, in 1983 when he was twelve, in which case we can if we want have Ginny remembering his first going-away-to-school, so long as she was very well-developed for a two-year-old.

If, in fact, Charlie left school in 1990 at the end of his sixth year, rather than in 1989 after his OWLs, there must have been some sort of crisis, and perhaps Bill came to offer support.

5. In the case of injury, no substitution of players will take place. The team will play on without the injured player. [QTtA ch. #06 p. 28]

Although it is very unlikely that Charlie was Captain in his first or even his second year, since there are no substitutions allowed in Quidditch matches it's possible that the Captain was injured mid-match and Charlie took over, leading his team to victory. An overall win at such a young age would explain his proud reputation, despite the team's failure to win the Cup in subsequent years. And since he does have such a glowing reputation, despite his team never having won the Cup since he was in second year, we must assume that Gryffindor kept losing because their opponents were so good rather than because they were so bad; or perhaps due to circumstances which were none of their fault, such as half the team being struck down with food-poisoning on the morning of an important match.

At any rate, we can conclude that one of two things is true. Either Bill was born in 1971 and Charlie in 1973, and Charlie became Seeker in first year, or Bill was born in 1970 and Charlie in 1972, and Charlie became Seeker in second year. And however you arrange it, Charlie left school before seventh year, so either he didn't do NEWTs at Hogwarts, or he was so brilliant he took them early.

'You're an Auror?' said Harry, impressed. [cut]
'Yeah,' said Tonks, looking proud. 'Kingsley is as well, he's a bit higher up than me, though. I only qualified a year ago.' [OotP ch. #03; p. 52]

'Well, I thought of, maybe, being an Auror,' Harry mumbled.
'You'd need top grades for that,' said Professor McGonagall, extracting a small, dark leaflet from under the mass on her desk and opening it. 'They ask for a minimum of five NEWTs, and nothing under "Exceeds Expectations" grade, I see.' [OotP ch. #29; p. 583]

'Well, you'll need to demonstrate the ability to react well to pressure and so forth,' said Professor McGonagall, 'perseverance and dedication, because Auror training takes a further three years, not to mention very high skills in practical Defence.' [OotP ch. #29; p. 586]

Tonks is someone else whose birth year we can make a good guess at. When she turns up in OotP, in summer 1995, she says that she completed Auror training a year ago, and we know Auror training takes three years. She must have done NEWTs, since the qualifications required to do Auror training are high. So assuming she started training as soon as she left school, and didn't repeat a year anywhere, she attended Hogwarts 1984/1991 (making her an exact contemporary of Charlie Weasley's if he was born in 1972) and was born between September 1972 and August 1973.

Now to the older generation. We know that Snape and the Marauders were in the same academic year, so whatever age they are, so he is. The tombstones we see in Deathly Hallows firmly date James's and Lily's births to early in 1960, so everybody in that year must have been born between September 1959 and August 1960, and they must have attended Hogwarts 1971-1978.

How old is Prof. Dumbledore and Prof. Snape?
JKR: Dumbledore's about 150 years old... Wizards have a longer life expectancy than us Muggles. Snape's 35 or 36 [Red Nose Day Chat, BBC Online, March 12, 2001]

This ties in reasonably well with an online interview given by JK Rowling, after the publication of GoF and whilst she was working on OotP, in which she said that Snape (whose birthday has been established as January 9^th) was thirty-five or thirty-six. If this applies to GoF itself this fits well enough with a 1960 birthdate, which would make him thirty-five at the end of the academic year 1994/95.

He could abandon the plan and simply learn to live with the memory of what his father had done on a summer's day more than twenty years ago ... [OotP ch. #29 p. 588]

In OotP, in the Careers Advice chapter, which takes place in April 1996, Harry thinks that the bullying scene which he saw in the Pensieve took place "more than twenty years ago". The scene took place during OWLs, which are sat in June. That ought to mean that it cannot have occurred in June 1976, or any more recently, because June 1976 is less than twenty years prior to April 1996. That in turn ought to mean that the Marauders started at Hogwarts no more recently than 1970 and we know that's not true. We just have to assume that Harry got it wrong: after all, he may well not know his parents' exact ages.

'All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Hallowe'en ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' -- an' --' [cut]
'You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then -- an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing -- he tried to kill you, too.' [PS ch. #04; p. 45]

'Black lost everything the night Harry stopped You-Know-Who, and he's had twelve years alone in Azkaban to brood on that ...' [PoA ch. #04; p. 54]

'It was me what rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after they was killed! Jus' got him outta the ruins, poor little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, an' his parents dead ... an' Sirius Black turns up, on that flyin' motorbike he used ter ride.' [PoA ch. #10; p. 153]

'But he didn't manage to disappear, did he? The Ministry of Magic caught up with him next day!' [PoA ch. #10; p. 153]

'Oh, I know Crouch all right,' he said quietly. 'He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban -- without a trial.' [GoF ch. #27; p. 456]

They reached the bottom of the steps and ran along yet another corridor, which bore a great resemblance to the one that led to Snape's dungeon at Hogwarts, with rough stone walls and torches in brackets. The doors they passed here were heavy wooden ones with iron bolts and keyholes. [OotP ch. #07 p. 124/125]

Rowling also stated on her website that Sirius was about twenty-two when he was sent to Azkaban. In August 1993 Sirius is said to have been in Azkaban for twelve years. This can't quite be true, since it's less than twelve years since the Potters died - but in order for it to have been even nearly true he must have been jailed soon after the murder. We know he was arrested on 1^st or 2^nd November 1981, depending on whether the scene Hagrid describes of Sirius coming to the Potters' house on his flying motorbike - following which he was arrested "next day" - was late on the night of 31^st October or early in the morning of 1^st November. We know that following his arrest he was sent to Azkaban without trial: so allowing for a few days or weeks of interrogation in the cells at the Ministry he presumably arrived at Azkaban by the middle of November.

If he was exactly twenty-two when he was sent to Azkaban that puts his date of birth somewhere between early to mid November 1958 (depending on the exact date he was transferred to Azkaban) and early to mid November 1959 (because he could have been only just twenty-two, or at the other extreme just short of twenty-three).

But in fact he must have been born on or after 1^st September 1959, or he would have ended up in the 1970/77 intake at Hogwarts and that doesn't fit the dating given in Deathly Hallows. So if he really was twenty-two when he entered Azkaban, he was born between early September and mid November 1959. If he was only nearly twenty-two (which would be conssitent with his being "about" twenty-two), then he was born between early September and, say, late December 1959.

'Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins,' said Sirius grimly. 'She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me.' [GoF ch. #19; p. 292]

Bertha Jorkins was "a few years" above the Marauders - presumably two or three years.

'Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters.'
Sirius held up his fingers and began ticking off names. 'Rosier and Wilkes -- they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges -- they're a married couple -- they're in Azkaban.' [GoF ch. #27; p. 460/461]

Sirius jabbed a finger at the very bottom of the tree, at the name 'Regulus Black'. A date of death (some fifteen years previously) followed the date of birth. [OotP ch. #06; p. 104]

       'Lestrange ...' Harry said aloud. [cut]
       'They're in Azkaban,' said Sirius shortly. [cut]
       'Bellatrix and her husband Rudolphus came in with Barty Crouch junior,' said Sirius, in the same brusque voice. 'Rodolphus's brother Rabastan was with them, too.' [OotP ch. #06; p. 106]

Sirius tells us in GoF that Snape was at school with a married couple called Lestrange who both ended up in Azkaban. It is possible that this refers to the other Lestrange brother, Rabastan, and an as-yet unnamed wife, but Rowling probably did mean it to refer to Rudolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange.

'No, Andromeda's not on here either, look --'
He pointed to another small round burn mark between two names, Bellatrix and Narcissa. [cut]
[cut] Harry [cut] was too busy staring at the names to the right of Andromeda's burn mark. A double line of gold embroidery linked Narcissa Black with Lucius Malfoy [OotP ch. #06; p. 105]

On the Black family tapestry, as described in OotP, it is clear that Bellatrix is the eldest of the three sisters (she is listed furthest to the left, with Andromeda in the middle and Narcissa on the right). It is likely that the sisters are three separate births, not a pair of twins and one singleton, because twins would probably be written one above the other, not side by side.

We know that Nymphadora Tonks was born no later than August 1973. Assuming Andromeda left at the end of a school year in the usual manner, and that she wasn't already a mother or very heavily pregnant while at school, she must have left Hogwarts by summer 1972 and could only have overlapped Snape at school by a year. This means that if Andromeda actually stayed the full seven years and took NEWTs (which we don't know, of course), and Bellatrix was older than her, and Bellatrix was at school with Snape, Andromeda and Bellatrix must have been in the same year. This is perfectly possible, of course, even without assuming that Bellatrix repeated a year: if Bellatrix was born in September 1953, say, and Andromeda the following July, they could perfectly well have been in the same year and both overlapped Snape by a year. But it does mean that their mother had two pregnancies in very rapid succession (assuming they weren't twins).

The only fly in the ointment is the rather rough version of the Black family-tree/tapestry, which Rowling donated to charity in January 2006. It shows Bellatrix as having a 1951 birthdate, which ought to mean she started at Hogwarts no later than September 1963 and left in June 1970, a whole year before the Marauders and Snape started.

We can tackle this one of three ways. Firstly, we can ignore the tapestry, which is full of anomalies. It has two or three people fathering children when they themselves were about thirteen; it has what appear to be James Potter's parents having him when they were quite young, and dying in late middle-age, when Rowling has said elsewhere that they had James when they were old even by wizarding standards; it has Sirius's mother dying in middle age although her portrait shows an old woman; and it has Regulus dying in 1979 when we were told in OotP that he died in 1980 ("some fifteen years previously" from the viewpoint of August 1995).

[cut] she seemed to be speaking particularly to the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, a sixth-year. [PS ch. #11; p. 136]

Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team captain [PoA ch. 13; p. 194]

Q: In the first book you said Slytherin house Quidditch captain was sixth year Marcus Flint. If there are only seven years of Hogwarts, why is he in the third book?
A. He had to do a year again! :-) [Online chat transcript, Scholastic.com, 3 February 2000]

Secondly, we can assume that Bellatrix repeated two years. We know it's possible to repeat at least one year because Rowling has stated that Marcus Flint repeated a year - perhaps due to having been hospitalized with a Quidditch injury, as he is not mentioned during Harry's second year any later than partway through the autumn term. Even though this was really just a fudge which JK introduced to cover the fact that when she wrote about Flint during Harry's third year she outright forgot that she'd said he was in sixth year when Harry was in first, it's a legitimate, JK-sanctioned fudge which can be used to cover for a similar error in dating Bellatrix. In Bellatrix's case, the repeat years were probably due to taking two years out for mental health reasons, rather than poor academic performance.

Thirdly, we can assume that Bellatrix wasn't at school with Snape at all and that the Lestranges that he hung around with were Rabastan and girlfriend.

We can definitely say that whether the tapestry birthdate for Bellatrix is accurate or not she is considerably older than Snape. If it is accurate, she was born between September and December 1951 (any earlier than that and she would have been another whole academic year earlier, which would just exacerbate the problem) and she Snape at school by at most a year, and that only if you assume that for some reason she repeated two years or started two years late - if indeed she did overlap him at all and it wasn't Rabastan and Rabastan's unnamed girlfriend that Snape was at school with. If she was indeed born in 1951 she is at least eight years older than Snape (he was born in early January, so if she was born in late December she could be as little as eight years and nine days older than him), and could be nine years older.

If Andromeda took NEWTs in 1972 she was born no more recently than August 1954. If we ignore the charity-tapestry and assume Bellatrix overlapped Snape at school in the normal manner, then Bellatrix must have been born no more recently than November 1953 (1954 if she and Andromeda are twins, but they probably aren't). If, however, we assume that Andromeda left school (possibly slightly pregnant) after OWLs, then Andromeda was only sixteen in the summer of 1972 and would have been born between September 1955 and August 1956. Bellatrix could have been born as recently as November 1955 and overlapped Snape at Hogwarts by three years.

It's also possible, of course, that Andromeda left between OWLs and NEWTs, owing to being pregnant. Then we could have Andromeda born between September 1954 and August 1955, and Bellatrix born as recently as November 1954 and overlapping Snape at Hogwarts by two years.

According to the dubious tapestry Narcissa, the youngest sister, was born in 1955. This is possible if we assume Andromeda was born no later than March 1955, and Bellatrix no later than June 1954. It won't work if Andromeda took OWLs in 1972 because that would require her to have been born no earlier than September 1955, but she could have taken OWLs in summer 1971 (and left school by summer 1972 without taking NEWTs) or in 1970 (and left any time between OWLs and her NEWTs in 1972), and still leave space for Bellatrix to be older than her and yet have overlapped Snape at school by one or two years.

Sirius jabbed a finger at the very bottom of the tree, at the name 'Regulus Black.' A date of death (some fifteen years previously) followed the date of birth.
'He was younger than me,' said Sirius [OotP ch. #06; p. 104]

Regulus Black's dates are confused by discrepancies between book-canon and what's in the dubious version of the Black family tapestry which JK donated to charity. We know from OotP that Regulus was younger than Sirius, and that he died "some fifteen years" prior to August 1995. Since Harry was more than half way through 1995 when he was thinking about Regulus's date of death, and since subtracting fifteen from ninety-five is such an exceptionally simple and obvious calculation, it is pretty clear from the book that Regulus died in 1980.

[cut] when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord. [cut]
'And one day, a year after he had joined, master Regulus came down to the kitchen to see Kreacher. [cut]
'... he said that the Dark Lord required an elf.' [DH ch. #10; p. 159]

'So what happened when you got back?' Harry asked. [cut]
[cut] '... a little while later ... Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night [cut] and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord ...' [DH ch. #10; p. 161]

Nevertheless, the dodgy tapestry puts his date of death as 1979, and his birth in 1961. One doesn't know whether to accept this, or move one or both dates forward a year. But if we have him born in 1961 and dying in 1980, he would have to have been born very late in 1961 and have died very early in 1980, because from what Kreacher says, if he was even eighteen when he died he was only just eighteen. He joined Voldemort when he was sixteen, the locket was placed in the bowl a year later and he died only a short time after that.

So he could have died in 1979 or 1980, his birth-date could be anywhere between January 1^st 1961 (if he died aged eighteen early in 1979) and quite late in 1963 (if he died aged seventeen late in 1980), and he may have started at Hogwarts anywhere between 1972 and 1975. But we do know that whenever we set his birthdate, his death occurred either while he was seventeen, or not long after he turned eighteen.

'The company you keep, Weasley ... and I thought your family could sink no lower --'
There was a thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying; Mr Weasley had thrown himself at Mr Malfoy, knocking him backwards into a bookshelf. [CoS ch. #04; p. 51]

"I fell much easier in my mind now that I know Dumbledore is being subjected to fair and objective evaluation," said Mr Lucius Malfoy, 41 [OotP ch. #15; p. 275]

'Tell me, how is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect he's delighted his lapdog's working at Hogwarts, isn't he?' [OotP ch. #24; p. 460]

'Slytherin!' cried the Sorting Hat.
And Severus Snape moved off to the other side of the Hall [cut] to where Lucius Malfoy, a prefect badge gleaming upon his chest, patted Snape on the back as he sat down beside him ... [DH ch. #33; p. 540]

According to the Daily Prophet, which may or may not have got it right, Lucius Malfoy was forty-one when he was mentioned in an article which appeared at some point in mid September 1995: so he was born some time between mid September 1953 and mid September 1954, and probably started at Hogwarts in 1965 and left in 1972 - unless he was born in early September 1954, in which case he would have attended Hogwarts from 1966 to 1973. The longest Lucius and Snape could have overlapped for at school would have been two years, and that only if Lucius was born in early September 1954.

We also know that Lucius was a prefect in Severus's first year, so he had to have been a fifth year at least. This corroborates the Prophet's evidence that he was a sixth or seventh year when Severus was a first year. We do not actually know whether there are any seventh-year prefects, or whether the fact that Lucius was a prefect means he has to have been a sixth year.

The fact that Sirius calls young Snape Lucius's "lapdog" argues in favour of their having known each other for a fairly long time at school, which would put Lucius's birthday in early September 1954. However, the fact that he knows and detests Arthur Weasley (who, as I shall show, was born no later than 1952) well enough to brawl with him in public argues in favour of making Lucius as old as he can be, so his exact birth year remains an open question.

'Now ... how long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?' she asked, her quill poised over her clipboard.
'Fourteen years,' Snape replied. [OotP ch. #17; p. 323]

We know incidentally from what he tells Umbridge in autumn 1995 that Snape started teaching at Hogwarts in 1981 (just before Harry's parents were killed). The horrible incident after the OWLs occurred when he was sixteen. It is ambiguous in the book whether the audience for that nasty bit of humiliation consisted only of students who had just come out from OWL and NEWT exams or whether the junior years were also around - but since exams in British schools tend to finish at lunchtime it is quite likely that pupils of all ages witnessed the incident.

If Snape was born in 1960, which seems definite given what we're told in Deathly Hallows, then he started teaching when he was twenty-one (we don't know if he was made Head of House at that age, but presumably the fact that Snape became Potions master means Slughorn had retired). In his first teaching-year, the fifth, sixth and seventh-year students had all been already at Hogwarts when he was a student, and presumably knew him as Snivellus, the bullies' favourite victim. That is, the students who were in first, second and third years during Snape's seventh year in 1977/78 would be respectively in fifth, sixth and seventh years in academic year 1981/82.

Worse, the students who were seventh years in 1981/82 had been first years in 1975/76, the year of Snape's OWLs. That means that when he joined the staff he was teaching a seventh-year class who not only were not much younger than himself, but who had (at least potentially) witnessed him being stripped and hung upside-down. It's not surprising he developed a hostile, defensive attitude to his students.

'They planted the Whomping Willow the same year that I arrived at Hogwarts.' [PoA ch. #10; p. 139]

'I told you, months ago, that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The truth is that it was planted because I had come to Hogwarts. This house --' Lupin looked miserably around the room, '-- the tunnel that leads to it -- they were built for my use. Once a month, I was smuggled out of the castle, into this place, to transform. The tree was placed at the tunnel mouth to stop anyone coming across me while I was dangerous.' [PoA ch. #18; p. 258/259]

Mrs Weasley was intrigued by the Whomping Willow, which had been planted after she had left school [GoF ch. #31 p. 536]

'We danced to this when we were eighteen!' said Mrs Weasley, wiping her eyes on her knitting. 'Do you remember, Arthur?' [HBP ch. #16; p. 310]

We know that Molly Weasley (née Prewett) left Hogwarts before the Whomping Willow was planted, and that the Whomping Willow was planted during the Marauders' first year - or perhaps even just before they started, since it was a safety-measure to keep people away from Remus while he was transformed. Assuming that Molly left as normal at the end of an academic year rather than partway through a year, she must therefore have left school before Snape and the Marauders started. So she must have left school no later than summer 1971. She has an October birthday so she started Hogwarts in the year in which she would later turn twelve, and assuming that she stayed on for NEWTs she must have been born no more recently than 1952, and started at Hogwarts no more recently than 1964.

However, Bill Weasley was born no more recently than November 1971, so unless Molly was four months pregnant when she finished school, we can assume she left no later than 1970, a year before Snape and co. started - or earlier of course. If Bill was born in 1970, she left no later than 1969.

We do not know whether Arthur Weasley was in the same academic year as Molly or not, but Molly says they danced together when they were both eighteen. Given that Molly has an October birthday and Arthur a February one, in order for them to have been eighteen (or indeed any age) simultaneously Arthur must be either four months younger or eight months older than Molly, and he must have been either in the same academic year as her or in the year above her.

'Gideon Prewett, it took five Death Eaters to kill him and his brother Fabian, they fought like heroes' [OotP ch. #09; p. 158]

Although Molly did not overlap with Snape and the Marauders, her brothers may have done. JK has confirmed on her website that Gideon and Fabian Prewett were Molly's brothers but we don't know whether they were older or younger than her (or even twinned or tripletted with her): only that they were old enough that when they were killed, during the height of Vold War One, Gideon was an Order member (he's in the Order group photo' which Moody shows to Harry) and both fought valiantly.

'You can't blame them,' said Dumbledore gently. 'We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years.' [PS ch. #01; p. 13]

       'What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?' said Bill, surveying his mother with amazement.
       Mrs Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling.
       'Your father and I had been for a night-time stroll,' she said. 'He got caught by Apollyon Pringle -- he was the caretaker in those days -- your father's still got the marks.' [GoF ch. #31; p. 535]

[cut] 'we happen to be talking about one of the most powerful wizards of all time, a wizard who has eluded capture for almost three decades!' [HBP ch. #01; p. 18]

'It was the same last time he was powerful, people eloping left right and centre -'
'Including you and Dad,' said Ginny slyly.
'Yes, well, your father and I were made for each other, what was the point in waiting?' [HBP ch. #05; p. 92]

We do not know how old Molly and Arthur were when Bill was born. However, we know that they eloped together (and presumably married) at a time when Voldemort was powerful, and we have references which suggest Voldemort only became a real threat in about 1970. In 1981, Dumbledore says that the British wizarding world has had little to celebrate for eleven years - that is, since 1970 - and in 1996 Fudge tells the Muggle Prime Minister that Voldemort has been eluding capture for almost thirty years. Unless Bill (who was born no more recently than 1971) was born before his parents' marriage, Molly and Arthur must have eloped prior to winter 1971, and no earlier than the late 1960s at earliest, since it was at a time when Voldemort was already an obvious threat.

Since Bill was born in either 1970 or 1971, this suggests that they may well have eloped because Molly was pregnant. Since we know they were already courting at school, it seems highly likely that the elopment took place not long after they finished at Hogwarts (in fact Molly actually says there was no point in waiting), and that they are about as young as they can be and still fit in with Molly having left school by summer 1971, and Bill being born in November 1971. If we assume Molly didn't get pregnant until after she left Hogwarts (which is a big if) she was probably born in 1951, and Arthur in 1951 or 1952.

The fact that Arthur and Lucius Malfoy still have such a fierce rivalry that they are willing to throw away all dignity and brawl in public as adults suggests they probably knew and hated each other at school. Since Lucius was born no earlier than September 1955, this also argues in favour of Arthur being as young as he could be, i.e. born in 1952, to reduce the number of academic years between himself and Lucius to a minimum. This has the added benefit of placing Arthur in the same academic year as Molly. That then also constrains Molly to having been born in 1951.

If, in fact, Molly left school after OWLs, pregnant, then we can move everybody's ages up three years and have Molly born in 1954 and Arthur in 1955, which could potentially place Arthur and Lucius in the same academic year.

Hagrid wasn't supposed to use magic. He had been expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, but Harry had never found out why [CoS ch. #07; p. 90]

'And father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened, either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time' [CoS ch. #12; p. 167]

Harry saw at once that it was a diary, and the faded year on the cover told him it was fifty years old. He opened it eagerly. On the first page he could just make out the name 'T. M. Riddle' in smudged ink.
'Hang on,' said Ron, who had approached cautiously and was looking over Harry's shoulder, 'I know that name ... T. M. Riddle got an award for special services to the school fifty years ago.' [CoS ch. #13; p. 172/73]

'Of course I know about the Chamber of Secrets. In my day, they told us it was a legend, that it did not exist. But this was a lie. In my fifth year, the Chamber was opened and the monster attacked several students, finally killing one. I caught the person who'd opened the Chamber and he was expelled. [CoS ch. #13; p. 180]

'It was Hagrid, Ron. Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago.' [CoS ch. #13; p. 184]

We know that the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago, from the perspective of academic year 1992/93, so in 1942/43: and we know that during that year Tom Riddle was in fifth year. We know that Hagrid was expelled during that year and that Hagrid was expelled during his third year, ergo Hagrid was in third year when Tom was in fifth. So Tom was born on New Year's Eve 1926 and attended Hogwarts 1938/1945, and Hagrid was born in December 1928 and attended Hogwarts 1940/1943.

Dumbledore is a hundred and fifty, and Professor McGonagall is a sprightly seventy. Wizards have a much longer life expectancy than Muggles. [Live interview on Scholastic.com on October 16, 2000]

'She was transferred to St Mungo's this morning. Four Stunning Spells straight to the chest at her age? It's a wonder they didn't kill her.' [OotP ch. #32; p. 644]

Regarding the age of Minerva McGonagall, we have no direct evidence in the books except that she is not young. But in an online interview given after the publication of GoF and while working on OotP, JK Rowling said that Minerva was seventy. If this is accurate and exact, she was born in October 1924, making her around two years older than Tom, and she attended Hogwarts 1936/1943. However, assuming that she did a full seven years, the fact that she does not seem to have much input to offer on either Tom or the Chamber of Secrets may mean that JK's stated age for her was only approximate and that she was three years ahead of Tom and left before the Chamber was opened. That would mean she was born in 1923 and attended Hogwarts 1935/1942.

Dumbledore is a hundred and fifty, and Professor McGonagall is a sprightly seventy. Wizards have a much longer life expectancy than Muggles. [Live interview on Scholastic.com on October 16, 2000]

George Moore for The Times - How old is Dumbledore?
JK Rowling: I see him as about 150 [Edinburgh "cub reporter" press conference, ITV, 16 July 2005]

As for Albus Dumbledore, Rowling has three times stated in interviews that he is about a hundred and fifty, but the textual evidence in Deathly Hallows does not support this.

[cut] Albus had arrived at Hogwarts under the burden of unwanted notoriety. Scarcely a year previously, his father, Percival, had been convicted of a savage and well-publicised attack upon three young Muggles. [DH ch. #02; p. 21]

Three years after we had started at Hogwarts Albus's brother, Aberforth, arrived at school. [DH ch. #02; p. 22]

When Albus and I left Hogwarts , we intended to take the then traditional tour of the world together [cut] On the very eve of our trip, Albus's mother, Kendra, died, [DH ch. #02; p. 23]

'You there! Give me your chair, I'm a hundred and seven!' [DH ch. #08; p. 128]

[cut] 'those of us who were alive then never knew what really happened.' [cut]
[cut] 'Why did half of us never even know she existed, until they carried the coffin out of the house and held a funeral for her?' [DH ch. #08; p. 129]

'Bathilda described the whole thing to Mother while I was listening at the door. A coffin-side brawl!' [DH ch. #08; p. 131]

The baby, Ariana, was little longer than a loaf of bread and no more distinctive-looking. [cut] Albus and Aberforth wore matching lacy collared jackets and had identical, shoulder-length hairstyles. Albus looked several years older, but otherwise the two boys looked very alike, [DH ch. #11; p. 178]

'When my sister was six years old, she was attacked, set upon, by three Muggle boys.' [DH ch. #28; p. 454]

Barely two months into their great new friendship, Dumbledore and Grindelwald parted [DH ch. #18; p. 292]

'Then, when she was fourteen [cut] She had one of her rages and [cut] it was an accident. Ariana couldn't control it. But my mother was killed.' [DH ch. #28; p. 455/456]

'So that put paid to Albus's trip round the world with little Doge. The pair of 'em came home for my mother's funeral and then [cut] Albus settled down as head of the family.' [cut]
'I'd have looked after her, I told him so, I didn't care about school, I'd have stayed home and done it. He told me I had to finish my education [cut] But he did all right for a few weeks ... 'til he came.' [DH ch. #28; p. 456]

'But after a few weeks of it, I'd had enough, I had. It was nearly time for me to go back to Hogwarts' [cut] it took little imagination to see him as a teenager, wiry and angry, confronting his elder brother. [DH ch. #28; p. 456]

[cut] 'I don't know which of us did it, it could have been any of us -- and she was dead.' [DH ch. #28; p. 457]

We see from the accounts of both Elphias Doge and Aberforth that the death of Albus's mother Kendra occurred just after Albus had finished at Hogwarts (just before he had planned to set off on a world tour with Doge), and Ariana's death happened just before the start of the next Hogwarts term. Albus must have been either seventeen or eighteen at the end of the school year and eighteen at the end of the summer holidays. If he was still seventeen at the end of the summer he would have been a year lower: if nineteen, a year higher.

Now approaching his eighteenth birthday, Dumbledore left Hogwarts in a blaze of glory [DH ch. #18; p. 288]

[cut] I'd sometimes hear an owl tapping at Gellert's bedroom window, delivering a letter from Albus! An idea would have struck him, and he had to let Gellert know immediately!'
And what ideas they were. Profoundly shocking though Albus Dumbledore's fans will find it, here are the thoughts of their seventeen-year-old hero, as relayed to his new best friend (a copy of the original letter may be seen on page 463): [DH ch. #18; p. 291]

According to Rita Skeeter (not the most reliable source) Albus was not quite eighteen when he left Hogwarts. That means he was one of the youngest in his year, like Harry. According to Aberforth he took up with Gellert a few weeks after he left school, and according to Rita he was still seventeen when he wrote to Gellert about "the Greater Good", at which point it sounds as if he'd known him at least for a couple of weeks, since they were obviously well into their political discussions and close enough to exchange night-time owls. If he was nearly eighteen when he left school, met Gellert two weeks later and wrote the letter a few weeks after that, at which point he was still seventeen, his birthday was probably five or six weeks after he left school.

If both Aberforth and Rita are accurate, Albus must have left Hogwarts in mid June as soon as he'd finished his NEWTs, rather than staying to the end of term. We know this because he took up with Grindelwald a few weeks after he left school (according to Aberforth), and split up with him after two months (according to Rita), which was just before the start of the new Hogwarts term (according to Aberforth). So his eighteenth birthday probably fell in the second half of July.

Ariana was fourteen when Kendra died, so she was around four years younger than Albus - although she could be as little as three years younger if she was nearly fifteen to his nearly-eighteen. She was injured by the Muggle boys when she was six, and her father was convicted of his revenge attack on them almost exactly a year before Albus started at Hogwarts: therefore, when Albus had recently turned ten. If her and Albus's birthdays were very close together, she coud have only just turned six; although the odds are that their birthdays weren't very close together, she was six when Albus had just turned ten and she was also six when he was still nine, and so she was somewhat less than four years youinger than him.

Aberforth was three academic years behind Albus. Depending on when their birthdates fell he could be as little as two years plus one day younger than Albus in absolute terms (if Albus was born on 31^st August 1881 and Aberforth on 1^st September 1883). The degree of responsibility which he assumes for Ariana, as well as the fact that Ariana is a babe in arms in their group portrait, whilst Aberforth is old enough to be dressed to match his elder brother, confirms that Aberforth is at least a year older than her. Since she is probably less than four years younger than Albus, Aberforth is less than three years younger than him.

So, Ariana's death occured when Albus was either eighteen or (if he was born at the end of August) within a few days of eighteen. Auntie Muriel, who is a hundred and seven in summer 1997, must have been born in 1889 or 1890, and she was a child when Ariana died - and an old-enough child that she remembers the events and knows that she was surprized that she hadn't known about Ariana before the funeral.

Say that Muriel was between five and fifteen when Ariana died, that means Ariana died some time between 1894 and 1905. Albus turned eighteen some time between 1893 and 1905, was born between September 1875 and August 1887, and was between a hundred and nine and a hundred and twenty-one when he died. It's probably best to say that Muriel was about ten when Ariana died, which was in about 1900, and Albus was born circa 1882, all give or take about six years. And whenever Albus was born, Aberforth was born two or three years later and Ariana three to four years later.

In the family group portrait, Ariana is a small baby. Aberforth is enough older than her that he is dressed as a little boy rather than as a baby, and Albus is visibly "several years" older than Aberforth. Therefore, we should probably make the age-gap between Ariana and Albus as great as possible, and say that Ariana had only just turned fourteen when Kendra died, so she was about a month less than four years younger than Albus. Aberforth would be about three yours younger than Albus (so he too would be one of the youngest in his year) and a year older than Ariana.

Stop press! Further to the above, on 1^st September 2007 JK Rowling's website named Dumbledore as wizard of the month and gave his dates as 1881-1996. The 1996 date of death is emphatically wrong - if you count forwards from Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party early in Harry's second year, which was 1992, Harry's sixth year definitely ended in 1997. So you can take Dumbledore's birth year as 1881, or you can say that since his date of death is one year too early his date of birth is too, and he was born in 1882.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, grey hair and yellow eyes like a hawk. [PS ch. #09; p. 109]

Madam Hooch, [cut] gave them the benefit of her professional opinion.
'Look at the balance on it! If the Nimbus series has a fault, it's a slight list to the tail-end -- you often find they develop a drag after a few years. They've updated the handle, too, a bit slimmer than the Cleansweeps, reminds me of the old Silver Arrows -- a pity they've stopped making them, I learned to fly on one, and a very fine old broom it was too ...' [PoA ch. #13; p. 188]

The Moontrimmer, which was first created by Gladys Boothby in 1901, represented a leap forward in broom construction, [cut] Gladys Boothby was unable to produce Moontrimmers in the quantities Quidditch players clamoured for. The production of a new broom, the Silver Arrow, was welcomed; this was the true forerunner of the racing broom; [cut]
The breakthrough occurred in 1926, when the brothers Bob, Bill and Barnaby Ollerton started the Cleansweep Broom Company. [QttA ch. #09; p. 48/49]

Tiny little Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was sitting on a large pile of cushions beside Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, whose hat was askew over her flyaway grey hair. [GoF ch. #12; p. 155]

When they arrived at Hagrid 's cabin, however, they found an elderly witch with closely cropped grey hair and a very prominent chin standing before his front door. [cut]
'My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank,' she said briskly, [GoF ch. #24; p. 379]

Regarding other staff members, we know that Pomona Sprout, Rolanda Hooch and Wilhemina Grubbly-Plank have grey hair. The Harry Potter Lexicon also points out that Hooch says she learned to fly on a Silver Arrow, which according to Quidditch Through the Ages is a broom which was made some time between 1901 and 1926 - although if course we don't know how old it was when young!Hooch was learning to fly on it. The fact that she refers to her Silver Arrow - and it does sound as if she is talking about her own broom, and not about the model in general - as "a very fine old broom" may mean that the one she learned on had been around for a long time. Ron's wand was still malfunctioning, surpassing itself on Friday morning by shooting out of Ron's hand in Charms and hitting tiny old Professor Flitwick squarely between the eyes [CoS ch. #07; p. 81]

Professor Flitwick, who was a tiny little wizard with a shock of white hair [PoA ch. #05; p. 71]

Filius Flitwick is described as old, and has white hair. JKR says on her website that he has "a dash of goblin ancestry - something like a great, great, great grandfather", so it's possible he has a greater than human/wizard life-span, and is very old indeed.

The very same summer that Dumbledore went home to Godric’s Hollow, now an orphan and head of the family, Bathilda Bagshot agreed to accept into her home her great nephew, Gellert Grindelwald. [DH ch. #18; p. 290]

At sixteen years old, even Durmstrang felt it could no longer turn a blind eye to the twisted experiments of Gellert Grindelwald, and he was expelled.
Hitherto, all that has been known of Grindelwald's next movements is that he 'travelled abroad for some months'. It can now be revealed that Grindelwald chose to visit his great aunt in Godric's Hollow [DH ch. #18; p. 290]

Naturally, I introduced him to poor Albus, who was missing the company of lads his own age. [DH ch. #18; p. 291]

'It was poor little Ariana dying, I think, that did it,' says Bathilda. 'It came as an awful shock. Gellert was there in the house when it happened, and he came back to my house all of a dither, told me he wanted to go home the next day.' [DH ch. #18; p. 292]

Gellert Grindelwald was a little younger than Albus. He was expelled from Durmstrang when he was sixteen, evidently towards the end of an academic year, since we are told he then travelled abroad for "some months", and we know he spent July and August of those months in Godric's Hollow and then supposedly went home. Rita speaks as if he went to visit his great-aunt Bathilda almost immediately, and says that he went there in the summer, so he had not been at Bathilda's house, or expelled, for very long before Albus met him. So he was expelled probably a month or so before Albus finished Hogwarts, circa May 1899 (1900, if Albus was born in 1882), at which point he was sixteen.

He could have been a fifth year who had only recently turned sixteen, or a sixth year who was about to turn seventeen. That is, he could have been as little as one calendar year younger than Albus, or almost two. Since Bathilda reportedly said Albus needed the company of boys his own age, and evidently didn't consider that Aberforth - who was less than three years younger than Albus - qualified, it is likely that Gellert was closer in age to Albus than to Aberforth. That means that when he was expelled he was a sixth year, and rising seventeen. Hence, he too was born in the summer, in 1882 (1883 if Albus was born in 1882).

Harry thought Professor Marchbanks must be the tiny, stooped witch with a face so lined it looked as though it had been draped in cobwebs; [cut]
'I doubt it,' shouted tiny Professor Marchbanks, 'not if Dumbledore doesn't want to be found! I should know ... examined him personally in Transfiguration and Charms when he did NEWTs ... did things with a wand I'd never seen before.' [OotP ch. #31; p. 626/627]

Another character for whom we have a clear indication of age is Griselda Marchbanks. She was an examiner when Albus sat his NEWTs - so we are probably safe to assume she's at least ten years older than him and was born in the early 1870s, or earlier.

Bathilda Bagshot must have been even older than Griselda, since she was Grindelwald's great aunt, welcomed the Dumbledore family to Godric's Hollow as an adult, was apparently already an author when Albus was a teenager, and was friends with Muriel's mother. She was two generations above Albus and Gellert, and even if Gellert's family only had a twenty-year generation time, and Bathilda was fifteen years younger than her sibling who was Gellert's grandparent, she must still have been a good twenty-five years older than Gellert. So she was born probably no more recently than 1857. Enid Smeek was old enough to remember the Dumbledores clearly, and was probably older than Aberforth, since he threw dung at her, and he probably wouldn't have done so to a young girl. Elphias Doge seems to have been in the same academic year as Albus, since they were friends and due to go on tour at the same time.

'My mother was friendly with old Bathilda Bagshot,' said Auntie Muriel happily. [DH ch. #08; p. 131]

Another such easily satisfied friend of the family was Bathilda Bagshot, the celebrated magical historian who has lived in Godric's Hollow for many years. Kendra, of course, had rebuffed Bathilda when she first attempted to welcome the family to the village. Several years later, however, the author sent an owl to Albus at Hogwarts, having been favourably impressed by his paper on Trans-Species Transformation in Transfiguration Today. [DH ch. #18; p. 288]

'He were a headcase, that Aberforth,' says Enid Smeek, whose family lived on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow at that time. 'Ran wild. 'Course, with his mum and dad gone you'd have felt sorry for him, only he kept chucking goat dung at my head.' [DH ch. #18; p. 288]

When Albus and I left Hogwarts, we intended to take the then traditional tour of the world together, visiting and observing foreign wizards, before pursuing our separate careers. [DH ch. #02; p. 23]

Conclusion:

We can summarize what we know as follows:

Birthdates and Hogwarts attendance, to best approximation
Name	Day	Month	Year	Comments	Attended Hogwarts
Bathilda Bagshot			1857	or earlier
Regulus Black			1961	or 1962 or 1963	anywhere between 1972/1979 and 1975/1982, but died in 1979 or 1980
Sirius Black			1959	probably between 1^st September and early November 1959; certainly between 1^st September and late December 1959	1971/1978
Colin Creevey			1981	Between early May 1981 and 31^st August 1981	1992/1997 (expelled after fifth year due to being Muggle-born, killed at the end of sixth year)
Dennis Creevey			1982/83	Between 1^st September 1982 and 31^st August 1983	1994/2002 (he would have had to re-take a year, since he missed the year 1997/98 due to being Muggle-born)
Cedric Diggory		early September	1977	killed at the end of his sixth year at Hogwarts.	1989/1995
Dobby	28	June		year unknown, lifespan unknown
Elphias Doge			1880/81	between September 1880 and August 1881, or a year later if Albus was born 1882	1892/1899 if Albus was born in 1881, a year later is Albus was born in 1882
Aberforth Dumbledore		probably summer	1884	assuming him to be three years younger than Albus - 1885 if Albus was born 1882	circa 1895/1902
Albus Dumbledore		late July or August	1881	or possibly 1882, if you move his date of birth forward a year from JK's figures, along with his (erroneous, on JK's website) date of death	1892/1899 if he was born in 1881
Ariana Dumbledore		probably spring	1885	assuming her to be four years younger than Albus - 1886 if Albus was born 1882
Dudley Dursley	30	June	1980	or 23^rd June
Filius Flitwick	17	October		year unknown but probably considerably pre 1900 - possibly even pre 1800, depending on what the dash of goblin blood has done to his life-span
Hermione Granger	19	September	1979		1991/1998
Gellert Grindelwald		late spring or summer	1882	or 1883 if Albus was born 1882
Rubeus Hagrid	6	December	1928		1940/1943 (expelled late in third year)
Angelina Johnson		October	1977	last week in October	1989/1996
Bertha Jorkins				Two or three academic years above Sirius	1968/1975 or 1969/1976
Viktor Krum		August	1976	Probably first two weeks in August, otherwise some time in July.	Durmstrang 1988/1994, Hogwarts 1994/1995
Bellatrix Lestrange		September to November	1953	could be up to two years younger if Andromeda left school after OWLs; 1951 according to the tapestry but that means she could only have overlapped Snape at school by repeating two years	probably 1965/1972
Neville Longbottom	30	July	1980		1991/1998
Luna Lovegood			1980/81	Between 1^st September 1980 and early May 1981	1992/1999
Remus Lupin	10	March	1960		1971/1978
Draco Malfoy	5	June	1980		1991/1998
Lucius Malfoy			1953/54	between mid-September 1953 and mid-September 1954	1965/1972 or 1966/1973
Narcissa Malfoy			1955	according to the tapestry	1966/1973 or 1967/1974
Griselda Marchbanks			1872	or earlier
Minerva McGonagall	4	October	1923	or 1924 if she was still at school when the Chamber of Secrets opened	1935/1942 or 1936/1943
Harry Potter	31	July	1980		1991/1998
James Potter	27	March	1960		1971/1978
Lily Potter (neé Evans)	30	January	1960		1971/1978
Muriel Prewett			1890	or 1889, if her birthday is later than early August, since she is 107 in early August 1997
Tom Riddle	31	December	1926		1938/1945
Enid Smeek			1884	or earlier
Severus Snape	9	January	1960		1971/1978
Pomona Sprout	15	May		year unknown but probably pre 1940
Andromeda Tonks				not later than August 1954, assuming she sat NEWTs; if she left school at OWL, could be up to two years younger	1965/1972 if she sat NEWTs
Nymphadora Tonks			1972/73	between September 1972 and August 1973	1984/1991
Arthur Weasley	6	February	1952	could be earlier than 1952 but that is the most likely year; either way he must be either the same calendar year as Molly Weasley, q.v., or a year younger	either one academic year above Molly Weasley, q.v., or the same year, depending on whether he is eight months older or four months younger than her
Charlie Weasley	12	December	1972	or 1973, but if so he was Seeker in his first year	1985/1990, 1984/1989 or possibly 1984/90: either way internal evidence suggests he left Hogwarts at least a year before he would have been due to sit NEWTs
Fred & George Weasley	1	April	1978		1989/1996
Ginevra Weasley	11	August	1981		1992/1999
Molly Weasley	30	October	1951	or earlier: 1951 is the most recent year she could have been born in and still have done a full seven years at Hogwarts and left before Bill was conceived, and that only if Bill was born in 1971 - she could in fact have been born a year or two earlier (no more than that, because she eloped soon after leaving school and at that time Voldemort was already an obvious threat, so it was no earlier than circa 1970, also because her age constrains Arthur's and there's a suggestion he and Lucius knew and hated each other at school), or as late as 1954 if she left Hogwarts at OWL and already pregnant	1963/1970 or earlier: assuming she sat NEWTs and wasn't pregnant at the time, 1970 is the latest date she could have left, and that only if Bill was born in 1971
Percy Weasley	22	August	1976		1987/1994
Ron Weasley	1	March	1980		1991/1998
William (Bill) Weasley	29	November	1970	or 1971 if Charlie was born in 1973	1982/1989, or 1983/1990, or possibly 1982/1990 if he repeated a year: if he left in 1989 he must have revisited the school in summer 1990