Black family tree

[runespoor7]

Did JKR ever get around to reconciling the ages given by the Black family tapestry and Sirius' claim that Snape was part of 'a gang of Slytherins that all became Death Eaters' in OotP, including Bellatrix ('The Lestranges, a married couple', he says

Comments

[tabular_rasa]

I've always kind of hated the family tree, because the woman simply cannot do math (Bellatrix's dad had her at age 13??) and it really screws up a lot of how I pictured the Marauder/pre-Death Eater era-- included things, like Bellatrix having been at Hogwarts the same time as Sirius-- that were stated contradictorily in canon.

Before she published the family tree, I used logic to determine a range of appropriate birth years for the Black family cousins based on what JKR had given us in the books up to that point (and some natural laws of human reproduction). So, I'll be honest; when writing fanfic I tend to simply follow these ranges and disregard JKR's-- though, mostly, I've just stopped explicitly stating any age differences in my works so as to avoid the issue altogether. (And I think most fic readers are more interested in reading about the dynamics between the cousins, which are better displayed the closer in age they are, than doing the math to prove us wrong. So even if you feel like a cheater, it's unlikely most readers are going to pick up on it).

Something to consider, though-- maybe "The Lestranges" Sirius refers to is actually Rodolphus and Rabastan rather than Rodolphus and Bellatrix. Considering how weird the age discrepancies between partners are on the family tree itself, perhaps Bellatrix is just several years older than her husband.

[rosefyre]

Just read your post, and wanted to point one thing out: the Black sisters could be twins or even triplets. I think you might also be off on Tonks's age: I calculated the latest date she could be born to be summer 1973, which would have her start Hogwarts in 1984, and therefore end in 1991 - right before Harry starts. Assume Andromeda got pregnant nine months earlier, she was pregnant in late 1972. I generally assume that she graduated, ran away, got married, and got pregnant (which would mean her last year at Hogwarts was Sirius's first), but she could conceivably have left school early.

And yeah, for the original poster: the math doesn't make sense. Neither does JKR's math of the Weasley family: Ginny says she's wanted to go to Hogwarts since Bill did. Even if you calculate the minimum time between their ages, Bill started Hogwarts in 1983...when Ginny was two. Right. And that's if you ignore the "we haven't won since Charlie Weasley left" comment and assume he left the year before Harry started.

Ignoring JKR's maths = generally a good idea.

[runespoor7]

About Andromeda, I have a deep affection for fics where she passes her NEWTs while she's pregnant, so it'll be easier to marry Ted if the Black family doesn't try to break their marriage. And they likely wouldn't if she started showing around the same time or even a couple of months after the end of her last year.

Well, to be fair to JKR's maths, Ginny may have been saying that as a phrase, sort of like she'd have said 'I've always wanted to go to Hogwarts'. It's possible she's wanted to go to Hogwarts for as long as she can remember, anyway.

There's no excuse for Charlie.

[magdalaena]

Could You link any good fic with pregnant Andromeda ? I really like this person, but in most fanfics, authors portray her as an little angel (contrary to Bella little devil ). I personally believe that merrying a muggle would be much more rebelios than becoming a DE.

[runespoor7]

I've always disliked the tapestry for those reasons as well, even if I was glad it definitively put a rest to the Andromeda-is-the-oldest-sister theories.

I'll probably go along the lines of the two years between children that most other families seem to follow, between the Weasleys and the Epilogue, which I've found is what most people seem to expect anyway. (and it's not so much the point of the fic anyway, just another mechanics.) Thanks for the link, it's a very interesting post.

And I think most fic readers are more interested in reading about the dynamics between the cousins, which are better displayed the closer in age they are
IAWTC.

Regarding the Lestranges, though, Sirius definitely says "the Lestranges - they're a married couple". He might be misremembering, but that's what he says.

Also, your icon will never stop scaring me. >_>

[shyfoxling]

maybe "The Lestranges" Sirius refers to is actually Rodolphus and Rabastan rather than Rodolphus and Bellatrix.

Can't be. "The Lestranges - they’re a married couple - they’re in Azkaban", he says. But that's in GoF when he's ennumerating Death Eaters to Harry, not in OotP when he's talking about the tapestry. Still though, it does seem odd to talk about Severus having been in a "gang" with such people when logically they can't have been at school together. (Sirius is burned off the tapestry, so we don't see his birthdate. He could have been born between September and December 1959 and still have started in 1971.)

To the OP, I think Sirius is just lumping things together. They were all in Slytherin; of course they were a "gang", you know?