Marauder Era Timeline
As the new information about the Malfoy family has finally lured me to sign up to Pottermore my interest in Harry Potter has resurfaced again. I have long thought about making some sort of timeline for the generation that attended Hogwarts during the first war.
This is written mainly as a resource for those who write Marauder era fic, in which I try to summarise and reconcile the information JKR has given about the age of the characters. Mainly for those who write the Marauder era fanfic with the characters I am interested in, which would be the Death Eaters of that generation. Those who write of the actual Marauders have fewer problems, since it seems well established that they were in fact in the same year.
Those who write about the Slytherins of this era seem very canon-conscientious, which does them credit. It is just that the fic is ever so much more interesting if everyone we know about in the correct age go to school together.
All page number references are from the British Bloomsbury editions of the books.
PS = Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
CoS = Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
PoA = Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
GoF = Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
OotP = Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
HBP = Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
DH = Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Links to the referred interviews in comments would be very much appreciated.
Any and all references to Barry Potter are because I am very tired.
These are the canon dates we have:
The First War: 1970 - 31st of October 1981
‘You can’t blame them,’ said Dumbledore gently. ´We’ve had precious little to celebrate for eleven years.’ (p. 13, PS)
“Anyway, this - this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin’ for followers.” (p. 45, PS)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: 1991-1992
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: 1992-1993
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: 1993-1994
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: 1994-1995
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: 1995-1996
Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince: 1996-1997
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: 1997-1998
''Well, this Hallowe'en will be my five hundredth deathday,' said Nearly Headless Nick' (p. 99, CoS)
'Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington died 31st October, 1492' (p. 102, CoS)
Harry Potter - 31st of July 1980
Severus Snape - 9th of January. 35 or 36 in 1994-1995 (JKR interview)
Lucius Malfoy - 41 years in 1995, born 1954 (p. 275, OotP). Lucius could however have been born on any date from the 2nd of September and to the interview was written later in the autumn. After all, lots of people are. This would have made him attend Hogwarts a year later.
Narcissa Malfoy, née Black - 1955 (Black Family Tree)
Andromeda Tonks, née Black - born between 1951 and 1955 (Black Family Tree)
Bellatrix Lestrange, née Black - 1951 (Black Family Tree)
Regulus Black - 1961 (Black Family Tree)
Sirius Black - 22 years on the night of October 31st 1981 (JKR interview)
Remus Lupin - 10th of March
James Potter - “born 27 March 1960, died 31 October 1981” (p. 268, DH)
Lily Potter, née Evans - “born 30 January 1960, died 31 October 1981” (p. 268, DH)
Now, this doesn’t make much sense. That would make the birth years for the rest of the Marauders and Snape either 1960 or on or after the 2nd of September 1959. That is, Remus Lupin 10th of March 1960 and Severus Snape 9th of January 1960. That would, in my opinion, make the Marauder generation and the Death Eaters of the same year too young. (That may of course be why JKR settled on it. The younger = the more tragic the death of two young parents. Also 21 is one those magical numbers which are very popular in fiction). This would also remove them too far in age from the Death Eaters that we are told were part of Snape’s gang, in accordance to the dates given in the Black family tapestry. In an interview JKR gave Snape’s age to be 35-36 in 1994-1995. This fits perfectly as Snape’s birthday is the 9th of January. He would therefore have been 35 in the second half of 1994 and 36 in the first half of 1995. This gives Snape’s birth year as 1959. In another or the same interview she stated that Sirius Black was around 22 years on the night of October 31st 1981. This, too, at it simplest, gives a birth year of 1959.
We can assume, therefore, that the date on the gravestone is wrong. A canon explanation can simply be that everyone who were so close to James and Lily Potter that they knew their birthdates by heart and without fault were gone. Their parents were dead. Lily was estranged from Petunia. Sirius was in Azkaban. Peter Pettigrew presumed dead. And Remus probably in shock. We can presume that Dumbledore, as head of the Order of the Phoenix, was the one who arranged the gravestone. And I sincerely doubt that any of my teachers would remember the year I was born, even if we had kept enough in touch that they remembered my birthday.
This would make the Hogwarts attendance years:
Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black: 1966-1973 or Lucius Malfoy 1966-1973 and Narcissa Black 1967-1974 or Lucius Malfoy 1965-1972
Bellatrix Black: 1963-1970
Severus Snape, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Lily Evans: 1970-77 or 1971-1978
Regulus Black: 1972-1979 or 1973-1980. Here 1972 is probably correct as Regulus was killed in 1980, leaving a year between leaving school and being killed as a Death Eater.
Lucius Malfoy could therefore have been a fifth-year, a newly appointed prefect, if Snape started Hogwarts in 1970. “And Severus Snape moved off to the other side of the Hall, away from Lily, to where the Slytherins were cheering him, to where Lucius Malfoy, a prefect badge gleaming upon his chest, patted Snape on the back as he sat down beside him…” (p. 540, DH)
So much for canon. My suggestion would just be to squeeze everyone in as close as possible while following the outlines or general ideas of canon.
Bellatrix Black a sixth-year, Lucius Malfoy, Rodolphus Lestrange and Andromeda Black fifth-years, Narcissa Black a third-year in Severus Snape, Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew’s first year at Hogwarts.
Then comes the next part of the canon conundrum:
‘I think they’ve both got a point,’ said Sirius, looking thoughtfully at Ron and Hermione. ‘Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I’ve wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape’s always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was,’ Sirius added, and Harry and Ron grinned at each other. ‘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. Avery - from what I’ve heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he’d been acting under the Imperius curse - he’s still at large. But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater - not that that means much. Plenty of them were never caught. And Snape’s certainly clever and cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble.’ (p. 460-461, GoF)
Evan Rosier - likely a maternal (first) cousin of the Black girls. Killed by Mad-Eye Moody. Though Sirius describes him as “killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell” this does not entirely make sense based on what comes forward in Karkaroff’s trial. ‘Why, yes … there was Rosier,’ said Karkaroff hurriedly. ‘Evan Rosier.’ ‘Rosier is dead,’ said Crouch. ‘He was caught shortly after you were, too. He preferred to fight rather than coming quietly, and was killed in the struggle.’ ‘Took a bit of me with him, though,’ whispered Moody to Harry’s right. Harry looked around him once more, and saw him indicating the large chunk out of his nose to Dumbledore. (p. 512, GoF) Evan Rosier being killed the year before Voldemort fell only makes sense if one is willing to accept that Dolohov and Karkaroff were apprehended before the Dark Lord’s fall.
Wilkes - In my personal canon, the Florence Bertha Jorkins refers too. And the boy she was kissing, Snape. This also fits perfectly with the fact that Snape had just lost his Death Eater girlfriend before hearing the prophecy and therefore the more intent on protecting the second woman he ever loved. I have never been a fan of Snape turning because of Lily. Not because there is something wrong with loving the same person for all those years. Some people, after all, we love the entirety of our lives. Others we love for the rest of our lives, once we have started. And some we love for the rest of our lives though theirs have stopped to be. It is just that the alternative in Snape’s case is so darn much more interesting. ‘He put a hex on me, Professor Dumbledore, and I was only teasing him, sir. I only said I’d seen him kissing Florence behind the greenhouses last Thursday…’ (p. 520, GoF)
Bellatrix Black, married Lestrange. There is something interesting in the chapter about the Lestranges. ‘Crouch’s own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who’d managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power.’ (p. 457, GoF) These, of course, as we all know, are Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange. This seems to indicate that the Lestranges were in the Ministry’s limelight only to slither away, to be later caught. This brings Bellatrix closer to the characterisation of Nineveh’s lovely Family Album series which I have always loved, rather than the frothing-at-the-mouth version.
Rodolphus Lestrange - future husband to Bellatrix Lestrange in their Hogwarts years.
Rabastan Lestrange - his brother.
Avery
Now, there are several theories why these names and dates do not add up. There is no way to twist the actual dates of the Black Family Tree and the birth years of the Marauder generation for Bellatrix to have attended school with Severus. The most elegant one is that these were part of the same gang but spread over several school years and “that by Snape's fifth year (year of the pantsing incident and Whomping Willow), most of these "protectors" had graduated, leaving Snape as easy pickings, and a not entirely innocent victim.” (beyond_pale
in HP_essays)
However, then why weren’t Lucius Malfoy mentioned as part of the gang? We now know that Snape and Lucius Malfoy knew each other. The previously mentioned prefect scene, Sirius’s lap dog comment (P. 460, OotP), Dolores Umbridgde’s “Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you!” remark (p. 657, OotP).
To me it only makes sense if all or most of the people Sirius mention were in Snape’s year. Evan Rosier, Wilkes, Avery, and Rabastan Lestrange.
Rabastan Lestrange being the younger brother of Rodolphus Lestrange and Evan Rosier being the younger first cousin of Bellatrix it would have been natural for the couple to take an interest in and even hang out with the younger ones, like we saw Ron Weasley hang out with his brothers when he and Harry quarrelled in GoF. And we know that Rodolphus and Rabastan were close.
Alternatively, Evan Rosier and Rabastan Lestrange could have been third years in Snape's first year, working as the glue that kept the group together. Sirius does say "part of a gang", after all, not "in the same year as". This could also explain why they were not present at Snape's Worst Memory. Avery and Wilkes could believably have been elsewhere after completing their OWLs, but explaining away four people takes a bit more effort. Evan Rosier and Rabastan Lestrange would still have been at Hogwarts, but in a different year and occupied with their NEWTs.
I can either see Rodolphus as in the same year as Bellatrix or older. Since the intention here is to place these people at school together I will go for the same year as Bellatrix or younger. I have read a fic in which he was placed in the same year as Lucius and this worked most excellently.
Bellatrix Black a sixth-year, Lucius Malfoy, Rodolphus Lestrange and Andromeda Black fifth-years, Narcissa Black a third-year in Severus Snape, Evan Rosier, Wilkes, Rabastan Lestrange, Avery, Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew’s first year.
Alternatively: Bellatrix Black and Rodolphus Lestrange sixth-years, Lucius Malfoy and Andromeda Black fifth-years, Narcissa Black a third-year in Severus Snape, Evan Rosier, Wilkes, Rabastan Lestrange, Avery, Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew’s first year.
Lucius could have been part of a different gang. ‘Yes!’ said Karkaroff. ‘There was Travers - he helped murder the McKinnons! Mulciber - he specialised in the Imperius curse, forced countless people to do horrific things!’ (p. 512, GoF) There is of course also Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle as well as Walden Macnair. Unfortunately we do not know the Christian names of the first two, and it also smacks a bit too much of history repeating itself. At first I did not get the impression that Lucius knew Macnair from school, but now I've rather taken to the idea.
I have left out Death Eaters we learn about later on. Before OotP, all the information we got knitted itself into one another, revealing new information about characters we knew and however surprising did not feel unfamiliar or jarring or out of character. Since OotP we got a lot of new characters and little information that felt like it fit. Like starting new building on a construction site without ever finishing the original masterpiece.
For a while I had a fondness for Yaxley, on account of the elegance of the name, but later I was disenchanted. (Which had nothing to do with his treatment of my beloved Malfoys. Obviously.)
I may post a second part with fanfic recs fitting to the theme.