About Albus' birthday, we know he was not yet 18 when his mother died, so he must have had a summer birthday. Out of canon Rowling first gave his age as 150, then changed his birth year to 1881 in his Wizard of the Month card (IIRC), I don't think she gave him an exact birthday yet.
The chief editor of the Prophet in the 1990s is a Slug Club alumnus. Not sure how high up he was in 1981.
I'm not sure being in deep hiding would necessarily preclude receiving the Prophet. Owls (both private and from Hogwarts) do arrive at 12GP when it is under Fidelius. But perhaps the Potters didn't want to risk receiving mail from outsiders, especially before they actually had the Fidelius cast.
Tom intended Severus to take the DADA spot. Hiring for this position may start early. In any case Albus was expecting to need to hire someone for this position ahead of time. But Albus wouldn't want to lose his agent in a year, so it was in Albus' interest to get Horace to decide to retire just then.
So, Tom may have sent Severus to get a job with Albus in spring. Albus' 'official' message to Tom was that he was interested, but needed to work out the details. Then he helped Slughorn decide to retire.
Tom had access to Peter for months. He decided to target the Potters by winter. I don't see him suddenly remembering in October that it would have been a good idea to plant an agent at Hogwarts. So in summary, I think Albus knew he was going to hire Severus for quite a while, but the official decision was made sometime in the summer.
I'm wondering how Horace's retirement was presented. If Horace felt responsible for his students falling into Tom's camp (and he became aware of that mostly after Severus' spying was beginning to have an effect, so over the months leading to his retirement) perhaps Horace himself wanted to keep the story quiet.
The chief editor of the Prophet in the 1990s is a Slug Club alumnus. Not sure how high up he was in 1981.
I'm not sure being in deep hiding would necessarily preclude receiving the Prophet. Owls (both private and from Hogwarts) do arrive at 12GP when it is under Fidelius. But perhaps the Potters didn't want to risk receiving mail from outsiders, especially before they actually had the Fidelius cast.
Tom intended Severus to take the DADA spot. Hiring for this position may start early. In any case Albus was expecting to need to hire someone for this position ahead of time. But Albus wouldn't want to lose his agent in a year, so it was in Albus' interest to get Horace to decide to retire just then.
So, Tom may have sent Severus to get a job with Albus in spring. Albus' 'official' message to Tom was that he was interested, but needed to work out the details. Then he helped Slughorn decide to retire.
Tom had access to Peter for months. He decided to target the Potters by winter. I don't see him suddenly remembering in October that it would have been a good idea to plant an agent at Hogwarts. So in summary, I think Albus knew he was going to hire Severus for quite a while, but the official decision was made sometime in the summer.
I'm wondering how Horace's retirement was presented. If Horace felt responsible for his students falling into Tom's camp (and he became aware of that mostly after Severus' spying was beginning to have an effect, so over the months leading to his retirement) perhaps Horace himself wanted to keep the story quiet.
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