Lucius & Narcissa at Hogwarts Timeline?

[paceisthetrick]

Since Lucius was born in 1954 and Narcissa was born in 1955, do you think it's possible they graduated Hogwarts in the same year? Or do you think Narcissa had 1 year left of school after Lucius graduated?

I know school starts in September, but I'm not sure what type of Birthday cut-off they have at Hogwarts to enter when you're 11 years old.

Comments

[masterofmystery]

it's like this with the school cut off.

you have to be 11 years old by september 1st to be admitted to the following school year. if you were born on september 2 (which SUCKS, i can imagine), then you have to wait until the next school year to begin at hogwarts. this is what happened with hermione - she was born on september 19, 1979 (yes she is nearly a year older than harry), but as her birthday was past the cut-off point, she had to wait till the following year to go to hogwarts. so essentially hermione was nearly three weeks off her 12th birthday when she started school at hogwarts in her first year

so basically, if lucius was born in fall 1954, between september 1 - december 31; and narcissa was born in early 1955, from january 1 - august 31, then yes, they would be in the same year at hogwarts

[paceisthetrick]

Thank you for your speedy reply. You're awesome!

[inamac]

What Masterofmystery said - they could be in the same year.

There's also the possibility that they might leave (not 'graduate') in the same year even if they started a year (or two) apart - if Lucius took his NEWTS but Narcissa decided to leave after her OWLS (entirely possible if the Wizarding world/pureblood attitude to female education in the 50s/60s reflected the Muggle practice) then Narcissa could have finished her formal education before Lucius.

[pica_scribit]

Yes, this. I actually wrote a fic where Narcissa left school at the end of 6th year, because she and Lucius got caught having the nookie and their parents made them get married right away.

[paceisthetrick]

*squee*

May I read that fic? :)

[pica_scribit]

It's actually a (novel-length) Marauders first year fic, with the Lucius/Narcissa stuff sort of incidental to the plot, but you can find it here if you're interested.

[pica_scribit]

I always assumed they were a year apart, but I guess there's no real reason why they couldn't have had birthdays that would put them in the same year at school.

[eofs]

Assuming Hogwarts follows the standard English cut-off dates (and there's no evidence to suggest it doesn't*) then a school's intake is defined as everyone born from 1st September in one year to 31st August in the next. So if Lucius was born on 01/Sept/1954 and Narcissa on 31/Aug/1955 they would have been in the same year at Hogwarts. (Borderline cases can occasionally start a year early or late, but parents would have to specifically appeal and I'm not sure how often it happens.) That's as early as his birthday could be, and as late as hers.

Please note that the term graduate is not used until you go to university and isn't used once in the books. They don't graduate from Hogwarts, they just leave. And as inamac points out, it's quite plausible Narcissa might not have hung on until she was 18. You could actually switch those birthdates, if Lucius was born 31/Aug/1954 he would take his NEWTs in 1972 and Narcissa, born 01/Sept/1955, would take her OWLs the same year

[paceisthetrick]

Thank you for all the info.

JKR has talked about graduating from Hogwarts, but she wasn't able to find a proper place in the series to include it. More info is on this article: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Graduation_ceremony which links to this interview with her: http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/12/23/transcript-of-part-1-of-pottercast-s-jk-rowling-interview

JN: Now, you know what I'm curious about now (SU: Mm-hm.), is that one of the neatest things about the Hogwarts tradition is the entrance ceremony, from the whole riding the boats to the castle to the sorting ceremony. What kind of traditions is there for graduation, and leaving Hogwarts

[inamac]

In talking to American interviewers she would, naturally, use their terminology. A British interviewer might have asked about a 'school leaving ceremony' and received the same answer.

It is also worth remembering that the US and British editions of the books use different terms. Fanfic writers have to make the decision on which version they are going to regard as canon.