Generations in the Wizarding World

[Ebony Elizabeth Thomas]

Hello, everyone--not sure if wild speculation is completely on-topic, so I'm 
putting this here at OT.  If it's sufficiently on-topic, I can move this to 
the main list.

Today I read a book, "13th Gen", that got me thinking across generational 
lines.  One of my mother's favorite sayings is "times change, people don't." 
  As true as that may be, I do think that one's place in time affects them 
in some way.

The book outlined the six generations of Americans either born in or 
associated with the twentieth century:  Lost (Fitzgerald and his peers who 
came of age during the "Great War", born prior to 1910), GI (Brokaw's 
"Greatest Generation", born 1910-1930), Silent/Beat Generation (the kids of 
"Grease" and social change reformers, born 1930-1944/5), Boomer (born 
1945-early 1960s... American society has revolved around them and their 
needs for the past 50 years), X (born mid 1960s-1984... the generation 
everyone loves to hate), and Millenial (1985-present... the Generation of 
Promise).

While concerned mostly with my generation, X (although I think that we 
younger Xers have a lot more in common with millenials than our cynical 
older brothers and sisters), the book commented on the character of social 
trends that shaped the general collective consciousness of the persons 
coming of age in these great waves.

Which got me to thinking about Harry Potter.

What generations are identifiable in the series?

A problem is that we don't know some characters' ages.  They are not given 
an age in canon, nor has JKR given any indication of how old they are in 
chat.  For instance, we have no idea of the age of Karkaroff, or Lockheart, 
or Narcissa Malfoy (although canon does give us clues for what is not 
expressly spelled out).

The fact that wizarding lifespans are twice as long as ours must be figured 
in.  I speculate that Dumbledore, at 150, is part of the current generation 
of senior citizens in the wizarding world, while Minerva is in the midst of 
midlife at 70.  Lucius Malfoy's age is questionable (for some reason, I 
can't help but feel he's a bit older than MWPP/Snape), and we know that 
Arthur and Molly Weasley are a bit older than MWPP/Snape as well.

We do have clear indications of two generations in this world, and we know 
about the events that defined or are defining their coming of age.

I'm in the middle of a PS/SS re-read, and as Heidi told me some months ago, 
the year during with Voldemort began his rise to power is *right there in 
canon*... circa 1970.  Since JKR has given Snape an age of 34/35 in GoF (I 
need to check the Lexicon to be sure), this means that by the only method of 
dating we have thus far MWPP/Snape and cohorts were born sometime in the 
late 1950s/early 1960s.

We know that the dark wizard Grindelwald was defeated in 1945.  We 
*currently* know of no other major Dark movement in this milieu between 1945 
and 1970.

>From this, the following could be true:

1)  James, Sirius, Peter, Remus, Severus, Lily, etc. spent their early 
childhood up in a relatively peaceful and optimistic time, whether in the 
Muggle or wizarding world.  Both Hitler and Grindelwald had been long 
defeated by the year of their births.
2)  During this time of peace, one of the finest schools in their world was 
run by the person who helped create this peace in the first place 
(Dumbledore).
3)  Around the time that they received their letters for Hogwarts (1970), 
Voldemort began his rise to power.
4)  The majority of their adolescence (early to mid-1970s) was spent in a 
time of growing uncertainty.  The majority of their young adulthood (middle 
to late 1970s/early 1980s) was spent during a time of terror.
The animagus transformations were performed during this period, as was the 
(unusually?) early marriage of James and Lily.

By the early 1980s, dire tragedy had either ended or marred the lives of 
*all* six of the individuals above.  And this is just *one* sociogram of 
friends/rivals/loves.  At least one of two things is true:
1)  This group was unusually cursed or singled out for persecution.
2)  There's a REASON why *we* may think that Voldemort is simply a comic 
hero, but the denizens of the world he exists in *do not*.  (I think they'd 
know better than we would.)

Thus, you have a generation whose childhood was spent in a peaceful time, 
whose adolescence was spent during a time of unease and unrest, and whose 
young adulthood was nightmarish (perhaps paralleled by the young adult 
experiences of the Greatest Generation).

I think it'd be interesting to compare that generation to Harry's.  For my 
purposes, the boundaries of this "generation" (actually cohort-group) will 
be two Weasleys.  Percy was born around 1975.  Ginny was born around 
1981--most likely before Halloween, given the presumed Hogwarts cutoff date.

These kids were babies, toddlers--none older than preschool, really--during 
the worse years of Voldemort's first go-round.  One speculation that I find 
*very* interesting and have no trouble buying is that Harry's generation is 
a LOT smaller than his parents' in number... which means that Hogwarts 
enrollment during the canon years is way down.

In my fanfiction, I had the narrator (31-year old Angelina) posit that her 
early childhood was spent in a shadow.  This is because I'm not so sure that 
the post-1981 "peace" in this world was anything like the post-1945 "peace". 
  It seems that as the centuries march on here on the Muggle side of things, 
with each war and each atrocity we lose a bit more of our innocence, 
expectation, and optimism... for some reason, I think that perhaps this 
could hold true in this world.

Also the fact that Voldemort's body was never recovered was significant.

"Some say he died.  Codswallop, in my opinion.  Dunno if he had enough human 
in him left to die.  Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, 
but I don' believe it... (m)ost of us reckon he's still out there somewhere 
but lost his powers.  Too weak to carry on."  (Hagrid, SS, Ch. 4)

*That* is what I call a shadow.  People are afraid to say the name 
"Voldemort" for fear that they might invoke him... there's near-universal 
folkloric/magical precedent for that phenomenon.  (Don't know if it's just 
black culture, but even today we'll say "hush, girl, before you speak 
him/her up!" in a half-teasing, half-serious way if the speaker is talking 
about a particularly unpleasant person.)  I can imagine a few foolish 
wizarding mothers of children Harry's age and younger threatening bad 
children with "If you are not good, You-Know-Who will get you."  The 
reluctance of the wizarding-born children in canon to say Voldemort's name 
is telling... if it's all over, where's the fear coming from?

The Muggle-born kids, on the other hand, didn't grow up with this shadow as 
far as we know... and as I know nothing about politics in the UK, I can't 
give the British equivalent of "but they grew up with Reaganomics!"  
However, I'm sure once Dean, Justin, Hermione, and other crossed the 
threshhold into the wizarding world, they learned quick enough.

These kids' adolescence is being and will be defined by what I always think 
of as Voldemort, Again.  Because such things go in cycles, and I can't see 
JKR destroying the entire magical world at the end of this series 
(consistency of theme issue--this is *not* apocalyptic lit), I have a 
feeling that at least their young adulthood will be spent during a time of 
peace.

So for Harry's generation, you have an inversion of terms.  They were born 
into a terrible time, spent early childhood during an uncertain time, had an 
adolescence much like their wizarding parents.

Every school has this poster somewhere:  "Children Learn What They Live."  
There is a difference between these two generations... and that difference 
may help history not repeat itself any more than it already has.

The Marauder generation (just for the sake of a label--I realize that some 
of you nitpicky souls don't like this term used for MWPP/Snape/Lily et. al) 
spent their formative years in a time of peace and optimism.  I'm almost 
certain that no one saw Voldemort coming--and judging from the time span 
involved, even when they saw him coming at first they didn't think it was 
going to be *that bad*.  Our history shows that human beings tend to take 
comfort in denial.  (There are so many parallels between the HP scenario and 
WWII that it's scary.)  That's why Fudge, at the end of GoF has no excuse... 
I am *certain* there was a Fudge in 1970 or 1971.  There always is.

The Trio's generation never had this sort of collective stability.  Framing 
their earliest memories is the irrefutable evidence that *something* 
terrible happened in the time Before.  Neville's parents.  Snape.  Once we 
learn about it, the MWPP tragedy.  And I'm sure we don't know the half of 
it.

I think that these kids will be a lot more vigilant than their parents were. 
  They have Dumbledore on their side--I'm wildly curious about his role in 
the 1970s during Voldemort's first rise to power.  They also have a healthy 
dose of kid/teen cynicism that packs the pages of canon with their wit... 
and I may not be able to recite chapter and verse, but I'm sure that the 
Trio aren't the only kids walking around Hogwarts who have a healthy 
distrust of authority.

Good.  They'll need it.

There are also a few other HP series generations I'm interested in that we 
have no information about yet.  First is the generation between the 
Marauders and the Trio--Bill and Charlie's, who spend their entire childhood 
during Voldemort I and began Hogwarts either during the peak years of it or 
shortly thereafter, then their teen years during the "shadow time" that 
marked the current Hogwarts kids' childhoods.  Their collective formative 
and coming-of-age experiences are a lot different than those of their older 
counterparts (Snape and co.) and their younger sibs (Ron and co.).

The next generation who interests me is the one who had not one, but two 
Dark Mageships affect their lives--I'm thinking about Hagrid, Tom Riddle, 
perhaps the Weasleys on the younger edge of this generation.  (I always 
associate Lucius with this group too--he just *doesn't* seem like he's a 
cohort the Marauders.)  One wonders what it was like growing up (or at least 
being born) during *both* the Muggle war and dealing with Grindelwald at the 
same time.  Did Voldemort, as a young Tom Riddle, ever meet Grindelwald?  
What was Grindelwald like, and how did his version of the Standard 
Diabolical Plan work?

The final generation I'm interested in is the one that we will never see 
from JKR's pen, but who will be utterly fascinating... the Hogwarts kids' 
children, *especially* if they grow up during a relatively peaceful time.  
The potential for generational battles there will be rife.

What do you think?  How do the generations vary as we've seen them in Harry 
Potter?  Is there any variance, or am I just indulging in another blissful 
session of reading into canon what many would say isn't there?  ;-)

Perhaps the question I should be asking is, "Anyone still reading?"  In the 
words of the immortal Eeyore, "Thanks for noticin' me."

--Ebony AKA AngieJ
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