Why Hermione's age matters (was Aha!)

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 28986

Ebony wrote:

> Yes, *please* someone ask her or someone who'd know.  And if she 
says 
> 1979, personally I think the passage in PoA ought to be corrected 
> like the Wand Order thing, because it's misleading.

The Wand Order Thing (it seems to call for thorough capitalization) 
is a real contradiction.  Dumbledore's "13-year-old wizards," OTOH, 
is the kind of thing anyone might say to refer to 3rd-years: not a 
Flint, IMHO, even if JKR said flat out that Hermione was born in 
1979.  Ron, for example, is 14 at the moment Dumbledore says this.  
If he had included Ron in his statement, I believe he would still 
say "three 13-year-old wizards," not "two 13-year-old wizards and a 
14-year-old wizard."
 
> I have nothing else to say in this debate... 

Now, you can't leave it at that!  I really want to know:  what gives 
this issue such tireless legs?  I like an unresolved math problem as 
much as anyone, and yet I am stunned by the amount of attention this 
question, which seems so trivial to me, commands.  Can someone who 
perceives an important difference between 1979-Hermione and 1980-
Hermione explain what the difference is?  Does it seem to say 
something about her character that is significant?

Amy Z
who realizes that the subject line is a bit deceptive, since she has 
given no reason, but "Why does Hermione's age matter?" seemed 
pugnacious