Lily & Petunia, who's older?

[AmeliaElf]

No: HPFGUIDX 41942

Snip from Greg:
> Lily gets her letter when she's 11.  The whole family 
> goes off to Diagon Alley, and everyone, including Petunia, falls in 
> love with the magical world.  For the next two or 3 years until 
> Petunia turned 11, all her parents talked about was the day that 
> she'd get her own letter.  Then, the whole summer of her 11th year 
> goes by & no letter for Petunia.  Rather than admit that the 
magical 
> world rejected her, she decides to reject the magical world by 
> hating all things magical, including her nephew who even at a young 
> age showed he had the gift she never did.  I think that scenario 
> makes more sense than the jealous older sister bit, but maybe 
that's 
> just me.

Interesting theory!  And plausible, too.  That would certainly give 
Petunia a lot more depth as a character.  I think perhaps the reason 
people might get it into their heads that Lily was younger is that 
she died young, and so we have this vivacious and beautiful picture 
of her, whereas our image of Petunia is than of a fretting, middle-
aged woman.

Having Petunia be younger than Lily could also square with theories 
that James and Lily were aurors and didn't settle down to start a 
family right away after graduating from Hogwarts.  One would assume 
that the older sister would end up having children first, but Petunia 
and Lily had children at the same time.  Perhaps Petunia got married 
at a young age (it seems doubtful that she would have pursued much 
post-secondary education) while Lily was off having her adventures.

Then again, maybe Lily IS younger and she and James DID have Harry 
pretty soon after Hogwarts.  In that case, Petunia would have spent 
many more years trying to find someone to marry than her younger 
sister did, which also seems plausible. ;)

Hello, by the way.  This is my first post to the group.  My name's 
Amelia, I'm a student in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and I'm pleased to 
meet you all!

"Amelia"