Molly & Arthur's ages

[Tom Wall]

No: HPFGUIDX 55632


I personally lean towards Molly and Arthur being older than Hagrid, 
and Hagrid being older than Lucius, as a natural first reaction to 
the text. But, it also bears mention that Molly and Arthur do have a 
familiarity with Hagrid that is interesting, as we see from CoS:

"Well, gotta be off," said Hagrid, who was having his hand wrung by 
Mrs. Weasley ("Knockturn Alley! If you hadn't found him, Hagrid!").
(CoS, US paperback, Ch.4, 56)

and:

"Yeh should've ignored him Arthur," said Hagrid, almost lifting Mr. 
Weasley off his feet as he straightened his robes. "Rotten ter the 
core, the whole family, everyone knows that - no Malfoy's worth 
listenen' ter - bad blood, that's what it is - come one now, let's 
get outta here." (CoS, US paperback, Ch.4, 63)

They do seem to converse and relate to each other as though they're 
old friends, IMO, and they do seem to share a mutual dislike for the 
Malfoys.

Now, this could stem from several places:

- It's *possible* that Hagrid was around while Molly and Arthur were 
at school. I don't really think this is the case, but it is 
possible, as aja_1991 suggests.

- It's also possible that Hagrid and the Weasleys had some kind of 
working relationship with Dumbledore during the last Voldemort war. 
This, IMO, seems more likely to me. We know that Hagrid was helpful 
to Dumbledore during the first conflict because of his involvement 
in PS/SS Ch.1. It's possible that the Weasleys were also involved - 
i.e. perhaps they were all part of the "old crowd" together. We 
don't know that for sure, but it's a strong guess.

- It's also possible that Molly and Arthur became well-acquainted 
with Hagrid while their eldest children (Bill and Charlie) were in 
attendance at Hogwarts. For instance, Hagrid asks about Charlie in 
PS/SS, Ch.8, 141 (US paperback,) and Charlie seems on very friendly 
and chatty terms with Hagrid in GoF, Ch.19 while showing off the 
dragons for the First Task. I like the Charlie connection, 
personally, since we know canonically that Charlie has a proclivity 
for animals and creatures, just like Hagrid. "My brother of Charlie 
was always more of an outdoor type, so he went for Care of Magical 
Creatures." (CoS, Ch.14, 252) 

Not to mention Hagrid's constant friendly/fond references to the 
twins throughout the series, at least in PS/SS, Ch.8, 140: 

"I've spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the 
forest."

and also from PoA, Ch.10, 204: 

"... I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers." 
"I dunno," chuckled Hagrid. "Fred and George Weasley could give 'em 
a run fer their money."

Overall, I'd say that Hagrid exhibits a familiarity and friendliness 
with the Weasleys that is beyond the standard gamekeeper/student 
relationship that we might expect him to have with most of the 
students. 

How this relates to their ages, well, that's up for grabs, and 
whether or not Hagrid was in-training with Ogg before assuming his 
position, I guess that is too. ;-) 

IMHO, Molly and Arthur pre-date Hagrid, but are familiar with him 
both through their kid's relationship with him, and through their 
mutual involvement with Dumbledore in Voldemort War I.

But it's not up for grabs on Lucius' age: Lucius is definitely 
younger than both Hagrid and Molly/Arthur, because we know that the 
Chamber of Secrets was opened "fifty years ago, so it was before 
[Lucius'] time..." (CoS, US paperback, Ch.12, 223) 

So, Hagrid was there and expelled before Lucius even arrived at the 
school. And Draco is aware of Hagrid pre-his first day at school on 
the Hogwarts Express: 

"That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something that the boy 
didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."
"Oh," said the boy," I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, 
isn't he?"
"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. he was liking the boy less and 
less every second.
"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage - lives in a hut on the 
school grounds and every now and then he gets drunki, tries to do 
magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."
(PS/SS, US paperback, Ch.5, 78)

So, I do think it's reasonable to assume that this story is from 
Lucius/Narcissa's own time at Hogwarts, although now, come to think 
of it, I suppose that since Lucius was a governor of the school 
during CoS, it's also possible to guess that he heard the story well-
after he graduated from the school through that connection.

Oh well - just figured I'd throw all that in. ;-)

-Tom