Rosmerta

[mongo62aa]

No: HPFGUIDX 56416

I always thought that she was somewhat older that James & Sirius.  
>From the text, it sounded to me as if she was already a (full-time) 
barmaid when J & S were still students at Hogwarts.

As for still looking fairly young, magic-using people do live longer 
than Muggles.  Dumbledore is 150, and McGonnagall is 'a spritely 70', 
according to JKR.

If magic-using people age at the same rate as Muggles until maturity 
(say, 18) and then at half the rate as Muggles from then on, the 
Dumbledore would be biologically 18 + (150-18)/2 = 79 years old, 
which seems about right, and McGonnagall would be 18 + (70-18)/2 = 44 
years old, biologically, which would fit the 'spritely' description.

So, if Rosmerta were 4 or 5 years older than James & Sirius, she 
would be chronologically 40 years old, or biologically 29 years old, 
which fits her description.

Bill