Pure Blood Fertility / The 3 Black Sisters' Ages

[ghinghapuss]

No: HPFGUIDX 84486

Hi and welcome and this was a great post, not to long at all. 
Sorry I had to snip in places though.  

I wrote:
> >The Black's and Malfoy's have united under the Malfoy 
> > name.  Probably not something he imagined when he married the 
> > youngest of three sisters with two male cousins. <snip>

-Lunatique wrote:
> Actually I believe Narcissa was the eldest of the three sisters,
> rather than the youngest. 
Snip 

Me again:
Interesting. I place the Black sisters order as Bellatrix, Andromeda, 
Narcissa because that was the order in which they appeared on their 
branch of the family tree when you read left to right. Of course I 
haven't seen the tree in person (unless you count the one on the 
Lexicon) we only have Sirius reading it off to Harry. But I assumed 
he read the names left to right as his eyes scanned the tapestry. 
Could be wrong on this though.

Lunatique wrote:
> Reasoning: Sirius said he hadn't seen Bellatrix since he was 
Harry's own age, fifteen. <Snip and your conclusion being:> which 
places her in seventh year when Sirius was in his fifth.

Me again:
Sirius walked out on his family at 15 so I assumed that was why he 
didn't see any of his extended family again.

-Lunatique
> So anyway, I'd place Tonks at about twenty. 

Me again: 
Yes I agree the Tonks being 20. The perfect age for Harry to crush 
on. A beautiful girl who does his dream job and works for the Order 
of the Phoenix?  A fantasy for Harry if I ever read one. ;-)

-Lunatique wrote:
> That would make Andromeda 41/42--older than Bellatrix. With 
Andromeda as the middle sister, that automatically makes Narcissa the 
oldest. This might also make Narcissa older than her husband...but 
that's not exactly unheard of, is it?  

Mandy again:
I place Bellatrix at 41 and with Lucius'in school.  I assumed they 
were both one of the gang of Slytherin's who all turned out to be 
Death Eaters.  Andromeda in the middle somewhere around 39 and 
Narcissa at about 36 which would have put her in James and Lily's 
year in school.  I have no proof of this, just speculation.

Lunatique wrote:
having Narcissa as the eldest daughter makes her more attractive as 
Lucius Malfoy's choice of wife. <Snip> If one goes with the reduced 
fertility theory, there probably weren't that many witches of lofty 
enough birth to suit him anyway. 

Me again:
Hum, interesting. I agree in the eldest sibling being definitely the 
more attractive choice. Apologies to all younger siblings out there 
but in a family where bloodlines and money mean so much the 
bargaining power does lie in the eldest boy and/or girl.   What if 
the Malfoy's wanted their son (Lucius) to marry the elder Black 
daughter, Bellatrix, but they were to late, or offered a less 
attractive deal than the Lestranges? The second child's a blood 
traitor, the only option left was the youngest Narcissa. Might 
explain her reluctance to having more children, being considered 
leftovers by here husband and his family.  

Ack, don't like my own argument here and I have to get back to work.  
Look forward to more discussionlater I hope.
Welcome to HPfG. 

Mandy