Life expectancy in the Potterverse and associated problems

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 81253

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Ali" <Ali at z...> wrote:

<< I suspect that the issue of Life expectancy is yet another
potential inconsistency in the Potterverse >>

Yes. Perhaps it is because age is a number, and numbers seem to be
where the most Flints and Inconsistencies arise. Even tho' she *told*
us about wizards living longer than Muggles, the people in the story
*seem* to age like Muggles (except that Bill and Charlie appear a bit
younger than they must be if there really is that long gap between
Charlie and Percy).

And a couple of previous posts, whose authors and numbers I do not
recall, said that all the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, 
supposedly approved by Rowling, giving the birth year and death year
of the person depicted, add up to perfectly normal Muggle life-spans.
Someone said that the longest -lived wizard on those cards lived to 
be 103. Of course, they also said that those cards say that Bertie
Botts invented his beans in the 20th century, so Dumbledore could not
have encountered a vomit flavored one in his youth, unless that is a
clue to Ron having been cast back in time and becoming Dumbledore.

<< Does a Muggle-born Witch or Wizard have a longer life span merely 
because they are magical, or do they too die earlier? >>

I have no canon but I feel certain that the longer lifespan is either
the result of the magic inside, so being Muggle-born would make no
difference, or the result of magical medical treatment being so
superior to Muggle medical treatment, in which case, not only would
being Muggle-born make no difference, but also a Muggle with access 
to magical medical treatment (such as spouse of a witch/wizard) would
be almost as long-lived. In my fanfic, it's the magic inside that 
does the trick, and my characters out-live serial Muggle spouses.
 
<< This surely gives legitimacy to some of the Pure Blood aversion to 
marrying Muggles (snip)  different age groups tend to have different
outlooks on life and be at different stages of the reproductive 
cycle, this could impose huge strains both physically and
psychologically on partnerships. >>

Judging from the RL popularity of Muggle older men marrying Muggle
younger women, the life-span difference would not cause problems with
a witch marries a Muggle man. That's Seamus's parents, and Riddle's 
IF they were married. Are there any canon examples of a wizard
marrying a Muggle woman?

> I still find it curious that Lucius Malfoy has so much power at the 
> age of *only* 41 if many wizards to reach 150. The WW strikes me as 
> very traditional, and thus unlikely to look too kindly to *young* 
> upstarts like Malfoy, even if they have impeccable Pure-Blood 
> credentials. 

I have no canon, but I think Lucius murdered his father (as many
generations back as necessary) to become the Head of the family. 
Being the hereditary head of the family, no matter how young, he is
not an upstart.