Malfoy pets / age in First Year / the Dark Mark

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 90519

Carol wrote in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/90123 :

<< BTW, has anyone noticed that Draco Malfoy and his cronies don't
seem to have pets (er, familiars)? >>

Draco, Vincent, and Gregory don't seem to have pets, but Millicent
Bulstrode is in their House and their year and has a black cat. My own
theory on Draco not having any pets is that the purpose of pets is to
be loved and Lucius is far from wanting to teach Draco to love ...  I
absolutely believe a small fanfic written by one of my friends, in
which little Draco had a pony, and when he was old enough to move up
to a real horse, his father required him to prove that he was grown-up
enough for a horse by killing his beloved pony ... 

Geoff wrote in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/90209 :

<< To summarise, a pupil entering the First Year should have
reached eleven no later than 31st August of that year so, during
their First Year, they will become 12, so that when they enter the
Second Year, they are already 12... and so on hence pupils coming
into the Lower Sixth are 16 - which fits quite correctly with
Angelina who is 17 in the October of the First Year Sixth. >>

Speaking from hearsay, the timeline on the CoS DVD says that Hermione
was born September 19, 1980 (not 1979). So Hogwarts's cut-off date
cannot be Aug 31 as in the Real World you described. I suspect it is
Autumn Equinox (which seems to have been Sept 22 in 1980, from quick
Web search). 

Severely Sigune wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/90315 :

<< do other posters think that the Dark Mark is more than just
Voldie's version of a beeper? >>

Someone theorized that the Dark Mark links the person's life to LV's
life so they they'll die when/if LV does. That would be how LV could
tell the Death Eaters in the Graveyard Scene in GoF that he knew with
absolute certainty that they had known he was alive: if he weren't,
they wouldn't have been either. This adds to Sevvie's burden, that if
he succeeds in his goal of destroying LV, he also will die. If this is
the case, the Death Eater *must* get some benefit from the Dark Mark,
or only Bellatrix would have been fanatic enough to accept it ...
perhaps it gives the Death Eater an extra boost of magical power?