Is Lily really the same age as James?

[Martha]

No: HPFGUIDX 89496

Mandy:
Harry doesn't even think of looking for his mother. Does
> anyone else think this is odd?

Meri:
> Maybe back in the 1970's (or whenever James and Lily were students) 
> boys and girls at Hogwarts did things like exams seperately. As 
> Ron's graceful slide down the girl's staircase in the Gryffindor 
> common room attests to, there were efforts (albeit onesided 
efforts) 
> to keep the sexes seperate. <snip>

Martha:
Well, it's a possibility that certain things were done separately, 
but not exams. From OoP, p565 UK edition, description of Sirius 
during OWL exam:

"He was very good-looking... and a girl sitting behind him was eyeing 
him hopefully"

... So there were girls in the exam room.

As to why Harry didn't look for Lily in the exam room - I have no 
idea. The only thing I can suggest is that rather than not look for 
her, he just didn't notice her. After all, Harry looks just like 
James, so there's a chance he'd be more likely to spot him. Lily, on 
the other hand, only becomes obvious to Harry when he sees her eyes, 
which are just like his. I agree - it's not the best explanation. 
After all, Harry has photos of both his parents, and the timeline 
suggests less than ten years elapsed between the pensieve scene and 
baby Harry. It's unlikely he didn't see her because he didn't know 
what she looked like.

Of course, if one was to write such a scene with the knowledge of 
such an age gap, one might not think to mention it, and yes fail to 
explain such discrepancies. Just a thought.

~ Martha