Is Petunia older or younger than Lily?

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 118409


arizona:
> So, according to the Lexicon's timeline, Lily was born in 1959.  
But 
> she starts Hogwarts in 1971 - which, depending on how you look at 
it, 
> doesn't make a lot of sense.  Shouldn't she be starting in 1970, 
when 
> she's actually turning 11 years old?
> 
> (See, this is why I don't entirely trust the timelines on the 
> Lexicon, which is otherwise really good.)

Jen: Actually, I was using the time periods mentioned in the 
sections on Lily Potter and Dudley Dursley for my post upthread, 
which are slightly different from the ones you posted (guess there 
is some inconsistency there, although Steve at the Lexicon does 
use 'circa' with most dates to indicate approximation). 

arizona: 
> So Lily finishes Hogwarts in June 1978.  Harry is born two years 
> later, not one, in July 1980.
> 
> If Petunia is a year younger than Lily, she would not have had to 
> drop out of school in order to have him.  (Especially as the 
timeline 
> says that Dudders was born on June 22 - does anybody know where 
that 
> came from? - Petunia would have finished school in June 1979, one 
> full year before Dudley would have been born.

Jen: In the Dudley section at the Lexicon, there's a very convincing 
argument for Dudley being born June 23, 1980. As to whether Petunia 
was still in school when Lily graduated, that seems impossible to 
determine at this point. But you're right, there would have been two 
years between Lily leaving Hogwarts and having Harry, long enough 
for Petunia to finish school. 

Jen Reese