Charlie Weasley's age (Was: JKR update re: Colin)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 115308


Pippin:
> > I find it perfectly plausible canon that despite having Charlie 
on  their side, the only year that Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup 
 was  Charlie's second. That leaves room for the seven year 
losing streak mentioned in PoA.  A heartbreaker, but that's 
Quidditch (and baseball.) Gryffindor also didn't win the House 
Cup for  seven years prior to PS/SS, but that is a different award, 
though winning the Quidditch Cup contributes to it.

Debbie:
> But if Charlie continued to play for a losing team, the statement 
 would more likely have been "since Charlie was playing for us."  
Using the phrase "left" strongly implies that Charlie led the team 
 to victory in his last year before leaving (though it's possible 
 that he left before finishing his NEWTs).<

It would, unless you knew better, as everyone else on the team 
besides Harry may be presumed to do. It's a nice way for Wood 
to lay the blame for their dismal performance on losing Charlie 
instead of on the heads of the remaining players. 

Of course it also contributes to Harry's (and our) inflated idea of 
how good he'd have to be to beat Charlie, which I'm sure was 
Rowling's intention. Harry does tend to set ridiculously high 
standards for himself, and part of the reason is that he doesn't 
ask questions, like "How many Quidditch cups did Charlie win?" 

Possibly Jo also intended to spark speculation about the 
"Weasley gap" and make us think Ron might be the seventh son 
of a seventh son--but she doesn't need that hint any more since 
it is must be clear to even the pragmatic types among us that 
Ron does indeed have a decent shot at achieving his dreams 
despite lack of portents at birth. 

Pippin