Wizards' Ages

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 111911

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "greatelderone"
<greatelderone at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" <willsonkmom at m...> 
> wrote:
> > Why do you think this is so important? 
> 
> GEO: Possibly it's one indication why those muggle and wizard/witch 
> relationships don't work out too well or why it would be rather 
> difficult for a wizard or witch to live and marry in the muggle 
> world.

Asian_lovr2:

I think to some extent, wizard/muggle marriages are just like real
world May/December relationship. Tony Randal (stage & screen actor)
married a woman in her 30's, I believe, and even fathered a child. In
that relationship, the two of them went into it knowing that Tony
would most likely die long before his wife. More than dying before
her, since he was in his 70's, he would very likely die in the next 10
to 15 years. As it was, they married when he was about 75, had their
baby when he was 77, and he died at age 84. On a more general field,
most women accept that they will out live their husbands
(statistically). But time does not stop love.

In the case of Seamus's parents, his mother didn't tell his father she
was a witch until after they were married, and may have waited years
before the 'magic folk live long' issue became apparent. By then, the
course was set, and they surely just accepted it. However, to be very
fair, it seems only right that you tell someone before you get
married, both about the magic thing and the age thing.


> > Potioncat continues:
> > 
> > If they live so long, and appear to work so long, how do young 
> > people like Snape and Percy advance so quickly?  You'd think 
> > candidates for DADA and Potions and Ministry Officialdom would be 
> > coming out of the woodwork!

 
> GEO: Possibly because most people don't live to their potential 
> lifespan possibly due to their lack of commonsense or due to the 
> fact that the wizarding world is a much more hazardous and violent 
> world. If you look at the people on the semi-canonical chocalate 
> frog cards, you see that few of them manage to surpass 100 yrs.


Asian_lovr:

First, this is my standard analysis of lifespan in the wizard world.
Note I said lifespan, not average life expectancy. A point which I've
made note of several times before.

I suspect that wizards have about twice the potential lifespan that
muggles do. The potential lifespan of a muggle is about 120. I believe
we have seen people live to the age of about 116, to the best of my
knowledge, so 120 seems like a fair max potential. If we double that,
we have a maximum lifespan for wizards of about 240. (Several very old
thread discuss this in great detail.)

You mentioned many old 'chocolate frog card' wizards, few of whom made
it past 100. But, when did they live; in what era? It wasn't that long
ago that the average muggle lifespan was less than 40. Gradually as
sanitation and health care improved, it's worked it's way up to about
75. But remember 75 is the average, the are lots and lots of people
older than 75, and a substantial number who are 100 or more. Note, I
said substantial, not huge. 

So, 75 to a muggle is like 150 to a wizard. Now if you use 'lifespan'
to illustrate where people are in their lives, McGonagall at about 70
is at the same place in her life that the average 35 year old muggle
is. Time to start settling down, but still plenty of time and
opportunity ahead.

Given the immense lifespan, I would suspect most wizards go through
several careers in their lifetimes. If for no other reason than just
to break the bordom. Do you really think Mr. Weasley will be content
to work at his job for 100 years? Would anybody? I suspect most
wizards and witches put in a full career in one field, say 20 to 50
years, then move on to something else. You could have 2 to 5 career
changes and still have time left over for an enjoyable retirement. 

I also suspect that wizards quickly move out of their entry level jobs
which opens them up for new graduates. I seriously doubt that Percy
planned a 50 year career being someone's personal assistant. Once he
learn the ropes, he would logically start looking for more
responsibility, better pay, and greater opportunities.

So, my conclusion is that entry level jobs are continually opening up,
inviting in recent Hogwarts graduates. Wizards are able to move up,
because older wizards move on, they seek complete changes in career
direction, and that opens their job for less senior but none the less
experienced wizards. 

For muggles, 50 years at one job is about all you could hope for.
After that, you just retire and wait for death to come. But for a
wizard, you could still have TWO more 50 year careers ahead of you.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/asian_lovr2 (was bboy_mn)