Order of Siblings (was: The ancient and most noble house of Black)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 147272

 Neri wrote:
> Here`s what bothering me:
>  
> Phineas is Elladora's older brother (he was born in 1847 and she in
> 1850) and he's on her left – well and good. Callidora is older than
> her sister Charis (1915 vs. 1919) and she's on her left – well and
> good. But what about Belvina? She's on the left of her brother
> Arcturus, but is she older than him? Her birth date isn't very clear
> in the picture, but it looks to me like 1886, which would make her
> *younger* than Arcturus (1884). 
> 
> The reason I'm asking is that: About two years ago I hypothesized that
> the three Black cousins were born in the order Bellatrix, Andromeda,
> Narcissa, because according to the description of the tree in OotP
> they appear from left to right in that order. In HBP it was indeed
> verified that Bella is the eldest. If we established now that JKR
> adheres to the common rule of listing siblings from left to right
> according to their age it would be practically established that
> Andromeda is indeed the second sister and Narcissa the youngest.
> However, Belvina's birth date foils this nice consistency a bit. Can
> anybody please convince me it's not 1886?  I offer a free bag of
ACID POPS as a prize.

Carol responds:
Hi, Neri. No ACID POPS, thanks. (I have my own theories about what
happened at "Spinner's End" as you may be aware, and they don't
involve the DADA curse, not Snape in love with Narcissa.) 

I think Krista7 has answered your question perfectly, but I want to
add one more little thing. JKR's version of the family tree is
probably a draft and incomplete (I doubt that the version in 12 GP
said "1s, 1d": it would have given the names of the Black
descendants). She probably hasn't worked out all the details, either.
For example, there's probably an Ollivander connection somewhere, but
maybe it's too distant to appear on the part that she's worked out.
Also, JKR is apparetnly using a vertical sheet of paper (like a
standard sheet of typing paper) whereas I've always pictured the
tapestry as horizontal, running the length of the hallway. Otherwise,
the names at the beginning would be near the ceiling and impossible to
read. (A horizontal orientation would allow the names to be presented
in their proper order, with Belvina, like Bellatrix and her sisters,
in her proper place.) Besides, the tapestry, unlike JKR's handwritten
version, was created magically, so it would nicely arrange itself!
(Trying to make it fit our Muggle ideas of what's possible is rather
like trying to figure out how the Marauder's Map can show all the
floors of Hogwarts and all the inhabitants at once and yet allow Harry
to see a particular name in a particular place at a glance.)

Re the Potters, mentioned by others in this thread: I think that
Charlus Potter and his wife are too young to be James Potter's
parents, who died of old age per JKR's website (How could a witch die
of old age at 57 when DD is over 150?), but I'm wondering if the "s"
and "d" under Callidora and Harfang Longbottom might be Neville's
Great Uncle Algie and his "gran," Augusta. They could have been born
in the 1930s. Not all *that* old by wizarding standards, though, so
probably not, unless the "old" used to describe them reflects Harry's
perspective. Maybe Harfang is Augusta and Algie's cousin (or a
deceased brother) rather than their father. (?) The point is probably
to show the interconnectedness of the families rather than the
specific family members.

And did you note the Yaxley connection? Isn't Yaxley the brutal-faced
Death Eater? Interesting that a Yaxley got burned off the chart!

Anyway, to return to your question, I think that in the tapestry in
the hallway of 12 GP, the names would be arranged with the oldest on
the left and the youngest on the right, but that JKR was unable to
duplicate that arrangement (or was more concerned with showing
relationships and intermarriages than birth order) in the draft
version that she's teasing us with in the photograph.

Carol, just tossing out possibilities she hopes are helpful