Age of Majority

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 155218

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at ...> wrote:

Carol:
> By the same token, Harry will become a "man" on July 31. The
> protective magic on the Dursleys' house will expire and he'll be an
> "adult" when he confronts Voldemort. (Ron and Hermione are already
> ostensibly adults, as were Fred and George when they were expelled
> from Hogwarts.)
> 
> So, yes, it's all arbitrary, in RL or the WW. But why did JKR choose
> 17 instead of 18 as the age of majority in the WW? I think it's
> because she gave Harry her own birthday (conveniently making him a
> single age throughout each school year, 11 in year 1, 12 in year 2 and
> so on). Even though there's apparently not going to be a  year 7 at
> Hogwarts (unless JKR is messing with our expectations, which I
> wouldn't put past her), Harry will still be 17 for most of Book 7.
> IMO, she wants him to be a "man" when he confronts and defeats
> Voldemort, and in order to do that, given his birthday, she had to
> make 17 the age of majority in the WW.

Geoff:
If I might be infuriatingly, nastily and pedantically pedantic, the cut-off 
date for admission to a specific school year in the UK is 31st August, so 
he isn't a single age throughout each school year, so there.
:-)