James's age

[pattiemgsybb]

No: HPFGUIDX 173207

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at ...>
wrote:
> Did anyone besides me notice that James Potter is referred to
> in OoP as being fifteen, the same age as Harry, in SWM, but
> that all of the characters whose ages we know would actually
> have been sixteen in that scene?
<SNIP>
> I don't suppose it matters, but it's a continuity error. I
> suppose she should change James's birthdate in DH if she wants
> to correct it. The part where Harry says indignantly, "I'm
> fifteen!" won't work if she changes James's age in the scene
> to match the age on his tombstone.

mac_tire:

Can I make a very silly point related to your thoughtful post?
What is the deal with the middle-aged man in the Mirror of Erised
in the film of SS/PS? This has always driven me nuts. Harry's
father died at a very young age; when Harry was a baby, his
parents were very young adults. And while fictional characters
are often younger in the afterlife than they were at the time
of their death (Remus and Sirius are a good example), they are
never older -- they do not age in the afterlife to parallel
what their ages would've been had they lived.

Now in regard to the point you've carefully made: first of all,
will you do my taxes next year? I would never have been able to
put together the information you've gathered! But my only guess
is that it's akin to the "first year = 11 years old," etc. thing
that you touch on. That, or the fact that JKR is notoriously weak
at arithmetic. Though even if it was unintentional, it's true
that saying James was only 15 makes his behavior just a little
bit more excusable, especially if wizards are "of age" two years
later rather than only one.

mac_tire