Snape'sAge

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 168678

Carol wrote in
> <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/168497>:
> 
> << Snape is about twenty-one and a half years older than Harry (JKR
said that he was 35 or 36 as of GoF when Harry is 14 and his birthday
is January 9 compared with July 31 for Harry). >>
> 
Catlady noted:
> JKR said Snape "is" about 35 or 36 when she was asked during the
publicity tour for GoF, but didn't specify whether "is" means at the
start or the end of GoF, or the start or the end of the whole seven
book series, altho' I think we can safely assume she didn't mean he
was 35 or 36 in the year 2000. 

Carol responds:
But she also said that Sirius Black, who was in the same year in
school as Severus Snape, was "about twenty-two" when the Potters were
killed . So Sirius was either twenty-one going on twenty-two or
already twenty-two (perhaps about to turn twenty-three) at that time,
two months into the school year. If his birthday is between September
1 and October 31, he'd already have had his birthday and be
(numerically) a year older than Severus (even though they were really
only four or five months apart) because Severus would not have his
birthday until January. If his birthday comes at any point after
October 31, in November-December or January-August, he would be
(numerically) the same age as Severus.

So, if Sirius is already twenty-two as of October 31, 1981, he must
have been born between November 1, 1958 and October 31, 1959. If he
has an early birthday like Hermione, between September 1 and October
31, he'll be (numerically) a year older than Severus, who will be
twenty-one at this point, not having had his birthday. If Sirius's
birthday is after October 31, however, he and Severus will be the same
age: twenty-two. 

Sirius would be "about" 35 as of October 31, 1994 (Halloween in GoF).
That fits perfectly with Severus as 35 at the beginning of GoF and 35
in the second half of that year (from January 9 to the end of June).

Math(s) is not my strong point, but based on these two sets of
numbers, I think it's safe to say that both Sirius Black and Severus
Snape are about twenty-one years older than Harry, twenty-one and a
half in Snape's case and twenty-one and an unknown number of months in
Black's. If JKR would only confirm that Lupin was also twenty-two at
the time of Godric's Hollow, we'd know for sure about Snape, who is
almost exactly two months older than Lupin.

Carol, who sees January 9, 1959, as the most likely date for Severus
Smape's birth, but that's ignoring the Black family tapestry as a
wrench in the works