More on Sirius's Gang of Slytherins

[Neri]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Amanda" <exslytherin at ...> wrote:
>
> FYI: I just read this very well written and researched essay on the 
> infamous 'Gang of Slytherins' mentioned by Sirius in OotP.  The author 
> takes into account the newest Black family tree information as well as 
> speculating on the ages of Andromeda and Bellatrix.  
> 
> Well worth reading. You can find it here:
> 
> http://junediamanti.livejournal.com/192983.html
> 
> Enjoy - Mandy
>

Neri:
Yep, what June wrote was mostly my thoughts about the way to rescue
this situation. She made a good case about Snape being born in 1959
and not 1960. Personally I won't be surprised if it turns out to be
1958 or even 1957.

I'd prefer Avery, Rosier and Wilkes older than Snape, perhaps 3 years
older in order to explain why they didn't show up to help Snape during
the Worst Memory incident, and also to have some continuity with Bella
who is (presumably) six years older, but I agree there are no real
indications, and a fanfic would probably be more interesting if they
are in the same year. 

What I still find hard to accept is that The Gang was only some kind
of a Voldemort jugend cell. Well, it probably was that, but it can't
have been completely underground, or Sirius wouldn't have known about
it. These kids must have hanged together somehow, and it's difficult
for me to see how a seventh year and a first year can hang together in
a way that would make another first year see them as belonging to the
same gang. 

OK, lets see if this scenario makes sense:

1970 – Sirius, James, Remus, Peter, Lily and Severus are in their
first year. The students are terrorized by a gang of Slytherins that
includes seventh year Rodolphus and Bellatrix, sixth year Lucius
Malfoy, forth year Avery and third year Rosier and Wilkes. All the
first years and especially the Gryffindors suffer, but little Severus,
by supplying the gang with some Dark services, becomes their favorite
and thus hated by the other students in his year. Maybe they dubbed
him Snivellus because of his connections with older *students*, not
with teachers. 

1973 – Bella, Rodolphus and Avery (and Lucius) are out of school by
now, but 14 years old Sirius still sees them each year during
holidays, meeting at the Black house with Rosier and Wilkes (who are
by now seventh year and really scary) and perhaps even with young
Severus. Therefore Sirius continues to think of them as a gang even
though half of them have already left school.

1974 – Bella marries Rodolphus and they are away for some DE mission,
so Sirius never sees Bella anymore until Azkaban. Wilkes and Rosier
have left school too by now, and Severus in his fifth year finds
himself all of a sudden alone with no older protectors. Naturally he
neglects to be on his guard all the time, and is taken by surprise by
James and his little gang.

The only problem I see with this little scenario is that Sirius didn't
mention Lucius in the gang, something I always took as hinting that
Bella was younger than Lucius, but it might simply be JKR overlooking
his name. It won't be the first time, and GoF is full with worse
mistakes. Anyway, this Scenario would work just as well without Lucius. 

Another thing I suspect June got wrong is Snape's information leading
to the killing of Wilkes and Rosier. I had already pointed our before
HBP that it's seems strange how the DEs in Azkaban were blaming
Wormtail and Karkaroff for turning them in, and yet none of them was
blaming Snape. Snape apparently didn't try or could not supply enough
proof against Bella, Rodolphus, Avery and Lucius, which proved fatal
to the Longbottoms.  

Regarding Tonks probable year of birth, June (1974) is wrong and the
Lexicon (1973) is right. What June forgot is that in the beginning of
OotP Tonks says to Harry that she was qualified as auror "a year ago",
so she's likely 22 and not 21 yrs old at that time. Still, I don't
think it is unimaginable that Andromeda gave birth to Tonks before her
18th birthday. We have canon for Fred and George leaving school before
finishing their seventh year, and in HBP Draco contemplates not
completing even his sixth year. We are also told in HBP that during
VW1 people were "eloping left, right, and center", and Sirius himself
ran away from home when he was 16.

Neri