Yes, I know, much with the spamming. Sorry.

[heidi]

Q: How old are Charlie and Bill Weasley in relation to their other siblings?

A: Oh dear, maths. Let me think. Bill is two years older than Charlie, who is two years older than Percy.

I think ALL of fandom, regardless of SHIP preference, regardless of who you're friends with and who you find annoying, regardless of when you entered fandom, whether you're on LJ or not, whether you write NC17 or G-rated stuff, is in FULL agreement when we say...

Wha?

And I think we all agree that she should hire sjbranford to walk two paces behind her at all times, and do her maths for her. Think of what she'd save in tips per year!

Comments

[moonlight69]

but...but...that would have put CHARLIE in seventh year in PS/SS! ARGH! Jo, don't do this to us! *head explodes*

[eilanhp.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily. My sister is nearly 4 years older but was only three years above me, just like my boyfriend is two years older and was also three years above me (granted, he skipped a grade...)

[chinawolf.livejournal.com]

*laughs and laughs and laughs* But what of the Simon fangirls if he is out of reach? Wibble! Wah! Despair!

[chinawolf.livejournal.com]

(Oh, and yes, the mention of the ages is very unfortunate - especially as the Gryffindors didn't win the cup since the legendary Charlie Weasley, if I remember correctly - and Slytherin had won it the seven years before Harry arrived... I may remember incorrectly, though, since I've been out of touch with HP for almost two years now. Meep.)

[nyx-wench.livejournal.com]

I am thoroughly enjoying your spamming. Totally agree that does not add up anyway you try.


Do you have the link for the puppet movies you have made icons of? I was trying to find it. Thanks

[perceval.livejournal.com]

Indeed. There goes the missing Weasley!

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

YES! NOW HE IS TRULY MISSING!

I HAVE TO STOP WITH THE ALL CAPS, don't I?

[tefkas.livejournal.com]

Odd, too, don't you think, that JKR can take
Harry + Ron + Hermione + Parvati + Lavender + Neville + Seamus + Dean,
then add two, hitherto unmentioned, fifth year girls
and end up with a class of 30 Gryffindors in Umbridge's DADA class in OotP?

[psychic-serpent.livejournal.com]

Yes, that one takes true mathematical incompetance. I suggest that anything in this chat that refers in any way, shape or form to NUMBERS be completely and utterly disregarded. Other info is great to have, such as the MWPP house definitely being Gryffindor after all of the folks insisting that somehow four boys from four different houses became close enough for three of them to want to become Animagi for the fourth. (That's something that always produced a "huh?" in me.)

But poor Ron! "Ron Bilius Weasley." Good god. Have mercy, Molly and Arthur (and JKR). Argh. I truly hope this isn't Bill's full first name. Ron's middle name sounds like a word that means "Resembling bile, especially in color: a bilious green." and "Having a peevish disposition; ill-humored." Was she worried we'd see the slug-vomiting incident a mile away if we knew about this?

[shelaghc.livejournal.com]

Ah for the meticulousless of the good Professor at times like these, eh?

(Would anyone like to hear the story of the LotR chapter re-written because of the phases of the moon?)

Ms. Rowling writes a good story, but she really needs to be more accurate in her details.

[shelaghc.livejournal.com]

Sorry - "meticulousless" should have been "meticulousness."

(Obviously, I'm less meticulous than JKR, eh? ;->)

[faelori.livejournal.com]

Aye.

... brain... hurts...

[kate-tur.livejournal.com]

I just love your icon!!!

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

Wordy mcword. I can easily forgive her Ginny Molly Weasley (wtf?) and the weird vagueness re. Hr/R vs. Hr/H but this is just bad. I am irritated and have just realized this morning just how caught up I am in this silly thing if I can be this irritated over how sloppy she is on HER OWN WORK - wtf should I care if she does shoddy work?

That said, I'm agreed that sjbranford would make a fine math lackey, although that might be the kind of thankless task that would require compensation beyond cash.

[shelaghc.livejournal.com]

I loff your icon!!!!!!!!

:snerk:

[musikologie.livejournal.com]

Well, it could be a case similar to Hermione. JKR said... somewhere (or was it on the CoS DVD?) that Hermione was 10 when she started Hogwarts, and turned 11 on Sept. 19. If that was the case, then Charlie could actually be three years ahead of Percy school-wise, and only two years ahead of him age-wise...

Or JKR could have screwed up with the math again. Yes, probably more likely

[ias.livejournal.com]

I would tend to the 3 academic years difference but that's just because that's what it is like in my family. JKR herself is born on the cusp of the academic year so she will have grown up with school-friends nearly a whole year younger (or older - I don't know if she was old or young for her year) than her but would still think of as being the same age as they are in the same year group.

[ladyguenivere.livejournal.com]

i just posted about that too! So, is Bill 23 and Charlie 21? and Percy 19? Oh, crap, I dunno. And what about the whole, "havent been back in five years" thing? does that work with this? *confused*

[psychic-serpent.livejournal.com]

I never assumed that Bill meant that he hadn't been back since he'd left school, but if he was supposed to be 23 at the end of GoF then it would have been five years since he'd finished school.

Perhaps that would explain all of the people who'd always felt Charlie had to be older than Bill, because of how many years it was supposed to be since Gryffindor had won the cup. So maybe she has thought about this a little, but not nearly enough, and certainly without benefit of a little input from someone who can actually add.

[ari-o.livejournal.com]

I can just see Barb tearing her hair out!

[psychic-serpent.livejournal.com]

Some people just know me too well. :D

[anemonerose.livejournal.com]

You know, I was just telling olivia_lupin that I'm terrible at math, but even *I* can see that this is simply not correct. Wah, JKR--what are you *doing* to us? Surely you must realize that if Charlie's age is indeed two years older than Percy than you *probably* should have included him in PS/SS seeing as he *still would have been at Hogwarts*? *implodes*

[ias.livejournal.com]

I was born in 1971, my husband in 1972. It would generally be said that I was a year older, however, because I was born late in the school year (June) and he was born early (November), I was actually two years above him in education terms.

Two years can span 3 academic years, so it is very possible for Charlie to have left Hogwarts in the summer before Percy started in the September.

[meril.livejournal.com]

I take it this is one of J.K. Rowling's patented Crazy Math Errors?

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH. Agreed. She needs a detail beta ASAP.

[dreamstigmata.livejournal.com]

my (non fnadom understanding friend) happend to glance through my f-list, and was so horribly confused how 'so many people could be flipping out over something so...irrelivant'. ourloveissomisunderstood.

i am so bad at math sometimes i wonder if i should hire sjbranford to walk around behind me and do my maths.

[themorningstarr.livejournal.com]

Actually, I've always thought that Bill and Charlie and Percy were closer together in age than the rest of the fandom. I've argued it before. I'll dig up the link somewhere if I can find it.

[no-remorse.livejournal.com]

Maybe the fandom should take over writing the canon, too? Then math problems would never ever happen again. And Draco would be shagging Harry *and* Hermione. Ron would be Dumbledore and we could introduce the concept of alternative universes to satisfy everyone's cravings - ship and plot-wise.

I've been briefly involved in fandom where that was the case - kind of at least. The canon creators really had an ear on the fandom ground - the result? Horrifying. Even the fans hated the canon.

But it had great fanfiction.

Rowling is no math genius, but as long as she doesn't mess around with the plot and characterisation the way she messes around with the numbers, I am happy.

[kizzib.livejournal.com]

Okay, that would make Charlie 21 and Bill 23 at the moment (seeing as Harry's still 15).

In PoA, when Harry was 13, we are told something about "Gryffindor not winning the cup since Charlie Weasley 7 years ago".

That would have made Charlie a seeker at 11.

I thought Harry was the youngest seeker for a century???

[yokes.livejournal.com]

I never noticed. I guess the books are good enough on their own that I don't particularly care about the math of very minor characters.

[sugarjet03.livejournal.com]

Okay, I think I might have it. I'm going on first year to begin with.

Harry is born in July 31,1980. He is made seeking (according to the Lexicon) on September 12, 1991.

Percy is in his 5th year. Going on the assumption that the cutoff for school is September 1st, he could be 16 by the time Harry finds out about being Seeker (this'll make sense in a minute). We'll say his birthday is September _, 1975

Charlie is two years older than Percy. Assuming that Charlie started Quidditch in his second year (Harry is, after all, the youngest player in a century), he would need to be in his second year out of school. This can be accomplished if he was born BEFORE September 1st, 1973. So at the time of Harry's appointment as Seeker he would be 19.

Since people usually go on years to distinguish differences in ages, it is entirely probable that they could be two years apart.

This would also fit with the "haven't won since the great Charlie Weasley seven years ago". He would of been in second year.

This was just some random thoughts. If I'm entirely wrong or don't make sense, please correct me.

~Erin

[sugarjet03.livejournal.com]

Also, in this way of thinking, Bill would of been born sometime in 1971, so he would be 20/21 years old in September 1991.

So before school starts in the OotP term, the ages would be:

Harry- 15
Percy- 19 (but 20 in September)
Charlie- 22
Bill- 24/25

Also Bill at 24/25 make him and Fleur Delacour's 17/18 much more reasonable. I never thought he could be as old as some people were making him out to be.

Now we just need to know Molly and Arthur's ages . . .

[vado.livejournal.com]

"How many books am I writing? Oh dear, adding up. Let me see, is the next one the last one or are there two more? Er. No... it's gone. Hey, I've written the ending though: the last word is going to be "scar" and everything will make perfect sense and I really musn't say another word or I'll completely give the game away. No, you'll just have to wait..."

[nimblelads.livejournal.com]

*headdesk* My god. I can't be the only one who doesn't care at all about an error JKR made on a chat (not a book, people, a chat. Big difference.) regarding two minor characters' ages. I suck at math too, and the overreaction about this just proves how weirdly obsessive fandom is.

Maybe the fandom should take over writing the canon, too? Then math problems would never ever happen again. And Draco would be shagging Harry *and* Hermione. Ron would be Dumbledore and we could introduce the concept of alternative universes to satisfy everyone's cravings - ship and plot-wise.

I've been briefly involved in fandom where that was the case - kind of at least. The canon creators really had an ear on the fandom ground - the result? Horrifying. Even the fans hated the canon.

AMEN. What he/she said.

Charlie as a flash-in-the-pan?

[psychic-serpent.livejournal.com]

Well, thankfully it IS just a chat. It's not a published book with inconsistencies in it (which she has sometimes corrected). Now that she's got the fact out there that she thinks Charlie is two years older than Percy, despite having said something contradictory in an earlier book, she can see the reaction and hopefully correct her statement.

While people COULD have been referring to Charlie's Quidditch prowess as a second year, it would make absolutely no sense for anyone to be impressed with him if he was such a flash-in-the-pan that he didn't win Gryffindor the cup all of the rest of his years in Hogwarts, which is implied in the books. Helped win the cup in second year and not once more after that? Who the hell should care or think he was a decent player if that was what happened? Fortunately, a chat ISN'T CANON any more than the films are.

[erised1810.livejournal.com]

I for once dispense it. hoep no-one bleive it as comgin straight for mthe horese's mout hand there for beign true. becasue you know...if charlie was 2 years odler than percy, he'd bee in 7th year during harys' first year. and in bok 1 he was inromania. there. or we'll fidn out he's kicked off school liek hagrid....uh-oh I feel some useless theories coming...
I _think- we can jsut ignore that-one.

[kmai.livejournal.com]

Fact of the matter is, that JKR might have messed out a couple of years and it still would make sense. Say Charlie is really 3 years older than Percy. He could even be 4 school years ahead even though he is only 3 years older. He might have won the house cup his third year and maybe his scond year. Even if he didn't win the cup after that, it doesn't mean he didn't win most of his matches. Harry is a great seeker, but regardless, it takes the whole team to win, and its not unbelievable that Charlie could have won most of his matches but only one or two cups, given Harry took 3 years to get one.

JKR did say she didn't have the math precisely right. give her a year or two leeway. There are 7 weasely children to keep track of. Even parents have been know to forget their children's ages. Hell, I sometimes forget my own.

[sinisteral.livejournal.com]

After all those calculations, I didn't Jo would make a small error like this with the Weasleys...now that you mention it, there was that one part in OotP when the group from the Ministry of Magic including Fudge, Kingsley (undercover), and Percy went to meet Dumbledore. After that problem of blaming Harry for starting the DA, Dumbledore knocked all of those ministry people down, except Percy. Well, the passage wrote everybody being knocked out (besides McGonagall, Harry, students) but it never showed Percy getting hit. It only showed that he recovered although he was never hit.

I don't think anyone could understand what I just wrote up there and it's just a minor lack of description that is barely noticable, but I just wanted to point that out since we're talking about this whole Weasley age thing =)! I love your analyzation Heidi, *adores you*