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The family tree was similar to the one described in '' Order Of The Phoenix '', with a number of characters burned off so that their details were obscured. Thus there was no confirmation of the birth year of Sirius Black , which would also have dated all those who were at school with him. However, his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange was shown as born in 1951, and it is reported by Sirius that at some point he and Bellatrix were both at school at the same time. This equates to a final school year for Bellatrix of 1969-1970, with Sirius and his classmates starting school at least by this date. There are three other references commonly used to date the Hogwarts class which included Sirius, James And Lily Potter , Severus Snape , Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew . Dating is complicated by the fact that for each school year, the actual birthday may fall in one of two years, depending on the precise day and month; specifics of day and month are not known for many of the characters.
CONTRADICTIONS There are numerous contradictions in the timeline, though it should be noted that Rowling herself has admitted having difficulty with managing mathematics in the FAQ section of her website , so perhaps perfect internal consistency is not to be expected. Despite its problems, this timeline is extensively used by fans and Warner Bros. 's timeline of the series (featured on the DVD s for '' Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets '' and '' Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban '') contains dates that were interpolated from this dating system (such as Harry's Birthday being on July 31 1980 and his first defeat of Lord Voldemort being on October 31 1981 .) For the sake of convenience, this dating system will be used by Wikipedia for all ''Harry Potter'' articles. Days of the Week Often when dates are given, they are given with a day of the week that does not match with the date as it is in actual history. Just one such example occurs in '' Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban '' when Sybill Trelawney refers to October 16 as Friday, despite October 16 , 1993 being a Saturday. This is usually explained on the grounds of it being simply poetic licence on the author's part. One must also keep in mind that Harry Potter is only fictional. There are also contradictions within the books themselves in this area. For example, in '' Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire '', both 1 September and 2 September are given as Mondays, and in all the books, school begins on 1 September without taking into account the change of the day. However it could be possible that students are expected to be back at the school on September the 1st and then start school the next week day. In ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'', Buckbeak 's trial is set on 20 April , but careful parsing of the text reveals that it could have happened no later than February. Also, since Hagrid was supposedly made gamekeeper after he was expelled 50 years ago from the time of Chamber of Secrets, that would make Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley more than 50 years old (probably around 65 years old, adding in their ages before that), because Mrs. Weasley mentioned Ogg, the gamekeeper before Hagrid. Historical problems In ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'', Cornelius Fudge uses a male pronoun to refer to the "predecessor" of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. According to the above timeline, this should occur in the summer of 1996, when the Prime Minister was John Major , whose immediate predecessor was a female - Margaret Thatcher . (See the List Of Prime Ministers Of The United Kingdom for details.) It is possible that Fudge could be referring to a more distant predecessor, but it's unlikely as Thatcher took office before Fudge supposedly became Minister of Magic. (Although one could imagine a scenario in which Fudge was delegated by the Minister of Magic to meet with the Prime Minister while he, Fudge, was in an inferior office.) Additionally, the personality and history of the Prime Minister portrayed appears to more closely match that of Tony Blair than of John Major. An article in the Daily Mail notes that Rowling is close to the Chancellor Of The Exchequer Gordon Brown (often viewed as a rival to Blair's leadership of the Labour Party), and that she might have been attempting to show Blair's worst side. The rebuttal for this is that the books are fictional and the Prime Ministers themselves are fictional characters, and are not to be interpreted as the actual Prime ministers. Another, related problem is that Major is described as having been Elected , although technically he could be said to have been elected Conservative Party leader on November 27 , 1990 . Rowling has stated on her website that she considered using a similar scene to this in three of her previous books, including as possible introduction to ''Philosophers Stone'' {Link without Title} . A similar problem involves Nicolas Flamel . Flamel was mentioned as being 665 at the time of the first book, but Nicolas Flamel was a real historical figure and wouldn't have reached that age until 1996. The rebuttal for this is that the date the "real" Nicolas Flamel was born does not correspond with the Nicolas Flamel of ''Harry Potter''. Also, it may simply mark a shift in Rowling's chronology; 1996 was the year in which Rowling was drafting the first book, and it may be that she initially intended the stories to take place in the present time. There is at least one slight Anachronism in the books. This occurs in a letter Harry writes in Book 4 , containing a reference to Dudley Dursley owning a PlayStation . According to the timeline, this would be in the Summer of 1994, but the PlayStation was not released until December, September 1994 in Japan , 1995 in Europe . The book was published in 2000, so this would likely be due to author error. TIMELINE OF THE ''HARRY POTTER'' SERIES Events
: Ollivander's goes into business making Magic Wand s.
:Primitive Broomstick s are first used for Transport .
: Hogwarts is founded by Godric Gryffindor , Helga Hufflepuff , Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin . Slytherin petitions to only enroll Pure-blood s and, in disgust, leaves the school, but not before building the Chamber Of Secrets .
:The Triwizard Tournament is established. It will later be discontinued (date unknown) when the death toll mounts too high.
:First Quidditch World Cup is played, during which all 700 Quidditch fouls are committed.
: Albus Dumbledore is born.
: Albus Dumbledore begins his first year of teaching at Hogwarts.
: Newt Scamander is asked to write a compendium of Magical Beasts by Obscurus Books
: Morfin Gaunt attacks Tom Riddle Sr. . Bob Ogden , the head of the Magical Law Enforcement Department, travels to the Gaunt cottage to summon Morfin to a hearing. Morfin's father, Marvolo , attacks his daughter Merope for being attracted to Riddle. Ogden summons reinforcements and arrests Morfin and Marvolo.
:Shortly before his birth, Tom Riddle 's Muggle father (Tom Riddle Sr.) leaves his wife (a Witch named Merope Gaunt) and she dies an hour after giving birth to her son. Riddle is raised in an Orphanage .
:Tom Riddle starts at Hogwarts. : Rubeus Hagrid starts at Hogwarts. :Riddle opens the Chamber of Secrets, killing a girl who will later become Moaning Myrtle , and frames Rubeus Hagrid and his Acromantula for the attacks. :Riddle murders his father and paternal grandparents and frames his uncle, Morfin Gaunt for the murders. :Dumbledore defeats the dark wizard Grindelwald . :Riddle graduates from Hogwarts. : Grindelwald dies. :Riddle asks Dippet to hire him as a teacher and is refused. :Riddle steals an artifact of the Hogwarts Founder Salazar Slytherin and possibly an artifact of the Hogwarts Founder Helga Hufflepuff :Riddle disappears :December - Minerva McGonagall begins at Hogwarts. :Riddle asks Dumbledore for the DADA position :Death Eaters already recruited Rosier, Nott, Mulciber, Dolohov :Riddle already calling himself Lord Voldemort :Riddle becoming more powerful and begins his quest for power and immortality. : James Potter, Lily Evans , Sirius Black , Remus Lupin , Peter Pettigrew and Severus Snape begin attending Hogwarts. : Sybill Trelawney predicts Voldemort's downfall. : Hermione Granger is born on September 19 : Sybill Trelawney is hired as the Divination teacher : Regulus Black killed : Ron Weasley is born on March 1 : Draco Malfoy is born on June 5 : Neville Longbottom is born on July 30 : Harry Potter is born on July 31 : Ginny Weasley is born on 11 August . : Severus Snape hired as Potions teacher :Voldemort kills James and Lily Potter on October 31 but is later defeated by Harry . Harry is left with a lightning-shaped scar and is sent to live with the Dursleys. On November 1 , Sirius Black is arrested for the murder of Peter Pettigrew, who then goes into hiding. :Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger start at Hogwarts on September 1 . :Harry foils Voldemort's plans to steal the Philosopher's Stone . Ginny Weasley opens the Chamber of Secrets under the influence of Tom Riddle's Diary . :Harry saves Ginny and defeats the memory of Tom Riddle, unwittingly destroying Voldemort's first Horcrux in the process. Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban . :Professor Trelawney makes her second prediction. Harry learns of Sirius' true colours and Peter Pettigrew escapes on June 6 . Voldemort murders Frank Bryce. Ireland wins the Quidditch World Cup. The Triwizard Tournament is held for the first time in over a century. :With the aid of Pettigrew, Voldemort is restored to full power. Pettigrew murders Cedric Diggory on June 24 . The Order of the Phoenix is reestablished by Albus Dumbledore. :Voldemort fails to recover the Prophecy from the Department Of Mysteries , due to the efforts of Harry and company. Harry learns of Professor Trelawney's first prediction and the Wizarding World is finally alerted to Voldemort's return. Sirius Black is killed in the Department of Mysteries. :Harry, Ron, and Hermione start at their sixth year at Hogwarts. Draco Malfoy sneaks off to Knockturn Alley to go to Borgin And Burkes to buy a cursed necklace to poison Albus Dumbledore, but it gets to Katie Bell instead. :Albus Dumbledore destroys another of Voldemort's Horcruxes, formerly encased in Marvolo Gaunt's ring. :Albus Dumbledore is killed by Severus Snape . Harry Potter decides upon his quest to destroy the remaining four Horcrux es in which Lord Voldemort has sealed fragments of his soul. Births : Nicholas Flamel : Albus Dumbledore : Merope Gaunt to Marvolo Gaunt and an unnamed witch. : October 4 - Minerva McGonagall : December 31 - Tom Marvolo Riddle ( Lord Voldemort ) to Muggle Tom Riddle, Sr. and witch Merope Gaunt : December 6 - Rubeus Hagrid to the giantess Fridwulfa and an unknown Wizard : Bellatrix Lestrange : Rita Skeeter : Lucius Malfoy to Abraxas Malfoy and an unnamed witch : Narcissa Black to Cygnus Black and Druella Rosier : Bertha Jorkins : January 9 - Severus Snape : March 10 - Remus Lupin : Lily Evans : Sirius Black : Peter Pettigrew : James Potter : Bartemius Crouch Jr. : November 29 - Bill Weasley to Arthur and Molly Weasley : December 12 - Charlie Weasley to Arthur and Molly Weasley : Nymphadora Tonks to Ted Tonks and witch Andromeda Tonks (neé Black) : Stan Shunpike : August 22 - Percy Weasley to Arthur and Molly Weasley : Cedric Diggory to Amos Diggory and his wife :c. - Viktor Krum :c. - Fleur Delacour to an unknown wizard and a half- Veela : April 1 - Fred And George Weasley to Arthur and Molly Weasley : September 19 - Hermione Jane Granger to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Muggle dentists :c. - Cho Chang : March 1 - Ronald Bilius Weasley to Arthur and Molly Weasley : June 5 - Draco Malfoy to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy : July 30 - Neville Longbottom to Frank And Alice Longbottom : July 31 - Harry James Potter to James And Lily Potter : August 11 - Ginny Weasley to Arthur and Molly Weasley :c. - Colin Creevey :c. - Luna Lovegood to the editor of '' The Quibbler '' and his wife : Romilda Vane : Dennis Creevey : Gabrielle Delacour to an unknown wizard and a half- Veela Deaths : October 31 - Nearly Headless Nick , by being partially beheaded : December 31 - Merope Gaunt : June 13 - Myrtle (surname unknown), a female Hogwarts student, who will become known as Moaning Myrtle , by the Basilisk from the Chamber Of Secrets under the influence of Tom Riddle : Regulus Black , according to his brother Sirius murdered by Death Eaters, because he wanted to leave them. (Never confirmed, so this is, at present, pure speculation on the part of Sirius.) : October 31 - James And Lily Potter , from an attack by Lord Voldemort : Luna Lovegood 's mother, in an accident :June - Professor Quirrell , died (in agony from the protection left in Harry Potter from his mother) : Nicholas Flamel dies afer the Philosopher's Stone is destroyed. : Summer - Bertha Jorkins , murdered by Voldemort after he extracted information on the approaching Triwizard Tournament from her. :August - Frank Bryce , murdered by Voldemort for overhearing Voldemort and Pettigrew's plot to kill Harry Potter. :May - Barty Crouch , by his son posing as Mad-Eye Moody after his attempt to inform Dumbledore of his son's escape. : June 24 - Cedric Diggory , murdered by Peter Pettigrew on Voldemort's orders :June - Sirius Black , from falling through the veil in the Death Chamber in the Department Of Mysteries . : Summer - Amelia Bones , murdered in the first days of the Second War, probably by Lord Voldemort himself. :Summer - Emmeline Vance , murdered by Death Eaters in the first days of the war, on information from Snape, in the vicinity of 10 Downing Street . :Summer - Igor Karkaroff murdered by Death Eaters because he betrayed them : Hannah Abbott 's mother : Spring - Aragog , passes on due to old age after Hagrid makes a valiant attempt to preserve his life. :June - Gibbon , a Death Eater, hit accidentally with an '' Avada Kedavra '' curse by one of his own allies, in the corridor leading up to the astronomy tower. :June - Dumbledore , killed by Snape's '' Avada Kedavra '' curse on top of the astronomy tower after being previously weakened. |
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