HomeWHENHow Old Were Lily And James When They Died

How Old Were Lily And James When They Died

It’s probably something you’ve never considered before, but James and Lily Potter were actually only 19 years old when they married – and 20 years old when they gave birth to Harry.

As Pottermore, a website endorsed by J.K. Rowling, details, Lily Potter (née Evans) was born on 30 January 1960 to two Muggle parents, Mr and Mrs Evans.

Along with her older sister Petunia, the family lived in Cokeworth, England, and – as detailed in the 33rd chapter of the Deathly Hallows book, it was Severus Snape who helped Lily to discover that she was a witch.

Fast forward to 1972 and the age of 11, Lily and Severus enroll at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is where Lily met Harry’s father, James Potter.

James was born on 27 March 1960 as the only child of wealthy, elderly parents (via the Order of the Phoenix book). He was cocky during his time at Hogwarts, though JK Rowling notes in Philosopher’s Stone that he “deflated his head a bit” by seventh year, 1977, when he was named Head Boy and started dating Lily.

The pair married within a year sometime between summer of 1978 and fall of 1979 – which would make them 19-years-old when they tied the knot.

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Now, we know that Harry Potter was born on 31 July 1980; so, taking into consideration the above narrative, would mean his mother had turned 20-years-old the previous January, and his father in the prior March.

Woah. Why have we never considered this before?

Both Lily and James Potter were killed by Voldemort aged 21 at Godric’s Hollow on 31 October 1981, when Harry was just 1 year old, And the rest of the story, you no doubt know.

It’s interesting to note that while this may all make sense in the narrative of the books, the ages don’t really correlate to the ages of the actors who played Lily and James in the films – which might be a conscious decision casting directors made to make the narrative a little clearer for people that might not know the full back story of the Harry Potter books.

Or they didn’t know the full back story, and assumed Lily and James were older when they died. That too.

Or, they purposely cast Harry Potter’s parents to look a lot older than him throughout the films so it’s as if he hasn’t grown up in the flashbacks, but they have.

Harry Potter theories can go on all day, can’t they?

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