Sorry, I wasn't sure where to post this.

I was recently trying to make a timeline of Harry Potter events and noticed that JK seems to have made a mistake in her calculations. She says Harry was born in 1980 and that Fred died in 1997. This is wrong though. Harry would have nearly been 18 when Fred died in which case it would have been 1998 when the final battle took place. Harry joined Hogwarts in 1991 aged 11. We can see in CoS by Nick's 500th deathday cake that it is 31st October 1992 when Harry is in second year which would mean that he would have finished 7th year in summer 1998.

Am I wrong in my calculations?

Alright, this has got me thinking.

Harry is born summer of 1980.

1st year- Harry starts at 11, turns 12 over the summer.
2nd year- Harry starts at 12 , turns 13 over the summer.
3rd year- Harry starts at 13 ,turns 14 over the summer.
4th year- Harry starts at 14 , turns 15 over the summer.
5th year- Harry starts at 15, turns 16 over the summer.
6th year- Harry starts at 16, turns 17 over the summer.
7th year- Harry starts at 17, turns 18 over the summer.

When Hagrid finds Harry before first year and brings him a birthday cake, he says something along the lines of "It's not every day you turn 11". (SS supports this timeline)

During their sixth year the trio takes apparation lessons. Ron and Hermione go to Hogsmeade to take the test, but Harry can't test until the summer when he will be 17. (HBP supports this timeline)

^^ That was just for support for what I'm about to say. I want to feel accurate.


The January in 7th year/DH would be the start of 1998. After this is when the final battle took place. So as far I can see, Fred should have died in 1998.

You are absolutely right in saying that Fred died in 1998. I double-checked in HPL's timeline: here and they also say that it is 1998. So it seems that JKR missed the dates!

I found a timeline on Wikipedia recently and it really gets you thinking. JKR apparently made a few mistakes, or just never cleared up some things, for example the year Dumbledore became Headmaster- its either in 1970 or some other year I can't remember. I wouldn't blame JKR, though... I understand you have to make almost no mistakes when you're writing a series like this, but still! That is SO much math. Just reading the timeline makes my head hurt. But it's still very interesting; you can see it here. Might answer a few questions, and it has a section on controversies and mistakes and such. Saves us alot of calculations!