Pottermore launched a simple but detailed new feature this week which lists every famous witch or wizard in an easy-to-read timeline.
Dating back to ancient greek times, Pottermore’s new timeline offers the age of every famous Witch and Wizard and briefly explains their claim to fame (“Alleged to have been the only known wizard to produce a Patronus the size of a giant,” reads the bio for Andros the Invincible).
There’s plenty to read within this new timeline, but we noticed one thing that was particularly interesting: The oldest famous wizard still alive is Newt Scamander, the star of the upcoming Fantastic Beasts film series.
Is this a coincidence or on purpose? We know Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts film series will be set in the 1920s, so there’s no reason as far as we’re aware for why he’d have to be alive in the year 2015. Maybe Rowling and/or Warner Brothers doesn’t want to introduce a new franchise around a Wizard who’s dead in present day? (Yes, we realize this is all fictional anyway.)
The next oldest witch or wizard alive is Roland Kegg. Born in 1903, he is President of the English Gobstones team.
It’s not a surprise that Newt could live as old as 118 — Albus Dumbledore was 116 when he fell off the Astronomy Tower (RIP).
The list includes characters who were not only featured in the Harry Potter book series, but those who appeared in Pottermore and other areas of the fandom’s empire over the years.
It’s not the Harry Potter Encyclopedia, but it’s something.
We’ll be learning a lot more about Newt Scamander when the first Fantastic Beasts film hits theaters in November 2016. Actor Eddie Redmayne will star as Newt under the direction of David Yates.