Custom Timeline: The Life of Harry
(See full timeline)
The 1980s
c. 1980 (Y0)
This interview had to have taken place sometime after July of 1979 in order for it to apply to Harry's birth in 1980 [[Y0]], and [Dumbledore] describes it as a "cold, wet night" (OP37). So it was likely made in the winter or early spring of 1979-1980 [[Y-1]-[Y0]].
We also know that Trelawney, in early September of 1995 [[Y15]], claimed she had held her post for "nearly sixteen years" (OP15), which would imply that she was hired in the middle of a school year. And then, [Dumbledore] says in June of 1996 [[Y16]] that the interview was "sixteen years ago" (OP37). So unless [Dumbledore] is wrong, the interview must have been in the first few months of 1980 [[Y0]] - sixteen years before [Dumbledore]'s statement, a slightly exaggerated 'nearly sixteen years' before Trelawney's, and during the time of year most likely to have a "cold, wet night."
1980 (Y0) AD = 99 MM = 55 TR = 54 RH = 52 M = 22 BW = 10 CW = 8 PW = 4 FGW = 2 HG = 1 H&R = 0

original artwork © [Clio Chiang], used by permission
(PS2)
1981 (Y1) AD = 100 MM = 56 TR = 55 RH = 53 M = 23 BW = 11 CW = 9 PW = 5 FGW = 3 HG = 2 H&R = 1 GW = 0
Fudge says that the [Fidelius Charm] was cast "barely a week" before Voldemort came after the Potters.
(PA10)
Voldemort, nearly dead and without physical form, retreats into the forests of Albania where he possess the bodies of various animals to survive for the next decade, waiting. Hagrid, on [Dumbledore]'s orders, goes to [Godric's Hollow] to rescue baby Harry from the ruins of the house.
(PS1)
but there are [twenty-four hours missing] from the chronology of events of these two days...
(PS1)
1985 (Y5) AD = 104 MM = 60 TR = 59 RH = 57 M = 27 BW = 15 CW = 13 PW = 9 FGW = 7 HG = 6 H&R = 5 GW = 4
[Aunt Marge] comes to [Dudley]'s fifth birthday partyShe whacks Harry around the shins to keep him from beating [Dudley] at musical statues.
(PA2)
1988 (Y8) AD = 107 MM = 63 TR = 62 RH = 60 M = 30 BW = 18 CW = 16 PW = 12 FGW = 10 HG = 9 H&R = 8 GW = 7
[Aunt Marge] comes to [Dudley]'s eighth birthday partyShe brings a computerized robot for [Dudley] and a box of dog biscuits for Harry.
(PA2)
The 1990s
1990 (Y10) AD = 109 MM = 65 TR = 64 RH = 62 M = 32 BW = 20 CW = 18 PW = 14 FGW = 12 HG = 11 H&R = 10 GW = 9
[Aunt Marge] comes to [Dudley]'s tenth birthday partyShe brings Ripper, her favorite bulldog. Harry accidentally steps on Ripper's tail and the dog "trees" him. [Marge] finally calls the dog off around midnight. When [Marge] comes to visit during the summer of Y13, Harry remembers past incidents:
"On her last visit, the year before Harry started at Hogwarts, Harry had accidentally trodden on the tail of her favorite dog. Ripper had chased Harry out into the garden and up a tree, and [Aunt Marge] had refused to call him off until past midnight. The memory of this incident still brought tears of laughter to [Dudley]'s eyes" (PA2).
Harry also recalls this event in his Occlumency lessons.
"He was nine, and Ripper the bulldog was chasing him up a tree and the [Dursleys] were laughing below on the lawn..." (OP24).
He was nine because his own tenth birthday was still a month away.
1991 (Y11) AD = 110 MM = 66 TR = 65 RH = 63 M = 33 BW = 21 CW = 19 PW = 15 FGW = 13 HG = 12 H&R = 11 GW = 10
This is a Saturday according to the book. It comes approximately one month before Harry's birthday. That morning, Dudley receives a video camera for his birthday:
"At that moment the telephone rang and [Aunt Petunia] went to answer it while Harry and [Uncle Vernon] watched [Dudley] unwrap the racing bike, a video camera..." (PS2)
After the zoo incident on Dudley's birthday, Harry is confined to his cupboard for a few weeks. By the end of that period, the video camera is broken:
"By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera..." (PS3)
Then, a week before Harry's birthday, on the 24th of July, Harry receives a letter addressed to him in his cupboard under the stairs. [Uncle Vernon] moves Harry to [Dudley]'s second bedroom upstairs, where Harry sees the video camera and we learn that [Dudley]'s birthday was a month ago:
"Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank..." (PS3)
We know from the book that July the 24th was a Tuesday. The Saturday approximately one month before Tuesday, July 24, would be Saturday, June 23. So we know that [Dudley]'s birthday is June 23. Like most dates in the books, this doesn't correspond to the dates in any particular "real life" calendar.
(PS2)
We are told the days on which these dates fall:
Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it was Monday -- and you could usually count on [Dudley] to know the days the week, because of television -- then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday.
In the "real" 1991, however, July 31 fell on a Wednesday.
(PS3)
Just after midnight, Hagrid arrives at the hut-on-the-rockHe brings Harry a birthday cake and invites him to Hogwarts.
(PS4)

Hagrid retrieves the Philosopher's Stone from the [Gringotts]' high security vaults.
Harry meets Draco Malfoy for the first time in [Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions].
Hagrid buys Hedwig as a birthday present for Harry.
original artwork © 2001 [Laura Freeman], used by permission
(PS5)

(PS6)
This happens on the second Thursday of the school term.
"...they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made them all groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday..."
The date can be determined from the fact that this is the Thursday of the second week of school, it must logically be the 12th, since classes started on the 2nd.
How do we know that this is the Thursday of the second week? Because when Harry is following McGonagall away from his flying lesson, he is afraid that he will be expelled. He thinks to himself:
"Now he'd done it. He hadn't even lasted two weeks."
However, when Fred and George hear about this, they say:
"I tell you, we're going to win that [Quidditch Cup] for sure this year...We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant."
According to Rowling's statement that Charlie is three years older than Percy, Charlie just left two months before. There's been no time for them not to have won "since Charlie left." They haven't PLAYED since Charlie left. Again, this is an error in the text.
(PS9)
Meanwhile, Quirrell, who let the troll in, heads for the Philosopher's Stone - but is stopped by Snape.
We have already seen that we can't trust the "real" calendar to give us the days of the week when we know the date, but just for interest sake, Halloween in 1991 was on a Thursday. The Gryffindor first years had Charms that morning and learned the [Wingardium Leviosa] spell.
(PS10)
(PS11)
(PS12)
1992 (Y12) AD = 111 MM = 67 TR = 66 RH = 64 M = 34 BW = 22 CW = 20 PW = 16 FGW = 14 HG = 13 H&R = 12 GW = 11
We have no indication of when this date might be, except that it is shortly before final exams.
(PS15)
The dates of this event are contingent on the dates of exams in Harry's first year. We are given dates for exams in books two and three--the first week of June--but that doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule. The calendar for this book gives the date as June 4, based on the exam dates in the other books, but here on the timeline we'll play it a bit safer and just go with "early June."
(PS16)
(PS17)
(CS2)
(CS5)
This is about a week into the school year, so it didn't take Riddle long to force Ginny to open the Chamber.
(CS7)
If we go by the calendar of this year according to the official timeline, Halloween is on a Saturday.
(CS8)
(CS11)
(CS11)
(CS12)
1993 (Y13) AD = 112 MM = 68 TR = 67 RH = 65 M = 35 BW = 23 CW = 21 PW = 17 FGW = 15 HG = 14 H&R = 13 GW = 12
That night, Harry learns how to work Riddle's diary and travels into his memory, which convinces Harry that Hagrid had opened the Chamber of Secrets.
(CS13)
(CS13)
Harry and Ron discover the Chamber of SecretsThey learn that Ginny Weasley has been taken into the Chamber and go to offer their knowledge to Professor Lockhart. When they discover he's trying to take off, they instead force him to join them - and go through Moaning Myrtle's bathroom down into the Chamber of Secrets.
(CS16)

Later that night, the [Petrified] people are restored using [Mandrake Draught].
original artwork © [Agata Matteucci], used by permission
(CS17)
Very likely the escape happened within a day or two of Harry's birthday, since it shows up on the morning news on the 31st. Sirius saw the photo of the Weasleys during that previous week, on a copy of the [Daily Prophet] Fudge had finished reading. This particular photo had appeared a week before Harry's birthday, which would be on the 24th. Fudge wouldn't be carrying a paper more than a day old, so Black would have proabably seen the picture on that actual day. Given reasonable time for all this to occur, it works out logically that he worried frantically about what to do to protect Harry for several days, was heard moaning "He's at Hogwarts" in his sleep as he agonized over the situation, then finally escaped on the 29th or 30th.
(PA1)
(PA2)
(PA2)
(PA4)
(PA5)
(PA8)
(PA9)
(PA10)
1994 (Y14) AD = 113 MM = 69 TR = 68 RH = 66 M = 36 BW = 24 CW = 22 PW = 18 FGW = 16 HG = 15 H&R = 14 GW = 13
(PA13)
Outside the shack, though, it's a full moon - and Lupin transforms into a werewolf. In the confusion, Pettigrew escapes ([PA20]) and spends the next months searching for Voldemort in Albania (GF1).
With [Dumbledore]'s guidance, Harry and Hermione use a [time-turner] to travel back three hours and free Buckbeak. Harry then casts a [Patronus Charm] to save himself and Sirius from the Dementors, and he and Hermione ride Buckbeak to Sirius's rescue.
(PA21)
That night, Death Eaters raid the campsite and are driven away when [Barty Crouch Jr.] casts the [Dark Mark].
(GF8)
"'It's been an absolute uproar,' Percy told them importantly the Sunday evening before they were due to return to Hogwarts." (GF11)
It's clear from the story that the rest of the events described of that night are taking place the evening before they leave.
(GF11)
(GF16)
(GF19)
(GF19)
(GF23)
1995 (Y15) AD = 114 MM = 70 TR = 69 RH = 67 M = 37 BW = 25 CW = 23 PW = 19 FGW = 17 HG = 16 H&R = 15 GW = 14
(GF26)
(GF31)
Back at Hogwarts, it is revealed that [Barty Crouch Jr.], impersonating Moody all year, led Harry to Voldemort (GF35).
(GF36)
Harry Potter's 15th birthdayHe receives [Honeydukes] chocolate from Ron and Hermione, but throws it away unopened out of frustration with the situation
(OP1)
(OP2)
- 0530 Harry wakes up (OP7).
- 0600 [Dumbledore] 'by a lucky mistake' arrives at the [Ministry], three hours before the scheduled time of 0900 (OP8).
- 0800 Harry's disciplinary hearing begins in old [Courtroom Ten], the time and venue having been changed without his receiving notification (OP8).
- Harry empties his moneybag into the [Fountain of Magical Brethren] after his acquittal (OP9).
- 0100 [Sturgis Podmore] arrested at the [Ministry] by [Eric Munch] (OP14).
- 1100 Hogwarts Express departs King's Cross Station. Ginny introduces Harry and Neville to Luna Lovegood (OP10).
- After the train arrives at Hogwarts, Harry sees Thestrals for the first time (OP10).
- At the feast, the Sorting Hat sings a song of warning, and [Dolores Umbridge] is introduced (OP11).
- Seamus Finnigan admits he believes Harry is lying (OP11).

(OP16)
(OP18)
After the match Harry goes after Malfoy for taunting him and he, along with Fred and George Weasley, are banned from playing again by [Umbridge].
(OP19)
(OP21)
1996 (Y16) AD = 115 MM = 71 TR = 70 RH = 68 M = 38 BW = 26 CW = 24 PW = 20 FGW = 18 HG = 17 H&R = 16 GW = 15
(OP25)
"As the door swung closed behind them, Harry heard Phineas Nigellus's voice.
'You know, Minister, I disagree with [Dumbledore] on many counts...but you cannot deny he's got style....'"
(OP27)
- When [Minister for Magic] Cornelius Fudge refuses to step aside for Voldemort, the Brockdale Bridge is destroyed, killing dozens of Muggles.
- Amelia Bones, Head of [Magical Law Enforcement], and [Emmeline Vance], a member of the Order of the Phoenix, are murdered - the former by Voldemort himself.
- Destruction in Somerset is reported; Muggles suspect a hurricane, but it was probably the work of giants working for Voldemort.
- Dementors are breeding, causing cool weather and persistent mist across Britain.
- Cornelius Fudge is sacked and Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the [Aurors], takes his place.
- A Junior Minister in the Muggle government, [Herbert Chorley], has a bad reaction to an [Imperius Curse] and thinks he's a duck. He is spirited away to St Mungo's] and [Kingsley Shacklebolt] takes a position as a secretary to the Muggle [Prime Minister] to guard him.
- Fudge visits the Muggle [Prime Minister] and introduces the him to Scrimgeour.
- Voldemort is furious with the failure of his Death Eaters to retrieve the [prophecy]. He assigns Draco Malfoy the task of killing [Dumbledore], at least in part to punish Lucius's failure, since Draco will almost certainly be killed.
- Narcissa Malfoy, followed by her sister Bellatrix, visits Severus Snape in his house on Spinner's End and get him to take the [Unbreakable Vow] that he will protect and Draco and, if necessary, kill [Dumbledore] for him.
- Harry spends two weeks at [number four, Privet Drive].
[Dumbledore] visits Privet Drive and takes Harry to the [Burrow]On the way, they stop by Budleigh Babberton and convince Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts and teach Potions.
(HBP3)
The date for the first day of school is never given in this book, but we know from previous books that the Hogwarts Express has every year left for start of term on September 1, so this is probably a safe assumption.
(HBP9)
Harry has his first one-on-one lesson with [Dumbledore]They view [Bob Ogden]'s memory of the Gaunt house, and discuss the circumstances surrounding Voldemort's birth.
Again the exact date is uncertain, but we know that this lesson is the Saturday immediately following the first day of classes (HBP9), so it is most likely September 7.
(HBP10)
Harry's second lesson with [Dumbledore]Together they view [Dumbledore]'s memory of going to meet young Tom Riddle at his [orphanage] (HBP13).
We know from HBP12 that this lesson falls roughly "halfway through October."
(HBP16)
1997 (Y17) AD = 116 MM = 72 TR = 71 RH = 69 M = 39 BW = 27 CW = 25 PW = 21 FGW = 19 HG = 18 H&R = 17 GW = 16
Harry's third lesson with [Dumbledore]Harry and [Dumbledore] together watch the memory of Tom Riddle returning to the Gaunt house and a fuzzy memory of Riddle asking Professor Slughorn about Horcruxes.
This happened the first day back from the Christmas holidays, and a "few days after New Year." On the HBP calendar, this is Monday, January 6.
(HBP17)
(HBP18)
Harry's fourth lesson with [Dumbledore]Harry arrives at his lesson with [Dumbledore] having forgotten to do his homework and get the full memory from Slughorn. They watch several memories, including Voldemort's applying to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, and [Dumbledore] warns Harry that further lessons will be useless without the memory from Slughorn.
(HBP20)
We know this happens on April 21 because [Apparition] tests were the same day, and the sign posted in the Gryffindor common room in HBP21 specified the date. This works well with our calendar, too; the 21st is a Monday, we already know from HBP9 that Harry has Potions on Mondays, and most of his lessons with [Dumbledore] have happened on Mondays as well.
(HBP24)
(JKR)
(HBP26)
After a standoff, [Snape] arrives and kills [Dumbledore], and the [Death Eaters] flee the school. [Harry] then discovers that the [locket] is not the real [Horcrux], but rather that it was replaced by a fake one from [R.A.B.] ([HBP28]).
[McGonagall], now acting as headmaster, meets with the [Order] and with the [heads of houses], determining that students will be allowed to stay for [Dumbledore]\'s funeral ([HBP29]).
After rejecting Scrimgeour again and breaking ties with Ginny, Harry walks off with Ron and Hermione. He pledges to find the Horcruxes himself, and they pledge to stand with him the whole time.
(HBP30)
