The Black sisters' ages give me headaches. Bella is referred to as the eldest surviving relative in HBP but we already know that she has to be young enough to know Snape at school, and that Andromeda has to be old enough to give birth around 1972/3. I reconcile it by assuming that Andromeda has been expelled from the family, as her burnt out name on the tapestry would suggest. A Wizarding disinheritance would probably also include magical safeguards which would mean she couldn't inherit Grimmauld Place. Sirius, who was probably also expelled, may well have been reinstated after he was arrested, on the assumption that he had turned back to his family values. It's either that or have Andromeda die at some point between OotP and HBP, and there's too many dead parents around already.
Not that I've put too much thought into this or anything ;)
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The Black sisters' ages give me headaches. Bella is referred to as the eldest surviving relative in HBP but we already know that she has to be young enough to know Snape at school, and that Andromeda has to be old enough to give birth around 1972/3. I reconcile it by assuming that Andromeda has been expelled from the family, as her burnt out name on the tapestry would suggest. A Wizarding disinheritance would probably also include magical safeguards which would mean she couldn't inherit Grimmauld Place. Sirius, who was probably also expelled, may well have been reinstated after he was arrested, on the assumption that he had turned back to his family values. It's either that or have Andromeda die at some point between OotP and HBP, and there's too many dead parents around already.
Not that I've put too much thought into this or anything ;)