Discussion: Aging in the Wizarding World

[hpgoldenage_mod]

Time for our first discussion post. :)

What does canon tell us about aging in the wizarding world and what is your own head canon on the topic? Feel free to cite canon examples as well as reference fanworks, perhaps a favorite fic that matches your head canon or made you see aging in a whole new way.

Comments

[torino10154]

I think where my brain and what you and Shelly have said are not matching is that to me the genetics and the fact that they are magical are just all tied up together. So if wizards were to age differently, because I think they must to be able to live longer, I expect the biology to also slow down. I'm not saying that's the right answer, just how *I* have been interpreting it.

[sdkshelly.livejournal.com]

I think the disconnect is that because things like greying hair and receding hairlines vary so wildly, they really aren't a true indicator of how old a person is. It's not--okay you've hit 30 and you are going to start to grey now, so with a wizard it's 40. Even if wizards age differently...it still doesn't mean they can't get their grey hair early or whathaveyou, just like Muggles.

But it could be that maybe the aging doesn't actually change, they just have longer lives. Maybe instead of magic slowing their aging/keeping them youthful for longer, it's more that magic keeps their body functioning and healthy for a longer time so that if you die a natural death, it's going to on average be at a higher age than their Muggle counterpoints.