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In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Hagrid says,

'Oh, well - I was at Hogwarts meself but I - er - got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore.'
Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 4

This presumably means that Hagrid continued as gamekeeper right after his expulsion. This is also supported by the fact that Hagrid, an orphan, had nowhere else to go. At another point, Harry, fearing expulsion, thinks

He thought of Hagrid, expelled but allowed to stay on as gamekeeper. Perhaps he could be Hagrid's assistant. His stomach twisted as he imagined it, watching Ron and Hermione becoming wizards while he stumped around the grounds carrying Hagrid's bag.
Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 9

This indicates indirectly that Harry assumed that Hagrid became gamekeeper right after his expulsion.

However, in HP4, we see Molly reminiscing about the previous gamekeeper, Ogg.

...And reminisced at length about the gamekeeper before Hagrid, a man called Ogg.
Goblet of Fire, Chapter 31

Since Hagrid was expelled fifty-two years before this incident, I wondered how old Mrs Weasley had to be, and calculated it to be more than sixty-five ( since Molly didn't know Voldemort's real name, either, she couldn't gave been his contemporary).

But surely this is absurd, as I've always pictured the Weasleys to be in their forties. Could someone please resolve this conundrum?

Mithical
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Myungjin Hyun
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1 Answers1

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Based on current information Molly was at school while Ogg was still groundskeeper.

Hagrid likely did not become the groundskeeper until Dumbledore became Headmaster which was around 1964/5. Dumbledore would not have been able to appoint staff members until this time.

I don't think we know what year Molly was born, but we know that Arthur was born in 1950 and they attended Hogwarts together, which puts them in school (1961 at the earliest) while Ogg is still groundskeeper for at least a few years.

Skooba
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  • Nice answer, @Skooba ! (+1) I wish that I could know what Hagrid was doing on the intervening years, though! – Myungjin Hyun Jul 12 '17 at 18:47
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    @HarryWeasley In a similar question, it's speculated that he was apprenticed to Ogg during that time. While not canonically stated, it's the most likely explanation that resolves the discrepancy, so we can probably infer it. – Mwr247 Jul 12 '17 at 19:20