- "Barry Wee Willie Winkle celebrates his 755th birthday in style tonight by throwing a huge party for all the wizards and witches he has ever known. 30 million are expected to attend tonight."
- — The Daily Prophet, 14 August 1991[src]
Barry Wee Willie Winkle (b. 14 August 1236) was the oldest known wizard, reaching the age of 755 in the 1990s. To celebrate the occasion, he held a massive party, inviting every wizard and witch he had ever known, a total of thirty million people. It was one of the biggest parties in wizarding history. The scale of this party made Daily Prophet headlines in 1991.[1]
Etymology[]
The name may be a reference to "Wee Willie Winkie", a Scottish poem about a boy who does not want to go to sleep.
Behind the scenes[]
- How Winkle attained such an advanced age (older than even Nicolas Flamel, who had access to a Philosopher's Stone) is unknown. He may have possessed a Philosopher's Stone of his own, created a Horcrux or otherwise staved off ageing through some other magical means, though this is pure speculation. It is of course possible that he was of unusually good health, even for a wizard, and reached this age naturally, though such a thing would be unheard of.
- If every wizard and witch he has ever known attended his party, it means either that there were wizards older than him or that ghosts also attended it.
- Given the Daily Prophet's habit for heavily exaggerating or fluffing up details or putting in their own biased assumptions on matters to make them more intriguing, it is unknown - perhaps even extremely unlikely - whether or not the amount of individuals attending a simple party was actually in the millions. Barry Winkle's exact age may also be an exaggeration.
Appearances[]
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) (First mentioned) (Mentioned on a newspaper)
