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"But it's true. He was spotted at the opera in Paris in 1762 and he was born back in 13 something."
Harry Potter discussing Nicolas Flamel's longevity with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger[src]

There was an opera house in Paris in the 1760s. In 1762, Nicolas Flamel (then a four-hundred and thirty-five year-old wizard) was spotted at this opera house.[1]

Behind the scenes[]

  • In 1762, there were essentially four public theatres permitted in Paris: the Opéra de Paris (the primary opera company of France, whose venue was, at the time, the Théâtre du Palais-Royal), the Comédie-Française (the state theatre company, located in the Palais-Royal complex) and the Comédie-Italienne and Opéra-Comique (Opéra-Comique merged with Comédie-Italienne that same year, and were located in the Hôtel de Bourgogne).
  • The fact that he was spotted seems to imply that Flamel was in hiding. In the final published draft of the novel, Flamel and his wife are mentioned to live a quiet life in Devon, without any hint of secretism (in wizarding circles, at least). It could, of course, have been meant as "spotted by Muggles", but this does not explain how 18th-century Muggles would have been able to recognise Flamel. It's also possible that people were surprised at spotting a legendary wizard such as Flamel, given his age.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. "Very early page of Philosopher's Stone", by J. K. Rowling (see this image)
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