10 Oldest Characters In The Harry Potter Universe

3. Nicolas Flamel

Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone
Warner Bros.

Age: 665+ (now deceased)

In Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, we learn that alchemist Nicolas Flamel celebrated his 665th birthday at some point before the events of the novel, which takes place in the 1991 - 1992 school year.

This means that Flamel is likely a bit older than this, since the tidbit about his birthday is extracted from an "old" book, read by Hermione.

Unlike Armando Dippet - who did not extend his life via any magical means - Flamel, along with his older wife, Perenelle, utilised the power of the philosopher's stone to make themselves immortal. However, after Voldemort (acting through Professor Quirrell) nearly acquired the stone, Flamel and Dumbledore both agreed that it should be destroyed, which meant that the alchemist and his wife could no longer sustain their existence.

And so, the Flamels died painlessly and peacefully. Nicolas will actually appear in the Fantastic Beasts sequel later this year, where we'll possibly learn more about his past relationship with Dumbledore.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!