Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Characters/Fred and George Weasley
| Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter - Character | |
| Fred and George Weasley | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Hair color | Red |
| Eye color | Unknown |
| Related Family | Arthur Weasley (father) Molly Weasley (mother) Bill Weasley (oldest brother) Charlie Weasley (older brother) Percy Weasley (older brother) Ron Weasley (younger brother) Ginny Weasley (younger sister) |
| Loyalty | Albus Dumbledore Harry Potter |
Overview
editFredrick Gideon Weasley and George Fabian Weasley are the twin younger brothers of Bill, Charlie and Percy and the older brothers of Ron and Ginny Weasley. They are around two years older than Ron and Harry, and were in Gryffindor, following in the footsteps of their family. They are tricksters, always inventing new tricks and playing practical jokes on their schoolmates and teachers. Their best friend is Lee Jordan. Fred and George Weasley were born on April 1st, 1978.
Role in the Books
editWe first meet Fred and George in King's Cross Station, where they are part of the group of Weasleys that help Harry find his way onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters – Fred is heard claiming to be George, illustrating their nature as pranksters. They later assist Harry to get his trunk on board the train, recognize him, and shortly thereafter introduce themselves and Ron to Harry. They then depart to talk to Lee Jordan, leaving Harry and Ron to talk together.
When Harry is made Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Fred and George congratulate him and tell him that they are on the team also, as Beaters. Fred and George play in the match against Slytherin, of course, alongside Harry.
At Christmas, Fred and George elect to stay at Hogwarts, along with Ron and Percy. It is mentioned that they bewitch some snowballs to fly around and repeatedly hit Professor Quirrell in the back of his turban.
When Harry, Neville, and Hermione lose a hundred and fifty House points between them in the adventure surrounding Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback, Ron tries to cheer them up by telling them that Fred and George are always losing points for Gryffindor, but as they have never lost quite that many points in one shot, his attempts rather fail.
The twins are mentioned in passing a few times, also, in the context of Quidditch practice and Quidditch games.
Fred and George appear early in the story, with Ron, driving Arthur Weasley's flying Ford Anglia and coming to rescue Harry from the Dursleys'. They have a plan to get everyone back to The Burrow, which is rather foiled when Mrs. Weasley is awake and waiting for them upon their return. As punishment, after breakfast, the Twins and Ron are sent to de-Gnome the garden; Harry volunteers to assist them. Mrs. Weasley pulls out Gilderoy Lockhart's book on pest removal; Fred suggests that Mrs. Weasley is sweet on Gilderoy. George says they know how to de-Gnome a garden, and they go out and proceed to do that. As they finish, Mr. Weasley returns home; Mrs. Weasley tells him about the twins borrowing the car, in the apparent expectation that he will punish them for it; he simply asks how it went, then weakly says it was very bad in response to the anger of his wife.
When booklists arrive, it is apparent that whoever is teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts is fond of Gilderoy Lockhart, because the textbook for that course seems to be his entire works. Fred suggests that the new Defence teacher is likely a middle-aged witch; George says that the lot of them won't come cheap, to which Mrs. Weasley replies, "We'll manage." After making plans to visit Diagon Alley the next day, the twins, Harry, and Ron go up to a paddock that the Weasleys own to practice Quidditch. Fred remarks, disgustedly, that Percy had refused to play; if he keeps up as he has been, he is likely to become Head Boy.
Once they are all in Diagon Alley, the Weasleys and Harry split up on their separate errands. Mrs. Weasley feels that she needs to tell the Twins to stay out of Knockturn Alley. Harry does meet up with them and Lee Jordan, in Gambol and Japes Joke Shop. Fred and George are back with the family in Flourish and Blotts, and are present when the fight between Mr. Weasley and Lucius Malfoy breaks out. When Mrs. Weasley comments, "What Gilderoy Lockhart must have thought..." Fred points out that he was trying to figure out how to add it to the publicity for his book-signing.
In the Quidditch match against Slytherin, a Bludger seems to have decided that it is going to concentrate on Harry. Despite Fred and George's best efforts, it seems to have chosen to attack Harry repeatedly. Harry tells Fred and George that he'll have to deal with it himself, he can't ask them to stay up there and let the rest of the team take a beating from the remaining Bludger. Oliver Wood agrees, and so reluctantly, Fred and George leave Harry on his own and rejoin the game.
Later, the entire school seems to be convinced that Harry is the Heir of Slytherin. Harry is extremely cheered that Fred and George can keep making jokes about the situation.
Finally, on the Hogwarts Express homewards, Fred and George learn from Ginny that Percy has a girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater. It seems that the Twins are going to have some fun with him about that.
Harry is staying in Diagon Alley for the end of his vacation, when the Weasleys turn up. Percy, as the twins had predicted, is Head boy, and is insufferably pompous. The twins are trying to take him down a notch by imitating him. After dinner, Percy is frantic because his Head Boy badge has vanished; Harry runs into Fred and George, who say they had taken it to "improve" it. It now reads "Bighead Boy".
At breakfast on their first day back at Hogwarts, in response to Draco Malfoy's imitations of Harry passing out from the effects of the Dementors, Fred and George mention that he had been up at their end of the train during that period, and had not been so brave himself.
Feeling that his need is greater than theirs, on the last Hogsmeade weekend before Christmas Break, Fred and George give Harry the Marauder's Map. This allows Harry to reach Hogsmeade undetected. There, he overhears Cornelius Fudge, Madam Rosmerta, Hagrid, Professor Flitwick, and Professor McGonagall discussing the events surrounding the arrest of Sirius Black as they were then understood.
After the apparent death of Scabbers, Fred and George attempt to cheer him up by reminding him that only days before, Ron had said he was useless. During the party after the Quidditch match a few days later, Fred and George bring Butterbeer back to the Common Room, alluding privately to Harry that it was thanks to the creators of the Marauder's Map.
At the end of the year, Fred and George are even seen studying occasionally, much to the amazement of anyone who knows them. They do, in the end, manage a handful of OWLs each, and profess themselves happy with that result.
Fred and George arrive at the Dursleys' with Ron and Mr. Weasley. They are coming to take Harry to the Quidditch World Cup. They ask if Harry is packed; it turns out he is, so the twins go up to his room to retrieve his trunk, while Arthur unsuccessfully attempts to engage the Dursleys in conversation. Returning with Harry's trunk, Fred drops a bag of sweets; these roll around in all directions, and Fred takes a moment to gather them all up. He returns to The Burrow; George follows, with Harry's trunk. Before Harry leaves, though, Dudley finds one of the sweets that Fred had dropped; it turns out to be a Ton-Tongue Toffee, which expands Dudley's tongue to be several feet long. On his return to The Burrow, Mr. Weasley is uncharacteristically angry with the Twins, saying that it is exactly this sort of thing that makes Wizard - Muggle relations so hard. Fred protests that they didn't do it because he was a Muggle; George chimes in saying that they did it because he was a great bullying git. Arriving on the scene, Mrs. Weasley asks if this is more Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Ron and Harry beat a hasty retreat to Ron's room; Harry asks what Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes are, and Ron tells him that the twins were starting up a mail-order magical jokes business, but that Mrs. Weasley had found their order forms and destroyed them and their stock.
Fred and George, along with Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, have to travel to the Quidditch World Cup by Portkey, because they are too young to Apparate. Fred and George are upset by how early they have to get up. As they prepare to leave, Mrs. Weasley asks if they are taking Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes stuff with them. Ignoring their protests, Mrs. Weasley Summons charmed toffees out of hiding places all over the twins clothing. They set off to Stoatshead Hill very disgruntled, not even saying goodbye.
Once at the camp site, and settled in, Mr. Weasley flags down Ludovic Bagman, who, after some discussion with Arthur, asks if anyone would like to make a small bet on the outcome of the match. The twins place a bet amounting to their entire life savings on Ireland to win, but the Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum, being the one to catch the Snitch. When Bartemius Crouch Sr. stops by the campsite, Percy is almost falling over himself to be hospitable to his boss. It appears, though, that Mr. Crouch cannot even remember Percy's name, calls him "Weatherby". After Crouch's departure, the twins make fun of Percy relentlessly, saying that if he works hard, one of these days Crouch might even learn his name.
The match ends as the twins had predicted, with an Irish victory but Krum holding the Snitch, and the twins request their payment from Ludo.
After the match, there is a riot; Mr. Weasley sends Harry, Ron, Hermione, the twins, and Ginny off into the nearby woods, out of the way. In the darkness, they get separated; we don't see the Twins and Ginny again until Harry returns to the tent.
On their return to The Burrow, Mrs. Weasley is extremely relieved; she had been fearing the worst, only having heard that there were riots, and not knowing if her family had survived. She was particularly concerned that her last words to the twins before they left had been angry.
In the next few weeks, before school starts, the twins seem somewhat subdued. On the last day before school, the two of them are working quietly over a bit of parchment. Mrs. Weasley asks if that's another order form; Fred parries by saying if the Hogwarts Express were to crash the next day, she wouldn't want her last words to be an unfounded accusation, surely?
The next morning, Fred and George recognize Mad-Eye Moody when his name is mentioned by Amos Diggory in a call for Mr. Weasley. They travel to the train station in Muggle taxis, and Fred and George are unsuccessful in getting any information out of Mrs. Weasley, Bill, or Charlie, who accompany them to the station, about the big event at Hogwarts will be. Arriving at Hogwarts, the twins are astonished to hear that Quidditch will be canceled for the year, and then dismayed to find that the Triwizard Tournament that will be taking its place is closed to those less than 17 years of age – the twins at this point are 16. On the way to the dormitory, they are already plotting with Lee Jordan on ways to avoid the age restriction.
The twins also tell Harry and Ron after the first day that classes with Moody are incredible. He has been battling the Dark Arts, and knows what it is all about. They do not elaborate further, but Ron bemoans the fact that his first Defence Against the Dark Arts class is not until Thursday.
We later see Fred and George working together on a parchment, and George scratching out a line, saying that it made it sound like they were accusing him. Later still, Fred and George are discussing over breakfast what to do about someone who does not answer them.
Once the Goblet of Fire is set up, Dumbledore draws an age line around it to prevent underage wizards from putting their names in. Fred and George, with Lee Jordan, decide to take a little Aging Potion, trying to fool the line that way; but shortly after Fred and George cross the line, and before they can put their names into the Goblet, it kicks them both out, awarding them both long white beards.
At the party in Gryffindor tower after Harry's victory in the First Task, Fred and George provide food. Hermione asks them if it had come from the castle kitchens, Fred says it did. She asks how to get into the kitchens, and George asks if she's planning to lead a House-Elf rebellion. Hermione does not answer.
As the Yule Ball approaches, Ron and Harry are bemoaning their difficulty in getting dates. Fred and George, who have come to borrow Pigwidgeon, wonder what the problem is; as if to demonstrate the simplicity of the proceedings, Fred calls over to Angelina Johnson, "Oi! Angelina! Want to come to the ball with me?" She accepts. Fred and George then, having been told Pigwidgeon is not available, go off to find a school owl.
Fred and George seem to try and corner Ludo Bagman on the dance floor at the Yule Ball, but he evades them. Asked about it by Harry, Ludo says that the twins were asking for marketing advice. At the first Hogsmeade weekend in the new year, the twins again try to corner Bagman at the bar of the Three Broomsticks, but he again brushes them off.
Fred and George escort Ron and Hermione away from the library, where they are trying to help Harry find a spell that will allow Harry to breathe underwater, which is required for the Second Task. They have been summoned by
We see Fred and George sending off a letter to someone. They are deep in conversation as they head up to the Owlery, George cautioning Fred about sounding like they are blackmailing someone. Asked by Harry, Ron, and Hermione who they are blackmailing, the twins parry. After they leave, Ron says that the twins are really serious about raising money for their joke shop venture. He doesn't think the twins would do anything illegal to secure funding, but he's no longer sure.
Finally, on the Hogwarts Express heading back to London, Fred and George assist Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Jinxing Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle when they arrive in Harry's compartment to taunt him about the return of Lord Voldemort. Pushing Draco and his cronies out into the corridor, they join Harry, Ron and Hermione for the rest of the journey back. Late in the trip, they reveal that the person they have been corresponding with all year was, in fact, Ludo Bagman. Ludo had paid off their bet with Leprechaun gold, which had vanished. They had initially thought this was an oversight on Ludo's part, but as the year went on, Ludo refused to make good on his payment, and in the end even refused to give back their initial bet. It appears that Ludo had pulled the same trick on the goblins, and instead of repaying them (as he did not have the money) had bet with them again on Harry to win the Triwizard Tournament. Harry's having tied with Cedric was not good enough for the goblins, and they had demanded full payment. Ludo had run away. After Ron and Hermione had left the compartment in London, Harry gives Fred and George his winnings from the Triwizard Tournament to start their new business, a joke shop. They protest, but Harry says that by the look of things, they will need jokes soon enough.
Fred and George are deeply involved in testing products and doing market research for their joke shop, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Several times, Hermione gets upset with them because they are using the first-year students as test subjects; at one point, she threatens to write to their mother if they continue to test their products on first-year students.
Fred and George are present at the initial meeting of what is then known as the Defence Association at the Hog's Head. When Zacharias Smith exhibits skepticism about what Harry can teach them, Fred and George produce a sharp metal object and suggest a few places that they could use it on Zacharias.
At Quidditch practice, Ron manages to throw a Quaffle hard enough to give Katie Bell a nosebleed. Fred, attempting to cure this, gives her what he believes to be the cure end of a Nosebleed Nougat, but gets confused and instead feeds her a Blood Blisterpod. As a result, Katie loses enough blood that she nearly loses consciousness and has to be escorted to the Hospital Wing.
Immediately after the first Quidditch game of the season, Draco Malfoy, seeing that Madam Hooch is occupied, starts insulting the Weasley family. Enraged, Fred and George are only kept from attacking him by their team mates: Fred is being held back by Angelina, Alicia, and Katie, while Harry is holding George. When Malfoy expands his insults to include Harry's family, Harry loses control and, with George, gets into a physical fight Draco. Both Harry and George are told to go to McGonagall's office, where she scolds them severely for their actions and gives each of them a week's worth of detentions. However, Umbridge steps in and alters the punishment further, banning Harry, Fred, and George from playing Quidditch permanently, to the further fury of McGonagall.
Just before the Christmas holidays, Fred and George are summoned to Dumbledore's office upon learning that their father has been attacked by Nagini in the Department of Mysteries. They are relieved, however, when Mrs. Weasley arrives at 12 Grimmauld Place and informs them that their father is alright. On Christmas Day, the twins try to comfort their mother when she is crying about Percy sending his Christmas jumper back, though their efforts fail.
Once Dumbledore has been removed as Headmaster, Fred and George no longer feel constrained to limit their antics. When Montague, a member of Professor Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad, attempts to dock them House points, they force him into an old, broken Vanishing Cabinet. They tell Harry, Ron, and Hermione that they had almost decided against coming back to school, and that expulsion holds no fears for them; so their pranking will be turned up several notches. Shortly after this, they set off a truly massive quantity of fireworks in the Entrance Hall, and so Umbridge, on her first day as Headmistress, has to spend the entire day going from classroom to classroom extinguishing fireworks.
Harry later decides that he needs a distraction so that he can get into Umbridge's office and use the Floo network via her fireplace, the only unmonitored fireplace at Hogwarts. Fred and George provide this distraction by turning a large part of one hallway into a swamp; but they are caught. Umbridge threatens them with the worst that Argus Filch can do, but they reclaim their brooms, and leaving Peeves with the instruction to "give her (Umbridge) hell", they fly off into the sunset.
At the end of the novel, they are at the train station, wearing new suits made of dragon skin. Apparently they have opened their new store in Diagon Alley, and it is doing extremely well.
The Weasley family, visiting Diagon Alley with Harry to purchase school supplies, visits the Twins' joke shop. Every other store is covered in the drab posters from the Ministry regarding Death Eaters, but Fred and George's shop window is uncovered and blazing with color, light, and activity. Once inside, they find the place is packed; Fred, showing Harry around, offers him the run of the place, saying anything he wants, he can have on the house (because he gave them the funds they needed to rent the building and set up their shop.) Ron is not so lucky, George demands that he pay full price, less the odd Knut because he is family. George also shows Harry the back room with the more serious stuff: Shield Hats, Decoy Detonators, and Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, among other things. George reveals that quite apart from their joke line, they are doing a brisk business selling Dark-fighting gear to the Ministry. Returning to the front, they find Ginny looking at items designed for young witches. Fred and George ask her about her current relationships, and she responds that it is none of their business.
When Ron is poisoned on his birthday, Fred and George have just arrived in Hogsmeade to look into buying Zonko's Joke Shop, which has closed down. Given that Hogsmeade weekends at the school have been canceled, though, they decide it would not be a wise investment. They do, however, stop by the school; they had planned to give Ron a birthday present, but had hoped it would have been a rather happier event.
After Dumbledore is killed, Neville states that they were standing right outside the Room of Requirement when Malfoy lead the Death Eaters out of the room; seeing them, Malfoy threw something into the air that made everything go black, upon which Ron remarks in disgust that it was Fred and George's Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, and says that he is going to "have a word with them about who they let buy their products." Fred and George are both later seen attending Dumbledore's funeral.
Fred and George both take Polyjuice Potion to transform them into simulacra of Harry, as part of Harry's escape from Privet Drive. George has his ear cursed off by Severus Snape (by accident), who uses the Sectumsempra curse. When he recovers, he seems in good spirits, making jokes about his new, earless appearance and by saying that at least now their mother will be able to tell them apart.
Fred and George are both ushers at the wedding of their brother Bill and Fleur Delacour, along with Harry (in disguise) and Ron. Fred manages to arrange to seat the younger guests on the Delacour side of the family, all of whom seem to have some Veela in their ancestry.
In their travels, Harry, Ron, and Hermione make good use of several products from Fred and George's joke shop. Skiving Snackboxes are used to incapacitate Ministry employees so that Harry, Ron, and Hermione can sneak into the Ministry. Harry uses a Decoy Detonator to draw attention away from the door of Dolores Umbridge's office. And the Trio use Extendable Ears to listen in on another party while they are camping in the wilderness; this is how they learn about the Sword of Gryffindor.
In March, Ron manages to tune in the pirate wireless program "Potterwatch". Lee Jordan, as "River", introduces "Rodent", easily identifiable by his voice as either Fred or George, and who protests his alias, saying he wanted to be known as "Rapier". "Rapier" debunks some of the propaganda and fear surrounding Voldemort, saying that in order to be in all the places he is reported as being, there would have to be about nineteen of him.
Fred and George are among the first to return to Hogwarts when answering Neville's call, along with Ginny, Lee, and Cho Chang. Later, when Mrs. Weasley tries to stop Ginny from taking part in the fight, and scowling at the twins for bringing her along, Percy shows up. When he admits he was a fool and power-hungry moron, Fred is the first to accept his apology, and George asks what made him see sense, before they all go off to fight.
When Remus Lupin is assigning duties for the defence of Hogwarts, Fred volunteers himself and George for the duty of defending the secret passages into Hogwarts.
As Harry is on his way to the Room of Requirement, where he now believes Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem is hidden, he passes Fred, guarding a hole behind a plinth where a statue had fallen, along with Lee Jordan and Hannah Abbott.
Though George survives the battle, Fred is not so lucky as he is killed during the Battle of Hogwarts when a massive explosion blows a hole in the wall of the castle. He is buried in the stone rubble coming off the castle walls. Percy, who was fighting alongside him, refuses to leave Fred's body until it has been moved away from the main battle.
Harry later learns from Snape's memories that Snape had not intended to curse George's ear off; he had been aiming for the arm of the Death Eater who was about to curse George's guardian, Remus Lupin.
During the second half of the battle, Harry, while under the invisibility cloak, sees George and Lee slam Death Eater Yaxley to the floor.
Post-series
editAccording to the Weasley family tree, George marries one Angelina (probably Angelina Johnson) and has two children, Fred Weasley II and Roxanne Weasley.
Strengths
editThey are very loyal, very smart, and they can produce magic of a similar quality to Hermione's. They can easily work hard and with great dedication to produce surprisingly advanced magic when they want to. They are also very talented Quidditch players. They have an amazing sense of humour. Ron mentions at one point that when he was three, Fred had turned his teddy bear into a spider. As the twins at that point would have been only four or five years old, and would not have had wands or formal training of any sort, this level of conscious magical ability is apparently incredible.
Extremely sensitive to situations, they know where "the line" is – exactly how much mayhem they can cause before it becomes necessary to actually discipline them. Despite having been "chief troublemakers" for six and a half years, it is only during Professor Umbridge's tenure as Headmistress that they get into any serious trouble, and then, it is a deliberate change in policy: they have decided that they don't need further formal schooling, and elect to make Umbridge's early days in office as difficult as possible, without concern for consequences.
Weaknesses
editFred and George have very few weaknesses. One significant one is a tendency to avoid consequences. Their final days at school are marked with a number of fairly major pranks, specifically including setting off a large number of fireworks inside the school, and turning one corridor into a swamp. When they are caught, they elect to depart the school, leaving others to clean up the mess. Similarly, when Montague, then a member of Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad, attempts to dock them House points, they force him into an old, broken Vanishing Cabinet, without considering where or whether he might come out.
Fred and George, although talented and intelligent, have little interest in academic achievement. In their fifth year they only pass 3 O.W.L.s each and never finish their seventh year.
Their concern for each other could be considered a weakness also. George had his ear cursed off by Severus Snape, albeit by accident, as he was helping disguise Harry's escape from Privet Drive; Fred, realizing George was hurt, was almost unable to speak until George regained consciousness.
Relationships with Other Characters
editFred and George have a very typical twin-brothers relationship with each other, almost seeming to think the same thoughts at the same time. Of the two, though, Fred is quite clearly the ringleader; he usually speaks first, he is usually the driving force behind many of the pranks they pull off, and generally seems to be the leader of the pair.
The twins have earned the grudging admiration of the staff of the school. Professor Flitwick, for example, when cleaning up the swamp they left in the hall as they departed, left a small corner of it in place, saying that it was a nice bit of magic, and apparently feeling that it needed to be commemorated in some way. The staff seem to feel that the Twins deserve respect for the ingeniousness of the magic that they perform as part of their pranks, probably coupled with their awareness of how much they can get away with while still being humorous and not excessively disruptive. The quality of their pranks, and their abilities as Quidditch Beaters, has earned them the respect of their fellow students as well.
The twins seem to keep their own company and the company of Lee Jordan, by and large. There are few, if any, hints of romantic entanglements. Fred, as noted, did go to the Yule Ball with Angelina Johnson; however, there is no apparent romantic interest apart from this one event. For the final year of writing the seventh and final book, the author was followed by a camera team from the British TV network ITV. After completing the seventh book, the author drew up a chart of the Weasley family tree, which showed that George had married one Angelina, quite possibly Angelina Johnson, and had two children with her, named Roxanne and Fred.
Fred's death seems to have been very unpopular with the series' fans. A significant amount of fan-written fiction alters the Battle of Hogwarts to allow Fred to survive; much of it then has Fred marry Angelina, and has George show a romantic interest in Alicia Spinnet, an interest that is suggested nowhere in the seven books.
Analysis
editFred and George are nominally equal; however, it seems Fred is mainly the ringleader. With few exceptions, whenever any activity is started, Fred speaks or moves first. This could have something to do with Fred's name falling earlier in the alphabet, so that it seems natural to put his name first. George is more sensitive, but when angered, is more violent, although it takes more to enrage him than Fred. George is 'the brains' and Fred is the 'operator'; Fred usually has the ideas and more drive for pranks, while George takes precautions so no one is hurt, and makes sure that the pranks will work. George is actually quite smart, more so than Fred, but Fred never revised (US:studied) for exams, so neither did George; as a result, they both earned three O.W.L.s each. George however also seems to be the better Quidditch player of the two, as he gets more time than Fred during the matches.
Questions
edit
- How might Fred's death affect George?
- What was the author's (Rowling's) purpose for killing such a favourite character?
- What other relationships in the world of Harry Potter reflect that of the Weasley twins?
- Did Fred and George get along well? Did they have any arguments or get mad at each other?