Fred and George Weasley
| Harry Potter character | |
| James and Oliver Phelps as Fred and George Weasley in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. | |
| The Weasley Twins | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Hair colour | Red |
| Eye colour | Unknown |
| House | Gryffindor |
| Parentage | Pure-blood |
| Loyalty | Dumbledore's Army, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter, The Order of the Phoenix |
| Film portrayer | James Phelps, Oliver Phelps |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
Fred and George Weasley (both born April 1,
1978) are fictional characters in the Harry
Potter series of novels, created by J. K.
Rowling. They are the twin sons of Arthur and Molly
Weasley. They are younger brothers of Bill,
Charlie and Percy. They are older brothers of Ron and
Ginny, who are both members of Harry Potter's close group of
friends. The twins are also good friends with Harry, and generally
treat Harry better than they treat Ron, whom they love to torment
along with Percy. As the rest of the Weasleys, they have flaming
red hair.
Fred and George were the school clowns, more interested in
making new jokes than studying, although they show a high degree of
knowledge and skill in creating magical jokes and tricks. It is,
therefore, not surprising that their birthday is April 1st,
April Fool's Day. They are supremely popular
characters among fans and many of their jokes and pranks are
legendary both in the stories and in the real world. Fred at times
appears to be the more dominant twin, but they generally work as a
team. They were the beaters on the Gryffindor Quidditch
team before they were banned by Dolores Umbridge and consequently quit
Hogwarts. They now own a joke shop on Diagon
Alley. Much to their mother's disappointment, they are her only
sons who weren't made prefects (though it is important to note that neither
was their younger sister, Ginny). Their appearance and personality
are so indistinguishable that they can fool even their mother, who once sent them jumpers monogrammed
"G" and "F." The twins swapped jumpers and called themselves "Gred"
and "Forge."
ending details follow.
In Harry Potter and the Goblet
of Fire, Fred and George begin selling their own jokes by
mail order, under the name "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes". They play
a prank on Harry's first cousin, the fat and idiotic Dudley
Dursley by "accidentally" dropping several Ton Tongue
Toffees—Dudley, a glutton on a forced diet, soon has a foot-long
tongue protruding from his mouth; at the Quidditch World Cup they
impress Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical
Games and Sports at the Ministry of Magic with their fake
wands.
Despite their mother's wish that they should follow their father
in working at the Ministry of Magic, their ambition in life has
always been to run their own joke shop. Harry (who had inherited
more than enough money for his needs) makes this possible by giving
them his winnings from the Triwizard Tournament.
The pair provide Harry with useful assistance throughout the
series; in Harry Potter and
the Chamber of Secrets they and Ron help him escape from
his arrest at Privet Drive, in Harry Potter and
the Prisoner of Azkaban they give him the Marauder's Map, and in
Harry Potter and
the Order of the Phoenix they provide distractions so that
Harry can use the Floo system unmonitored in Dolores Umbridge's office. In return, Harry
provides money which makes their start-up possible. They were
members of Dumbledore's Army, a group started by
Harry, Ron, and Hermione to provide the practical
instruction in Defence Against the Dark Arts,
which Umbridge had removed from that course's curriculum. Later in
that year, they are banned from Quidditch and decide to give up
formal education; they do not, however, leave before paying tribute
to Dumbledore by waging a virtual war against Umbridge. Eventually
threatened with flogging for conjuring a "portable swamp" in a
corridor, they depart on broomsticks, yelling to Peeves in the
process, "Give her hell from us, Peeves." This can be taken as the
only instance in the entire Harry Potter series that Peeves can be
said to have done what he was told to do. As they leave, they
inform their fellow students of their new shop in Diagon
Alley and offer discounts to students who will likewise harass
Umbridge. Their departure is widely regarded as one of the
emotional high points of Book 5, an often bleak book. The swamp,
meanwhile, remains for some time, since Umbridge is unable to
remove it and no other teacher particularly wishes to. After
Professor Umbridge is driven from the school, Professor Flitwick removes almost all of
it, leaving a bit as a tribute to the Weasley twins.
In The Half-Blood
Prince, Fred and George continue to run their very
successful joke shop out of Diagon Alley. At the beginning of the
school year, they have a large advertisement for a potion called
"U-No-Poo," poking fun at the common euphemism for Lord
Voldemort in the wizarding community. Their import item,
Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, plays a (negative) role in the
Battle of Hogwarts in
that book, being used by Draco Malfoy to escape the detection of
the former DA members. It is unclear if Fred and
George have joined the Order of the Phoenix like they wished to
during the previous book, although their absence from the battle at
Hogwarts suggests they have not. However, many speculate that,
although they may not be official members of the Order, they
probably still lend it occasional support and information in or
around Diagon Alley.
Though Mrs. Weasley initially disapproved of their enterprises,
she realized they had a natural gift and passion for their business
and has since raised no objections. In fact, she is now rather
impressed with how successful the twins have become since leaving
school.
Though they always seem to be berating and insulting their
younger brother Ron, it seems that they are really very considerate
to him, which is evident in the Order of the Phoenix where they
didn't mock Ron at his poor performance, and in the Half Blood
Prince, where they were visibly distressed when Ron was
poisoned.
Trivia
The naming of the twins as Fred and George has an interesting
parallel. In the film Gone with the Wind, there are two
red-headed twins named Stuart and Brent Tarleton, who are played by
George Reeves and Fred Crane. When this was brought to
J.K. Rowling's attention, she remarked that she
hadn't noticed until it was brought up, so it is most likely a
coincidence.
