13. Such Nice Brothers
Although the twins generally get along with their younger brother, Ron, they have subjected him to a number of damaging pranks. They once gave him an Acid Pop that burned a hole in his tongue (ouch), and after a young Ron broke Fred’s toy broomstick, they turned his teddy bear into a large spider. The latter prank left Ron with a crippling fear of spiders for the rest of his life.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher
12. Ton-Tongue Toffee
When it comes to the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, they omitted the first chapters where the Weasleys pick up Harry from the home of his relatives, the Dursleys. Arthur, Fred, George, and Ron all arrive at the home, leading Fred and George to trick Harry’s cousin Dudley into trying a candy they’ve been developing for their future joke shop. Dudley’s tongue swells to about three feet long before Arthur can persuade Dudley’s parents to let him shrink it back to regular size.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Warner Bros.
11. What Are the Odds
As you would know from the film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Weasley twins are the ones who give Harry the Marauder’s Map, an enchanted map that reveals the location and movement of everyone inside Hogwarts. The map is credited to four “Marauders” known as Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. Little did the twins know (at the time), their heroes were actually Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter, Harry’s own father.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Warner Bros.
10. Prankster Princes
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the twins become mortal enemies of Professor Umbridge for their refusal to bow down to her tyrannical takeover of Hogwarts. Among their many pranks at her expense, they set off a cavalcade of fireworks throughout the school and block off one of the halls with a Portable Swamp of their creation.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Warner Bros.
9. Fight Fight Fight Fight…
In what must have been a bizarre episode in the making of the Harry Potter films, one of the twin actors who played the Weasleys was involved in a staged brawl between himself and Mike Newell, the director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The fight went on until Newell suffered a fractured rib! According to Newell, he did it as a hands-on style of direction for what he wanted, as well as an undermining of his own “authority figure.” Go figure.
8. Stick Together
Something interesting about the Weasley twins is that bad things tend to happen to them whenever they aren’t together. George’s ear mutilation and Fred’s death both occur when the twins are apart from each other.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Warner Bros.
7. A Record’s a Record
James and Oliver Phelps are two of only 14 people to appear in all eight of the Harry Potter films.
6. Imposter Gingers
James and Oliver Phelps are not natural redheads. Both are brunettes who had to dye their hair for filming.
5. Art and Life Mingling
During the filming of the eighth and final film in the series, the death of Fred Weasley proved very difficult for the twins to portray. For Oliver Phelps, who played George, acting out a scene where he had to see his brother dead reportedly led to him have an emotional breakdown.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Warner Bros.
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4. Don’t Taunt a Grieving Mother
Interestingly, Fred Weasley’s name is the last word spoken by Bellatrix Lestrange before her death in the book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. During her duel with Molly Weasley, Bellatrix taunts Molly over the death of her son “Freddie.” Shortly after that, Molly defeats and kills her.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Warner Bros.
3. We Pranked the Dark Lord!
In the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, there is a short bit of exposition that explains that the Weasley twins get into trouble during the winter months for bewitching snowballs to pelt the back of Professor Quirrell’s head. Little did they–or anyone else at the time–know, they were inadvertently throwing snowballs at Voldemort’s face.
2. A Bittersweet Epilogue
A lot of information has been provided by Rowling to explain what happened to the characters after the defeat of Voldemort. In the case of George Weasley, he ended up marrying Angelina Johnson. They had two children, including a son whom they named Fred. George continued to run the joke shop and never completely got over his twin brother’s death. And who would?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Warner Bros.
1. Make Your Choice
Rowling was allegedly convinced that a member of the large Weasley family had to die during the Battle of Hogwarts, but she wasn’t sure which one it would be. After sparing the life of Arthur Weasley in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, she again considered killing him off, but she couldn’t bring herself to kill off one of the few good fathers in the story. After contemplating the idea of killing off Ron, Rowling ultimately went with his older brother, Fred. This decision was partly motivated by the emotional anguish it would give his twin brother, George, since it apparently wasn’t enough to have one of his ears cut off.
