Fred and George Weasley facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fred and George Weasley
Harry Potter characters
James and Oliver Phelps as Fred and George Weasley in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)
Last appearance	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)
Created by	J. K. Rowling
Portrayed by	James Phelps (Fred) Oliver Phelps (George)
Information
Family	Arthur Weasley (father) Molly Weasley (mother) Bill Weasley (brother) Charlie Weasley (brother) Percy Weasley (brother) Ron Weasley (brother) Ginny Weasley (sister) Harry Potter (brother-in-law) Hermione Granger (sister-in-law) Fleur Delacour (sister-in-law)
Spouse(s)	Angelina Johnson (George's wife)
Children	Fred Weasley II (George's son) Roxanne Weasley (George's daughter)
Nationality	British
House	Gryffindor

Fred and George Weasley are identical twin brothers from the Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling. They are older brothers to Ron and Ginny, and good friends with Harry Potter.

The twins are known for their love of jokes and pranks. They were early members of Dumbledore's Army and later joined the Order of the Phoenix. After leaving Hogwarts, they opened their own joke shop, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, in Diagon Alley. In the movies, Fred and George were played by real-life twin brothers James and Oliver Phelps.

About the Weasley Twins

Fred and George Weasley were born on April 1, 1978. They are the sons of Arthur and Molly Weasley. They have three older brothers, Bill, Charlie, and Percy. They also have a younger brother, Ron, and a younger sister, Ginny.

The twins love playing practical jokes and pranks. They are often seen as funny by both the characters in the books and the readers. Their names are similar to their mother's brothers, Fabian and Gideon Prewett, who also fought against dark magic.

When Fred was five, he had a toy broomstick. His younger brother Ron, who was three, accidentally broke it. This made Fred angry, and he turned Ron's teddy bear into a spider. This event is why Ron is so afraid of spiders.

Friends and Family

Fred and George's best friend is Lee Jordan. He is their classmate, dormmate, and a fellow prankster. The twins are also good friends with Harry Potter. They played as Beaters on the Gryffindor Quidditch team with him.

They often tease their older brother Percy for being a rule-follower. Sometimes their teasing of Ron is not very kind. However, they are very close with Ginny, who is similar to them in looks and personality. Like other Weasleys, they have bright red hair. In the books, they are described as shorter and stockier, like their brother Charlie. In the movies, they are shown as tall and thin. They are quite popular among students and even some teachers at Hogwarts.

The twins also have a strong sense of right and wrong. At the end of the fourth book, Harry gives them his winnings from the Triwizard Tournament. This money helps them start their joke shop. They tried to convince Harry to keep the money, but he insisted they take it.

In the film adaptations, James and Oliver Phelps play Fred and George. Unlike the book characters, the Phelps twins are tall. They also had to dye their hair red for the films.

Adventures at Hogwarts

Fred and George attended Hogwarts from 1989 until the spring of 1996. They were two years ahead of Harry, Ron, and Hermione Granger. They were known as the school clowns and troublemakers. They were more interested in inventing new pranks than in their studies. Even with their average grades, they were very skilled at creating magical jokes and tricks. Both twins were excellent Beaters on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Fred and George did not care much for Prefects or school rules. This led to arguments with their older brother Percy, who was a Prefect. Their looks and personalities were so similar that even their mother sometimes couldn't tell them apart. Fred often seemed a bit more daring than George. For example, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, George was more careful about trying to get money from Ludo Bagman. Fred also spoke more often than George.

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Fred and George started selling their own jokes by owl order. Their business was called "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes." They played a prank on Harry's cousin, Dudley Dursley, by "accidentally" dropping a Ton-Tongue Toffee. Dudley, who was on a diet, soon had a four-foot-long tongue! At the Quidditch World Cup, they impressed Ludo Bagman with their fake wands.

Their biggest dream was always to run their own joke shop. Harry made this possible by giving them his winnings from the Triwizard Tournament.

Helping Harry and Friends

The twins often helped Harry throughout the series:

• In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, they helped Harry escape from his house at Privet Drive.
• In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, they gave Harry the Marauder's Map. This map showed secret passages and everyone's location at Hogwarts.
• In Order of the Phoenix, they created a distraction to help Harry talk to his godfather, Sirius Black.
• They were also members of Dumbledore's Army. This group was started by Harry, Ron, and Hermione to teach real Defence Against the Dark Arts spells.

Later that year, they were banned from Quidditch. They decided to leave school for good. Before leaving, they caused a lot of trouble for the strict new headmistress, Dolores Umbridge. They created a swamp in a school corridor and set off many fireworks. They flew away on their broomsticks, yelling to Peeves the poltergeist, "Give her hell from us, Peeves!"

Professor Flitwick and Hermione said that even with their poor grades, the twins were very skilled wizards. They could do complex magic, like the spells for their joke inventions. Fred even turned Ron's teddy bear into a spider before he was old enough for Hogwarts.

Life After Hogwarts

After leaving Hogwarts, the twins told other students about their new shop in Diagon Alley. They offered discounts to anyone who would also bother Umbridge. The swamp they created stayed for a while because Umbridge couldn't remove it. No other teacher wanted to either. After Umbridge left the school, Professor Flitwick removed most of it, but left a small part as a tribute to the twins.

In The Half-Blood Prince, Fred and George's joke shop, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, was very successful. They even had employees. At the start of the school year, they had a big advertisement for a potion called "U-No-Poo." This was a joke about the common way wizards avoided saying Lord Voldemort's name. Their Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder was used by Draco Malfoy to hide from former DA members.

Their mother, Mrs. Weasley, at first didn't like their business idea. But she soon saw they had a natural talent and passion for it. She became very proud of how successful they were after leaving school.

The Battle Against Voldemort

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Fred and George were members of the Order of the Phoenix. They helped Harry escape from Privet Drive by acting as decoys. During this escape, George lost an ear from a curse. His father and Fred rushed to his side. Fred was so shocked he couldn't speak, which was very unusual for him. When George woke up, he joked that he was "holey," making his mother cry harder, but also making Fred laugh.

Because of the dark magic, George's ear could not be fixed. He joked that at least now people could tell him and Fred apart easily.

During this time, the Ministry of Magic, now controlled by Death Eaters, watched every member of the Weasley family. Fred and George couldn't go back to their shop in Diagon Alley. So, they started an owl-order business from their Auntie Muriel's house.

During the Battle of Hogwarts, Fred was killed in an explosion. Before he died, Fred made up with his brother Percy. Percy had come to Hogwarts to join the fight and apologized to his family for not believing them. Percy was very upset and didn't want to leave Fred's body. Fred died with a smile, as he had just been laughing at a rare joke Percy made. Percy returned to the fight only after Harry helped him move Fred's body to a safe place. Fred was the only Weasley family member to die in the battle. His death played a part in his mother's fierce duel with Bellatrix Lestrange.

George was deeply affected by Fred's death. He was seen kneeling by his twin's head in the Great Hall. Later, George and Lee Jordan worked together to defeat the Death Eater Yaxley.

J. K. Rowling said she always felt Fred would be the twin to die, though she didn't know why. She also said that George never fully got over Fred's death. However, he continued with his life, making Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes a very successful business with Ron's help. George later named his first child with Angelina Johnson after his twin brother, Fred.

Personality Traits

The twins are shown as troublemakers throughout the series. However, they always knew how far to go. As they told Hermione, they never got into serious trouble and were never kicked out of school. "We've always known where to draw the line," Fred said. "We might have put a toe across it occasionally," George added.

When Dumbledore was forced to leave Hogwarts, they decided to cause real chaos for the hated Dolores Umbridge. They created swamps and set off multiplying fireworks. Before they could be punished, they flew away on their brooms. This act became known as "pulling a Weasley" by other students who wanted to leave school too.

The twins were very loyal to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were also generous to strangers and protective of their loved ones. George was the first Weasley to befriend Harry. When Harry arrived at the train station for his first year, George saw him struggling with his trunk and called Fred to help.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, when Malfoy called Hermione a bad name, the twins immediately defended her. When Harry couldn't go on Hogsmeade trips in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, they gave him the Marauder's Map. This showed him a secret passage out of the castle so he could join his friends.

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the twins surprised Ron on his seventeenth birthday. After Ron was accidentally poisoned that morning, the twins showed real concern for him. They brought his birthday gifts to him in the hospital wing.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when Mr. Weasley was attacked, Fred and George argued fiercely with Sirius. They wanted to visit their dad in the hospital. But Sirius explained it would cause problems because the news wasn't public yet. Fred shouted, "We don't care about the dumb Order!" and George added, "It's our Dad dying we're talking about!" They stayed serious until they learned their father would live.

Rowling described George as "the quieter of the two." She said Fred was "the ringleader, crueler and funnier twin."

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