Here at IWG Books, we have been celebrating April Fool’s Day with talks of tricksters, pranksters, jokers and troublemakers, and this article is going to honour the nation’s most favourite twins; Fred and George Weasley. And most coincidently today, the 1st April is their birthday. Quite fitting, isn’t it?
They burst onto the page like no other character, and are first seen on Platform 9 ¾ tricking their mother (the adorable Molly Weasley) into thinking that Fred is George and George is Fred. They were famous for mischief like this, and more, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where they gave Harry the Marauders Map so he could do some adventuring of his own, and sold confectionary that would make a student too ill to attend their classes. Puking Pastilles and Nosebleed Nougats were amongst the aptly named Skiving Snackboxes available from the red-haired brothers.
Their success in school with their jokes and creative inventions led them to leave Hogwarts early in their final year, and therefore not finishing their academic careers, to open their own joke shop. Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes opened in Diagon Alley after Harry Potter gives them all of his Twi-Wizard Tournament winnings, and instantly became the most desirable location to shop at. Filled with everything you could imagine, from Love Potions to Extendable Ears, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes seemed to be the light amongst the dark, before the Second Wizarding War began soon after, the famous war where good prevails over evil as Voldemort is extinguished.
They are the type of pranksters that bring joy to people’s lives, and use their creative gifts for the greater good. They are the true kings of mischief, and would have fit in perfectly with the creators of Harry’s famous map; Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail and Moony in another life.
Fred and George are true examples of what April Fool’s Day is all about – having fun and bringing smiles and laughter to all. Let’s hope to see more literary pranksters like Fred and George Weasley in stories that are yet to come!