George Weasley

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George Weasley (b. April 1, 1978) is a pure-blood wizard, a son of Molly and Arthur Weasley, brother of Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ron, Ginny and twin brother of the late Fred Weasley. His earliest years were marked by the height of the First Wizarding War and the downfall of Lord Voldemort when he was just three years old. George attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1989 to 1996 with his twin, and was sorted into Gryffindor house. He and his twin were popular students, Beaters for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and members of Dumbledore's Army. A born prankster and inventor, George left Hogwarts prior to graduation to become a successful entrepreneur, alongside his twin brother, and opened the joke shop Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes at 93 Diagon Alley. He was a member of the Order of the Phoenix and fought in the Battle over Little Whinging and the Battle of Hogwarts; in the latter, he was devastated to lose Fred. Sometime after the end of the Second Wizarding War, George married Angelina Johnson, with whom he had a son named after his late twin and a daughter named Roxanne.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early Life 1.2 Education 1.2.1 Early Years 1.2.2 Third and Fourth Years 1.2.3 Fifth and Sixth Years 1.2.4 Final Year and Dropping Out 1.3 Career as a Shop Proprietor 1.4 Second Wizarding War 1.5 After the War 2 Physical Appearance 3 Personality and Traits 4 Relationships 4.1 Fred Weasley 4.2 Other Siblings 4.3 Harry and Hermione 4.4 Angelina Johnson 4.5 Lee Jordan 5 Etymology 6 Behind the scenes 7 Appearances 8 Notes and references

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early Life

Fred and George Weasley were born April 1, 1978; April Fool's Day, appropriately^[1]. George was raised at his family home of the Burrow, near Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon, England. He and Fred had older siblings Bill, Charlie, and Percy, and younger siblings Ron and Ginny. Although the family was poor, they were loving and happy.

George and Fred were mischievous from a young age, delighting in playing clever pranks and in teasing their siblings, and it was a challenge for their mother to try to keep them under control. It was not uncommon for explosions to be heard coming from the bedroom they shared^[2]. Some of the stunts they pulled as children include setting a Dungbomb off under their great-aunt Muriel's chair during a Christmas dinner^[3], turning their younger brother Ron's teddy bear into a giant spider after Ron accidentally broke his toy broomstick^[4], giving Ron an Acid Pop which burnt a hole in his tongue, and nearly tricking Ron into taking an Unbreakable Vow.^[5]

[edit] Education

[edit] Early Years

George was educated at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1989 to 1996, and was sorted into Gryffindor House. He and his twin brother made fast friends with fellow Gryffindors Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Oliver Wood, and became well-known for their senses of humour. During their first year at Hogwarts, George and Fred swiped the Marauder's Map from Argus Filch's office, which would help them sneak around the castle^[6].

In his second year, George joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a Beater, as did Fred. They were both extremely skilled players, described as being like "human Bludgers".^[7]

[edit] Third and Fourth Years

George started his third year in 1991, when his younger brother Ron began his first year, along with Harry Potter, who soon became his best friend. Harry joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team as its Seeker, and became friendly with George and Fred as well. For Christmas, Harry received a Weasley jumper along with George, Fred, and Ron. The twins' jumpers had their initials on them, prompting George to quip that they knew they were "Gred and Forge". George also insisted that his older brother Percy wear his jumper and sit with his brothers instead of the other Prefects, reminding him that the Christmas holidays were a time for family.^[7]

In the summer of 1992, before his fourth year, George, Fred, and Ron rescued Harry from his relatives' home, picking the lock through Muggle methods. The four boys then flew to the Burrow. When the school year began, George and Fred took to teasing their younger sister Ginny, who was starting her first year. They were trying to cheer her up, unaware that she was under the influence of Tom Riddle's diary and thus emotionally fragile. That year, the Chamber of Secrets was opened and rumours were circulating that Harry was responsible for it, since he spoke Parseltongue and thus might be the Heir of Slytherin. Neither George nor Fred took these rumours seriously, and frequently joked about it. They also came to Hermione Granger's defence when Draco Malfoy called her a "filthy little Mudblood", lunging at him, only to be blocked by Marcus Flint. At the end of the school year, George was relieved when his younger sister was saved - and delighted when she revealed that Percy had a secret girlfriend, as this was another opportunity to tease him.

That summer, the Weasley family took a holiday to Egypt, where Bill was working as a Curse Breaker. While there, George and Fred tried to push Percy, who had been acting even more arrogant than usual because he learned he had been appointed Head Boy, into a pyramid. Their mother stopped them and scolded them severely.^[6]

[edit] Fifth and Sixth Years

In 1993, George began his fifth year at Hogwarts. He and Fred decided to give the Marauder's Map to Harry Potter in order to help him get into Hogsmeade without permission, as they had already memorized it. They also comforted Harry when he was upset by the presence of Dementors at the school that year, and somewhat comforted Ron after his pet rat Scabbers went missing.^[6]

In the summer of 1994, George attended the Quidditch World Cup with his family as well as Harry and Hermione Granger. They gambled on the outcome, and won a great deal of money because of it. However, Ludo Bagman defaulted on the bet. Fred suggested threatening to inform the Ministry of Magic of Bagman's activities, but George was against it, arguing that it was blackmail. That year, George and Fred also started trying out the prank devices they invented, starting with the Ton-Tongue Toffee on Dudley Dursley.

Once at school for their sixth year, George and Fred began selling as well as experimenting with their inventions. That year, Hogwarts also hosted the Triwizard Tournament, which George and Fred both wanted to enter, despite being underage. They attempted to fool the Age Line Spell that Albus Dumbledore put around the Goblet of Fire using an Ageing Potion, but the attempt was unsuccessful. At the end of the school year, Harry surprised the twins by giving them the 1000 Galleons he won in the Tournament in order for them to start up their joke business. They were extremely grateful, and promised Harry free merchandise.^[2]

[edit] Final Year and Dropping Out

George spent the summer of 1995 in 12 Grimmauld Place, the headquarters of the newly reconstituted Order of the Phoenix, along with most of his family. He and Fred pocketed Doxies while cleaning up in order to use in their experiments, and spied on Order meetings using their Extendable Ears invention. They had also passed their Apparition tests "with distinction", and delighted in annoying other inhabitants of the house by frequently Apparating and Disapparating around the house. When Ron and Hermione received news that they were Gryffindor's new Prefects, George was slightly disgruntled by their mother's overjoyed reaction, and he and Fred both taunted Ron.

Although neither George nor Fred were very concerned about completing their educations, they returned to Hogwarts for their seventh year, and continued to develop and sell their joke products. Hermione managed to stop them from testing out their products on younger students after threatening to tell their mother that they had been tricking first-years into trying out treats from the Skiving Snackboxes, a threat George considered "below the belt". George and Fred also joined Dumbledore's Army, as they greatly disliked the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor and High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge and wanted to oppose Ministry control at Hogwarts as well as prepare to fight Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Later in the year, Umbridge kicked George, Fred, and Harry off the Gryffindor Quidditch team and gave them all lifetime bans from Quidditch after George and Harry got into a fight with Draco Malfoy. The Slytherin had written the lyrics to the demeaning song Weasley is Our King, intended to humiliate Ron and undermine the Gryffindor team, and then insulted George's parents and Harry's late mother. Things would get worse for George and his family around Christmas, when their father was attacked by Nagini, Voldemort's snake familiar. The Weasleys split their Christmas holidays between Order headquarters and St. Mungo's, although Percy did not visit and sent the jumper his mother sent him back unopened, continuing his estrangement.

Later in the school year, the D.A. was discovered, but Albus Dumbledore took the blame and left Hogwarts. George and Fred decided that they no longer cared about getting into trouble, and started an all-out rebellion against Umbridge. They shoved Inquisitorial Squad member Graham Montague into a Vanishing Cabinet when he attempted to dock House Points from them, set off a spectacular array of fireworks, and created a Portable Swamp in a corridor. In a flourish of vandalism and chaos, George and Fred flew away from Hogwarts, encouraging other students to follow their examples.^[8]

[edit] Career as a Shop Proprietor

Although his parents had hoped George would obtain employment at the Ministry of Magic, he instead set to making the most of his natural talents and opened Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes located at 93 Diagon Alley, alongside Fred. What had started out as a mail-order experiment in entrepreneurialism sky-rocketed into a very lucrative undertaking. In fact, it was so successful that in 1996, the twins had moved out of their childhood home and into a flat above the store; later, the twins considered buying Zonko's Joke Shop in Hogsmeade, which had closed the previous year.

When Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, as well as their parents and a few of their siblings visited their shop in the summer of 1996, the place was described as "packed with customers" to a degree that it was extremely difficult to get near the shelves. Fred and George had also created a Defence Against the Dark Arts line of products that was widely purchased by the Ministry for its staff. Throughout the school year of 1996 to 1997, the twins were able to disguise products to be sent into Hogwarts by mail order (even though all their merchandise was banned by Argus Filch) to the students. One of their services was to have their own line of Love Potion to be disguised as perfume bottles. They also bred magical animals such as Pygmy Puffs, which were miniature Puffskeins.^[5]

[edit] Second Wizarding War

George and Fred both joined the Order of the Phoenix once they were of age. They participated in the Battle over Little Whinging, taking Polyjuice Potion to become one of the "seven Potters". George flew with Remus Lupin on a broomstick and lost an ear due to an off-target Sectumsempra spell fired by Severus Snape. However, he took this optimistically, and tried to turn it into a joke.

Later in the war, he and his family and friends returned to Hogwarts to fight the invading Death Eater army; he and Fred were placed in charge of the defence of the castle's secret passages by Kingsley Shacklebolt. George was devastated by the loss of his twin during the battle.^[3]

[edit] After the War

George never got over Fred's death, but he eventually married Angelina Johnson, Fred's ex-girlfriend, and named his first child Fred in loving memory of the twin brother he lost. The couple also had a daughter named Roxanne.^[9] George continued to run Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to great success; his younger brother Ron helped him for a time.

[edit] Physical Appearance

George, like the other members of the Weasley family, sports flaming-red hair and freckles, and is shorter than his brothers Bill and Ron, and somewhat stocky, like his brothers Fred and Charlie. However, he is still fairly tall, as he is mentioned as being taller than Harry Potter^[10]. As a result of an injury from Severus Snape's Sectumsempra during the Battle over Little Whinging, George is missing his right ear.^[3]

[edit] Personality and Traits

George was the quieter, gentler of the twins, and not as cruel as Fred, who took on the role of ringleader, could sometimes be.^[11]. George's sense of humour was not as biting, and he was inclined to make fun of himself on occasion as well - even when he lost an ear^[3] He also appeared to be slightly more moral, as he was against blackmailing Ludo Bagman when the former Quidditch player defaulted on a bet at the Quidditch World Cup^[2].

George's prankster nature is enjoyed by nearly everyone in his family, aside from his brother Percy and his mother, who both consider jokes to be immature. However, his pranks targeted at Percy were usually good-natured, and the only thing that got hurt was Percy's pride. He and Fred particularly enjoyed teasing Percy and their younger brother Ron^[4], while they were especially close to their sister Ginny, who was similar to them in temperament. However, they were protective of their siblings, and eventually extended this familial protectiveness towards Ron's friends Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.

[edit] Relationships

[edit] Fred Weasley

Fred Weasley was George’s twin, best friend, and partner in crime. The two were very close and did just about everything together. They often finished each other’s sentences and spoke in a back and forth way that could confuse others at times. Together, Fred and George designed many ingenious pranks and shared the ambition to found a joke shop together. They were also both Beaters for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and close friends with Lee Jordan.^[8]

George was devastated by the death of his twin in the Battle of Hogwarts, and would never truly get over this loss. He eventually named his son after Fred.

[edit] Other Siblings

Like his younger siblings, George tended to look up to his older brothers Bill and Charlie. However, he and Fred delighted in teasing Percy, who was closer to their age and rather stuffy.^[4] George was furious with Percy when he fell out with the family over their father’s support of Albus Dumbledore instead of the Ministry^[8], but the family reconciled just before the Battle of Hogwarts began when Percy apologised for his mistakes.^[3]

George and Fred also enjoyed teasing their only younger brother, Ron. Ron’s phobia of spiders derives from a prank the twins played on him when he was young.^[4] They also teased him over things such as his embarrassing crush on Fleur Delacour.^[2] After Fred's death, Ron helped George run the joke shop for a time. George was quite close to his sister Ginny, who was similar to the twins in temperament and also liked to tease Ron. They were protective of her, as well, often disapproving of her love life.^[5]

[edit] Harry and Hermione

George and Fred were friendly with, and rather protective of, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, Ron’s best friends. While many other students were afraid that Harry might be the Heir of Slytherin after it was revealed that he was a Parselmouth in 1992, the twins found the idea very amusing and cheered him up.^[4] The following year, they gave him the Marauder's Map to help him sneak into Hogsmeade without permission.^[6] They also stood up for Harry when others doubted his claim that Lord Voldemort had returned or challenged his authority in the D.A..^[8] Both twins risked their lives in the operation to remove Harry from his relatives’ home in 1997.^[3]

Although Hermione generally disapproved of some of the twins’ antics, since she was a Prefect, she got on fairly well with them and admired their cleverness and creativity.^[8] They were outraged when Draco Malfoy called her a “Mudblood” in 1992, to the point of attempting to physically attack him.^[4] George and Fred also tried to get Hermione to relax, joking around with her about things such as their late uncle Bilius’s penchant for making mischief at weddings.^[3] Harry and Hermione eventually became George's brother-in-law and sister-in-law, respectively.

[edit] Angelina Johnson

George was friendly with Angelina Johnson, a Gryffindor in his year and fellow Quidditch player, during their school years. She dated his twin brother for a time, attending the Yule Ball with him in 1994.^[2] After Fred’s death and the end of the Second Wizarding War, she and George evidently grew closer, and eventually married. George and Angelina had two children: Fred II and Roxanne.

[edit] Lee Jordan

Lee Jordan was best friends with Fred and George during his time at Hogwarts, and often got into trouble along with them. In 1995 he joined Dumbledore's Army and helped the twins harass Dolores Umbridge, one incident of which resulted in him being punished by "writing lines", scarring his hand. In June of 1998, Lee returned with Fred and George to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts.

[edit] Etymology

George is a popular male given name derived from the Greek word γεωργος (georgos), meaning "farmer" or "earthworker". Saint George was a third-century martyr who became a patron saint of England after the Crusades. Six kings of Britain have borne the name George. Other famous bearers include the composer George Frideric Handel, first American president George Washington, two kings of Greece, and explorer George Vancouver. It was also the pen name of English writers George Eliot and George Orwell.^[12]

There has been some suggestion that George and Fred are named after their maternal uncles, Gideon and Fabian Prewett, who were killed in the First Wizarding War, who may have been twins, and who share George and Fred's first initials.

[edit] Behind the scenes

• George is played by Oliver Phelps in the film adaptations of the books.
• George and Fred each earned fewer O.W.Ls than the rest of their brothers.
• In the novels, J. K. Rowling described the twins as "shorter and stockier" and Percy and Ron as "long and lanky", but in the film, Fred and George were a lot taller and longer than Percy and Ron.
• George Weasley's O.W.L. results have not been specifically stated by name, he had mentioned in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that he had an inspected Charms lesson, and that he and his brother Fred were going to sell extendable ears before Herbology. Lee Jordan also mentioned that they played Exploding Snap in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Since they only passed three subjects, these are most likely the subjects they passed (although it is also possible that the twins chose different subjects to take beyond OWL level and purposely failed other courses to free up their schedules).
• Rowling has said that George and Fred are among her favourite characters^[13].

[edit] Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film)
• Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup

[edit] Notes and references

Preceded by: Argus Filch Owner of the Marauder's Map (along with his brother) 1988-1993 Succeeded by: Harry Potter Preceded by: Albus Dumbledore Secret-Keeper of 12 Grimmauld Place (along with members of the Order of the Phoenix who knew where was 12 Grimmauld Place) 1997-? Succeeded by: Yaxley