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16 little-known facts about the Weasley family that ‘Harry Potter’ fans may not know

The Weasley family is featured throughout the “Harry Potter” series.Warner Bros. The Weasleys are featured throughout “Harry Potter,” but it’s easy to lose track of these facts. Molly’s brothers were killed in the First Wizarding War, and Arthur is related to the Blacks. The surname holds a special meaning, and some of their first names are from Arthurian legend. Some of the Weasleys’ first names came from Arthurian legend.Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley.Warner Bros.When naming her characters, controversial author JK Rowling pulled from history, old stories, and even local cemeteries. In that vein, a few of the Weasleys’ first names can be found in the legends of King Arthur.There’s Arthur Weasley, of course, but Ginny is also short for Ginevra, which is the Italian version of Guinevere, the name of King Arthur’s wife.Additionally, Percy could be a reference to Sir Percival, one of the knights of the round table.The name Weasley is also significant.Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley.Warner BrosAccording to Pottermore, now known as Wizarding World, the Weasley surname is based on Rowling’s love of weasels, despite their bad reputation in the UK — which parallels the way the Weasley family is often wrongly looked down upon throughout the series. The name of their home is probably another nod to the animal, since weasels live in burrows, and Arthur’s Patronus also takes the form of the animal. They lived near the Lovegoods.The trio visits the Lovegoods’ house in the seventh book.Warner Bros.Harry, Ron, and Hermione visit the Lovegood residence in the seventh book, when Xenophilius Lovegood explains the story of the Deathly Hallows to them, but fans may not recall that Ron says they don’t live far from the Burrow. The Lovegoods’ and the Weasleys’ homes were both located in the wizard village of Ottery St. Catchpole.Both of Molly’s brothers were murdered by Death Eaters.Julie Walters as Molly Weasley.Warner BrothersVery little is known about Molly’s life prior to meeting Arthur at Hogwarts, but “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” does reveal a little about the character. During the First Wizarding War, many innocent lives were lost, including Fabian and Gideon Prewett — who were Molly’s brothers and members of the original Order of the Phoenix.This may explain Molly’s initial hesitation to allow her family to join the fight in the Second Wizarding War.Arthur is related to the Black family.Harry Potter and Sirius Black in front of the Black family tapestry.Warner Bros.With so few pureblood families remaining in the Wizarding World, it makes sense that many of them are related somehow.Arthur’s mother was Cedrella Weasley (née Black), the granddaughter of Phineas Nigellus Black, which means the Weasleys are related to the Black family.Additionally, Arthur’s grandmother was Lysandra Black (née Yaxley), who was most likely related to the Death Eater Corban Yaxley.Originally, more than one Weasley was going to die in the series.Arthur Weasley wasn’t supposed to make it to the end of the series.Warner BrothersIn a 2007 interview with Today, Rowling said she had planned to kill Arthur Weasley when he was bitten by the snake in “Order of the Phoenix,” but she became too attached to the character to go through with it.She even called him “the only good father in the whole series.”Per The Guardian, in a DVD extra for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2,” Rowling also said she “did seriously consider killing Ron.”In the end, Fred was the only Weasley to die during the Second Wizarding War, and Rowling told Today that she didn’t really know why she killed him and not his twin, George. The form of Molly’s boggart changed slightly over time.Molly Weasley was afraid of losing her children.Warner Bros.A boggart is a malevolent shape-shifting creature that takes the form of its viewer’s greatest fear.As a mother and natural caretaker, Molly’s biggest fear was losing her family, which is why any boggart she encountered would take the form of her dead children and husband. Although Harry wasn’t her biological son, she’d grown to consider him as such throughout the series, so the form of Molly’s boggart eventually shifted to include his demise as well. Bill and Fleur’s relationship started at Gringotts, and not everyone supported it.Clémence Poésy and Domhnall Gleeson in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.”Warner Bros.When we first meet Fleur Delacour in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” she is in her final year at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. After graduating, she took a job at Gringotts Wizarding Bank.Bill Weasley was also working there as a Curse-Breaker, and the two hit it off. But when Bill first started dating Fleur, his mother and sister were unimpressed with her. Molly questioned her love for Bill, and both Molly and Ginny’s general dislike for her was clear whenever she was around.Molly even continuously tried to set her son up with Nymphadora Tonks throughout his engagement — which was more than a little awkward because Tonks was already falling for Remus Lupin. However, by the time Bill and Fleur’s wedding came around, the family had warmed to Fleur a little. Victoire Weasley, Bill and Fleur’s eldest daughter, was the last character introduced in the series.Bill and Fleur had three children.Warner Bros.The epilogue of “Deathly Hallows” takes place 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts and introduces a few new people — namely the children of the main characters from the series. The very last character to be introduced in the series was Victoire Weasley, Bill and Fleur’s eldest child. In the 2007 documentary “J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life,” the author said that the character was born on the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, hence her name, which is French for “victory.”In the documentary, Rowling also drew a Weasley family tree that showed the couple had two other children named Dominique and Louis. Bill was portrayed by two different actors in the movies.Richard Fish and Domhnall Gleeson both played Bill Weasley in the films.Warner Bros.Domhnall Gleeson played Bill Weasley in the final films, but he wasn’t the first actor to portray the character. In “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” viewers catch a brief glimpse of the entire Weasley clan in a photo from their trip to Egypt. In that brief appearance, actor Richard Fish played Bill.The photo is also the only time we see Charlie Weasley in the entire film series. The description of Bill looking like Mad-Eye Moody after his attack is even more poignant in the movies.Bill is the one who announces Moody’s death to the rest of the Order of the Phoenix.Warner Bros.During the Battle of the Astronomy Tower at the end of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” Bill was attacked by the werewolf Fenrir Greyback. Luckily, he wasn’t turned, but he was left with large, cursed scars across his face and some wolf-like tendencies.In “Deathly Hallows,” Bill is described as having a “distant resemblance” to Mad-Eye Moody, who was also badly scarred from his career as an Auror. Funnily enough, the actor who played Bill in the movies is the real-life son of Brendan Gleeson, who played Moody. Charlie was the only surviving Weasley sibling who didn’t get married.Charlie only appears in a photo in one of the movies.Warner Bros.According to the 2007 documentary, out of the six surviving Weasley children, Charlie was the only one who didn’t marry and have children.Bill and Fleur had their three children. Percy married a witch named Audrey and had two daughters, Molly and Lucy, with her. George married Fred’s ex-girlfriend, Angelina Johnson, and they had two children together named Fred and Roxanne.Ron married Hermione and they had two kids, Rose and Hugo Granger-Weasley. And Harry married Ginny, who had their three kids: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna Potter. Very little is known about Charlie, aside from his passion for magical creatures, which has led some fans to wonder about the character’s sexual orientation.However, in “J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life,” the author said, “No, I don’t think Charlie’s gay, just more interested in dragons than women.”Percy should have been wearing glasses in the films.Chris Rankin as Percy Weasley.Warner Bros.There were quite a few differences between the “Harry Potter” books and films. Some of those changed seemed like large and confusing omissions, but others simply had to do with the physical appearances of characters.In the case of Percy Weasley, the books say on several occasions that he wears glasses, but the character never wears them in the films.Fred and George’s birthday is April Fool’s Day.James and Oliver Phelps played Fred and George Weasley.Warner Bros.Fred and George, the twin Weasley brothers and legendary pranksters, were fittingly born on April Fool’s Day of 1978. Rowling also confirmed in a tweet from 2015 that Fred was the older of the two twins, which may be why he tended to take the lead on many of their antics. Ron retired from the Ministry of Magic after two years to work with his brother.Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley.Warner BrothersPer The Guardian, in a now-deleted 2014 Daily Prophet article from Pottermore, fictional gossip columnist Rita Skeeter shared that Ron worked with Harry at the Ministry of Magic for two years before retiring to comanage Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes joke shop with his brother, George.Ginny went on to work at The Daily Prophet.Bonnie Wright played Ginny Weasley in the “Harry Potter” films.Warner Bros. PicturesIn the same now-deleted 2014 Daily Prophet article, fans also got a glimpse at Ginny’s life after the series. After playing Quidditch professionally for the all-female Holyhead Harpies, she went on to work as the Quidditch correspondent for The Daily Prophet. Read More:13 little-known facts about Albus Dumbledore even die-hard ‘Harry Potter’ fans may not know25 important details from the ‘Harry Potter’ books that were left out of the movies13 little-known facts about Severus Snape that ‘Harry Potter’ fans probably don’t know27 details the ‘Harry Potter’ movies got totally wrongRead the original article on Insider
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Written by: insider@insider.com (Stephanie Ashe)