Everything I Need to Know, I Learned From Fred and George Weasley

Well, you guys, I am not going to lie. I am on a Harry Potter kick right now, therefore I am dedicating the month of July to Harry Potter posts. Last week, we discussed Sirius Black, because he’s the man, but this week, I am talking about the Weasleys. Fred and George, the best twin brothers in the whole wide world, are full of lessons. If we look past their humor (not too far past, though), the twins are actually full of good life advice. Take with a grain of salt—these guys are trouble. Note: Spoiler alerts ahead!

EINTKILF Fred and George Weasley

1. Love thy brother.

Obviously Fred and George love each other so much, but they also love all of their brothers (and Ginny!) with a passion. Fred and George, though very different than some members of their family—ahem, Percy—always focused very keenly on their familial connections, as all people should, really. Siblings are important, you guys.

2. Don’t always follow the rules.

I mean, I am a rule follower for the most part, but some rules really do need to be broken. Fred and George continually focused on their happiness, and the happiness of those around them, rather than the rules that were set in place for them to follow.

Of course, they were also always looking for trouble. Only the rebellious people in life know about secret entrances in a magical castle.

3. Take chances.

As previously stated, Fred and George, the mischievous guys that they are, had no problem taking chances when everything could have gone horribly wrong. There was not a teacher, a friend, a sibling, or an angry mother who could convince them not to do something they wanted to do.

Taking chances is something that we could all probably attempt more often. I know I certainly could—though I will say, there aren’t really many people that I am afraid of getting in trouble with at this point. I am an adult. . . kinda.

4. Use caution when driving a flying car.

Right? They provide Harry with the coolest exist scene ever. Byyyye Dursleys!

5. Forgive your family.

When Percy comes back to his family to fight on their side in the great war of wizards, he fights alongside Fred, who takes him right back into his life.

Percy: I was a fool! I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I — was a, a. . .
Fred: Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron.
Percy: Yes, I was!
Fred: Well, you can’t say fairer than that.

And of course (SPOILER ALERT), Percy is with Fred when he is killed, and does not leave his body until it can be safely placed out of harm’s way. Though I have a strong stance against Fred’s death (I feel like it was the cruelest, and most unnecessary of all of the deaths in the whole series), I really do love that touch of love and forgiveness from Percy before it happens. People make mistakes. It is okay to forgive—especially when you’re family.

6. Go against the grain. 

Fred: We feel our futures lie outside the world of academic achievement.

Because sometimes it is okay to not want to be an Auror, or a professor, or a Ministry employee. Sometimes it is okay to drop out of school and open a joke shop. Everyone should follow their dreams.

7. It is okay to cause a scene.

Going back to that “some rules are meant to be broken” thing, I am also of the belief that on occasion, it is okay—important even—to make a ruckus. Fred and George saw an opportunity when Professor Umbridge had Hogwarts totally under her control. The twins decide that leaving Hogwarts to pursue their own future was in their best interest, therefore they plot the greatest exit strategy ever, even getting Peeves to follow their lead.

“Give her hell from us, Peeves.”

8. Teamwork is very important.

Fred and George did everything together, and though I don’t have a twin, or even a sister, I wholeheartedly believe in the power of a duo. These boys caused chaos together, they were Beaters on the Quidditch team together, they quit school together, they did business together, they always joked together, they danced together:

And of course, they fought side by side until the very end. Brothers in arms.

9. Find the humor in life.

Naturally, the first thing anyone thinks of when they think of Fred and George is comedy. Fred and George were definitely the comic relief throughout the Harry Potter series—even when Fred is killed, JK Rowling references the smile remaining on his face. Everything is not always funny though (obviously, since I just talked about Fred dying) yet these guys always managed to make us laugh.

Gawwwwwwsh, I will never forget the first time I read this scene in the book. I was crying so hard because I thought George had died, and this joke between the twins lightened my life.

10. “Anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve.”

Definitely in my top five favorite lines from any of the books, Ginny Weasley said this to Harry about growing up with Fred and George. Though it is a quote from Ginny, she credits Fred and George for the lesson. Being the only girl in a huge family of dudes, I have always found it extremely endearing that Ginny seemed to relate strongest to Fred and George. Though obviously Ginny was close with Ron, as well, there was always a special relationship between her and her twin brothers.

Personally, I really do believe that anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve.

I have a lot of nerve.

Thanks, Fred and George. You’ll always be “on the team too” to me.

Featured image via harrypotterwikia, flying car image via pieroblog-citta.blogspot.com, “hell from us Peeves” image via linkrandom, dancing GIF image via degrassi.wikia, Ginny+boys image via glogster.