Weasley family

"My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."

- Draco Malfoy on the Weasley family

Weasley is the surname of a pure-blood family (though the most recent generation has many non-pureblood members). Their names are Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, Bill, Molly, and Arthur Weasley. The Weasleys know many other wizarding families, including the Blacks, Prewetts, Longbottoms, Crouches, Delacours, and Potters, as well as the Muggle Granger family. All members of the Weasley family are red-haired and Sorted into Gryffindor house upon attendance of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The family home, known as the Burrow, is located just outside Ottery St. Catchpole, in Devon, England. The Weasleys live near other magical families such as the Diggory, Fawcett, and Lovegood families.

When Harry Potter befriended Arthur and Molly Weasley's youngest son, Ronald Weasley, the Weasleys became a second family to Harry. The Burrow became Harry's home away from home (he only resided with the Dursley family out of necessity), and Arthur and Molly served as de facto godparents in Sirius Black's absence.

They were included in the Sacred Twenty-Eight list, published in the Pure-Blood Directory by the 1930s. However, they deplored their inclusion in the list, because they said the had ancestral ties to many interesting Muggles. Their protests earned these families the opprobrium of advocates of the pure-blood doctrine, and the epithet 'blood traitor'.

Recent family history
"The Death Eaters know Ron's with you now, they're bound to target the family -- don't apologise. It was always a matter of time, Dad's been saying so for months. We're the biggest blood traitor family there is."

- Bill Weasley to Harry Potter in 1998

The Weasleys, unlike many other pure-blood families, willingly associate with Muggles, Muggle-borns, and half-bloods and do not consider themselves superior to others because of their blood status. Thus, elitist pure-blood families such as the Malfoys and the Blacks consider them "blood traitors" and treat them with disdain; Cedrella Black was even disowned by her family for marrying Septimus Weasley. The Weasleys' views led to their support to the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army during the Second Wizarding War. During the height of the latter conflict, the Weasleys were placed under surveillance by the Voldemort-controlled Ministry of Magic because they had been in close contact with Harry, and eventually had to go into hiding. The Weasleys took part in the Battle of Hogwarts. During the battle Fred was killed, deeply upsetting the rest of the family.

The Weasleys tended to have large numbers of children; an unusual trait for Wizarding families, according to Draco Malfoy. The most recent generations of Weasleys have been considered poor by wizarding standards ; their vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank only contained a small pile of Sickles and a single Galleon as of 1992.

This likely changed with the great commercial success of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and the successful careers of various family members. By the twenty-first century, many Weasleys and their relatives worked for the Ministry of Magic, including Arthur, Percy, Ron, and his brother-in-law Harry as Aurors, and Hermione Weasley née Granger high up in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

For several generations, only boys were born into the family, until the birth of Ginevra Molly "Ginny" Weasley. This trend ended with the grandchildren of Arthur and Molly, who include more girls than boys.

Molly and Arthur Weasley's family
Arthur Weasley, one of three sons of Septimus Weasley and Cedrella Black, met Molly Prewett while they attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the 1960s. They married soon after finishing school and went on to have seven children, whom they loved but did not spoil. All of those who were of age, except Percy, eventually became members of the reinstated Order of the Phoenix.


 * Arthur — previously employed by the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, head of the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects as of 1996.
 * Molly — housewife/homemaker.
 * Bill — the eldest child; works as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts Bank in Egypt.
 * Charlie — studies dragons in Romania.
 * Percy — worked at the Ministry of Magic from 1994 to 1998 before reaffirming his loyalty to the Order of the Phoenix; later worked at the reformed Ministry under Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt.
 * Fred — (died 1998) co-owner of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
 * George — co-owner of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
 * Ron — close friend and brother-in-law of Harry Potter; worked as an Auror and in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes after the end of the Second Wizarding War.
 * Ginny — only daughter, and the youngest in the family; played Quidditch for the Holyhead Harpies before becoming a Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet; wife of Harry Potter.



Other Weasleys

 * Septimus Weasley — father of Arthur and his two brothers
 * Cedrella Weasley née Black — mother of Arthur and his two brothers
 * Weasley children's cousin - Son of one of Arthur Weasley's brothers
 * Arthur Weasley's two brothers - Arthur Weasley's brothers
 * Fleur Weasley née Delacour — wife of Bill Weasley
 * Audrey Weasley — wife of Percy Weasley
 * Angelina Weasley née Johnson — wife of George Weasley
 * Hermione Weasley née Granger — wife of Ron Weasley
 * Harry Potter — husband of Ginny Potter née Weasley
 * Victoire Weasley — eldest child of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour
 * Dominique Weasley — middle child of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour
 * Louis Weasley — youngest child and only son of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour
 * Molly Weasley II — eldest daughter of Percy and Audrey Weasley
 * Lucy Weasley — youngest daughter of Percy and Audrey Weasley
 * Fred Weasley II — son of George Weasley and Angelina Johnson
 * Roxanne Weasley — daughter of George Weasley and Angelina Johnson
 * Rose Weasley — daughter and oldest child of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger
 * Hugo Weasley — son and youngest child of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger
 * James Sirius Potter II — eldest child of Harry Potter and Ginny Potter née Weasley
 * Albus Severus Potter - youngest son of Harry Potter and Ginny Potter née Weasley
 * Lily Luna Potter - youngest child of Harry Potter and Ginny Potter née Weasley

Weasley relatives

 * Mr. and Mrs. Prewett — Molly Weasley née Prewett's parents
 * Gideon Prewett — Molly's older brother
 * Fabian Prewett — Molly's older brother
 * Ignatius Prewett — Molly's uncle
 * Lucretia Prewett née Black — Molly's aunt by marriage and a second cousin of Arthur Weasley
 * Callidora Longbottom née Black — Arthur's maternal aunt
 * Charis Crouch née Black — Arthur's maternal aunt
 * Bilius — a brother or brother-in-law of Arthur or MollyFleurmain.jpg]]
 * An uncle of the Weasley children
 * Muriel — Molly's aunt
 * Monsieur Delacour — father of Fleur Weasley née Delacour
 * Apolline Delacour — mother of Fleur Weasley née Delacour
 * Gabrielle Delacour — sister of Fleur Weasley née Delacour
 * Mr. Granger — father of Hermione Weasley née Granger
 * Mrs. Granger — mother of Hermione Weasley née Granger
 * James Potter I — Harry Potter's father
 * Lily Potter née Evans — Harry Potter's mother
 * Second cousin of Molly Weasley
 * Great Aunt Tessie — connected to the family tree through unknown ways

Etymology

 * There appears to be a pattern in the Weasley family of members having names that may possibly allude to figures in medieval history and Arthurian legend:
 * Arthur Weasley, shares a given name with, the central character of Arthurian legends.
 * The eldest son, Bill, has the same given name as William Marshal. Between the mid 12th and early 13th centuries, this knight rose from obscurity by serving four Plantagenet kings of England (Henry II, Richard I, John and Henry III), and eventually became Regent of England. At times, he is referred to as "the Flower of Chivalry." In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Bill marries Fleur Delacour, whose name translates as "flower of the court".
 * Charles Weasley's name may be a reference to.
 * Fred Weasley's name is a dimunitive of the name Frederick, which may be an allusion to Frederick Barbarossa. Frederick was an Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, served in both the Second and Third Crusades. His nickname, Barbarossa, means "red beard."
 * George Weasley's name may be a reference to St. George.
 * Percy Weasley's name is a diminutive of the name , which was the name of one of Arthur's Knights of the Round Table.
 * Ron Weasley connects into this pattern of medieval and Arthurian naming in three ways:
 * Firstly, he shares his name with King Arthur's spear Rhongomyniad, which called "Ron."
 * If one were to take the name Ronald and switch the "n" and "l," they would have . Historically Roland was a military leader under Charlemagne and was responsible for defending the Frankish Kingdom's border with Brittany. Brittany is considered a potential place of origin for many of the Arthurian legends. Later, he became the subject of a chanson de geste, which is considered one of the earliest pieces of French literature, and was popular throughout the medieval era.
 * The name Ronald is derived from an Old Norse name that was a cognate of the name Reginald. This connection is supported when Ron uses Polyjuice Potion to masquerade as Reginald Cattermole while infiltrating the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. During 12th century, there were two Reginalds that this cognative naming may be an allusion to:
 * was a monk who chronicled the life of Saint Godric of Finchale, who shares a given name with Godric Gryffindor, founder of Gryffindor House.
 * (Raynald is also a cognate of Reginald), served in the Second Crusade and ruled as until he was captured and executed by Saladin. While discussing the Deathly Hallows with Harry and Hermione, Ron states that he favours the Elder Wand, whose original wielder was Antioch Peverell.
 * Ginny Weasley's full name is , the Italian form of the name, who was Arthur's queen.
 * Also, Muriel had a cousin named Lancelot, who was one of Arthur's knights, though it should be noted that Muriel is only related to the Weasleys by the marriage of her niece Molly.

Author's comments

 * J. K. Rowling has said that unlike with many other characters, Ron Weasley's name always remained the same in various drafts of the series. She has remarked that the surname Weasley is derived from the weasel, which is also Arthur Weasley's Patronus. About the family's name and characteristic red hair, she commented:
 * "In Britain and Ireland the weasel has a bad reputation as an unfortunate, even malevolent, animal. However, since childhood I have had a great fondness for the family mustelidae ; not so much malignant as maligned, in my opinion. There are also many superstitions associated with redheaded people and most state that they are in some way unlucky (Judas Escariot was supposedly red-haired), but this is nonsense; I happen to like red hair as well as weasels."



Behind the scenes

 * In the Harry Potter film adaptations, the Weasleys are portrayed by:
 * Mark Williams, who portrays Arthur Weasley in all film adaptations except Harry Potter and the Philosopher&apos;s Stone, in which Arthur does not appear.
 * Julie Walters, who portrays Molly Weasley in all film adaptations except Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in which Molly does not appear.
 * Richard Fish and Domhnall Gleeson, who both portray Bill Weasley. Fish portrayed him in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, in the family photo of their trip to Egypt. Gleeson portrays Bill in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
 * Alex Crockford, who portrayed Charles Weasley in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in the Weasley family photo on holiday in Egypt. A young man who appears to be Charlie is seen beside Nymphadora Tonks in the wedding scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
 * Chris Rankin who portrays Percy Weasley. Percy did not appear in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire or Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
 * James and Oliver Phelps, who portray Fred and George respectively in all film adaptations.
 * Rupert Grint, who portrays Ron Weasley in all film adaptations.
 * Bonnie Wright, who portrays Ginny Weasley in all film adaptations.
 * Hermione Weasley née Granger&apos;s Patronus is an, which is in the same family as the weasel, Mustelidae. This, as well as the fact that the Weasleys live in Ottery St. Catchpole, may have foreshadowed her marriage into the family.
 * Weasley sounds like weaver, convenient considering that Mrs. Weasley loves to knit, or at least charm her needles to do it for her.
 * The only sons of Arthur Weasley and Molly Weasley that do not have any known children are Fred Weasley and Charles Weasley, the former because of his death and the latter because he is much more interested in studying dragons.
 * Harry Potter has saved several lives of members of the Weasley family.
 * He destroyed Tom Riddle&apos;s diary before Ginny had her life force drained away.
 * He saw Arthur being attacked by Nagini and reported it in time to save him.
 * He gave Ron a Bezoar when he was poisoned.
 * He shielded Molly when Voldemort turned on her after she killed Bellatrix Lestrange in the Battle of Hogwarts.
 * Along with the Muggle Granger family, the Weasleys are also related to the Muggle Evans family and the Muggle Dursley family. They are related to the Evans and Dursleys through Harry Potter, who married Ginny.
 * The only children who may call the Weasleys their "maternal family" are the children of Ginny: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna Potter.
 * It is possible that Victoire Weasley, Bill and Fleur&apos;s daughter, might marry Teddy Lupin, making the Weasleys related to the Lupin family in two ways: from the marriage of Victoire and from sharing distant ancestry through the Black family.
 * J.K. Rowling said in an interview that Molly Weasley educated her children in the basics (reading, maths, spelling, grammar, etc.) before they went to Hogwarts.
 * If the young man seen beside Tonks in the wedding scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is in fact Charlie, that would mean that this is the second film (along with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) in which all nine Weasleys appear.
 * The oldest child, Bill has his father's first name, Arthur, as his middle name and the youngest child, Ginny, has her mother&apos;s first name, Molly, as her middle name.
 * Orange hair was considered a sign of witchcraft in medieval times.