Top 5 Weasley twin moments

Today, April 1, is one of the rare times of year when people question everything they read on the internet. After all, this is widely celebrated as April Fool's Day. But here in the Harry Potter fandom, we know it as the birthday of our favorite pranksters, Fred and George Weasley.. We're not joking about how much we love them, so here are five classic moments of Weasley twin humor.

1. Gred and Forge

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, we're introduced to a lovely family tradition. In spite of Ron's complaint that he's always stuck with maroon and Percy not wanting to wear one, all of the Weasleys (and their found family such as Harry) receive homemade jumpers from Molly..

It's a sign of affection that the twins can laugh at her predictability. We sas them tease her for confusing their identities at Platform 9 3/4 and when it comes to lumpy sweaters with their initials on it, they wink at one feature. "You haven't got a letter on yours," says George on seeing Harry's emerald green pullover. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid - we know we're called Gred and Forge." They obviously love their mother and poking fun is a family tradition.

2. The Triwizard Winnings

Throughout Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, we see the twins obsessed with business success. They want a joke shop and have started developing products, but all of their savings get stolen from them when Ludo Bagman pays off their Quidditch bet with disappearing leprechaun gold. Harry watches their book-long struggle to reclaim their money.

It's on the return journey to London that Harry realizes how much they've lost and how fruitless their hard work has been that year. After having tried and failed to give his prize money from the Triwizard Tournament to the family of his deceased co-champion, he keeps the Weasleys back for a last conversation on the train. Four times, he tells the twins to take the thouosand Galleons while they argue and refuse and think him insane. Finally, he tells them to "think how many Canary Creams that is." Having jsut heard him say that "I could do with a few laughs" and realizing this is a way to help a friend, they take the seed money.

3. The Heir of Slytherin

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, we see most of the student body in a state of great anxiety. Those who aren't frightened seem to be at least alarmed or uncertain about their safety.

Except for Fred and George Weasley, of course. Knowing that Harry's being targeted as the supposed source of attacks on students and creatures, they "went out of thei rway to march ahead of Harry down the corridors, shouting, 'Make way for the Heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through..." George even wards him off with garlic like some creature of the night instead of a scrawny bespectacled 12-year-old boy. Rather than take the fanfare to heart, Harry remarks that it "made him feel better that Fred and George, at least, thought the idea of his being Slytherin's heir was quite ludicrous."

4. "Wow - we're identical!"

One of my favorite scenes in all of Harry Potter is when six of Harry's friends and allies volunteer to take his form for the flight from Privet Drive. Everyone has their own response to seeing themselves as him, such as Hermione noticing his awful eyesight and Ron checking himself for a tattoo, but Fred drawls the best opinion: "None of us really fancy it, Harry....Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever."

Minutes later, Harry sees himself replicated many times and Fred and George, who have been described before as identical "down to the last freckle," chorus, "We're identical!" It's a great moment of levity in a situation where they're about to face deadly danger for wearing someone else's appearance.

5. Humongous Bighead

Poor Percy Weasley is one of the most striving people in the Weasley family. He has achievements coming out of his ears and ambitions to make something of himself. There's nothing wrong with his hopes of a bright future, but his family doesn't want him to take it too far. Hence the frequent teasing about his prefect badge and, in the third book, his Head Boy position.

The night before the start of term, the Weasleys and Harry gather for a wonderful dinner and learn that Mr. Weasley has arranged for Ministry cars to get them to King's Cross Station. When Percy asks why, the twins describe little flags emblazoned with HB, somewhat like the indication that a diplomat is traveling in a limousine. But instead of Head Boy, this stands for "Humongous Bighead." You can tell that Percy's self-importance has been a major factor in the past few weeks when "Everyone except Percy and Mrs. Weasley snorted into their pudding."

Hope you've enjoyed this look back at the Mischief-makers-in-Chief. Happy birthday to Gred and Forge.