Fred and George: should we worry? (Was: next prank)

[jenny_ravenclaw]

No: HPFGUIDX 42654

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "zeff8" <zeff8 at a...> wrote:

> Was thinking about Fred and George today at work. They like to 
create pratical jokes, like the ton toung Toffie, and the Canary Creme 
puffs.>

They sure do!  I like the imagery of the prank you came up with.  I'm 
going to take your post in a completely different direction, though, 
and I hope you don't mind, because this is something I've been 
thinking about for a while.

Fred and George are quite the loveable scoundrels, are they not?  Or 
are they?  Has anyone ever thought of their pranks as a bit 
mean-spirited?  When I first read GoF, I delighted in the Ton-Tongue 
Toffee scene.  Boy, did I love picturing Dudley on his hands and knees 
in the living room, scooping up as many of the "brightly colored" 
toffees as his greedy hands could find.  My mother, however, didn't 
think it was so funny.  She thought Fred and George were mean.

Hmmm, maybe they are.  If I look at their "pranks" from another 
perspective, they could make the twins a force not to be reckoned 
with.  Turning Ron's stuffed animal into a spider (CoS), changing and 
hiding Percy's Prefect badge (PoA) and making snacks that turn people 
into canaries (GoF) may not be so funny if they happened to you.  Ah, 
and in FBWTF, they obviously destroyed a Puffskein because, as Ron 
writes to Harry "they used it for bludger practice".  At some point 
they also feed fireworks to a salamander.  While I have to admit their 
pranks are quite funny, what they did to the animals was not.

How popular should they be?  I wouldn't call them bullies like Draco 
and his cronies, but how must Neville feel about them?  Even Harry 
worries that Fred and George will think he has gone soft if they find 
out his scar hurts.  At the end of GoF, Fred and George show us a real 
glimpse of their tempers when they take an active part in hexing Draco 
and Co., and then walking *on* them after Draco and Co. are out cold.

Many people dislike Snape, Draco, Rita Skeeter and some aren't even 
crazy about Ron - all because of their attitudes.  Fred and George are 
funny and fun, and obviously talented wizards, but are they nice?  
Should we applaud them for their prank inventions and encourage them 
to do more?  I for one would love to see them open a new jokes shop, 
but maybe they should be steered away from their current passions for 
practical jokes.  Maybe they should be more heavily recruited to help 
Dumbledore and Harry in their battle against Voldemort and the DEs.  
Maybe they should treat Molly with more respect.  I mean, should we 
like them as much as we do?  Why do we like them so much more than we 
like Snape or Draco?  I like them very much, but I'd like to know what 
you all think.

--jenny from ravenclaw, who would not like to be on the receiving end 
of one of Fred and George's pranks, and might not even laugh if I saw 
one in action, but I sure love reading them! 
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