[HPforGrownups] Twins, time turner, the same person?

[Kathryn Cawte]

No: HPFGUIDX 91131


I don't know when this will finally make it to the list since my ISP is
playing games with my e-mail connection at the minute and keeps closing the
connection before I can send and/or receive stuff so if I say something
someone else has already said it's either because the message took ages
getting through or someone said it one one of the 78 messages my ISP are
letting know about but not download at the moment. *sigh*

LizVega
> I've been thinking a lot about Fred and George lately. The first
> time we meet them, at Kings Cross Station in PS- They yell at Molly
> because she apparently mixed them up, but then just as "Fred" is
> going through the barrier, he yells that she had it right the first
> time. But, she didn't know the difference, she just said, "Oh, sorry
> George"- or something like that. I don't understand how a mother can
> mix up her children, even if they are identical twins. I've met
> twins, loads of them, and after a little while, the differences
> become apparent. But, Molly couldn't do that after thirteen years?


K
But as you pointed out she *was* right about which was which. Her mistake
was not in misidentifying them but in believing them when they were trying
to wind her up - and since she was at the time attempting to get four of her
own children off to Hogwarts - without losing any of them or their luggage,
keeping an eye on her youngest and very excited child and help Harry out
it's hardly surprising she was distracted enough to fall for it.

LizVega

> Their attitude, personalities, goals, etc. all seem different from
> any of the other hundred Weasley's.

K

I don't think their attitudes and goals are at all different from their
siblings - as for personalities the seven are all vastly different with the
exception that Fred and George are somewhat similar to one another. The
seven Weasley offspring all seem motivated by two things - firstly they are
all basically 'good' people, yes even Percy. Percy hasn't decided (as far as
we know) to follow Ministry guidelines because he's got a secret desire to
be evil, but rather because he thinks it is the right thing to do. Secondly
they are, as you often find with kids in large families, all trying to be
independent and somehow stand out. We don't know much about the oldest two
but they do both have jobs which even for the wizarding world seem somewhat
exotic (dragon keepers aren't terribly common from what we know and Bill
works in Egypt), plus Bill's appearance is in itself non-conformist. Percy
tries to stand out by being the perfect son - follows the rules, gets good
grades, and now is trying to climb the rungs in his chosen profession. The
Twins stand out by being the lovable pranksters - despite all the trouble
they cause you get the impression that even the teachers are exasperated by
them but don't actually dislike them in any way (plus now they can add the
'cool' way they left school to that reputation). Ginny is lucky in one way
in that she already stands out from her siblings by virtue of being a girl -
but we also know that she is talkative, outgoing and bubbly (at least when
not around the boy she had a crush on - Ron says so himself). Poor Ron was
until recently having trouble finding his way because in everything he did
he could be compared (unfavourably in his eyes) to his older siblings. The
only thing he was doing that was different than them was assisting Harry and
in the eyes of everyone outside of the Trio themselves he seemed fated to be
a sidekick, if mentioned at all he would be an 'and'. Harry,
the-boy-who-lived *and* hisfriendsRonandHermione (sort of an afterthought).
Bill was head boy when at school, Charlie was Quidditch captain, Percy got
the good grades and Fred and George had the market on mischief cornered - so
if he tries to go the popular but responsible Head Boy route he's following
in Bill's footsteps, sporting achievement is following Charlie, academic
success makes him just like Percy and playing the rebel makes him a copy of
the Twins!

Uh OK I went into way more detail there than I meant so I'll summarise - the
kids all have similar goals and attitudes, it's the methods that they use to
try and attain them that differ.

K