Hey everyone, welcome back to Harry Potter Theory.
Don’t let their modest home fool you, because the Weasleys are one of the oldest, and proudest,
wizarding families in Britain.
And through all the centuries of their existence, the honest bunch of do-gooders have racked
up quite a number of interesting feats and facts.
Today, we’re going to take a few moments to look at some of the most shocking ones.
10.
Related to the Potters
The wizarding community in Great Britain is famously tiny.
Although there are over 2 dozen pure blood families that populate the isle, and exponentially
more half-blood ones, that still only amounts to a few thousand wizards and witches.
Until recent times, even the most progressive wizarding families believed that purebloods
should only marry purebloods.
And even if they didn’t believe this pretty narrow-minded point of view, many witches
and wizards ended up marrying other wizards and witches anyway.
The fact that they went to a magical school, and lived amongst other witches and wizards,
all but guaranteed that they’d only marry other magic users.
With so few families, it was only a matter of time before the Weasley’s married into
the Potter family, or vice versa.
Of course, eventually, Harry Potter and the Weasleys would become related by Harry’s
marriage to Ginny.
But, according to the Black family tree, another Potter marriage, that predates Harry’s by
several generations, meant that Harry was actually already related to the Weasleys.
Although it hasn’t been confirmed, one of Harry’s distant ancestors, a wizard by the
name of Charlus Potter, married into the Black family, and produced a child in the 1940’s
or 50’s.
Through the Black family, Charlus became distantly related to Cedrella Black, who was… of course…
Arthur Weasley’s mother.
9.
Related to the Voldemorts… and everyone else
And…. actually…
Arthur Weasley’s mother, Cedrella, meant that Arthur and the rest of the Weasleys were
related to just about every other family in Britain.
Through the years, the Blacks became famous for their lack of male descendants.
Each generation seemed to be filled with more and more girls.
And since the Blacks were infamously conservative, these young Black women seemed to only marry
into other pure-blood families.
And like we said earlier, there were only a handful of pureblood families in Britain
at the time.
So, eventually, one of the Black girls married into the Weasleys.
When Cedrella Black and Septimus Weasley wed, they produced three sons, one of which was
Arthur Weasley.
And through their father Arthur, Ron and his siblings were related to not just the Blacks
and the Potters, but also the Longbottoms, the Malfoys, the Tonks, the Lupins, the Lestranges…
and even… the Riddles (yes, that means Lord Voldemort).
8.
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
Even though Arthur and Molly were reportedly poor, their children went on to become quite
successful.
EAch one became one of the top individuals in their fields, from Bill’s work as a curse-breaker,
to Charlie’s achievements as a dragonologist… the Weasleys succeeded wherever they went.
But one of the greatest Weasley successes was Fred and George’s shop, Weasley’s
Wizard Wheezes.
It was a magical joke shop that was so successful, they eventually opened a storefront in Diagon
Alley.
After the conclusion of the second wizarding war, this store produced enough income to
not only lift George to the upper income brackets, but the rest of his family as well.
Of course, none of that would have been possible if Harry Potter hadn’t loaned them their
initial seed money in the first place.
7.
Sirius Black’s Disowned Cousin
Arthur Weasley’s mother, Cedrella, was actually disowned for marrying into the Weasley family.
Even though they were one of the Sacred Twenty Eight, their love for muggles was so severe,
that the head of the Black family couldn’t fathom allowing Weasley’s children to run
through their halls.
So, just as they had cast out so many relatives before them, the Blacks outcast Cedrella.
Although the alienation from her family no doubt hurt Arthur’s mother deeply, she seemed
to live a happy, full, life with her husband, Septimus Weasley.
6.
Even more Weasleys
Now, we’re not one to trust gossip, but according to rumor, the Weasleys have always
had a lot of kids.
When compared to other wizarding families, who averaged 2 to 3 children per marriage,
Ron’s six siblings certainly seemed like a lot.
And that number wasn’t limited to Arthur and Molly’s union.
The generations that preceded Arthur’s marriage were also rumored to produce a great number
of kids.
Although, by the time Harry and Hermione married into the family, the Weasleys seemed to conform
to the rest of wizarding society, as they only had a few children each.
5.
1 Galleon
At one point, Arthur and Molly were rumored to be so poor, that they only had a single
Galleon within Gringotts bank.
Of course, this is probably just more gossip and bullying from the Malfoys, but there is
an ounce of truth to it.
Among the Sacred 28, the Weasleys were in a particularly tough economic situation.
And when we look back through historical records, there’s really no reason for Arthur’s
lack of savings.
His mother, as we know, was cut off from the Blacks, which meant that Arthur wasn’t given
a chunk of that family’s wealth.
And the Weasleys had only produced male descendants for generations.
According to traditional, male-favored rules of inheritance, the Weasley sons likely had
to divide and share the inheritance that their parents and grandparents left behind, reducing
their family wealth each time.
And since Arthur Weasley took a job as a ministry worker, which didn’t really give him enough
income to support 7 children, it makes sense that the Weasley’s struggled.
4.
One of the Sacred Twenty-Eight
The Sacred Twenty-Eight were the 28 remaining pure-blood families in Britain by the 1930’s.
As usual, the wizarding families of the time were overly concerned with the half-blood
status of those around them.
Although there were a handful of progressive wizards, who didn’t care about muggle heritage,
most of the wizarding world in Britain was absolutely obsessed.
When sorting out suitors, and upcoming marriages, parents would often refer to the list of the
Sacred Twenty Eight, in order to select an upstanding family for their child.
If you take one look at the list, it’s hard to imagine the Weasleys got along with many
of the members.
There were the Malfoys, Lestranges, and Crouches, to name a few.
nterestingly, even though James Potter was supposedly pure-blood, the Potters weren’t
included on this list, because of their outspoken sympathy for muggles.
3.
Blood Traitors
In fact, the Potters weren’t the only ones who bucked the trend of pure-blood obsession.
Whenever the Weasleys were mentioned along with the other Sacred Twenty Eight, they often
publicly criticized the distinction.
They would point out the many Muggles who were rumored to be in their ancestry… a
fact that Arthur Weasley was particularly proud of.
Due to their muggle sympathy, the Weasleys were considered blood traitors, a slur reserved
for those who married non-magical humans, or simply betrayed the belief of wizard-supremacy.
2.
The Great Wizarding War
Even though Arthur and Molly never joined the Order of the Phoenix, their lives were
deeply impacted by the first wizarding war.
During that time, they kept their heads down, and focused on providing a safe home for their
brand new family.
Almost immediately after getting married, the pair started to produce children.
First was Bill, then came Charlie, Percy, the Twins, Ron, and of course, Ginny.
Bill was born in 1970, and Ginny was born in 1981.
That meant, for 11 years, there was always at least one infant in the Weasley household.
Which must have been terrifying, with Voldemort and his Death Eaters roaming around Britain.
After all, Arthur Weasley was proudly sympathetic towards Muggles, and it wouldn’t have been
unusual for Voldemort to attack the Weasley’s family home for such a bold opinion..
Molly Weasley’s Brothers
Even though Arthur and Molly hid away during the first wizarding war, the rest of their
family wasn’t so lucky.
During that time, two of Molly Weasley’s brothers, Fabian and Gideon, joined the Order
of the Phoenix.
Even though they had some initial success fighting against Voldemort’s army of Death
Eaters, they were eventually outmatched by a group of 5 dark wizards, and were slain
as a result.
Their deaths occurred in the final year of the war, and the same year that Ginny Weasley
was born.
Had they avoided conflict for just a while longer, and waited for Voldemort’s first
death at the hands of Lily and Harry Potter, then Fabian and Gideon would have likely survived.
But that wasn’t what fate had in store for them.
And there you have it, 10 shocking facts about the Weasley family.
What do you think?
Which was the most surprising for you?
Was there anything you wish I added to the list?
Let me know in the comments below.
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Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live