Harry Potter: Ron's Childhood Trauma Proves Fred and George Were Prodigies

Summary:

• Fred and George Weasley were gifted wizards capable of creating their own spells, enchantments, and potions, and they used their talents to become rich.
• When Ron was three and the twins were five, Fred turned his younger brother’s teddy bear into a spider which caused Ron’s arachnophobia.
• Turning a toy into a living being is advanced transfiguration magic, and this incident indicated just how talented the twins were even as little kids.

Love them or hate them, Fred and George Weasley were clearly two outstanding young wizards. Everything we know about them — apart from their sadistic impulses like shoving Montague into the Vanishing Cabinet — signals that the twins were capable of phenomenal magical feats far beyond an average adult wizard’s abilities.

While we learned little about Dred and Forge’s growing up, one case reveals how gifted the twins were as kids. The case of them traumatizing their younger brother.

What Happened Between Ron and the Twins?

As Potterheads are well aware, Ron Weasley has a severe case of arachnophobia. This served him terribly during his and Harry’s journey into the Forbidden Forest to meet the Acromantulas. However, many fans forget the reason why Ronald is afraid of spiders — and no, it’s not just because like many people, he finds them creepy.

Back when little Ron was three years old, he was messing around with toys and accidentally broke Fred’s toy broomstick. Sure enough, the older brother was pissed at his sibling, and to avenge his fallen plaything, Fred turned Ron’s teddy bear into a giant spider which understandably terrified the latter who was still borderline a baby.

Most likely, it was this incident that led Ron Weasley to develop severe arachnophobia; alternatively, he could have been already scared of spiders. Details don’t matter much, however, if the latter is true, it would mean two things: first, that Fred was more cruel than we thought, and second, that he was even more talented.

The Spider-Bear Case Proves the Twins’ Ingenuity

We might never learn whether Fred specifically chose to turn the teddy bear into a spider because he knew about Ron’s fear or not — we might never even learn whether it was Fred or George, really — but that incident makes one thing clear.

The Weasley twins were extremely gifted wizards from a very young age.

Consider this: if Ron was three when the spider-bear incident happened, then the twins were five years old. A five-year-old Dred (or Forge) managed to turn a stuffed toy into a living being with a complex body structure! You might argue that it was just accidental magic, and you’d be correct. But as always, the devil’s in the details.

When Harry Potter was young, his accidental magic had him jump high, grow his hair back overnight, and vaporize a glass panel. When Lily Evans was young, she could airlift from a swing and make a flower’s petals move like an octopus. Young Neville Longbottom could neglect fall damage by bouncing (what a gamer, this lad).

Meanwhile, one of the twins, being five years old, performed an advanced act of transfiguration that wasn’t taught until the final years at Hogwarts! Turning an inanimate object into a functioning high-level arthropod is no small feat, and even though it was accidental magic, it showed just how talented the twins already were.

Bonus points if it wasn’t the spider-bear that invoked Ron’s arachnophobia but Fred’s deliberate choice to use the form of something he knew his brother feared; this would mean that even as a five-year-old, the twin controlled his magic incredibly well. This would also mean that he was a giant a-hole, but that’s beside the point.