The Fred And George Fan Theory That Explains A Big Harry Potter Moment

Throughout the Harry Potter series, the rambunctious and hilarious Weasley twins bring a great deal of humor and fun to Hogwarts. Always getting into trouble, Ron's (Rupert Grint) older brothers Fred and George (James and Oliver Phelps) are an unstoppable force of chaos known for inventing magical pranks and playing for the Gryffindor Quidditch team (a ridiculous sport for which there is an actual professional league) as a pair of formidable beaters. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), and thus the fans, probably only know about a fraction of the mischief they got up to while at Hogwarts, but one fan has a theory about how they might have influenced the Gryffindor Quidditch team in an unexpected way.

In Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, he becomes the captain of Gryffindor's Quidditch team and holds tryouts for new members. By this point, many of his long-time teammates have graduated, including Fred and George, leaving plenty of open spots. (In the case of the twins, "graduated" is too generous. Technically, this is what actually happened to the Weasleys after Harry Potter.) The arrogant and insufferable seventh year Cormac McLaggen (Freddie Stroma) competes against Ron for the Keeper position, which Ron played the previous year. Cormac's flying skills impress Harry, leading him to ask why Cormac didn't try out last year, when Ron first got the position. His answer is what sparks the Fred and George theory: Cormac says he ate a bunch of doxy eggs on a bet and was too sick to play. Reddit user u/Mama_cheese posted a theory suggesting that his inability to try out for the keeper position was not a coincidence at all, but a scheme concocted by the twins.

In their Reddit post, u/Mama_cheese reminded r/harrypotter that during the summer before Harry's fifth year, Fred and George had surreptitiously taken some of the doxies (small, fairy-like pests with venomous bites) that had infested 12 Grimmauld Place, the new Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Over the course of the school year, they experiment with various components, including doxy venom, to create their joke shop products. They concoct Skiving Snackboxes, which contain sweets that feign illness to get a student out of class, testing them on unsuspecting younger kids. It's possible they made that bet with Cormac to trick him into becoming a test subject, but u/Mama_cheese suggests their motive went beyond that, theorizing that Fred and George goaded him into eating the doxy eggs so that Ron wouldn't have competition for the keeper position. They wrote: "In many ways, Fred and George were the best brother and teammates, saving the team from Cormac's nonsense, and clearing the way for Ron to become keeper."

Some commenters were skeptical, particularly because Ron had been secretive about his ambitions of making the team. It's unclear if Fred and George knew he was going to try out in the first place, but other commenters argued that they could have easily figured it out based on a few clues: Ron had gotten a new broomstick and was sneaking around. User u/KidsTryThisAtHome chimed in, writing, "This is Fred and George we're talking about. They know so much about the school they gave the marauders map to Harry, it wouldn't surprise me that they figured it out somehow. As for the eggs, they were constantly experimenting, it's a stretch, but this isn't that far fetched."

While fans debated whether or not the twins made the bet with Cormac to increase Ron's odds of getting on the team, a few offered another explanation. User u/dyingstars28 argued that Cormac's bet seemed exactly like something Fred and George would do, saying, "To be fair, Fred and George are known for their crazy schemes, and Cormac took a wild bet that only Fred and George could have given him. They didn't know that Ron was trying out but no one would've wanted Cormac on the team regardless."

User u/geinbits agreed, writing, "Cormac probably told everyone that he was going to be the new keeper, so Fred and George made the bet to sabotage him." Hermione actually does sabotage Cormac's keeper try out the year after the doxy egg bet, securing Ron's place on the team. However, he does eventually play in one of Gryffindor's matches against Hufflepuff. Ron is in the hospital wing – Hogwarts students are constantly subjected to danger – so Cormac plays in his stead. It turns out to be a disaster: He may be a great player, but he's a horrible teammate, who's bossiness ends up losing them the game. 

If Fred and George did give Cormac those doxy eggs, no matter their reasons, it probably was in the Quidditch team's favor.