Harry Potter: The Weasley Family Tree Fully Explained
In the "Harry Potter" film franchise, viewers are introduced to a bevy of different characters. Some of the first people to whom we're introduced are the title character's muggle relatives and caretakers, the Dursleys: uncle Vernon (Richard Griffiths), aunt Petunia (Fiona Shaw), and cousin Dudley (Harry Melling). But from there on out, it's mostly witches and wizards, with the occasional werewolf thrown in there for good measure. Notable exceptions are Hermione Granger's (Emma Watson) parents, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's caretaker, Argus Filch (David Bradley), and Harry's neighbor Arabella Figg (Kathryn Hunter), the latter two of whom are both squibs.
Whether witches and wizards of the dark or light persuasion, most every other character is magical in nature. Many of Harry Potter's allies come in the form of current or former professors at Hogwarts, though some — like former auror Alastor Moody (Brendan Gleeson) and his protege, Nymphadora Tonks (Natalia Tena) — worked directly for the Ministry of Magic, including Arthur Weasley (Mark Williams). That brings up another common factor among many of Harry's allies and characters as a whole: many of them are related! There's certainly no shortage of Weasleys in the Wizarding World. From Harry's best friend and future wife, members of the Weasley family play a large role in the overall story. But with so many members of the sprawling family coming and going, casual viewers could be forgiven if they're unable to keep them all straight. This is the "Harry Potter" franchise's Weasley family tree, fully explained.
Ron Weasley is the second-youngest child of his generation
Ronald Bilius Weasley (Rupert Grint) is the youngest of the six Weasley boys and second youngest child of Arthur and Molly Weasley (Julie Walters). His overall significance to the Wizarding World is obvious: he's Harry Potter's best friend. The two first met at King's Cross Station in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," when the title character was trying to make his way to Platform 9 & 3/4. Unable to locate it, Harry notices a group of children running full force toward a wall, only to disappear; meet the Weasleys! Noticing young Harry's dismay, matriarch Molly realizes he must be a first year, just like her son Ron. She told Harry that all he needed to do is walk straight at the wall between Platform 9 and Platform 10, advising that it's "Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous." With a quick wish of "Good luck" from his future wife, Ginny, Harry is off and makes it through without issue — though the same can't be said of his second attempt in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," courtesy of Dobby the House Elf.
Harry and Ron shared a compartment on the Hogwarts Express and became fast friends, with the former treating the latter to a candy binge from the snack cart. They had their ups and downs throughout the films and books but Ron remained Harry's loyal friend throughout, often taking up for him when seemingly no one else would.
Ginny Weasley is the youngest child of her nuclear family
We meet Ginevra "Ginny" Weasley (Bonne Wright) when Harry Potter meets the rest of the family in "Sorcerer's Stone." Little did we know that the smiling little sprite who wished him good luck getting to Platform 9 & 3/4 was destined to become Harry's girlfriend and eventual wife. Ginny tags along for much of the adventure in the early movies, though she becomes a much bigger part of the story later on. Ginny is the seventh child and only daughter of Arthur and Molly Weasley, which means she grew up in a house with six older brothers; it's no wonder she has no trouble making herself heard on the Quidditch pitch in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," when she and Harry are putting new Gryffindor recruits through the paces.
Prior to dating Harry, Ginny attended the Yule Ball with Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) and had a rocky relationship with boyfriend Dean Thomas (Alfred Enoch). Ginny and Harry go on to have three children, as we see in the epilogue to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2." Their eldest son, James Sirius, was named in honor of Harry's late father, James, and his late godfather, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman). Their middle child, son Albus Severus, was named after two of the greatest Hogwarts headmasters in history, Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and Severus Snape (Alan Rickman). Their third child and only daughter, Lily Luna, was named after Harry's late mother, Lily, and their friend, Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch).
Fred & George Weasley are the twin brothers nearest in age to Ron
Ron Weasley has two older brothers — a pair of twins, in fact — named Fred and George (James and Oliver Phelps, respectively). Aside from Ron, they're the Weasley children with whom viewers should be most familiar, given their penchant for shenanigans and cracking jokes. A pair of natural pranksters, Fred and George were born on April 1 — yes, that's right, April Fool's Day — which should surprise approximately no one. Nearly inseparable, the twins were as loyal to each other as they were to Harry Potter and Ron, to whom they were two years senior.
Fred and George had so many tricks up their sleeves that they decided to drop out of Hogwarts prior to graduating so that they could open a joke shop — cleverly called Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes — in Diagon Alley. Both twins agreed to go undercover, drinking polyjuice potion so as to take on Harry's likeness in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1," in order to help him attempt to make it from the Dursleys' home in Little Whinging to the Weasley family home, the Burrow, with the greatest success. For his part, George lost an ear in the ensuing battle. Tragically Fred was killed in the course of the final film, losing his life to a Death Eater during the Battle of Hogwarts. George would go on to marry Angelina Johnson (Tiana Benjamin) — his Gryffindor Quidditch teammate and Fred's date to the Yule Ball — and they named their son in honor of George's late twin brother.
Brother Percy Weasley works for Cornelius Fudge
Good ol' Percy Weasley (Chris Rankin), such a bore. Obviously the Weasley family gene pool was hoarding the humor for a double shot with Fred and George, so their elder brother was seemingly born with none. The third eldest Weasley child, Percy was two years older than his fun-loving twin brothers, making him four years senior to Ron. He was also a big fan of going by the book; it's probably why he was a Gryffindor Prefect and went on to serve as Head Boy, a fact which viewers heard him shout during "Prisoner of Azkaban" when the unruly mob of Gryffindors were searching for the Fat Lady portrait.
Percy's stick-in-the-mud nature served him well and, upon graduating, he went to work for the Ministry of Magic, much like his father, Arthur. Unlike his father, whose fascination with the non-magical people of the world led him to the Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, Percy eventually became an assistant to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. He's not seen as much after he helps round up the students in Dumbledore's Army in "Order of the Phoenix," having drank the Ministry Kool-Aid and staunchly holding to the mistaken belief that Lord Voldemort had not returned; that must have made for awkward family interactions considering the rest of his family was in the Order and were fighting against Voldemort's forces.
We don't see too much of Ron's two eldest brothers
The two oldest Wesley brothers don't get a lot of screen time in the "Harry Potter" films. We don't meet the eldest Weasley child, Bill (Domhnall Gleeson), until the beginning of the penultimate film, "Deathly Hallows: Part 1." When the Order of the Phoenix shows up in Little Whinging to whisk Harry away to the safety of the Weasley Burrow, Bill walks in and introduces himself, then gives a brief explanation for his facial scar; he had a run-in with the werewolf Fenrir Greyback (Dave Legeno), who had actually attacked the Burrow with Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) in "Half-Blood Prince." Viewers should recognize Bill's girlfriend, Fleur Delacour (Clémence Poésy), from the fourth film, "Goblet of Fire"; she was the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic's TriWizard champion, after all. Fortunately, Bill and Fleur make it safely through the Battle of the Seven Potters — with Fleur in the form of Harry Potter after drinking Polyjuice Potion — and they are married in "Deathly Hallows: Part 1."
Ron's brother Charlie (Alex Crockford) never gets a proper introduction and we know precious little about him. He does appear onscreen in the briefest of moments in a family photo when Ron shows Harry the pictures from the Weasley family vacation to Egypt. That's the only time Charlie makes an appearance on screen. We do, however, know his chosen magical vocation: he studied dragons in Romania. In fact, he helped provide the dragons for the first task of the TwiWizard Tournament in the fourth film.
Mother Molly Weasley manages the massive Weasley household
Matriarch Molly Weasley married husband Arthur after they graduated from Hogwarts and set about having a load of kids. While Arthur toiled away at the Ministry of Magic, Molly was tasked with raising seven children and managing the Weasley household as a full-time mum. She also, of course, serves as a surrogate mother to Harry Potter pretty much from the time the two meet. She helps him get to Platform 9 & 3/4 in the first film and looks after his needs when it comes to school supplies and Christmas gifts — it's not like he's getting anything from the Dursleys, after all. When Molly and Sirius Black are bickering during a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix in its namesake film, Sirius reminds her that Harry is not her son, to which she sharply replies that he might as well be. Of course, Molly does eventually become Harry's mother-in-law, so perhaps that was all good practice.
In between making Ron some rather horrid sweaters and generally looking after her brood, we wonder if Molly spends her free time practicing dueling on a regular basis. After all, you don't really expect a housewife to stand her own against a Death Eater, but that's exactly what Molly does during the Battle of Hogwarts. When Bellatrix Lestrange, one of the most powerful dark witches and a seeming favorite of Lord Voldemort tries to kill her daughter, Ginny, Molly drops her famous line —which we can't repeat — and proceeds to whoop Bellatrix but good, defeating and killing Voldemort's most loyal servant.
Father Arthur Weasley works for the Ministry of Magic
Arthur Weasley is a man of simple means. A full-time employee of the Ministry of Magic, working in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, he puts in long hours to support the large family — with seven children in total — he has with wife Molly. What you may not know about Arthur is that he's a distant relative of Harry Potter's godfather, Sirius Black; his mother, after all, was Cedrella Black. Arthur's great uncle on his mother's side, Sirius Black II, was the great-grandfather of Sirius Black III, who befriends James Potter at Howarts, making Arthur and Sirius III second cousins, once removed. This could explain how and-or why Arthur shows such a fatherly disposition to young Harry and plays a similar role in the Chosen One's life.
It was Arthur, of course, who warned Harry about Sirius' escape from Azkaban, still believing at the time that Harry's godfather had been the one to betray his parents and that he'd killed Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall). We can forgive Arthur for that, since he was only acting in the boy's best interest. Two years later, when Harry is on trial for using magic outside of school while still underage — despite the fact that Minister Cornelius Fudge had jokingly told Harry that wizards aren't sent to prison for blowing up their aunts in "Prisoner of Azkaban" — Arthur is the one who escorts him to Ministry headquarters. Of course, Harry more than repays the favor and the kindness Arthur has shown him over the years when he tells Dumbledore that Arthur has been attacked after seeing it in a vision through his connection to Voldemort.