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(#11) The Twins Just Assumed Scabbers' Real Name Was Peter
From Redditor u/beccalynng:
One topic of discussion I see pop up on this subreddit fairly often is Fred, George, and the marauders map. Many seem disgruntled over the assumption that they saw Peter Pettigrew in a dormitory with their little brother and little brother's friend and never asked about him or did anything to check who it may be when they saw them on the map but eventually learned all of that years Gryffindor boys' names.
The first possibility:
The marauders themselves don't appear on the map unless it's to another marauder. This seems to be the most likely, honestly, as Harry never notices Peter on the map or Sirius on the map, either, and it's only Remus who does eventually spot Peter and Sirius. The twins never mention anything about seeing an extra name in Percy's dormitory or Ron's dormitory, either.
The second possibility:
The twins could see Peter Pettigrew in a dormitory with Percy and/or Ron... if they looked. This theory holds that most likely the twins had no reason to check in on their fellow Gryffindors because their pranks were usually outside of Gryffindor tower.
The third possibility:
The twins did see Peter Pettigrew on the map while he was with Percy and/or Ron, so they went to investigate. It's not a large leap to assume that they would eventually learn the name of all the Gryffindor boys in the same year as their brothers, after all, or that they might ask after not hearing anything about this Peter. The only thing they could find to fit seemed to be Scabbers, the old family rat. What would be the first assumption they could make, here? That Scabbers is secretly an animagus in disguise? Obviously not.
Magic is weird. Even to wizards/witches who have grown up with it their whole lives there's avenues of magic that they have no idea about. Thinking that some kind of magic could have been done to Scabbers to make him show up with a human name when the rat is already long-lived compared to other rats is probably not too unusual a thought. The twins wouldn't know Peter's name, after all. Even when Sirius escaped Azkaban and was in the news they might not recognize Peter's name or hear of it at all. If they went into Percy's or Ron's dormitory and counted off all the boys and only found a rat with a name they'd not immediately assume animagus or be distrustful, not after all those years of Scabbers being in the family.
Which is the most likely?
Personally, I think the first is the most likely, though I can easily buy into the third, too. The first seems to have some canon backup, in so much as no one outside of Remus seems to be able to spot Peter or Sirius on the map third year and even the twins might have glanced around for Sirius after hearing he entered Ron's dormitory and stood over him in his sleep.
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(#8) The Twins Switched Places Before 'Half-Blood Prince'
From Redditor u/footstepsfading:
TL;DR: They're the same person anyway, but it wouldn't surprise me.
I've reread the chapter. I definitely think it's entirely possible. They even make their trademark "I'm not George, I'm Fred!" joke when Mad-Eye is assigning who flies in which pairs in the Dursley kitchen. They even go back on the joke a moment later, just pissing him off more. When the twin pretending to be Fred comes in to see George, he is speechless for the first time in Harry's memory. Mrs. Weasley asks "How do you feel, Georgie?" while the earless twin wakes up. So he's prompted to be still George, and obviously conscious enough to make (or continue) jokes.
I think that the twins could have kept up the joke because they liked knowing that their own mother couldn't tell them apart. The permanent evidence locking one into an identity would have only been amusing to them if they were locked into the wrong one. Top of page 75 in the hardcover edition:
"Ah well," said George, grinning at his ear-soaked mother. "You'll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, Mum."
They lost their favorite joke, but at the bottom of page 78 the rest of the characters walk back into the Burrow to find the twins laughing together after being alone in the room. This is possibly where they agreed that it didn't truly matter which one of them lost the ear. They co-own the shop.
In summery: So when they lost the ear, they thought it would be their own private joke to keep the wrong identities so that their mother still couldn't tell them apart. Then, when Fred (really George) died, George (really Fred) felt too guilty to tell his mother the truth, plus, what did it really matter if she mourned for the wrong son? It would be needlessly confusing. But telling Angelina the truth would make her feel better that her date to the Yule Ball was still around. Then they got married and had kids. I bet the twin and his wife took that secret to their graves.
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(#1) George Never Celebrated His Birthday After Fred's Death Until His Son Was Born
From Quora user Karthika Nair:
George hated the fact that he and Fred would never be together on their birthdays anymore, so he didn't celebrate them after his death. But George's son was born on the exact same date as him and Fred (1st April). And he named him Fred II. Also started celebrating birthdays now that Fred was by his side.
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(#13) Fred Weasley Is Actually Alive
From Redditor u/Lots42:
TL;DR: Fred Weasley is alive, hiding as his brother, in order to fight crime.
Fred's death was faked at the end of the Harry Potter saga. Possibly by the Weasleys themselves. Why? Because they knew they'd need a deep cover secret agent to root out any chance of Voldermort's people causing problems. And who else would be perfect but an agent who could hide in plain sight? Just have George step aside and Fred walk around saying he is George.
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(#6) Fred And George Don't See Pettigrew On The Map Because Of A 'Hide-The-Marauders' Spell
From Redditor u/potter365:
It has ALWAYS bothered me that there is no clear explanation for how Fred, George, and Harry could have possibly overlooked the fact that Peter Pettigrew literally slept with Ron every single night and only Lupin catches it much later. Searching message boards I finally found an answer that helps me sleep at night.
“This is purely conjecture, but it's entirely possible that the Marauders placed some extra protection on the Map in case it were to fall into the wrong hands -- a "hide-the-Marauders" function, if you will. If you think about it, this makes sense -- for, as we know, it did fall into the wrong hands, and they wouldn't want anyone to know about their monthly excursions or any of their other Invisibility Cloak adventures. Moreover, they probably only would have wanted it to be a temporary function, so that they might be able to find each other if necessary.
So let's say that there was this hide-the-Marauders function, and it was enabled when Filch confiscated it. Fast forward to Fred and George discovering it. They don't notice anything wrong with it, of course, because none of the Marauders are supposed to be at Hogwarts...until the year in which Lupin arrives. Still, it's clear they don't use the Map much anymore by this point -- they've outgrown it, and they're even passing it on to Harry. Nobody notices that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is never on the Map -- and why would they? Both Harry and the Weasley twins probably like Lupin, so he's not somebody they'd be watching out for; plus, it's probably a lot harder to notice someone's absence from the Map than someone's presence on it (especially, regarding the case in point, if that someone shares a common room with you).
Then Lupin confiscates the Map, and what does he do with it? He's smart -- he uses it to watch out for Harry, as we know he did on the day of Buckbeak's execution; he must also want to use it to watch out for Sirius Black, who has already managed to break into Hogwarts once. So he disables the hide-the-Marauders function, but by now Pettigrew (as Scabbers) is hiding out at Hagrid's out of fear, and no longer living in the Gryffindor Common Room. Because Lupin isn't focusing on Hagrid's hut -- why would he? -- he doesn't notice his old school friend until one night, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione sneak out to see Hagrid.
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