When classes start in Harry’s fifth year, O.W.L.s are all anyone wants to talk about. At lunch on the first day, the Weasley twins offer some sage advice about how “it’s a nightmare of a year, the fifth, if you care about exam results, anyway.”
Ron then comments, “Yeah… you got, what was it, three OWLs each?”
Fred replies in the affirmative, and the conversation moves on to market research for the Skiving Snackboxes. But, naturally, I wondered what three O.W.L.s the Weasley twins got. Did they get the same three? Luckily, a close read of Order of the Phoenix and Goblet of Fire actually provides an answer, showing us which N.E.W.T. courses the twins are enrolled in..
In Goblet of Fire chapter 15, George says, “I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn’t telling. She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon.” So we know that at the very least, George got an O.W.L. in Transfiguration.
At the very end of Goblet of Fire chapter 12, the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan discuss the class of Moody’s they were just in – “never had a lesson like it,” said Fred. So we know that both twins got O.W.L.s in Defense Against the Dark Arts – they just got lucky that their fifth year occurred when Lupin was teaching the subject.
Jumping ahead to Order of the Phoenix, chapter 15, the twins are chatting with the Trio about Umbridge’s new appointment to Hogwarts High Inquisitor. George says they had an inspected lesson “just now, before lunch. Charms.” Harry and Hermione ask what it was like, and Fred tells them the details, proving he was in the class as well. So both twins got an O.W.L. in Charms.
Lastly, on the first day of classes in Order of the Phoenix, Fred says, “C’mon, George, if we get there early we might be able to sell a few Extendable Ears before Herbology.” This seems to imply that both twins will be in said Herbology class, but that doesn’t work – George is already in three other N.E.W.T. classes. Rather, I read it as Fred being in the Herbology class, and asking George to tag along and sell some Snackboxes before the class begins.
So in summary: Fred received O.W.L.s in Charms, Defense Against Dark Arts, and Herbology. George received O.W.L.s in Charms, Defense Against Dark Arts, and Transfiguration. It’s odd to think of the twins split up between classes, but this shows that they are two individuals, to the point of having different magical specialties.
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In the Harry Potter Lexicon Minute podcast you’ll hear the voices of our editors sharing some of the many little things which delight us about the Wizarding World. In each podcast, one to two minutes in length, we’ll talk about anything from cool trivia and interesting canon passages to the latest Wizarding World news. We hope you’ll join us! And we’d love to hear from you as well. Feel free to use the comment section on the blogpost for each podcast to post your thoughts.
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