Fred and George and the Toilers of Trouble (Year 1) ✔

Q & A: Wrapping Up

A few of these questions fall under the "Word of God" concept that I mentioned before in Author Note: Wolfstar and Sandboxes. I could answer them, I've certainly imagined everything, but part of the purpose of storytelling is leaving things up to the interpretation of the reader. I don't want to harm someone else's enjoyment of the book by spelling out details that were meant to be left in the margins. Still, I want you to feel that your questions were heard.

@meep55555 – What are the twins' middle names?

I honestly don't know. Some people like to imagine that they were named after the uncles who died in the first war against Voldemort, Gideon and Fabian Prewett, but it's not in the original source books (OS-Canon). Family names make sense, but since I had the birth result in one child named Fred George Weasley, I thought that after they became twins and the one name became two, it would be a bit cumbersome to add even more names to the mix.

@bookbutterfly1999 – That small incident when the twins discovered Quirrell/Voldemort in the forest... did they get obliviated and left there before Hagrid came along and found them?

By not hearing Quirrell's spell, I wanted to leave the reader feeling anxious and concerned for the twins. Since they woke up the next morning in Hagrid's cabin, feeling okay and still aware of the events that took place with Quirrell, I left it seeming as if they were hit by something like Stupefy, but perhaps a little darker. Had they been Obliviated, I couldn't have given the reader a chance to see Quirrell/Voldemort arguing in his office during the hunt to regain the Marauder's Map. Also, I wanted to show that the map could turn itself off in times of danger, leaving Fred and George to say, once again, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good", which is just straight up fandom gold. That scene gave me an opportunity to do quite a lot. Good question.

@PearLilyGranger – What happened to Professor Allergen?

Well, we know that Eugenus Allergen, the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, was injured in a class demonstration that went awry. The "mishap" was so bad that it caused the job prospects to dry up entirely for the position, which I wanted to feel dire and unmanageable for the school, laying the groundwork for Snape to start vying for the job, and for the Ministry to step in, which leads directly into ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (Book 7 for the twins) and the occupation of Dolores Umbridge. We also know that Allergen lost four of his five senses, but not his mind. Fred and George saw a hideous sketch of what they could only assume to be "the leftovers of the previous professor" beside an advertisement in the Daily Prophet. Percy suggested using a Time-Turner to go back and warn Profesor Allergen before the "disturbance took place". And, somehow, the magic that had been performed that day caused his classroom to be "swallowed up" by the castle. It has yet to resurface. Coupled with the damage to the ground floor during the flood, the surging water through the massive plumbing pipe, the many secret passages, and the chaos in the portrait hall stairwell at the end of the book, I wanted the castle to feel like its own character – flawed, brilliant, mysterious, nuanced, a bit unsettling, and oh... so... powerful. Fred and George, ingenious as always, used the quandary of the missing room to lure Snape into a prank by having a glamor of the classroom door appear on a wall in the corridor. Anything beyond that, I'm leaving up to your wild imaginations.

More to come, Little Toilers.