To totally derail this train of ideas, of all of them, I contend that Ginny has the most pronounced cruel streak. She coolly and calculatingly hurts people through social means: shunning those she’s irritated with; using other boys to make Harry jealous; making mean jokes about Fleur who has never really done anything to her; mocking Ron about Hermione and Krum knowing that hurts him the most. She plans her actions to manipulate and hurt as it suits her purposes. Planned and subtle, I contend, is higher on the immorality scale than is rash and overt. Ginny plans her meanness in many cases, anticipating exactly how it will effect those around her. Even Percy doesn’t do that; though he is a huge jerk, he doesn’t go out of his way to hurt his family, he just does so by avoiding them and making choices they take issue with, but which at the time, he believes are right. Fred, and by association, George, behave cruelly usually out of a temperamental outburst in the heat of the moment, rarely planned out. Molly also behaves cruelly in the heat of the moment, and the Harry-Hermione thing was in defense of someone else, albeit misplaced; not for her own benefit. Ron seems to hurt people less out of intentional cruelty and more out of sheer stupidity or in rashness from a place of hurting himself. Ginny is the only Weasley I’d say has a cruel streak that borders on malevolence.

When I first got into HP, I always identified them as basically interchangeable, and continued on that note for many years. But after a recent re-reading with more in-depth analysis of all characters in mind, I too noticed differences upon more thorough reading.

One thing I think warrants pointing out about Fred and George is that while Fred is more brash and at first glace *seems* to be the dominant of the two, it may well be George who is quietly in control. George reigns Fred in. George is the one who goes along with things, but there’s little doubt in my mind that if George ever said “stop,” Fred would never continue with his scheme of the day. George is the enabler.

While George might not be the overtly aggressive one, he’s still there and still participating, and most certainly assists Fred, and in that, he is condoning what Fred is doing. If George expresses even the slightest displeasure, Fred seems very in tune to that and backs off. For all we know, George may well be the mastermind of the two, quietly pulling the more impulsive Fred’s strings. That may actually be more likely, since George shows greater capability for planning, forethought and subtlety.

We’ve seen several times that it takes very little for George to reign Fred in; assuming that George can reign Fred in, it speaks volumes when he doesn’t. I would argue, therefore, that George *does* have a cruel streak. He does not always actively participate, but his failure to stop Fred when he’s being a jerk (when he can see it coming, that is) is condoning it, and condoning someone else’s actions when you have the power to stop it is morally the same as doing it yourself. That’s not to say that Fred or George is evil at all, or even inherently cruel, but I most certainly take issue with the idea that George lacks a cruel streak that Fred possesses.

Rest In Peace, Fred.

BTW what plugin are you using for the social media login linking?