The Harry Potter franchise absolutely loves playing with our emotions and, when it came to the grand finale, both the books and the movies decided to swing the scythe and kill off some of our favorite characters. But there’s one surprising death in particular that fans can’t get over: Fred Weasley.
In terms of major Harry Potter moments, the death of Dumbledore in Half-Blood Prince is hugely significant. And the house elf Dobby was held in such high esteem among Harry Potter characters that his death was used as the conclusion to the first part of Deathly Hallows on the big screen. But during a Reddit discussion among fans, it was Fred’s passing that really got the tears flowing.
“I remember ugly crying when I first realized that he was dead, just like that,” said the top commenter. Another added: “I think Fred hit me the hardest. Picturing George by himself just made me depressed, they were always together doing fun and amazing things.”
There’s definitely something different about Fred’s death. In the book, it’s a sudden and shocking moment, while it’s allowed to hang in the air during the movies and provide a devastating scene involving Ron Weasley and his family. On the DVD extras for Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter cast members James and Oliver Phelps reflected on the scene.
Oliver, who played George Weasley, said: “It was a very emotionally charged scene to get people into that mindset. David very much believes that you should try and relate it to something that happened in your own personal experience to get to that point.”
For James Phelps, who actually played Fred, the actual filming process was much less emotionally painful. “I pretty much just had to lay there. I was so in character in fact that I fell asleep and woke up on my own on the stage when everyone went to lunch.”
We’re glad James had a nice, relaxing time. For his co-stars and us in the audience, it was a very difficult scene to get through at the end of one of the best movies in the series. And as that Reddit discussion shows, fans still haven’t forgotten their tears years later. We still don’t want Fred to go.
For more wizarding fun, check out our list of the best Harry Potter villains and find out why Harry Potter fans keep leaving socks on a beach. We’ve also got a complete guide on how to watch the Harry Potter movies in order and you can learn why we still can’t forgive the Harry Potter finale for this book change.
As for the future, there are new movies to come as well as the Harry Potter TV series release date. So learn about the Fantastic Beasts 4 release date and the Cursed Child release date.
The creator of the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling, has made a number of transphobic remarks on social media in recent years. If you’d like to learn more about transgender equality or lend your support, here are two charities we encourage you to visit: the National Center for Transgender Equality in the US, and Mermaids in the UK.