The MISSING Weasley Child (a Slytherin?!) - Harry Potter Explained

Welcome to Harry Potter Theory. Today, we’re discussing the Goblet of Fire, The Weasley family, and JK Rowling. More specifically- we’re going to be addressing a gaping hole in the Goblet of Fire plot that JK Rowling was able to rectify by removing a certain unknown Weasley family member.

There are 9 immediate family members of the Weasley’s to which we’re introduced in the series. In no particular order- we have Ron, Charlie, Ginny, Molly, Fred, George, Percy, Arthur & Bill.

The Weasleys first make their mark right near the beginning of the Philosopher’s Stone, when Harry stumbles in to them at platform 9 ¾ . Almost immediately, we get the sense that Harry is going to be close with these solid, kind people- and over the course of the books/films Harry basically becomes..Family. Where Harry was shunted at the Dursley residence (which is ironic since he is actually related to them)- he was conversely welcomed with open arms at the Weasley residence.

However, interestingly enough- originally, there was actually supposed to be another Weasley child that came to prominence in the books/films. JK Rowling discusses this in an interview:

“The first three books, my plan never failed me. But I should have put that plot under a microscope. I wrote what I thought was half the book, and “Ack!” – huge gaping hole in the middle of the plot. I missed my deadline by two months. And the whole profile of the books got so much higher since the third book; there was an edge of external pressure.”

“And what exactly was that gaping hole all about?”

Watch the video to find out

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[hunterkiller]

It feels like until the Half Blood Prince, JK forgot the fact she made all Slytherins awful. I was hoping to have a redeeming Slytherin who happens to be a Weasley. Now, I wish Ginny Weasley is a redeeming Slytherin, becoming the bridge between Gryffindors and Slytherins. (Thank the SCB for this idea)

[bookworm]

I've heard about Mafalda Weasley.
She was supposed to be proof that Squibs can produce magical children and that Slytherins aren't all evil.
She would've been an interesting character. Such a shame she was cut from the books.

[michaelince]

Nice video... I didn't know about the 'missing' Weasley

[Plasmathedeathjester]

I love Cedric being a hufflepuff cause there's like 4 of them with names but I think Cedric could have fit the role of "the good slytherin" pretty well, harry spends 4 years thinking there all vipers that only care for them selfs then Cedric shows up super nice breaking his expectations of slytherins then he dies symbolizing the end of just dealing with slytherins and now dealing with bigger threats (even if all but 1 death eater is a slytherin but that's a rant for another time)

[Tmoney__]

I feel like percy shouldve been a slytherin

[Joreel]

This was the first time I'd heard about the lost Weasley child 😱. Maybe Harry had a lost relative we don't know about....hmmm.

[LivesInHerBooks]

we really needed more "nice' slytherins, I like how it shows sometimes that not all Gryfidors are brave, Ravenclaws smart and Hufflepuffs Nice (But their sorted into that house because of other traits the house represents) but not enough nice slytherins untill the 6th book..

[phantomgamezissus]

Me watching this at 12pm straight after waking up with blurry vision:

[kaimagnus]

To quote the sorting hat, "HA! Another Weasly. I know just what to do with you. GRYFFINDOR!!!!"

[jorgecarbajal]

A Weasley sorted into Slytherin. Impossible. That sounds just as crazy as Cedric Diggory becoming a Death Eater or Voldemort having a daughter with Bellatrix. It’s completely absurd.

[baldrian]

i think parts of the traits could be found in the ministry employe that whe here about in the 4th book that went "missing" in albania. but that acctualy got killed by voldermort afther she was tortured etc. for on the memory we see from dumbledore she talks to him and sounds like she is someone that is someone that is realy noisy and spread rumours and digs into people secrets etc like she found barty crouch junior for instance.

[arc]

Video idea: what happens when 2 people that have consumed Liquid luck have opposite goals and go against each other? An example would be they were dueling and they both had consumed the potion. What would happen?

[denardthomas]

Great video! I did know a little about the missing Weasley but didn’t know about the details!

[moonstonepearl]

I thought I heard that including the character actually made a plot hole because she previously stated that Ginny was the only female in the family so that's why she was removed. Also, it doesn't really do the job of including nice Slytherins well enough if Molly considered her the most unpleasant child she ever met. It would have been good to make a bridge to the Slytherin house though as someone else said. That's what's really lacking, especially since not everyone in it even had family that was involved in the Death Eaters. Furthermore, sometimes kids have different ideas than their parents too. I can understand the bad perception of the Slytherin house coming from the 11 year olds, however the fact is that she still made the house seem too black and white for too long and tried to fix this too late in the series. The main series should have a had a Slytherin friend aid in their adventures at some point.

[vjekokolic]

I have heard about this little slytherin girl who was supposed to reveal something to the trio, but I didn't know that she was a Weasley

[TerryB]

They needed this. A true honest to God GOOD Slytherine. We don't have a single one who isn't bigoted in some way. Cedric Diggory should have been a Slytherine.

[barneystinski]

Hey I really enjoy your videos. I was always a huge HP fan and I read the books 1-2 a year. But there is one thing that always bothered me and maybe you have an answer or at least a theory :)
How did Dobby intercept Harry's letter in the COS. IT must have been very difficult to do. I mean how did he know which owls to intercept and how did no one in the Malfoy family notice?
Maybe you can shed some light on this.

[Entraptaisbestgirl]

in my opinion I think Mafalda would seem like she would've been a neutral character so she would seem mean at first but wouldn't be bad

[adeladiradlan]

This child's name sounds a lot like Mafalda Hopkirk

[juliie]

I’ve always imagined that if Dudley was a wizard and attended Hogwarts JK would have no choice but to include Mafalda Weasley as a love interest for Dudley. In the end the 2 cousins Dudley (Assuming that he survives the battles of Hogwarts) and Harry wind up marrying into the Weasley family through the only 2 known Weasley women, the cousins Ginny & Mafalda. Their children would become double cousins on both sides of their parents. I envision that the 2 couples wouldn’t be close with Harry & Ginny tied to the main Weasley family while Dudley and Mafalda tied to the Dursley family. There might be an occasional awkward family reunion every now and then since all their kids attend Hogwarts. This theory is fascinating coz Mafalda a Slytherin and Dudley likely to be sorted into Gryffindor end up marrying knowing the fierce rivalry between these 2 houses and that the students hardly friends let alone romantically involved.