Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

"WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO? YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT U-NO-POO THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!"

- Sign outside Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is a joke shop in Diagon Alley owned by Fred and George Weasley. It sells practical joke objects, such as Extendable Ears, a Reusable Hangman, and Fred and George's special WonderWitch products, such as Love Potions, ten-second pimple remover, and Pygmy Puffs. There is also a section of Muggle magic tricks "for freaks like Dad", which are said to do steady business, despite not being big sellers.

Starting Up
While still students at Hogwarts, Fred and George were inspired to develop a number of practical joke products, which they initially developed in their room at The Burrow. Their initial efforts were sold as mail-order items using owl post. Their ambition was to open a joke shop, and to raise money for their shop by betting their life's savings with Ludo Bagman on the outcome of the Quidditch World Cup. They won, but Bagman paid them off with Leprechaun gold, which vanished after a few hours, wiping out their savings, and putting their dream in peril.

The Weasleys got the money for the shop from Harry Potter's donated Triwizard Tournament winnings of 1000 Galleons. Because Harry gave them their start-up loan, Fred and George allow him to help himself to whatever he wants, free of charge, provided that he tell people where he got the joke stuff, presumably for advertisement.

1996
"We were thinking of buying Zonko's. A Hogsmeade branch, you know, but a fat lot of good it'll do us if you lot aren't allowed out at weekends to buy our stuff anymore..."

- Fred thinking of buying Zonko's.

During their last year at Hogwarts, Fred and George tested many of their products on students, much to the displeasure of Gryffindor prefect Hermione Granger. After releasing their Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs and Portable Swamp on school grounds and defecting from Hogwarts as to rebel against Dolores Umbridge's tyrannical rule, the twins set off to Diagon Alley to fulfill their dreams of opening a joke shop, with the Galleons that Harry Potter gave to them. Prior to their departure, they offered a discount for any Hogwarts students who would swear to use their products to eliminate Umbridge.

Argus Filch banned all of Fred and George's products from Hogwarts in 1996. However, as no one pays much attention to things Filch bans, this had little effect. They opened a branch in Diagon Alley shortly after leaving Hogwarts in April 1996. They also intended to buy Zonko's Joke Shop in Hogsmeade in order to extend their business. However, due to Hogwarts security being raised to the point of Hogsmeade trips were cancelled, they saw no point to this. At the back of the shop, there is a room with prototypes of any new product that is being developed. The twins employed a shop assistant named Verity.

1997
It is assumed that following Voldemort's takeover of the Ministry of Magic, the shop was attacked by Death Eaters, along with other places connected to the Order of the Phoenix and Harry. Fred and George kept an owl package delivery system when the Weasleys went into hiding, to the annoyance of their Aunt Muriel, whose house they were hiding in.

Postwar
After Fred died in the Battle of Hogwarts, Ron Weasley eventually came to work at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, helping it to become a real money spinner in the years after Voldemort's death. It is possible that when Zonko's closed, it branched into Hogsmeade.

Known Joke products

 * Anti Gravity Hats - "Ruin a gentleman's day by making his hat fly away!"
 * Aviatomobile - a flying toy car.
 * Canary Creams - temporarily transfigures the user into a canary.
 * Edible Dark Marks "They'll make anyone sick!"Extendable_Ears.jpg.]]
 * Extendable Ears - used to hear voices at the other end of the ear.
 * Headless Hats - make the wearer's head invisible (along with the hat itself).
 * Muggle magic tricks/pranks - for "freaks like [their] dad", not a real money spinner.
 * Patented Daydream Charms, virtually undetectable highly realistic thirty-minute daydreams. (side-effects can be: slight drooling and a dazed expression, Not for sale for wizards under 16.
 * Portable Swamp - creates a swamp when used.
 * Punching telescopes - when squeezed, gives the user a black eye which is almost impossible to remove (Hermione Granger was a victim of one in 1996).
 * Quills - in Smart Answer, Self Inking and Spell Checking varieties.
 * Reusable Hangman - "Spell It Or He'll Swing".
 * Skiving Snackbox - A Skiving Snackbox is a range of sweets to make the user ill. The user develops strange symptoms depending on the type of snack eaten. The purpose of these was to make a student appear unable to stay in class. Most came in two colour-coded parts: one that would cause the malady, and one that would heal the pupil once they had left class. They include: Fainting Fancies, Fever Fudge, Nosebleed Nougat, Puking Pastilles
 * Ton-Tongue Toffee (tested by the Weasley twins on Dudley Dursley) - when eaten, they cause the tongue to rapidly swell and turn purple.
 * Trick wands - turn into a variety of unexpected things when waved.
 * U-No-Poo - a causative product with a name meant to parody "You-Know-Who" (causes constipation).
 * Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs - unstoppable fireworks that violently explode when hit by a stunning spell and multiply by ten at any attempt to vanish them. These include a shocking pink-wheel, fire-breathing dragons, sparklers that spell out profanity, rockets with long tails of silver stars, and standard firecrackers. When any two types collide, they make new effects. Include Basic Blaze Box and Deflagration Deluxe. Background History: In Fred and George's final year, they used these fireworks as a protest against the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and new Headmistress, Professor Umbridge.

Defence objects

 * Decoy Detonators, when dropped they run away and explode out of sight, giving the person a diversion if necessary.
 * Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder When thrown into the air, this powder covers everything around it in darkness, which cannot be penetrated by spells like Lumos or Incendio, although the Hand of Glory can be used to see through it. It is used by Draco Malfoy against the members of Dumbledore's Army while smuggling Death Eaters into Hogwarts.
 * Shield Hats, Cloaks and Gloves used by the Ministry of Magic for defence against enemy forces, using a Shield Charm.

Wonderwitch products

 * Love Potions, that when drunk, will give the drinker an obsession with the one who bought the drink (love being impossible to manufacture). They work for up to twenty-four hours at a time, depending on the weight of the boy and attractiveness of the girl. Like all love potions the effects can increase the longer they're kept.
 * Pygmy Puffs, miniature puffskeins with pink or purple fur. They have small, beady eyes. Ginny Weasley is a known owner.
 * Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher, excellent on everything from boils to blackheads.

Sweets

 * Candy In A Can, "This product contains candy"

Employees and associates

 * Harry Potter (investor)
 * Fred Weasley (founder)
 * George Weasley (founder)
 * Ron Weasley (employee)
 * Verity (employee)

Uniform

 * All employees at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes wear a magenta robe.

Location

 * The first official premises of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was at 93 Diagon Alley.
 * During 1997, the founders, Fred and George Weasley were known to be looking at buying Zonko's Joke Shop after it closed. However, due to various complications such as Fred's death and the return of Voldemort, it is unknown whether this purchase was actually made or not. It is assumed that it was purchased, as the business was highly successful after Voldemort's death. If this second location was purchased, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes could also have a branch located in Hogsmeade.

Behind the scenes

 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, creative designer Nicholas Saunders created some prop pieces of new WWW products that were not mentioned in the novel:
 * Anti Gravity Hats
 * Candy In A Can
 * Demon Box
 * Lucky Dip Box
 * Magical Moustache Miracle Stubble Grow
 * Miraphorus Magic Set
 * Quality Weasley Good's
 * Shimmering Silver Salt Drops
 * Soldiers On Parade, Weasley Authentic
 * Weasleys Wonderous Wands
 * The film's graphic designer, Eduardo Lima revealed that there are more than 300 names of products they had invented just for the film adaptation of "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes".
 * On the 2nd-disc DVD special feature of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, several name of products are revealed, such as:
 * Box 'O' Rockets
 * Custard Pies
 * Explosive Enterprises
 * Jumping Snakes
 * Muggle Magic
 * Out to Lunch Fake Moustache
 * Rubby O' Chicken
 * Skiving Snackboxes
 * Spectrum Pestrum
 * Sticky Trainers
 * Unlucky Dip
 * Due to Harry not giving his Triwizard Winnings over to Fred and George in the film version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, it caused a continuity error with the film adaption of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as to how the Weasley twins were able to establish Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in the first place.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) (as Weasley and Weasley)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Notes and references
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