Fred and George

How did they know the outcome of the Quidditch World Cup?
By: Devina (The Charmed One)

    As avid fans of the Harry Potter series, most of you know what happened in the Goblet of Fire: Fred and George bet all their savings that Ireland would win the match but Viktor Krum would get the Snitch. And that is precisely what happened. The question is, how did they know the outcome of the match ahead of time?

Theory #1: They used a Time-Turner
    We've already seen the uses of the Time-Turner in the third book. So it was a natural thought by many that, of course, Fred and George could have used the Time-Turner in this situation as well. However, what we don't know is: Can the Time-Turner be used to get to the future? It can definitely turn back time, but can it turn time forward? If it could, then yes, they could have used it. Now, lets say it cannot. Then, the Weasley's might have possibly waited till the outcome of the match was over, then gone back in time and left a message for themselves or something similar. In my opinion, this is highly unlikely. And even if the Weasley's wanted to use the Time-Turner, where did they get it? The uses of the Time-Turner is controlled by the Ministry, as Professor McGonagall said in PoA, and I can't see Fred and George Weasley officially applying for a Time-Turner through the right channels. Did they steal it? I think not. The use of the Time-Turner is, of course, a good possibility, but it isn't very probable.

Theory #2: They just guessed
    As we have seen over the past, Ron is an extremely good…predictor, if you will. Why can't Fred and George be just as good, or even better? Ron has predicted the betrayal of Percy and even the Quidditch Cup Finals. Could Fred and George have the same uncanny ability and honed it to perfection? They might have just guessed the outcome of the match. In fact, their prediction was so unusual, that no one else would have even thought it could ever be true. It's possible and probable as well.

Theory #3: The match was fixed
    Matches in many sports are said to be fixed in the Muggle world, so why can't match fixing be a part of the wizarding world as well? The wizarding world is not one of extreme morality. We have seen examples of Fudge's behaviour, Percy's attitude, even Umbridge…the wizarding world is no less than the Muggle world in this respect. Cheating is not a Muggle failing, rather it is human nature. But who organized it? And how did Fred and George find out? Who was paid? I cannot guess who organized the whole scheme (if there is one), as it could be anybody whom we know or someone who hasn't entered the story yet. As to who could have been paid, it must have been the losing side. I mean, you can pay a side to do well, but there is no guarantee that the other side is worse and will lose. Hence, the losing side is generally paid to make sure they play worse than the other side. Lets say Bulgaria was bought. Was Krum bought as well? I don't think so. I think, if the match was fixed, he knew about his teammates being paid, but refused to play in a lesser way than usual. Krum was much better than Lynch and I think everyone knew that he had a 90% chance of getting the Snitch. He might have agreed not to let open the secret of the bribery, but vowed to get the Snitch. Now, how did Fred and George find out? Fred and George have made many contacts in the wizarding world during the course of acquiring materials for their shop. They know Mundungus Fletcher, a shady character himself, therefore, in all logical probability, why shouldn't they know other shady people engaged in such businesses before they even started thinking of their shop? I remember they had made a list of items for their joke shop, but they didn't have definite plans of opening one in Diagon Alley before they got Harry's winnings. They must have been willing to make quick money and managed to get in touch with the right people. This is possible as well as probable.

Theory #4: They used magic other than the Time-Turner Right
    We know that Fred and George are excellent with magic, when it suits them. They got 3 OWLs each, but their Portable Swamp and their Fireworks stumped Umbridge. Which shows that they excel at what they do, if they just put their mind to it. As children on a Ministry official, they know a lot about the other members of the Ministry. They would have guessed that Bagman was liable to place bets that day. What better way to make money? But how would they be sure that their prediction was right? Well, why shouldn't they use magic? They could have used their own brand of magic to transport them forward in time. However, this theory, although probable, is not possible as the twins were still underage and could not perform magic outside of Hogwarts.

    My best bets (pun not intended) would be theory#2 and theory#3. At the moment, I can't seem to decide which one is right...