Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Characters/Ron Weasley
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| Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter - Character | |
| Ronald "Ron" Bilius Weasley | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Hair color | Red |
| Eye color | Blue |
| Related Family | Arthur Weasley (father) Molly Weasley (mother) Bill Weasley (oldest brother) Charlie Weasley (older brother) Percy Weasley (older brother) Fred Weasley (older brother) George Weasley (older brother) Ginny Weasley (younger sister) |
| Loyalty | Albus Dumbledore, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, |
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Ronald "Ron" Bilius Weasley is youngest of six brothers and has one younger sister, Ginny. Ron comes from a poor but well-respected Wizarding family. The large clan is known mostly for their red hair and odd activities. Ron's father, Arthur Weasley, works for the Ministry of Magic and has a rather unusual interest in Muggles and Muggle possessions. Ron is looked down upon by some students (mostly Slytherins) for his family's meager finances and their friendliness towards Muggles. In times of need, Ron can count on his two best friends Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
Ron's birthday is March 1, 1980, according to the author. He turned eleven the year before he started at Hogwarts, making him five months older than Harry and six months younger than Hermione.
[edit] Role in the Books
Note: Ron Weasley, while not the viewpoint character in this series, is one of the Trio, and thus is in almost every part of the action. A summary of his role in the books would, perforce, be a summary of the books. For Ron's full role in the series, it is best to begin here and proceed onwards from that point. The sections below will provide the bare outline of his role.
[edit] Philosopher's Stone
We first meet Ron in King's Cross Station; he is a member of the Wizarding family that Harry approaches when he realizes that he doesn't know how to get to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Fred and George help Harry get his trunk on board, and then recognize him by his scar; they then tell the rest of the family that Harry is on board the train. Ron ends up in the same compartment as Harry, and the twins come in briefly to introduce themselves and Ron to Harry. Ron actually doesn't believe that this is the famous Harry Potter until Harry shows him his scar; apparently Fred and George have been known to play tricks on him before. Harry, fascinated by the previously unknown Wizarding world, and Ron, intrigued both by Muggle life and by the discovery that the famous Harry Potter is just a kid like himself, quickly become friends.
We meet Neville Longbottom as he asks Harry and Ron if anyone has seen his toad, Trevor; then, we meet Hermione when she looks into their compartment, while she is helping Neville find Trevor – she has apparently appointed herself Neville's assistant. Ron was about to show Harry a spell he had learned from Fred; Hermione, seeing that Ron has his wand out, invites herself in to watch him do magic. Ron's magic fails, of course, it being another of Fred's jokes, and she is annoyingly superior about it. She says that she has already read all the textbooks "of course", and generally seems to be annoyingly bright.
Draco Malfoy and his two sidekicks, Crabbe and Goyle now show up, suggesting that Harry might be well advised to be their friend, and when he refuses, demanding some of his food. When Goyle tries to help himself to a cauldron cake, Ron's rat Scabbers bites him; Draco and his henchmen depart.
Hermione now returns and rather bossily tells Harry and Ron that they must be nearly there, and they should change into uniform. Ron comments, after she has gone, that he hopes that whatever House she ends up in, it'd be different than his own. It turns out that she is Sorted into Gryffindor, but Ron is too happy about getting into Gryffindor himself to complain.
Harry and Ron are by now close friends; they both almost get into trouble when they try to get into the forbidden hallway, thinking it is the way to their next class, and they are both late for their first Transfiguration class. Ron is there to cheer Harry on in the altercation with Draco Malfoy on brooms in their first flying lesson. When Malfoy challenges Harry to a Wizard's duel, Ron volunteers to act as Harry's second. Hermione overhears and tells Harry that he's going to get into trouble. She then waits up for Harry and Ron in the common room, warning them again. Harry and Ron ignore her; she follows them out into the hallway, but then can't get back into the common room – The Fat Lady has wandered off, visiting. She decides to accompany them to the site of the duel, collecting Neville on the way. Finding that Filch is looking for someone there, all four of them try to sneak away, ending up in the forbidden third-floor corridor. Hermione opens the lock, which allows them to hide from Filch, but they nearly get caught by a giant three-headed dog.
The next day, Harry receives a broom in the morning post. This is his Nimbus 2000, on which he will play Quidditch. Malfoy tries to get Harry into trouble for this, by telling Professor Flitwick that "Potter has received a broom," but Flitwick says he's heard about the special dispensation, and asks what model it is. Harry and Ron are both amused by the fury and dismay that Draco shows.
As Hallowe'en approaches, Hermione is the first to levitate a feather in Charms class. Ron later comments that she's overbearingly smart, and that's why she has no friends; she overhears, and runs past. It turns out that she has gone into the girl's washroom and is in there crying.
At the Hallowe'en feast that night, Professor Quirrell reports that a Troll is in the school; Harry and Ron see it going into a room and lock it in, only to discover that they have locked it into the girl's washroom where Hermione is still hiding. Paralysed with fear, Hermione can do nothing against it; through sheer luck, Harry and Ron manage to knock it out. When Professor McGonagall arrives, Hermione claims to have gone hunting the troll; Harry and Ron are astonished that she would deliberately lie to a teacher. The combination of Harry and Ron risking their lives for Hermione, and Hermione's breaking her principles to save Harry and Ron from punishment, ends up making the three of them friends.
Rubeus Hagrid manages to mention the name Nicholas Flamel to Harry, Ron, and Hermione in connection with the "mysterious package" that is evidently being guarded by the three-headed dog (named "Fluffy"). Although all three of them are unable to find anything about Flamel in the library, Harry does remember where he had seen Flamel's name, and Hermione is able to retrieve a reference to him immediately. She is also, from this, able to identify the "mysterious package" as the Philosopher's Stone. By this time, they are convinced that Snape is trying to steal the Stone, and Professor Quirrell is the only thing standing between Snape and the Stone.
Hagrid has somehow managed to procure a dragon's egg; Ron is present at the hatching, and helps Hagrid care for the hatchling, named Norbert, for a while. However, he is bitten, and the wound turns green. He tells the infirmary witch, Madam Pomfrey that it is a dog bite, but she doesn't seem to believe him. He arranges with his brother Charlie to have Norbert taken off to Romania; but the reply from Charlie is found by Draco Malfoy, and so although Malfoy is caught wandering the halls, the teachers are awake, which results in Harry and Hermione getting caught as well.
Having survived exams, Harry now resolves to go down past Fluffy and retrieve the Stone so that he can keep it safe. Ron and Hermione insist on going with him. Ron reminds Hermione that she has the ability to make fire to free them from the second obstacle, a Devil's Snare plant, and directs the giant Wizard chess set to win through the fourth obstacle, but is injured during the game. Revived by Hermione, he returns to the surface to fetch Professor Dumbledore.
Finally, at the Leaving Feast, Dumbledore awards Ron fifty House points for "the best game of chess that Hogwarts has seen in many years".
As they reach King's Cross Station, Ron and Hermione both promise to write to Harry during the summer; Ron actually promises to have Harry over to his house to visit.
[edit] Chamber of Secrets
It appears that Ron has, in fact, written to Harry over the summer, but his letters, along with Hermione's and Hagrid's, were intercepted by Dobby the House-Elf.
Ron re-enters the story shortly after Harry's birthday. When Dobby dropped the dessert in Harry's kitchen, the Ministry had sent an owl to warn him that underage wizards are not allowed to do magic; Uncle Vernon retrieved the letter and, now knowing that Harry was not allowed to do magic, locked Harry into his room and barred the windows. Four nights later, Ron, with the assistance of his brothers Fred and George, arrives in a flying Ford Anglia to rescue him. They take Harry to The Burrow, but are caught on their return by their mother. Ron and the twins are soundly berated, though Harry is simply welcomed. Harry volunteers to help Ron and the twins in the chore they are set for punishment, de-Gnoming the garden. Afterwards, Harry goes with Ron up to his room, where Harry will be sleeping; Ron has decorated his entire room with posters of his favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons.
Ron is present in Flourish and Blotts when the fight between Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy starts, but he does not have a big role in this part of the story.
Ron, Harry, Ginny, Fred, George, and Percy travel to King's Cross in London to catch the Hogwarts Express, with Ron's mother, all driven by Ron's father. All the other members of the party have passed through the barrier, and Ron is alone with Harry in King's Cross Station, when the barrier fails to open for Harry. They plan to return to Ron's father's car to wait for Ron's parents to return. Fearing that the barrier may be permanently stuck, Ron decides to fly the car to Hogwarts, making use of the fact that it can be made invisible. Unfortunately the invisibility feature stops working, so they have to fly above the clouds, which is hot and extremely boring. The car starts failing as they approach Hogwarts, and eventually crashes into a tree on the Hogwarts grounds. The tree, an extremely rare Whomping Willow, takes revenge, beating up the car. Once Ron has managed to extricate the car from the willow, it ejects Harry, Ron, and their posessions, and drives off into the Forbidden Forest by itself. It turns out that Ron's wand was broken in the crash.
As Ron and Harry try to figure out how to get into the school, they are caught by Professor Snape, who takes them to his office. He summons Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore warns them that if they break one more rule they will be expelled; Professor McGonagall gives them detention, but accepts Ron's suggestion that as the offence occurred before school was in session, a House points penalty should not be assessed. Before leaving, she tells them that Ginny Weasley has been Sorted into Gryffindor.
As Ron and Harry reach Gryffindor tower, they meet Hermione, who tells them off for having dared to do something as flamboyant as flying a car to Hogwarts. She also says that they are just going to get into trouble again. She is then disgusted when all the rest of Gryffindor seem to think that Harry and Ron's arrival is amazing and exciting.
Ron receives a Howler from his mother at breakfast the next day. People from Slytherin House seem to delight in repeating bits of the message from the Howler for the next week or so.
In Transfiguration class, Ron in particular has trouble because his wand is misbehaving badly; he has tried to fix it with Spellotape, but it keeps doing strange and unexpected things. In Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor Lockhart sets a test to see how much the students have read, and Ron and Harry are amazed to find out that it is all questions about Lockhart himself. Lockhart then releases a cageful of Cornish pixies; when he cannot control them, he leaves Harry, Ron, and Hermione to deal with them. Hermione, of course, is quite competent at this; Ron is starting to wonder whether Lockhart is as good a wizard as he claims.
Hermione and Ron are present at Harry's first Quidditch practice of the year. That practice is halted by the arrival of the Slytherin team, who have been granted use of the pitch by Professor Snape. In the resulting altercation, Malfoy refers to Hermione as "Mudblood", a term which Hermione and Harry do not understand, but which seems to incite the rest of the Gryffindors to riot. Ron, in fact, attempts to jinx Malfoy; when Ron's damaged wand backfires, causing him to start vomiting slugs, Hermione and Harry carry him to Hagrid's hut. Hagrid explains the meaning of the term "mudblood", with Ron's occasional help.
When the detention set by Professor McGonagall is assigned, Harry is given the task of assisting Professor Lockhart with his fan mail; Ron is sent to Argus Filch to polish up the trophies in the trophy room, without magic. Ron is still feeling sick from the backfiring jinx, and has to polish one particular Award for Services to the School about ten times when he vomits up some slugs onto it.
When Harry is invited to Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party, he asks if Hermione and Ron can come too. As a result, they all go, but find it rather morbid; they stay long enough to be polite, and for Hermione to introduce Harry and Ron to Moaning Myrtle, and then they depart. Harry then hears the disembodied voice (he had heard it earlier in Lockhart's study); Hermione and Ron are unable to hear it, but tag along with Harry as he follows it, and eventually finds the petrified Mrs. Norris. While Ron is present at the subsequent meeting with Filch, Harry, Hermione, and Professors Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, and Lockhart, he does not make any contribution. After the meeting, though, he explains the meaning of the term Squib, which Filch used to refer to himself; a squib is a person without magical ability born of magical parents.
When Ron later suggests that Malfoy could be the Heir of Slytherin, or at least might know who it was, Hermione suggests that there is a way to find out; she has read about Polyjuice Potion, that makes you look like someone else. Instructions for making it are in a book, Moste Potente Potions, that is in the Restricted section of the library, for which they would need a note. Ron asks, What teacher would be so thick as to provide the note?
Hermione then convinces Lockhart to give her a note for the book, suggesting that it would help her understand what he was getting at in one of his books. Shortly thereafter, Hermione, Ron, and Harry, are in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, studying the book; it seems they will need ingredients not in the student supplies cupboard, and Hermione insists that they are going to have to take some risks if they want to learn about the Heir of Slytherin. Hermione then volunteers to steal the supplies they need from Professor Snape's office, if Harry or Ron will provide a distraction. Harry does, and Hermione steals the ingredients they need, shortly after this adding them to the potion. She tells Harry and Ron that the potion will need about another fortnight.
A week later, Lockhart hosts a Duelling Club, in which he is theoretically teaching the students how to duel. Ron's wand manages to do something horrible to Seamus. Shortly after, when Harry demonstrates an ability to talk to snakes, Ron says that he didn't know that Harry was a Parselmouth; it is Hermione who tells him that it's a very rare ability, and the one that Salazar Slytherin was famous for.
On Christmas Day, the Polyjuice Potion is ready, and Hermione provides cakes dosed with a sleeping potion to get Crabbe and Goyle out of the way so that Harry and Ron can impersonate them. Harry and Ron take the potion, and become simulacra of Crabbe and Goyle; after much wandering, they manage to find Draco Malfoy, who leads them back to the Slytherin common room. There, among other things, he tells them that the Chamber had been opened fifty years before, and a girl had died because of it. He says he doesn't know who had done it then, likely they were still in Azkaban. As the potion wears off, Harry and Ron return to Moaning Myrtle's washroom, to find that the hair Hermione used to prepare her Polyjuice Potion was a cat hair, and so she is stuck with feline features; and they will not revert on their own, she has to go to the Hospital Wing for several weeks, and becomes very upset at the amount of schoolwork she is missing.
Harry and Ron later find a large puddle of water outside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom; investigating, they find that Myrtle is upset because someone dropped a book on her. Harry finds that the book is a diary, which had belonged to T. M. Riddle fifty years before; Ron remembers that the award he had spent so much time polishing was also to T. M. Riddle, fifty years earlier. After Hermione gets out of the Hospital wing, Harry shows her Riddle's diary. She makes a connection between the date on the diary, Riddle's award for Services to the School, and the date the Chamber was apparently last opened, and believes the diary might hold some clue as to what happened then; she tries a number of spells on it to see what it contains, to no avail.
On Valentine's Day, Harry discovers that if he writes in the dairy, it will answer. The diary shows him the events leading up to Hagrid's expulsion, and indicates that Riddle had found Hagrid was opening the Chamber and releasing the monster. Harry tells Ron about this, and later discusses this with Hermione. They all know Hagrid was expelled and that he seems to like big scary monsters; could it have been him?
On the way out to the next Quidditch match, Harry hears the disembodied voice again; this triggers an idea in Hermione, and she dashes off to the library. As the Quidditch match is about to start, Professor McGonagall marches onto the field and sends everyone back to the castle; leading Harry and Ron to the Hospital wing, she lets them know that Hermione has been Petrified. Harry and Ron decide that they have to go and see Hagrid and find out what he knows about the Chamber of Secrets. Before they can ask him anything, Cornelius Fudge arrives with Dumbledore, to tell Hagrid that he's going to have to go to Azkaban; and while that's still being discussed, Lucius Malfoy arrives with a petition removing Dumbledore as headmaster. As Dumbledore departs, he looks directly at Harry and Ron under Harry's Invisibility Cloak, and tells them that help will always be there for those who need it; Hagrid, as he leaves, says that if they wanted to find out some stuff, they should follow the spiders.
Spiders are hard to find, much to Ron's relief; he is scared of them. But eventually Harry spots some, headed into the Forbidden Forest; he and Ron set out that night after them, and with Hagrid's dog Fang head off into the Forest. There they find Ron's dad's car, running wild but still apparently remembering Ron; and they are captured by giant spiders, who take them to see Aragog. Aragog tells them that he is not the monster in the chamber; the monster is something that the spiders cannot even name. Aragog was blamed for killing a girl, but the girl died in a bathroom, part of the castle that he never got to. When Aragog says that they cannot leave, that his children cannot be held back from eating them, Harry and Ron prepare to fight, and are rescued by Ron's dad's car, which takes them to the edge of the Forest, then drives back into the Forest again on its own.
It occurs to Harry that it might have been Moaning Myrtle who died last time the Chamber was opened; but with the tightened security it proves nearly impossible to get to her bathroom to check. Finally Harry and Ron between them manage to convince Lockhart to allow them to go to their next class on its own; and they break away from the class to visit Myrtle. They are intercepted by Professor McGonagall, and Harry on the spur of the moment says that they were trying to see Hermione. McGonagall allows them to visit, so of course they now must; and they find that she has a piece of paper held in her Petrified hand. This paper describes a Basilisk, and she has put the note "Pipes?" on it. This leads Harry and Ron to the conclusion that the Monster in the Chamber is a Basilisk, and that it is travelling through the pipes, which is how it is able to travel between floors; this also confirms their thought that the entrance to the Chamber is in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
While waiting in the staff room for Professor McGonagall, to tell her what they have learned, they hear the announcement sending all students back to their dorms. Hearing that the teachers are summoned to the staff room, Harry and Ron hide in a closet; McGonagall tells the gathered teachers that Ginny Weasley has been taken into the Chamber. Lockhart, arriving late, is taken at his word that he knows all about the monster, and is given the task of disposing of it. Harry and Ron go to Lockhart's office and find him packing; he explains that he hasn't actually done the things in his books, other people have done them and he has taken credit because the people who did the work weren't photogenic enough. Of course he then has to charm them so they forget they have done it; and he's now going to have to charm Ron and Harry as well so that they forget he has told them this. Before he can do so, though, Harry has disarmed him, and Ron has thrown his wand out the window; at wand-point, Harry and Ron march Lockhart down to Myrtle's bathroom, where Myrtle confirms that she died there because of the Basilisk. Harry now manages to open the entrance to the Chamber, and the three of them descend. When they find a huge cast-off snake-skin, Lockhart seems to faint; as Ron dashes forward to catch him, Lockhart grabs Ron's wand and tries to use it to wipe out Harry's and Ron's memories. Ron's wand, being broken, backfires and explodes, wiping Lockhart's memory and taking down a large bit of the ceiling.
Ron, trapped on the side of the rock fall away from the Chamber, works to clear the fall while Harry battles the Basilisk and the ghost of Tom Riddle. When Harry returns, victorious, with Ginny, Ron explains what had happened with Lockhart, and the four of them together are pulled back up to Myrtle's bathroom by Fawkes. Ron is then present when Harry tells the story to Ron's parents, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Dumbledore, and is then sent off to help take Professor Lockhart to the hospital wing.
Finally, on the train back from Hogwarts, Hermione and Ron promise to call Harry on the telephone.
[edit] Prisoner of Azkaban
Ron had attempted to call Harry on the telephone, but had not understood that simply talking was enough; he and Uncle Vernon had gotten into a yelling match. Apart from that, Ron does not communicate with Harry until Harry's birthday. Ron then sends him a gift, a pocket Sneakoscope, a top which spins and lights up when someone in the neighbourhood is untrustworthy. Apparently, Ron's dad has won a contest, and he whole family have gone to Egypt for their holidays; there is a picture of the whole family, including Percy with his new Head Boy badge and Ron with his pet rat Scabbers.
Ron re-enters the story on the day before school starts. Harry has been living in The Leaky Cauldron for the past fortnight when Hermione and Ron arrive in Diagon Alley to purchase school supplies. Hermione says she would like to buy an owl like Hedwig, and Ron suggests that his rat, Scabbers, is looking poorly, so they go into the Magical Menagerie; there, a large cat attacks Scabbers. Hermione buys the cat, who is named Crookshanks.
Ron is staying overnight at the Leaky Cauldron with Harry, Hermione, and the rest of his family. He forgets his bottle of Rat Tonic, and Harry volunteers to get it; in the process, he overhears Ron's parents discussing Sirius' motives for breaking out of Azkaban: they apparently have come to the conclusion that he is going to try and kill Harry.
Ron shares a compartment on the Hogwarts Express with Harry, Hermione, and a sleeping Professor Lupin. Harry tells them that Sirius Black is believed to be trying to kill Harry, but Harry doesn't know why. When Harry later reveals that he can't go to Hogsmeade because he doesn't have a permission slip, Hermione and Ron are both dismayed. Shortly before they arrive at Hogwarts, a Dementor appears to inspect the train; Ron apparently is affected by the Dementor, but not to the same extent as Harry, who passes out.
On arrival at the school, Hermione and Harry are called aside by Professor McGonagall, but Ron is sent into the Great Hall. Harry and Hermione do not rejoin Ron until after the Sorting is finished. When the timetables are handed out next morning, Ron observes that Hermione is taking two or three classes at the same time; she does not explain, but changes the subject when Ron queries her about this.
Harry and Ron manage to get somewhat lost on their way to Divination; they are assisted in finding the class by a painting of a knight, one Sir Cadogan. At Divination, Ron finds something that looks like a dog in Harry's tea leaves; Professor Trelawney identifies it as a Grim. Ron mentions later that that's really bad; his Uncle Bilius had seen one and died very shortly thereafter.
When Hermione comments at lunch that she didn't much like Divination class, it seems rather woolly, and quite unlike Arithmancy, Ron and Harry are confused: Hermione has been with them all morning, when has she had time to go to Arithmancy?
After the accident at Care of Magical Creatures class, Ron goes with Harry and Hermione to Hagrid's hut to comfort Hagrid. They reassure Hagrid that Dumbledore would not sack him, and that Malfoy was at fault, and Hermione then tells Hagrid that he has had too much to drink. He agrees, and then escorts the three of them back up to the school.
As they leave the dungeon after Potions class the next day, Ron turns to ask Hermione something, but Hermione is somehow not there; Ron spots her some way behind, tucking something back into her robes. As she catches up with them, her book bag splits, revealing that she is carrying a large number of books. Ron asks why she's carrying all those, all they have that afternoon is Defence Against the Dark Arts. Again, Hermione does not answer.
In Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor Lupin has the class defend themselves against a Boggart. Ron gains five points by successfully confronting the Boggart, but Hermione does not get a chance to defend herself from it. Ron asks what her Boggart would be, a paper that did not have a perfect grade?
The first Hogsmeade weekend is on Hallowe'en. While Ron and Harry are discussing ways of getting permission for Harry to go, Crookshanks attacks Scabbers. Hermione insists that Crookshanks is acting like a cat; Ron is incensed that she can be so insensitive towards other people's pets. The two of them do manage to patch things up enough that they are ready to go to Hogsmeade together; when they return, full of stories about the village, Harry tells them how he had seen Lupin drink a potion prepared for him by Snape. Hermione and Ron, knowing how much Snape hates Lupin, and how much Snape seems to want the Defence Against the Dark Arts job, are amazed.
When Sirius Black manages to break into the castle that night, all of the students are moved to the Great Hall to sleep; Hermione, Ron, and Harry are still awake when Snape comes to report the all clear to Professor Dumbledore. At the same time, Snape chooses to mention that he had expressed some doubts about an appointment Dumbledore had made; Dumbledore overrides him.
The next Quidditch match is played in a howling rainstorm. When Harry's broomstick is blown away and hits the Whomping Willow, Hermione and Ron pick up the few sorry splinters that are left; they stand watch in the infirmary until Harry regains consciousness, and try to console him for his loss.
On Monday, Professor Lupin is once again teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, much to everyone's relief, he cancels the Werewolf essay that Professor Snape had assigned.
Possibly because of Harry's situation, Hermione and Ron both choose to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas. This cheers Harry up to the point that he doesn't seem overly upset about missing another Hogsmeade weekend. Hermione and Ron go to Hogsmeade, though, and are examining some "unusual tastes" candies at Honeyduke's when Harry appears behind them. When Harry explains about the Marauder's Map, Hermione insists that he should turn it in to Professor McGonagall. Harry says no, he doesn't think Sirius is getting in through the secret passages, Ron mentions that the streets of Hogwarts are patrolled by Dementors anyway. The three of them go to The Three Broomsticks for Butterbeer. When Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, and Cornelius Fudge come in, Hermione and Ron push Harry under the table to keep him from being seen, and Hermione also moves a tree to conceal their table. Hermione, Harry, and Ron all overhear the discussion between these four and Madam Rosmerta in which Fudge details how Sirius betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort, and went on to kill Peter Pettigrew and twelve Muggles. Ron, like Hermione and Harry, is left speechless by this revelation.
Harry does not fall asleep until late because of this revelation, and wakes up only near lunch time the next day. Hermione and Ron have been discussing this between themselves, and have decided to try and defuse Harry's anger at Sirius, in an attempt to keep him from setting out to kill Sirius. Apparently, Ron and Hermione have been rehearsing the conversation they plan to have with Harry while he has been asleep. It goes rather astray when Harry decides that he wants to ask Hagrid about Sirius. When they reach Hagrid's, though, they are distracted by Hagrid's telling them that Buckbeak has to be examined by the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. Hermione volunteers to research similar cases in hopes of getting Buckbeak off; Ron and Harry chime in. They spend the next few days, all three of them, in the library.
At Christmas, Harry receives a Firebolt, which arrives with no indication of who sent it. Hermione, visiting them in their dorm room, seems worried by it; but her musings are cut short by Crookshanks once again attacking Scabbers. After the Christmas lunch, Hermione stops to have a word with Professor McGonagall; after which McGonagall inspects, and then confiscates the Firebolt. Both Ron and Harry are angry at Hermione, who says that the broom may well be jinxed, since it could have been sent by Sirius Black.
As school re-convenes, Oliver Wood seeks out Harry to ask if he has sorted out his Dementor problem and if he has picked out a new broom. Ron tells Oliver that Harry got a Firebolt; Harry tells Oliver that it is being stripped down and checked for jinxes.
Once the Firebolt is returned to Harry some months later, he brings it back to the Gryffindor common room. This is the eve of the match against Ravenclaw, and there is renewed hope of winning the Cup. Ron and Harry seek out Hermione behind her stack of textbooks to let her know everything is back to normal. When Ron goes to take the Firebolt up to the dorm, however, he finds Scabbers is missing, apparently eaten by Crookshanks.
Ron is furious with Hermione, especially because Hermione does not seem to show any remorse for Scabbers' apparent demise. Hermione, who is already under severe stress from taking two or three times as many classes per day as should be humanly possible, and (as Hagrid tells Harry later) from also trying to come up with cases to help Hagrid fight for Buckbeak's acquittal before the Committee, apparently is too busy to allow herself the luxury of empathizing with Ron. To cheer Ron up, Harry allows him to try out the Firebolt after team practice the next evening. On their way back to the castle in the dark, Harry thinks he sees eyes and is privately worried that it might be the Grim, but Ron, casting Lumos, reveals that it is Crookshanks.
After the Quidditch match, there is a celebration in the Gryffindor common room; Ron comments loudly, in Hermione's hearing, that Scabbers would have liked some of the treats, and Hermione departs, crying. After a while, they all go to bed; but Ron is awakened by Sirius Black cutting down his bed-curtains. He screams, and rouses Gryffindor. Sirius manages to escape again. Ron, however, is somewhat pleased at the resulting notoriety, though he wonders why Sirius hadn't simply silenced him when he had the chance. Harry doesn't have any idea, either.
Hagrid now invites Harry and Ron down for tea, and gently chastizes them for not having had time to visit. Harry and Ron also notice Hagrid's best suit hanging ready, and are reminded that they had promised to help with Buckbeak's defence, a promise which had gone by the boards in the heat of events. Hagrid tells them not to worry, that he understood, and that he had been getting a lot of help from Hermione; and mentions that Hermione is so upset at losing Ron's friendship that she has been crying. While this does soften Ron slightly, the effects are not lasting; that same day, Harry and Ron scheme to allow Harry to visit Hogsmeade again, and Hermione, overhearing, tells Harry that it might not be a good idea. Ron immediately snaps at her.
Harry, under the Invisibility Cloak, meets Ron in Hogsmeade; they see the sights, ending up at the Shrieking Shack. Here, Ron is confronted by Draco Malfoy, with Crabbe and Goyle; Harry, from inside the Invisibility Cloak, acts to defend Ron, but in the process his head becomes visible. Draco and cronies retreat, but Ron and Harry know that they are on their way to report Harry to Snape. Harry returns to the school and is caught by Snape; in turn, Snape summons Lupin to ask about the parchment he has found in Harry's pocket. Ron, arriving in Snape's study at the dead run, defends Harry by telling him that the stuff Harry is carrying is, in fact, stuff that Ron had bought for him long before.
As Ron and Harry return to Gryffindor tower, they meet Hermione, who has received a letter from Hagrid in London. The letter says that Buckbeak had been condemned to be executed. Hermione then apologizes to Ron for Crookshanks. She and Ron are now back to a friendly footing again. Ron and Harry both promise, again, to work on material with Hermione for Buckbeak's appeal. They are unable to talk to Hagrid, due to the security measures, until Care of Magical Creatures class; asked about what happened at the hearing, Hagrid tells them, but is overcome by tears, and runs off to his cottage. Malfoy remarks that Hagrid is acting like a big baby; Hermione punches Malfoy in the nose. Malfoy and his cronies retreat in confusion, and Hermione demands that Harry must win the upcoming Quidditch match against Slytherin, she just couldn't stand it if they lost.
Hermione then somehow manages to vanish on the short walk to Charms class, and is not seen again until after lunch, when Harry and Ron find her asleep in the Gryffindor common room.
From Easter holidays right up to exams, everyone is overwhelmed with work; Ron, in between studying, is looking up material for Buckbeak's appeal. As exams approach, Hedwig brings a note from Hagrid saying that Buckbeak's appeal is set for June 6, the last day of exams, and will be at the school.
Ron manages to muddle through exams. The Charms exam includes Cheering Charms; Harry overdoes it slightly through nerves, putting his subject, Ron, into fits of hysterical laughter. And Defence Against the Dark Arts is a practical test; Ron is led astray by a Hinkypunk. In Care of Magical Creatures, the test is very simple; all they have to do is keep a Flobberworm alive for an hour. Hermione, Harry, and Ron use this as a chance to exchange a few words with Hagrid; he says that Buckbeak is tired of being penned up, but it's only a few days now, and they will know one way or the other.
It is on their return from the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam, on the morning of the last day of exams, that Harry, Ron, and Hermione meet with Cornelius Fudge who is there to witness the destruction of a dangerous creature, Buckbeak. Ron comments that the Hippogriff might still get off, but Fudge replies with some skepticism; Hermione prevents Ron from retorting angrily, to avoid jeopardizing Ron's dad's job.
When Harry returns to the Gryffindor common room from his Divination final exam, Hermione and Ron tell him that Hagrid has lost the appeal, and that Buckbeak's execution is set for sundown. Despite Hagrid's order that they stay at school, Harry says that if he still had his Invisibility Cloak, they could go and comfort Hagrid; but it is still under the humpbacked witch where he had to leave it after his most recent trip to Hogsmeade, and he can't go back to get it because Snape would expel him from Hogwarts. Hermione gets the charm for the humpbacked witch from Harry, and retrieves the cloak; and so after dinner they hide in the Entrance Hall until the coast is clear. Under the Cloak they proceed to Hagrid's.
When Hagrid lets them in, he is shaking so badly that he drops the milk jug. While trying to comfort Hagrid, Hermione cleans up the spilled milk and the jug, gets a fresh jug out of the cupboard, and starts to pour from the pitcher, then realizes that Scabbers, long thought dead, is hiding in the new milk jug. She tips him out onto the table; he frantically tries to get back into the jug, but Ron catches Scabbers and puts him in a pocket of his robes. Hagrid now sees the execution party coming down from the school, and sends Harry, Ron, and Hermione away; they leave through the back door, under the cloak, while the execution party enters. Their progress back up to the school is hindered by Ron, who is trying to keep Scabbers from escaping; and so they are able to hear the fall of the executioner's axe.
Scabbers does now break free, and runs off, with Crookshanks, who has apparently been homing on his squeaks, in hot pursuit. Ron runs after him; Harry and Hermione throw off the Cloak and follow. Ron catches Scabbers; Harry is suddenly knocked aside by the big black dog, which then proceeds to drag Ron off into an apparent tunnel mouth under the roots of the Whomping Willow, breaking his leg in the process. Neither Harry nor Hermione can get past the branches of the Willow to follow, but Crookshanks runs over and presses the knot that stills the tree. Harry and Hermione then follow Crookshanks into the tunnel, which proves to lead to the Shrieking Shack. There, they find Ron, and are in turn ambushed by Sirius Black, who, as it turns out, is an Animagus and can turn himself into a big black dog – the same dog Harry has been seeing all year. Wandless, Harry, Hermione, and Ron manage to disarm Sirius, and Harry is preparing to take revenge for the death of his parents when Professor Lupin appears on the scene. The first thing Lupin does is disarm Harry, Ron and Hermione; he then exchanges a few words with Sirius, and then embraces him like a long-lost brother. Hermione now accuses him of helping Sirius get into the castle, of wanting Harry dead, and of being a werewolf. Lupin says that only one out of three is correct, far from Hermione's usual standard; he had not been helping Sirius, he didn't want Harry dead, but he was a werewolf. It wouldn't have done any good to tell the other teachers, Lupin continues, because they all knew, but he was curious as to when Hermione had figured it out. Hermione said that she had guessed right after Snape had them do the assignment on werewolves when Lupin was sick; Lupin admitted that Snape had set that assignment in hopes that some of the students would figure it out. Lupin then returns Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's wands, and asks if they will now listen to the two unarmed grown-ups.
Lupin explains now that using the Marauder's Map, he had seen Ron and Sirius, and someone else, going down the tunnel, and had hastened to follow. Harry asked how he knew how the map worked; Lupin said that he had helped make it, he was Moony. Lupin asks to see Ron's rat; Scabbers is produced. Lupin says that he's the third person who was travelling with Sirius and Ron, that he's not a rat at all. Sirius adds that he is in fact an Animagus named Peter Pettigrew. Hermione, Ron and Harry say this is impossible; Sirius murdered him twelve years earlier. After an altercation in which Sirius tries to grab Scabbers and fails, Lupin points out that Harry must know everything before they proceed. Hermione now asks how Pettigrew could be an Animagus? As part of the homework for Transfiguration, she has checked, and there are only seven registered Animagi, and none of them is Pettigrew. Lupin says that there were in fact three unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts in his day.
The bedroom door creaks open; Ron mentions that the Shrieking Shack is haunted. Lupin says no, it was always him that was making the noises that led people to believe it was haunted. The Shrieking Shack was built to contain him when he was transformed, and the Whomping Willow was planted at the only entrance to prevent other people from getting in and endangering themselves. It was because of these precautions that he was able to attend Hogwarts; and his three great friends, Sirius, James, and Peter, when they found out that he was a werewolf, did not abandon him, but became Animagi to support him. James and Sirius were large enough, in their transformed state, to control him, and so they were able to run free though the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade. Harry asks what shape his father was, but Hermione interrupts to say that it was very dangerous for a werewolf to be running around like that; Lupin agrees that it was, and says he's not proud of how they behaved. He also says that he should have told Professor Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus, but he didn't want to believe that he was getting into the school that way; it was easier to think that Sirius was using some sort of Dark magic to do it. Lupin says that in that respect, Snape was right about him, he isn't trustworthy. Sirius asks how Snape enters into things; Lupin tells Sirius that Snape is teaching there. Lupin goes on to say that Snape was at Hogwarts when they were there, and that Sirius had played a trick on him, telling him how to get past the Whomping Willow while Lupin was transformed. It was James who had found out about it and prevented Snape from reaching the Shrieking Shack, thus saving his life. Harry asks if that is why Snape hates him; behind Lupin, Snape pulls off Harry's Invisibility Cloak and says, "That's right."
As Snape prepares to take the bound Lupin and Sirius back to the Dementors, Hermione, Harry, and Ron all cast the disarm spell on Snape, which results in him banging his head into the wall. With Snape unconscious, and Sirius and Lupin freed, Lupin explains what had happened the night Harry's parents had died; and Lupin and Sirius between them force Pettigrew to reveal himself. Hermione asks, if Pettigrew is a Dark wizard, why he had not acted against Harry who had been in a dorm room with him for the past three years? Black replies, saying that Pettigrew had not seen any benefit in acting against Harry; with Voldemort apparently dead, acting against Harry would not gain Pettigrew anything. Hermione asks Black how he had managed to escape Azkaban if he was not using Dark magic; Black said that even without a wand, he could transform into a dog, and did so when things got unbearable. Dementors cannot see, and so were unaware that he had changed, but the simpler emotions of a dog were harder for them to get a fix on. It was as a dog that he was able to escape, the Dementors had been unable to locate him properly, and he was thin enough to get through the bars.
As they leave the Shrieking Shack and start to cross the Hogwarts grounds, Lupin is hit by the light of the full moon and changes to a werewolf. Sirius changes to his dog form to protect the Trio; Pettigrew jinxes Ron and Crookshanks, rendering them unconscious, changes back into a rat, and escapes through the tall grass.
Ron, still unconscious, is collected by Snape and brought to the Hospital Wing. He remains unconscious until after Sirius' escape is discovered. Shortly after Snape, Fudge, and Dumbledore leave, and Madam Pomfrey returns to her office, Ron wakes up, and asks what has been going on; Harry says that Hermione should explain.
Although the next day is a Hogsmeade weekend, neither Ron nor Hermione feels like going to the village; so Harry, Ron, and Hermione sit at the shore of the lake discussing the events of the evening. Hagrid wanders by and tells them that Buckbeak has escaped. Hermione glares at Ron to try and keep him from laughing. Hagrid also tells them that Lupin is a werewolf, and that he has resigned; Harry goes to talk to him, even though Hermione says that it is probably too late to do anything useful if he has already resigned.
The final term goes by quickly; Ron manages to scrape a pass in all his subjects, and Gryffindor wins the House Cup again. On the Hogwarts Express back to London, shortly after lunch. Hermione spots something flying outside the train window; Harry reaches out and snags it. It proves to be a tiny owl, carrying a message for Harry from Sirius; it says, among other things, that it had been Sirius who had given Harry his Firebolt at Christmas, and so Hermione was right. The letter also says that as he was responsible for Ron losing his rat, Sirius would like Ron to have the owl who is carrying the letter; Ron holds the owl under Crookshanks' nose, and Crookshanks purrs, so Ron decides to keep him.
At King's Cross Station, Harry parts from Hermione and Ron for another summer.
[edit] Goblet of Fire
Ron and Harry's friendship is tested when Harry is mysteriously chosen to be a champion in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, an inter-school competition that was previously banned because it was too hazardous. Ron is convinced an underage Harry cheated to enter, and he becomes jealous over the attention that is continually heaped on him. The two friends reconcile after Harry barely survives the deadly first challenge; Ron realizes Harry would not have cheated to have entered such a dangerous competition. In fact, it soon becomes apparent that Harry's name was illegally entered as a means to kill him.
Ron faces other difficulties when he develops romantic feelings for Hermione Granger, who is being courted by Viktor Krum, another Tri-Wizard champion from the Durmstrang Institute.
[edit] Order of the Phoenix
Ron becomes a Prefect at the start of this year, and this causes some friction between him and Harry. Ron is a lot more arbitrary in the use of his Prefect privilege than Hermione, and is unwilling to stand up against his brothers Fred and George, both of which cause Hermione no little amount of distress.
With the departure of Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch team is now in need of a new Keeper. Now having a new broom, Ron decides to try out for the position. Angelina Johnson takes him on grudgingly, saying that he is the best of a bad lot. Ron's Keeping in practices, and in the first two games, is a disaster; it is only amazingly good Seeking by Harry in the game against Slytherin, and by Ginny in the second game, that their losses are held to a reasonable level. In the final game of the season, Ron gets his confidence back, and Gryffindor wins with a sufficiently large margin to keep the Quidditch Cup.
Ron is also instrumental in convincing Harry to start up a student organization that will teach real Defence Against the Dark Arts, rather than the pointless nonsense taught by Professor Umbridge. He is present at the first meeting in the Hog's Head, and at every meeting thereafter until the organization, then called Dumbledore's Army, is betrayed and disbanded.
Harry enlists Ron, along with Hermione, Ginny, and Luna Lovegood, when he breaks into Professor Umbridge's office to check on Sirius's whereabouts. Caught by Umbridge, Ron escapes when Ginny Jinxes Draco, and the group, including Neville Longbottom who had as usual been in the wrong place at the wrong time, goes to find Harry and Hermione who have led Umbridge on a wild-goose chase into the Forbidden Forest. The six students then ride Thestrals to the Ministry of Magic in London, where Harry believes Sirius is being held captive. Once there, the students are ambushed by Death Eaters. In the ensuing battle, Ron is hit by what appears to be a drunkenness jinx, and puts himself out of action. We do see him recovering later in the Hospital Wing.
[edit] Half-Blood Prince
Throughout much of the book, Ron and Hermione are at daggers drawn over Ron's infatuation with Lavender Brown; however, his interest in Lavender is likely retaliation against Hermione for her relationship with Viktor Krum. When Ron nearly dies after drinkng a glass of poisoned mead that was apparently meant for Professor Dumbledore, Hermione is so distraught over the incident that they end their feud. Ron loses interest in Lavender, and Hermione considers Viktor as a friend. However, whatever romantic feelings each may have for the other remains undeclared. After Harry decides to leave Hogwarts before his final year to search for Lord Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes (soul fragments), Ron, and also Hermione, pledge to accompany him.
[edit] Deathly Hallows
Ron is one of the members of the Order to arrange to rescue Harry from Privet Drive, and there are fears that he has been injured in the escape. He does arrive eventually, reporting that he had been detained by Auntie Muriel.
As usual when staying at The Burrow, Harry shares a room with Ron. On his birthday, Ron gives Harry a book, Twelve Foolproof Ways to Charm Witches, saying that he had gotten a copy from the Twins earlier, and that Harry shouldn't tell Hermione about it. Harry does notice Ron using things he has learned from that book when talking to Hermione and to his mother.
After the escape from the Burrow, and the subsequent battle in the Tottenham Court Road café, Harry, Ron, and Hermione end up at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, feeling that on the street, they could be attacked by any number of Death Eaters, but at the one-time Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, the only Death Eater they would have to face would be Severus Snape. When Harry awakens in the morning, he sees that Ron's hand is very close to Hermione's, and wonders if they had fallen asleep holding hands.
Having determined that the locket Horcrux has ended up with Dolores Umbridge, the Trio decide that they must infiltrate the Ministry in order to retrieve it. Ron ends up wearing the robes of a maintenance worker, and spends almost his entire time within the Ministry attempting to make it stop raining in someone's office; we see, at one point, that Ron is sharing an elevator with his father, and has trouble responding to him correctly for his disguise. As they escape the Ministry, Ron is injured, and Hermione is extremely worried that she might not be able to heal him completely. Over the next several days, however, Ron does recover, and does his share of carrying the Horcrux which they have managed to retrieve from Umbridge without her being aware of it. Ron says that he can perceive something very like a heartbeat in the Horcrux, something which the other two cannot.
As they journey uncomfortably around the wintry England countryside, Ron becomes upset that Harry does not seem to have a complete plan prepared for finding and dealing with Horcruxes. This comes to a head shortly after they overhear another small group of refugees, who apparently are doing much better for themselves than the Trio has managed. Ron, dismayed by the discomfort that he has been experiencing, leaves the group.
Ron returns dramatically to the group shortly after Christmas. Harry has found the Sword of Gryffindor lying at the bottom of a pond, and has jumped into the water to retrieve it, only to be choked by the Horcrux which he is wearing on a chain around his neck. Ron arrives just in time to rescue him, then at Harry's bidding uses the Sword to destroy the Horcrux. They then return to the campsite, where much to Harry's surprise, Hermione lashes out at Ron for having abandoned them. Without her wand (Harry is currently carrying it, as he was on guard and his own wand had been damaged), she is unable to counter Harry's shield charm, and so withdraws into herself while Ron explains to Harry how he had been unable to return, had stayed at Shell Cottage with Bill and Fleur, and how Dumbledore's Deluminator had led him to them.
Ron suggests that they see Xenophilius Lovegood, whose Quibbler is still telling the truth about Harry. At his house, they learn the meaning of the strange symbol that Xeno wore at Bill and Fleur's wedding, which was also found on a gravestone in Godric's Hollow, and had been used as an emblem of the Dark wizard Grindelwald. This symbol, the sigil of the Deathly Hallows, was used to show that the wearer was seeking the Hallows, three unique magical artifacts that had supposedly originated with Death himself. In Xeno's absence, Harry, Ron, and Hermione discuss the three Hallows, and become uncomfortably aware that they evidence for one of them is overwhelming: Harry's Invisibility Cloak exactly matches the description of the Hallow. The Elder Wand also appears to have left a verifiable tail through history. Their discussion is interrupted by the arrival of Death Eaters; Xeno, whose daughter Luna has been captured and is being held hostage, has informed them of Harry's presence in hopes of buying her release. Hermione incapacitates Xeno, then blows a hole in the floor, allowing the Death Eaters to see her and Harry, but not Ron who she has hidden under the Invisibility Cloak, before Apparating them all away. She later explains that, as he is supposed to be at home with Spattergroit, having the Death Eaters see Ron would likely result in serious retaliation against Ron's family, but Xeno's punishment for summoning the Death Eaters might be less if there were witnesses that Harry really was there.
Harry, now convinced of the reality of all three Hallows despite the lack of evidence for the third, largely exempts himself from leadership of the mission, and Ron, having gained significant self-assurance during his time away, takes over, trying to find places where the two as-yet unknown Horcruxes might be hidden. With Harry trying to decide between Horcruxes and Hallows, and wondering if having the three Hallows would make him proof against Voldemort's attempts to kill him, it falls to Ron to lead the search for Horcruxes.
This continues for some months, At the end of this time, Ron manages to reconnect his wireless to an underground radio show, Potterwatch, which intrigues Harry to the extent that he forgets the taboo on Voldemort's name and speaks it aloud. As a result, they are captured by a gang of Snatchers led by Fenrir Greyback, and taken to Voldemort's headquarters, Malfoy Manor. There, Bellatrix Lestrange sees the Sword of Gryffindor and prevents anyone from calling Voldemort, saying that they could all be in grave peril if Voldemort was to see it. Putting the others into a locked cellar room, Bellatrix tortures Hermione in an effort to determine where the Sword had come from. Ron is almost maddened by her screams of pain. They manage to escape the dungeon, with help from Dobby, and Ron carries Hermione to Shell Cottage. Once there, Harry regains leadership of the mission, deciding finally that the best course of action is to let the Hallows go and concentrate, as Dumbledore had wanted, on the remaining Horcruxes.
Once everyone is healed, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Griphook then break into Gringotts to recover the cup Horcrux, and the Trio escape on dragonback. From Voldemort's mind, Harry learns that the one remaining Horcrux is somewhere in Hogwarts, so the Trio immediately head for Hogsmeade. When they arrive at the school, they find a flourishing guerrilla army in the Room of Requirement; Harry, who had planned to duck into the school, find the Horcrux, and depart, is dismayed to find that he is now expected to captain a battle against Voldemort. Ron suggests that perhaps the people assembled there can help him find the Horcrux even if they don't know what it is. Harry sees the value in that and agrees. While Harry is attempting to locate Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem, Voldemort's arrival makes the battle he had been hoping to avoid inevitable. When Harry looks for Ron and Hermione to continue the search, however, they are not in the Room of Requirement. It turns out that Ron has memorized the sound Harry used to open the locket, and with Hermione, has used that to enter the Chamber of Secrets. There, they had found Basilisk fangs, which Hermione had used to destroy the Cup Horcrux. learning that the battle with Voldemort is starting, Ron suggests that they should tell the house elves in the kitchen so that they can get away. Hermione, who has been dismayed by the lot of the house elves for a long while, sweeps him into a passionate embrace.
Ron then assists Harry in searching the Room of Requirement, in its junk warehouse form, for the Diadem which Harry now remembers seeing there. He also assists Harry in reaching the Shrieking Shack, in order to find out what Voldemort is doing. At the break in the fighting, Ron and Hermione return to Ron's family to grieve the loss of Fred.
Finally, Harry gathers Ron and Hermione as he heads to the Headmaster's office to report the end of the battle to the portrait of Dumbledore.
In the epilogue, we see that Ron and Hermione are married and have two children, Rose and Hugo.
[edit] Strengths
Ron, being the only one in the trio to have an early magical upbringing, has the best knowledge of the magical realm and what is available to a wizard. In contrast to Hermione's "book smarts," Ron possesses wizarding "street smarts." Ron can be quite brave when his friends are in danger and tries his hardest to keep Harry or Hermione from harm. He also shows great loyalty to his friends and appears more logistically minded than the other two, particularly excelling in Wizard's Chess. He is a skilled Quidditch Keeper (although he is extremely suseptible to nerves).
Although Ron is often overshadowed by his friends and siblings, he was intelligent enough to receive seven E (Exceeds Expectations) Grade O.W.Ls and was able to advanced into N.E.W.T classes. He was also able to produce the notoriously difficult Patronus Charm and has shown skilled magical ability in duelling against much older Death Eaters.
[edit] Weaknesses
Ron fears spiders, the result of a prank played on him by his brothers Fred and George when he was young. Ron also displays particular susceptibility and weakness to the Imperius Curse when practicing hexes in Professor Moody's class. The youngest of six brothers, his talented siblings have caused Ron to develop a lack of confidence in himself. He feels that anything he does is nothing special because his brothers have already done it. His friendship with Harry, who receives constant attention and accolades, can also affect his self-esteem.
Hermione characterizes Ron as having "the emotional range of a teaspoon" in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and he does seem to fit this characterization; time and time again he acts in a way that would indicate that he has very little sensitivity to the emotional environment.
[edit] Relationships with Other Characters
Ron has taken a liking to Hermione as early as the first book. Although the connection between the two is subtle, each successive book reveals more about their relationship. However, neither openly displays their feelings to the other for much of the first six books, leaving each confused and unsure. They often have large arguments but later reconcile their differences and then work together on school assignments. As each matures, their relationship intensifies and a likely permanent relationship between the two is established in the later books. This finally comes to fruition near the end of the sixth book, and we are shown that 19 years after the end of the seventh book Ron and Hermione are married with two children, Rose and Hugo. More detail on Ron's relationships may be found here.
Ron tends to be jealous over Harry's fame, and they once had a falling out over it. However, their clashes seem to relate as much to Ron's own low self-esteem and that he has much to live up to with five very talented older brothers. The attention Harry gathers often tends to make Ron feel left out.
Ron is somewhat inept socially and tends to be unintentionally rude, particularly, but not exclusively, to ghosts.
[edit] Analysis
Due to his family's relative poverty and size, Ron often has to make do with second-hand school supplies and robes. This has affected his personality somewhat since he feels that he has something to prove. His older brothers have all gone onto successful careers, and Ron believes there is great pressure on him to perform well in school.
Ron tends to be reckless and insensitive at times, though his heart is indisputably in the right place. Ron has formed tight bonds with his two best friends and is seen as an important player in "the trio."
[edit] Questions
- What are Ron's greatest fears? Are those fears based in the past, present, or future?
- How does Ron differ in his actions when around Harry and Hermione in comparison to when he is with other students at Hogwarts?
- When Ron fights with Harry and/or Hermione, how does he show his emotions? Does this say anything for Ron's character as a whole?
- Luna Lovegood comments that Ron can sometimes be cruel. Is this true? Does he mean to be this way?
