Template:HP Character Ronald Bilius "Ron" Weasley (born 1 March 1980)[1] is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of books. He has the trademark flaming red hair of the Weasley family and blue eyes. He is described as being tall, thin and gangling, with freckles, a long nose and big hands and feet. In the Harry Potter films, he is played by Rupert Grint.
Ron is a Gryffindor student at Hogwarts and is best friends with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. He plays a key role in many of Harry's adventures.
Ron is a foil character to Harry. He is one of seven children and is seemingly average in his wizarding abilities, although being overshadowed by his many talented older brothers may have affected his self-confidence. He usually receives little notice, while Harry's fame almost always puts him at the center of attention. This sometimes creates a rift between the two friends. The Weasleys' modest financial circumstances shines a light on Harry's fortune, while Harry's lack of family is underscored by Ron's large clan.
Background
Ronald Weasley was born to Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewett Weasley, the sixth of their seven children, and the youngest son. His middle name is the same as that of a deceased uncle, who is mentioned in Prisoner of Azkaban as having seen a Grim and died shortly thereafter. Ron grew up in the family home, The Burrow, near the village of Ottery St Catchpole in Devon. Ron has five older brothers, Bill, Charlie, Percy, twins Fred and George, and a younger sister, Ginny.
The Weasleys are an old pure-blood Wizarding family, and Ron's father is head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office of the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The family is relatively poor, and although Arthur Weasley was promoted in the sixth book, they remained financially strained. Admittedly, Arthur won 700 Galleons in the beginning of the third book; but most was spent on holiday to Egypt to visit Bill and also a new wand for Ron. Additionally, Harry gave Fred and George, Ron's brothers, 1000 galleons, but this money was all invested into their joke shop. Ron is particularly self-conscious and frustrated by his family's modest means; indeed, his school enemies taunt him for his lack of money.
Personality and skills
The elder Weasley brothers have each excelled in various ways; Ron is often overshadowed by their accomplishments and desires to be noticed in his own right. For example, while viewing the Mirror of Erised, Ron sees himself as Head Boy and captain of the Quidditch team:
I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat.Template:HP1
Ron has a sardonic, wisecracking sense of humour, and often has difficulty taking anything seriously. Generally good-natured, Ron can sometimes be emotional and impulsive. His immaturity (particularly evident in his attitudes to girls in general — witness his view of Cho and Harry's relationship), and his lack of subtlety, forms a contrast with Hermione, who describes him as being "an insensitive wart." She is his binary opposite in this and other ways, with Harry in between. He is arachnophobic, as seen in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, ironically so is Rupert Grint the actor who plays Ron.
At school, Ron's magical abilities are average, not excelling or failing in any specific subject, although with Harry's help he seems to have a good grasp of defensive magic. He obtained 7 OWLs in the same subjects taken by Harry, receiving Exceeds Expections (the second highest mark) for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Potions, Transfiguration and Herbology. As he grows older, Ron is made a prefect (earning him the scorn of his troublemaker twin brothers), and is also chosen as the Keeper for Gryffindor. It is suggested that his retention of this position in his sixth year this was mostly due to cheating on Hermione's part and favouritism: had Ron's main rival, Cormac McLaggen, not been confunded, it is likely that he would have saved his final goal, requiring the try-outs to continue until one failed. However, Hermione notes that McLaggen's temper and ego would have made him a less than desirable team member: a belief verified during McLaggen's brief replacement of Ron (which incidentally leaves Harry in the Hospital Wing). Ron has the potential to be an excellent Keeper, but can be strongly affected by nerves and occasionally lacks confidence in front of a crowd. He is an excellent Wizard's Chess player, and has some knowledge of Wizarding law, thanks to his father's position.
Role in the series
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Ron begins Hogwarts at age eleven, in the same year as Harry and Hermione. Ron and Harry first meet at King's Cross railway station. They share a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, and both have some anxiety about their imagined first-year experiences. It is here that they also meet Hermione Granger.
Ron, Harry and Hermione are sorted into Gryffindor House, where Ron and Harry share a dormitory with Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas. Ron and Harry share the same classes throughout the series, and generally have similar academic successes and disappointments.
Ron plays a vital part in the quest to save the Philosopher's Stone. His talent at Wizard's Chess allows Hermione and Harry to proceed through a dangerous life-size, animated chess game. During the game, Ron, who plays as a knight, allows himself to be captured and knocked unconscious so his friends can go on to save the Stone. At the Leaving Feast, the last dinner of the school year, Dumbledore awards Ron fifty points to Gryffindor for "the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years."
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ron attempts to write to Harry several times, but receives no reply (Harry's owl has been kept in a cage by his relatives and Dobby the house elf hid the letters). He becomes concerned enough that he convinces Fred and George to fly their father's enchanted Ford Anglia and rescue Harry. They complete the mission successfully, but the Weasleys are heartily berated by their mother when they return, although their father is very impressed.
After Dobby the house-elf prevents him, with Harry, from entering Platform 9¾, Ron conceives the idea of taking the family's flying Ford Anglia and using it to fly to Hogwarts. They are nearly successful but the Anglia loses power at the end and crashes into the Whomping Willow. Ron's wand, a hand-me-down from his brother Charlie, is broken in the collision. He mends it with Spellotape, which keeps it together but does not prevent it from malfunctioning unpredictably for the rest of the year. Ron receives a Howler from his mother, chastising him for taking the car.
Ron, Harry, and Hermione discover that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened by the Heir of Slytherin. Suspecting their old enemy Draco Malfoy, they transform themselves using Polyjuice Potion to turn into the likenesses of Malfoy's close associates Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.
Ron is responsible for providing the first clue to the identity of Tom Marvolo Riddle. After Harry discovers the name on Tom Riddle's diary, Ron recalls that he saw the name "T.M. Riddle" on a trophy inscribed "For Special Services To The School".
During the hunt to find the Heir of Slytherin, Ron is forced to come face-to-face with his biggest fear: spiders.
Ron and Harry discover the entrance into the Chamber lies through the girls' bathroom haunted by Moaning Myrtle. They enter the bathroom with Professor Lockhart, who has been ordered to help rescue Ginny and kill the basilisk residing in the Chamber. When the three enter the tunnels leading to the Chamber, Professor Lockhart attempts to perform a Memory Charm on them using Ron's broken wand. The wand explodes, collapsing the ceiling, and casting the spell on Lockhart in the process. Ron is trapped on one side and is forced to wait for Harry and try to shift rocks so he can get back through. Harry goes on to rescue Ginny and defeat the memory of Tom Riddle.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Ron's rat, Scabbers, goes missing; he blames Hermione's new cat Crookshanks, and the two have a falling out. They eventually make up, and Ron offers to help with the preparation of Buckbeak's defence for Hagrid after Hermione has a nervous breakdown from taking too many classes.
Harry, Ron and Hermione go to see Hagrid on the execution day where they discover Scabbers hiding out in Hagrid's hut. As they leave, Scabbers bites Ron and runs away. Ron chases him to the Whomping Willow where he is grabbed by a large black dog and dragged into a tunnel hidden inside the tree. Harry and Hermione follow the tunnel which leads to the Shrieking Shack. The dog is actually the animal form of Sirius Black, Harry's godfather. Professor Lupin arrives just after Harry and Hermione. Along with Sirius, Lupin casts a spell on Scabbers, who also turns out to be an Animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew. Pettigrew was the two men's and James Potter's school friend. Now he is a servant of Lord Voldemort, and it was he who divulged the secret whereabouts of Harry's parents', James and Lily Potter, to his master, leading to their murder.
Initially, Ron does not believe Sirius and refuses to turn over Scabbers to him, but he is disgusted when he learns his rat's true identity. When Lupin turns into a werewolf under the full moon, Pettigrew transforms back into his rat form and escapes. The injured Ron is taken to the hospital wing, and using Hermione's Time Turner, Harry and Hermione travel back in time to save Sirius, who escapes on Buckbeak, a hippogriff. At the end, Sirius sends Ron an excitable little owl whom Ginny named Pigwidgeon, who Ron refers to as "Pig".
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Ron, along with his father and twin brothers, travel to the Dursleys' by Floo Powder to pick up Harry. He is staying with them before going to the Quidditch World Cup. Hermione joins Harry and the Weasley family at the World Cup, where Ron gets to see his favourite Quidditch player, the famous Viktor Krum. Ron is even more excited when Krum, a student at the Durmstrang wizard school, comes to Hogwarts to take part in the Triwizard Tournament.
When an underage Harry is mysteriously chosen as a Tournament champion, Ron and Harry have a falling out and don't speak for nearly a month. Ron believes Harry somehow cheated to enter his name in the Goblet of Fire without telling him. Whenever they do speak, it is usually to insult or threaten one other. Ron and Harry reconcile shortly after Harry successfully completes the first task; Ron realises how dangerous the Tournament is and believes that Harry didn't enter himself. In fact, in the Second Task, Ron is the person selected for Harry to rescue, as he is the one whom Harry would most miss. Ron is put in an enchanted sleep to await rescue from the underwater Merpeople at the bottom of Hogwarts' lake.
Ron is distraught over the horrible-looking and antiquated dress robes his mother sent him for the Yule Ball, but things become worse when Ron discovers Hermione's date is Viktor Krum. He is overcome with jealousy when he sees the unexpectedly beautiful Hermione having the time of her life with Krum. When an overjoyed Hermione comes over to Ron and Harry for a friendly chat, Ron loses control and accuses her of "fraternising with the enemy," shocking and appalling her. At evening's end, the two have a heated row. Ron's jealousy over Krum is countered by Hermione's dislike of Fleur Delacour (of the Beauxbaton Academy and a Triwizard competitor), on whom Ron has an obvious crush.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Ron is appointed a Gryffindor prefect, much to the surprise of himself and everyone else, especially Hermione, the other new prefect. His brother, Percy, now distant and disconnected from the family, sends Ron an owl congratulating him and advising him to "sever ties" with Harry and side himself instead with Professor Umbridge, the abominable new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher; the letter angers Ron. Ron explicitly shows his support and loyalty for Harry when his classmates imply Harry is lying about the return of Voldemort, sometimes using his power as prefect to threaten them into silence.
Though they spend their usual amount of time bickering, Ron and Hermione present a united front endorsing Harry. Ron supports Hermione's suggestion of Harry teaching students practical Defence Against the Dark Arts, which Umbridge has all but banned. He later helps to found the secret students' group called Dumbledore's Army.
Later, Ron battles the Death Eaters alongside Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Luna Lovegood and Neville at the Department of Mysteries. He is injured in the fight, but makes a full recovery.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Ron receives his OWL grades, along with Harry and Hermione. He gets seven OWLs and only fails History of Magic and Divination, but he receives no "Outstandings." Harry and Ron's friendship has matured and strengthened, as is seen in many instances throughout the book.
Ron, who has grown taller over the summer, attracts the attention of Lavender Brown. Harry, the new Quidditch Captain, picks Ron as Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Upon learning Hermione kissed Viktor Krum, Ron's Quidditch performance increasingly grows worse, thrown off by jealousy of his former idol and causing him to be unkind to Hermione. She is confused and upset by his behaviour, especially after inviting him to be her date to Slughorn's Christmas party. To bolster Ron's confidence, Harry pretends to give him Felix Felicis, the "luck potion." Believing he has actually taken it, Ron performs admirably. However, Hermione and Ron have a falling-out when Hermione accuses Harry of helping Ron cheat. When Harry reveals the truth, Ron berates Hermione for having no trust in his abilities. At the celebration, Ron kisses Lavender Brown, leaving Hermione heartbroken and jealous. She tries getting even by inviting Cormac McLaggen as her date to Slughorn's Christmas party, but he proves to be an egomaniac.
After Christmas, Hermione continues to ignore Ron, stopping only to give him disdainful looks and occasional snide remarks. By now, Ron is visibly discontent with his relationship with Lavender. On his birthday in March, Ron is accidentally poisoned by drinking poisoning mead in Professor Slughorn's office. Harry quickly saves his life by forcing a bezoar into his mouth, and Ron is transferred to the hospital wing. A panic-stricken Hermione arrives, and the two reconcile.
When Harry is tasked by Dumbledore with retrieving a vital memory from Slughorn, Ron suggests Harry take his Felix Felicis potion. That night, Ron and Lavender break up, mostly over a misunderstanding: he and Hermione accompanied Harry as he was sneaking away under his invisibility cloak, but Lavender only saw Ron with Hermione.
Initially, Ron does not support Harry's belief that Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater, but later is convinced. Before leaving Hogwarts with Dumbledore to recover a Horcrux, Harry arranges for Ron, Hermione, and Ginny - together with any of Dumbledore's Army they can summon - to keep a close watch on Malfoy and Snape. Harry also provides them with his Felix Felicis, to aid them in the effort. Despite the DA's watch, Malfoy provides the Death Eaters entrance into Hogwarts, and the Battle of Hogwarts ensues. Thanks to the luck potion's protection, Ron, Hermione and Ginny are unharmed by the Death Eater's hexes during the battle.
Dumbledore is killed by Snape during the battle. During his funeral, it is Ron who comforts a weeping Hermione. Ron and Hermione vow to help Harry find and destroy the Horcruxes and kill Voldemort, even if it means leaving Hogwarts. Reaffirming their loyalty to Harry follows a year when the strong bonds between them were tested.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Possessions
- First Wand – Ron inherits Charlie Weasley's old, chipped wand, which is made out of ash and has a unicorn hair sticking out of the end. He holds the wand together with Spellotape after nearly breaking it in half, but it malfunctions dreadfully after this, backfiring spells, making strange noises, and emitting objects out from the wrong end. It eventually exploded.
- Second Wand – Fourteen inches, willow and unicorn hair. He receives this new wand before the start of his third year at Hogwarts.
- A Shooting Star, an ancient and inexpensive racing broom that is noted for its incredible slowness. (the broom wasn't always so slow - it loses speed with age)
- A Cleansweep Eleven, which Ron receives in The Order of the Phoenix as a reward for being made a prefect. This appears to be the latest model from the Cleansweep series, and the broom performs well in Quidditch matches.
- Pigwidgeon, Ron's tiny owl, was given as a present from Sirius Black as a replacement for Scabbers
- A Wizard's Chess set, including animated chessmen inherited from his grandfather; Ron is a skilled player and is intimately acquainted with his chessmen, and so they trust him implicitly.
- Special Award for Services to the School for helping find the Chamber of Secrets.
- A rare collectible figure of the famous Bulgarian Quidditch Seeker Viktor Krum (Ron subsequently broke an arm of this figure in a fit of jealousy - Hermione was dating Krum at the time)
- A Broom Compass given by Harry as a christmas gift.
- A "heavy gold watch with odd symbols around the edge and tiny moving stars instead of hands" given by his parents as a 17th birthday present (HBP - Chapter 18: Birthday Surprises).
See also
References
- Rowling, J. K. (1997). Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747532699.
- Rowling, J. K. (1998). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747538492.
- Rowling, J. K. (1999). Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747542155.
- Rowling, J. K. (2000). Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Bloomsbury. ISBN 074754624X.
- Rowling, J. K. (2003). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747551006.
- Rowling, J. K. (2005). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747581088.