Ron Weasley

Ronald "Ron" Bilius Weasley (born 1 March 1980) is a fictional character in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of books. He has the trademark flaming red hair of the Weasleys and blue eyes. He is described as being tall, thin and gangly, with freckles, a long nose and big hands and feet.

Ron is a Gryffindor student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is close 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. Ron's lack of money shines a light on Harry's fortune while Harry's lack of family is underscored by Ron's large, close-knit family. Ron, who is one of seven kids and not very gifted, receives little attention, while Harry is one of the most famous wizards alive and almost always at the centre of attention.

Ron is played in the films by Rupert Grint.

Background

Ronald Weasley was born to Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewett Weasley. Ron is the sixth of seven children, and is the youngest son. 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 family is extremely close-knit.

While the Weasley family is an old and well-known 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 poor. Ron is particularly self-conscious and frustrated by his family's poverty; indeed, his enemies at school taunt him for his lack of money.

Personality and skills

Ron's older brothers have each excelled in various ways; Ron sometimes feels lost in the shadow of their accomplishments and has a great desire 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.

Ron has a sardonic, wisecracking sense of humour. Generally good-natured, Ron can sometimes be emotional and impulsive. He is terrified of spiders. This fear is noted in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

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. He can be an outstanding Keeper, but can be 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.

Ron in the Books and Films

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Ron begins Hogwarts at age eleven, in the same year as Harry. Ron and Harry first meet at King's Cross. They share a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, and share 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 course of the game, Ron, who plays as a knight, allows himself to be captured and knocked unconscious so that 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 the summer before his second year, Ron attempts to write Harry several times, but receives no reply (Harry's owl has been kept in a cage by his relatives). 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 Ron and 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 just at the end of the trip and went crashing 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.

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 that the way into the Chamber lies through the 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 wand. The wand backfires, casting the spell on Lockhart instead, and caving in the ceiling. 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, and he blames it on 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.

Harry, Ron and Hermione go to see Hagrid on the execution day. 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. Harry and Hermione follow. The dog turns out to be the animal form of Sirius Black, Harry's godfather. Professor Lupin arrives just after Harry and Hermione in the Shrieking Shack, and along with Sirius, Lupin casts a spell on Scabbers, who also turns out to be an Animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew, a former friend of the two men, but now a servant of Lord Voldemort who gave his master information about where to find Harry's hidden parents James and Lily Potter, thus bringing about their death.

Ron is reluctant at first to believe Sirius, refusing to turn in Scabbers, but is disgusted when he learns his true identity. When Lupin turns into a werewolf under the full moon, Pettigrew attacks Ron and escapes. Ron is taken to the hospital wing while Harry and Hermione go back in time, using Hermione's Time Turner, to try to save Sirius. Sirius gives Ron an excitable little owl whom Ginny names Pigwidgeon. Thereafter Ron refers to the owl 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 Dursley's home to pick up Harry by Floo Powder, so that he can stay with them for the remainder of the summer, and go 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 comes to Hogwarts to take part in the Triwizard Tournament.

After Harry is mysteriously selected to take part in the Tournament, Ron and Harry have a massive falling out. They don't speak for several weeks, as Ron thinks Harry put his name in the Goblet of Fire or asked an older student to do it for him. When they do speak, it is usually to insult of threaten. Eventually Ron and Harry realize they miss each other greatly, and reconcile shortly after Harry successfully completes the first task and Ron realizes how dangerous the Tournament is. In fact, in the Second Task, Ron is the person selected for Harry to rescue, as he represents the one who Harry would miss the most. Ron is put in an enchanted sleep to await rescue, from the underwater Merpeople, at the bottom of the lake at Hogwarts.

Ron is already distraught over his horribly aged secondhand dress robes, and things get worse as Ron finds out that Hermione's date for the Yule Ball is Viktor Krum, and Ron becomes 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 "fraternizing with the enemy", shocking and appalling her. At the end of the night, the two of them have a heated row. Ron's jealousy of Krum is countered by Hermione's dislike of Fleur, 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 becomes a Gryffindor prefect, much to the surprise of himself and his family and friends, and especially to Hermione, the other new prefect. Percy, now distant and disconnected from his family, sends Ron an owl congratulating him and advising him to "sever ties" with Harry and side himself instead with Umbridge; the letter only angers Ron and he throws it in the fire. 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 put up a united front in endorsement of Harry. Ron supports Hermione's suggestion of Harry teaching them practical Defence Against the Dark Arts, and later helps founding 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, during which he is attacked by a brain. Later, he makes a full recovery.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Ron receives his O.W.L. grades, along with Harry and Hermione. He gets seven O.W.L.s and only fails History of Magic and Divination, but he receives no "Outstandings." Harry and Ron's friendship has greatly matured and the strength of their friendship is emphasized at many instances throughout the book, with each coming forward to the other's aid at crucial times. There is a much greater level of understanding between the two, which is evident from their interactions.

At Hogwarts, Ron, who has grown ever taller over the summer, attracts the attention of Lavender Brown by making a characteristically funny remark. Harry, as the new Quidditch Captain, picks Ron as Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Upon learning that Hermione had kissed Viktor Krum, Ron's Quidditch performance becomes increasingly worse, thrown off by his intense jealousy of his former idol and causing him to be very unkind to Hermione, who is confused and upset by his behavior, especially after she offered him to be her date to Slughorn's Christmas party. In an attempt to reverse the situation, Harry pretends to add Felix Felicis, the "luck potion", to Ron's juice, and Ron, believing he has actually taken the luck potion, overcomes his usual lack of self-esteem and performs admirably. However, in the aftermath, Hermione and Ron have a falling-out when Hermione accuses Harry of helping Ron to cheat. When Harry reveals the truth, Ron rounds on Hermione for having no trust in his abilities. At the ensuing celebration, Ron is seen kissing Lavender Brown, leaving Hermione heartbroken and jealous. Hermione tries to get even by inviting Cormac McLaggen to be her date to Slughorn's Christmas party, but it blows up in her face when he proves to be too much of an egomaniac.

After Christmas, Hermione continues to ignore Ron, stopping only to give him looks of disdain and throwing the occasional snide remark. By now, Ron is visibly growing discontented with his relationship with Lavender. On his birthday, Ron is accidentally poisoned in Professor Slughorn's office. Harry quickly saves Ron's life by forcing a bezoar into his mouth. Ron is transferred to the hospital wing, where a panic-stricken Hermione shows up, and the two are quietly reconciled.

Ron suggests Harry take Felix Felicis so that he can extract some information from Slughorn. Ron and Lavender break up.

Initially, Ron does not support Harry's belief that Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater, but later on he becomes convinced. In the fateful night when Harry and Dumbledore leave Hogwarts to recover a Horcrux, Harry voices his fears that Malfoy could use Dumbledore's absence to launch an attack. He 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 D.A.'s watch, Malfoy escapes and gives the Death Eaters entrance into Hogwarts, and the Battle of Hogwarts ensues. The D.A., along with several members of the Order of the Phoenix, find themselves locked in heavy combat with the Death Eaters; but Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were unharmed by any of the Death Eater's hexes, due to the protection of the luck potion.

During Dumbledore's funeral, it is Ron who comforts a weeping Hermione. After the funeral, the school is set to close and Ron, along with Hermione, makes a vow to stay with Harry, to help him find and destroy the Horcruxes and kill Voldemort himself, even if it means leaving Hogwarts in the process. The reaffirmation of their loyalty to Harry follows a year when the strong bonds between the three were thoroughly tested. This gesture along with Harry’s approaching 17th birthday (the age of adulthood in the wizarding world), and an implied lack of Hogwarts in the final book are all symbolic of the end of any vestige of childhood innocence which still remained in each of the characters such that they are finally ready to face Voldemort, together.

Book Seven: Harry Potter and the (name as yet unknown)

Along with Hermione, he is expected to assist Harry in his mission to destroy Voldemort's horcruxes. It has been hinted in Harry Potter 6, that there might be a romance for Ron and Hermione in this book.

Possessions

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 (an award that Harry also received) for finding the Chamber of Secrets (Harry then killed a basilisk and rescued Ron's sister from the Chamber)
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.
An old 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.
A new wand – Fourteen inches, willow and unicorn hair. He receives his new wand before the start of his third year at Hogwarts.

Trivia

Ron's Patronus is a Jack Russell Terrier; J.K. Rowling claims this is a sentimental choice because she also owns a Jack Russell. ^*
Ron is arachnophobic, stemming from one of his childhood incidents in which Fred turned his teddy bear into a giant spider. Incidentally, Rupert Grint, who portrays Ron in the films is also arachnophobic.
Ron's birthday is noted as 1 March, 1980.
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Professor Slughorn mistakenly calls Ron "Rupert." As his film portrayer is named Rupert Grint, this could be seen as a joke on the part of the author.
In the early stages of making the Harry Potter books, Ron's surname was the only one among the trio which J.K. never decided to change. J.K. has stated that Ron has been "Weasley from start to finish".
Ron's favorite Quidditch team is the Chudley Cannons, although they have not won the cup since 1892. This explains why his room is painted bright orange, because that is the team's colour.
At the age of five, Ron was nearly tricked into making an Unbreakable Vow by Fred & George.

References

"JKRowling.com Archives: Birthdays" from MuggleNet

External links

Harry Potter Lexicon entry on Ron

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