Ron Weasley
Template:HP character Ronald "Ron" Bilius Weasley (born 1 March 1980)Template:Fn is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of children's books. He has been portrayed by actor Rupert Grint in all Harry Potter films so far.
Ron's two best friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are Harry Potter, the main character of the series, and Hermione Granger.
Ron was born to Arthur and Molly Weasley, members of a well-known pure-blood Wizarding family. Ron is the sixth of seven children, and is the youngest son. Ron grew up in The Burrow, near the village of Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon. Most of his friendly Gryffindor classmates call him "Ron", with the exception of Luna Lovegood, who calls him by his full name, and Lavender Brown, who briefly used the endearment "Won-Won" while they were dating. Draco Malfoy and other less-than-friendly students from rival Hogwarts Houses generally call him "Weasley".
At the beginning of the series, Arthur Weasley is head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, a minor division the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement. This is an impressive sounding position, but one which barely earns Mr. Weasley enough to support his large family. Throughout the series, Ron is very self-conscious of his family's poverty.
Ron has five older brothers, Bill, Charlie, Percy, twins Fred and George, and a little sister Ginny. His older brothers have each excelled in various ways; Ron often feels lost in the shadow of their accomplishments and has a great desire to be noticed in his own right. It can be seen that Ron's craving for attention causes him to have arguments with Harry and Hermione, when he feels that he is sidestepped by others in front of his best friends. Harry is one of the most famous young wizards in modern wizarding society and is a celebrity of sorts at Hogwarts. Hermione makes a name for herself as one of the most hard working and brilliant students in the school. Ron is initially overshadowed by them both and resents it, but ultimately, his loyalty towards his friends is unquestionable. As he grows older Ron begins to reveal his own abilities and is made a prefect. Ron seems to have a growing romantic interest in Hermione Granger which is was hinted at from the fourth book, in which Ron grows jealous over Hermione's dancing partner at the Yule Ball Viktor Krum. However, his feelings for Hermione are reciprocated, and she is aware of their mutual attraction over a year before he is. This seems to give credit as the secondary hero in such stories like Sam in Lord of the Rings and Han Solo in Star Wars.
Ron is an excellent chess player and usually beats his best friends at Wizard Chess.
Ron has a typical sardonic sense of humour and his biting comments, though usually very funny, tend to offend or insult others. At times Ron appears to be the most emotional and impulsive of the three central characters, often going with what his feelings dictate any given moment as opposed to thinking things through, which has unfortunately cast him as something of an oaf in the eyes of some. When given an opportunity, Ron takes full advantage to be in the spotlight.
Ron in the books
Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone
As his older brothers had, he begins school at Hogwarts at age eleven. Ron and Harry first meet while Harry is searching for Platform 9¾ at King's Cross railway station. They share a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, where they meet Hermione Granger and share some anxiety about their imagined first-year experiences.
Ron and Harry are sorted into Gryffindor House, where they share a dormitory with Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas. The two share the same classes throughout the series, and generally have the same academic successes and disappointments.
Although Ron and Harry initially disdain Hermione, the three become friends shortly after the beginning of the first year. While Hermione is crying in the girls' bathroom, Professor Quirrell reports a troll in the school. At Harry's instigation, Ron and Harry rush off to warn Hermione, but unknowingly shut the troll in the very bathroom Hermione is occupying. They enter the room, and Ron knocks out the troll with a spell Hermione has helped him practise. She, in turn, lies to protect the boys when several of the faculty confront them about this reckless behaviour - this incident draws the three together and they become friends. The three have agreements, disagreements, and adventures throughout their first year. While viewing the Mirror of Erised, Ron sees himself as Head Boy and captain of the Quidditch team, with his family and friends admiring him.
Ron plays a vital part in the quest to save the Philosopher's Stone. His love of Wizard's Chess allows Hermione and Harry to proceed through a life-size, animated chess game. During the course of the game, Ron allows himself to be captured and knocked unconscious so that his friends can go on to save the Stone.
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. He becomes concerned enough that he convinces Fred and George to make off with their father's enchanted Ford Anglia to rescue Harry. They complete the mission successfully, although the Weasleys are berated by their mother when they return.
After Dobby the house-elf prevents Ron and Harry from entering Platform 9¾, Ron then conceives the idea of taking the family's flying Ford Anglia and using it to fly to Hogwarts. They are nearly successful, the Anglia losing power just at the end of the trip and 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, 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 into the likenesses of his close associates Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.
Ron is present at a confrontation between Draco and Hermione, during which Draco calls Hermione a "Mudblood". Insulted on Hermione's behalf, Ron tries to cast a curse on Draco, but instead, his broken wand malfunctions causing himself to be hit with a spell that causes him to vomit slugs.
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".
When Ron finds that his sister Ginny has been abducted and taken to the Chamber of Secrets, he is very upset. He 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 volunteered to 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 malfunctions, casting the spell on Lockhart instead, and caving in the ceiling. Ron is forced to wait for Harry, who rescues Ginny and defeats the memory of Tom Riddle.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Ron loses his pet rat Scabbers, and blames it on Hermione's cat Crookshanks. They fall out over this, and the fact that Hermione had turned in the brand new Firebolt Harry receives for Christmas - having believed it to be jinxed -, but reconcile again when Ron offers to help her in preparing her defence for Hagrid in the Buckbeak case.
Harry, Ron and Hermione then go to see Hagrid off on the execution day. But then, as they watch, Ron's rat Scabbers runs off. He follows it to the Whomping Willow. A dog comes along and abducts Ron into the Shrieking Shack (a tunnel from under the Whomping Willow leads to it), and the dog turns out to be Sirius Black a man who has supposedly killed many people, has just broken out of the wizard prison of Azkaban, and turns out to be 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 turns out to be an animagus called Peter Pettigrew, a former friend of the two men, but now a servant of Lord Voldemort who gave his master information about where Harry's parents James and Lily Potter were on the night of their death.
During Harry's confrontation with then-supposed-murderer Black, Ron states while standing on a broken leg "If you want to kill Harry you'll have to kill us too!" (This line revealed Ron's true Gryffindor spirit, yet it is attributed to Hermione in the film.) Sirius is actually innocent, and just when they find out, Lupin turns into a werewolf under the full moon. Thanks to Sirius's intervention, they all manage to escape with their lives. Ron is taken to the hospital wing while Harry and Hermione go back to try to save Sirius, and Sirius gives Ron a small owl in compensation for Scabbers. Ginny later names the owl Pigwidgeon.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Ron and his family arrive in a boarded up fireplace at the Dursley's house to rescue Harry. Ron is distraught when his mother buys him horrid second hand robes. Along with Harry, Ron goes to the Quidditch World Cup, where he gets to see his favourite Quidditch player Viktor Krum. Ron is even more excited when Krum comes to Hogwarts to take part in the Triwizard Tournament. However Ron sees that when Hermione goes to the Yule Ball with Krum, he is overcome with jealousy. Ron takes Padma Patil to the Ball, whilst Harry takes Padma's twin sister and fellow Gryffindor Parvati.
And, for the first time in the series, Ron and Harry have a monumental falling out, not speaking for weeks, as Ron thinks Harry put his name in the goblet on purpose. He later reconciles when Harry successfully completes the first task. Ron and Hermione help Harry with the remaining tasks of the Triwizard Tournament. Ron gets a taste of fame after the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, in which he took part because of being Harry's most prized possession having to be rescued from underwater by his best friend.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Ron becomes a Gryffindor prefect, to the surprise of most of his family members, Hermione and Harry. At Hogwarts, Ron explicitly shows his support and loyalty for Harry, when his classmates imply Harry is lying about the return of Voldemort.
He also becomes Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, though not initially successful, he later overcomes his fear of performing in front of others to secure the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor. Draco Malfoy and the Slytherins don't help things early on, when they invent the song 'Weasley Is Our King', with several verses regarding Ron's poor playing and his family's poverty, to mock Ron. However, after helping the Gryffindor team to win the Quidditch Cup while Harry was banned by Professor Umbridge from playing, the Gryffindors adopt the song as well, but change the words in praise of Ron.
In the meantime, throughout the book Ron continues to dance around his attraction to Hermione. Though they spend a reasonable amount of time bickering with each other, Ron and Hermione put up a united front in endorsement of Harry (and sometimes against him). 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 on in the book, Ron fights the Death Eaters along side Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna at the Department of Mysteries. He is injured in the battle and temporarily driven insane, during which he is attacked by a brain he summoned with the accio charm. 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 only fails in History of Magic and Divination, but 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 showing support for the other at crucial times.
At Hogwarts, Ron attracts the attention of Lavender Brown by making a funny remark. Harry picks Ron as Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, much to Cormac McLaggen's dismay. Incidentally, Lavender Brown wishes Ron good luck as he flies up for his trial. Because he had made derisive comments on Ron and Ginny, McLaggen is Confounded by Hermione and narrowly loses the try-out to Ron.
During a Herbology lesson, Hermione reveals her intention of inviting Ron to Slughorn's Christmas party as her guest.
However, right after a Quidditch practice, Ron and Harry, while using a shortcut to return to Gryffindor Tower, inadvertently stumble onto Ginny and Dean Thomas, their fellow Gryffindor and temporary teammate (substituting for Katie Bell) kissing fiercely. Ron is outraged about his sister 'snogging people in public', causing a heated argument between the siblings and, consequently, stemming from the argument with his sister, he comes to know that Hermione had kissed Victor Krum and this causes a major lack of concentration for a jealous Ron. Ron begins to treat Hermione very unkindly and Hermione has no idea why. In order to reverse the situation, Harry pretends to dip Felix Felicis into Ron's breakfast juice, and as circumstances will, their next match against Slytherin turns out to be optimal. However, in the aftermath, Hermione and Ron have a fall-out because Hermione accuses Harry of cheating (until he tells the truth) and a now over-confident Ron rounds on her for having no trust in his abilities. Later in the Gryffindor common room, he is witnessed kissing Lavender - which he continues to do for a good part of the story.
During a Transfiguration lesson, Ron and Hermione openly and viciously ridicule each other, and Ron, in an almost Malfoy-esque move, retaliates by imitatating Hermione unkindly, making fun of Hermione's enthusiasm for her studies by jumping up and down behind her and raising his hand energetically.
After Christmas, Hermione continues to ignore Ron, stopping only to give him looks of disdain and throwing the occasional snide remark. On his birthday, Ron is accidentally poisoned in Professor Slughorn's office. Harry quickly saves Ron's life by forcing a bezoar into Ron's mouth. Ron is transferred to the hospital wing, where a distressed Hermione shows up, and the two are quietly reconciled.
Ron suggests Harry to take the aid of Felix Felicis so that he can extract the missing memory from Slughorn. Ron and Lavender break up, much to Ron's relief. Ron accepts Harry and Ginny's relationship when they end up together.
In the fateful night when Harry and Dumbledore go out looking for a Horcrux, Harry voices his fears that Malfoy could use Dumbledore's absence to launch an attack, and hastily asks Ron and Hermione - together with any D.A. members they could rouse - to keep a close watch on Malfoy and Snape. Despite their attentiveness, the subjects escape, and they - along with several members of the Order of the Phoenix - find themselves locked in combat with several Death Eaters who had penetrated the castle with Malfoy's help. Snape ultimately kills Dumbledore, then runs away with Draco.
After these events and Dumbledore's funeral on the Hogwarts grounds, the school is set to close, but Ron makes a vow - along with Hermione - to stay with Harry, helping him find and destroy the Horcruxes and killing Voldemort himself, even if it means leaving Hogwarts in the process.
Ron in the films
As of 2005, Rupert Grint plays Ron in the four released Harry Potter films. Though Ron is a humorous character in the books, in the films his role seems more geared towards providing comic relief than it is in the novels. This is especially evident in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which features Ron as an archetypical sidekick.
In the third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Ron is even more so the sidekick. This is partly due to the fact that in the original novel, Ron's role was fairly small, but it should also be noted the film created several gags involving Ron, who is portrayed as puerile and dim-witted, in contrast to how Harry and Hermione seem to be becoming more "serious" characters. Ron's character has been denied some of his canon strength, a line being attributed to Hermione (see Prisoner of Azkaban section), which is not uncommon as film Hermione is made out to be far more important than Ron, especially to Harry (Ron's line of "If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too," was given to Hermione). Some fans feel that this hurts his friendship with Harry and also his relationship with Hermione, feeling that they would not have put as much value in him as a friend if he were such a bumbling idiot.
Ron's name
| Language | Translation |
|---|---|
| Dutch | Ron Wemel |
| Norwegian | Ronny Wiltersen |
| Brazilian | Rony Weasley |
Trivia
- Ron's Patronus is a Jack Russell terrier. [1]
- 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", coincidentally the same name of Ron's film portrayer, Rupert Grint.
- Rupert Grint is actually a natural ginger, that being one of the reasons why he was picked to play the role of Ron Weasley.
- Ron's characterization in fanon often varies, as do almost all of the characters. In addition to fans who try to write him as closely as possible to author JK Rowling's books, there are a number of stories that over exaggerate Ron's less admirable or more negative qualities, much like the films, making him out to be a more of a cowardly fool than a true, loyal friend. On the other hand, other fans have written Ron as a kind of Prince Charming figure, imbuing him with an intelligence, maturity, confidence, skill, and courage that he generally lacks in both the films and the books.
See also
References
- Template:Fnb "JKRowling.com Archives: Birthdays" from MuggleNet
- 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.