Ron Weasley

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Biographical Details | Temperament and Personality | Physical Traits | Magical Traits | Wand Traits |  Nicknames/Aliases/Titles/Appearances | Organizations/Teams/Clubs | What Happened to Ron After the Fall of Voldemort? | What Rupert Grint Has To Say About Ron Weasley | How Ron Changed Throughout The Series | How Ron Differs in the Books and Movies | Video of Ron Weasley | Ron Weasley Costume

Note: Some of the content in here may contain spoilers from the books, movies, and/or Pottermore.com

Biographical Details

Ron and Harry met Hermione Granger on that same train ride but they both found her annoying and they avoided her whenever possible. The trio did not become friends until Halloween of their first year at Hogwarts when Ron and Harry saved Hermione from a Mountain Troll that had been set loose in the school. Ron and Harry may have disliked Hermione at first, but after saving her they became friends for life.

Ron and Hermione were known to bicker with each other, and even had times when they refused to talk to one another, but they always managed to work out their problems. Ron started to express feelings for Hermione as early as their second year, but he was very immature and didn’t know how to express his feelings for Hermione. She returned his feelings but Ron was either oblivious to them or too insecure to act on them for most of their time at school.

Ron and Hermione dated other people before they found their way romantically to each other – Ron had a very shallow relationship with Lavender Brown and Hermione had a brief relationship with Viktor Krum. Ron began to mature emotionally when he was 17 years old and finally started treating Hermione with kindness and respect worthy of someone you care about in a romantic way. Hermione returned his feelings but despite how they felt, they didn’t officially get together until the very end of the Harry Potter series. They were married some time after the Battle of Hogwarts and had a daughter and a son.

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Temperament and Personality

As the sixth of six sons Ron never felt special. His mother had a daughter after Ron was born, the seventh and final child of the Weasley clan, and Ron feared that his mother wished that he had been a girl and that his mother didn’t really want him. Shortly after Christmas in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Harry brought Ron to the Mirror of Erised. Harry had already been to the mirror and had seen his family and he wanted to share what he saw with Ron, but instead of seeing Harry’s family in the mirror Ron saw himself as Head Boy and captain of the Quidditch team, better than all of his brothers.

What Ron saw in the Mirror of Erised was his deepest desire, which was to be special, something he thought he wasn’t. The mirror showed that Ron was deeply insecure, and this trait stayed with Ron throughout most of the series. Not only was he afraid that he would never be able to do anything good enough to make him special for his family, he found himself the best friend of Harry Potter, a boy who was famous throughout the entire wizarding community. As Harry’s best friend Ron was almost always in Harry’s shadow, which increased his insecurities.

Then there was Hermione. She was the smartest witch of their class and everyone knew it. Ron, on the other hand, wasn’t very good at any class and often needed Hermione’s help him with homework. Just like with Harry, Ron found himself in Hermione’s shadow, too.

Ron was not as smart as Hermione, as famous as Harry, or as talented as his older brothers at Quidditch. In short, Ron was average. Ron seemed to know he was average, but he didn’t let it hold him back. Instead of giving up and assuming he could never do anything special, he was brave, adventurous, loyal, and helped his friends any way he could.

Perhaps the best example of Ron’s bravery came during his second year at Hogwarts. The trio knew that a monster had been unleashed on the school and was attacking students, but no one knew what the monster was. After Hermione was petrified Ron and Harry went to talk to Hagrid to see if he could help shed light on the mysterious creature. Unfortunately, shortly after Ron and Harry arrived at Hagrid’s hut Hagrid was wrongly arrested for opening the Chamber of Secrets. Ron and Harry hid under Harry’s Invisibility Cloak and watched silently as Hagrid was taken away to Azkaban. Before leaving his hut Hagrid cryptically said that if anyone wanted to find out what was going on they needed to “follow the spiders.”

And that’s exactly what Harry and Ron did. They followed the spiders deep into the Forbidden Forest and it wasn’t long before they found themselves surrounded by gigantic spiders that wanted to eat them. What makes this scene an example of Ron’s bravery is the fact that he was deathly afraid of spiders. Yet, despite this fear, Ron willingly went with Harry to see where the spiders led them, showing that Ron was every bit as brave as Harry was.

One of Ron’s most endearing traits was his sense of humor. Ron had the ability to see humor in almost any situation. He also had the ability to say the obvious, which often came out in very funny ways. But not everyone liked Ron’s sense of humor because it could be, at times, insensitive. Luna Lovegood was someone who recognized the unintentional cruel edge to some of Ron’s comments and she commented to Harry about it in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when she said:

“He says very funny things sometimes, doesn’t he? But he can be a bit unkind. I noticed that last year.“

Being Harry’s best friend wasn’t easy, especially as Lord Voldemort gained power and the attention Harry got went from positive to negative. One of Ron’s greatest traits was his ability to stand by Harry Potter no matter what anyone said about him. Ron came to understand that standing with Harry put not only himself but his entire family in danger. Yet, despite that fact, Ron was always there for Harry. Except when he wasn’t.

There were only two times when Ron’s devotion to Harry wavered. The first was in their fourth year, when Harry’s name was selected by the Goblet of Fire. Harry emphatically denied having put his name in the Goblet, and deep down inside Ron believed him, but it was yet another example of Harry getting attention for something special and Ron’s insecurities got the better of him. He avoided Harry until after the first task when Ron saw the very real danger being in the Triwizard Tournament posed to Harry.

The second time Ron turned away from Harry was when he, Harry, and Hermione were searching for Horcruxes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The three of them took turns wearing the Horcrux locket and wearing it affected Ron far more than it did Harry or Hermione. Wearing the locket brought Ron’s fears and insecurities to the forefront of his mind where he dwelled on them endlessly until they overwhelmed him. He abandoned Harry and Hermione during a particularly bad moment of insecurity, but as soon as he left Ron knew he had made a mistake. It was the last time Ron would ever doubt Harry.

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Physical Traits

Race = Human
Gender = Male
Skin Color = Fair
Hair Color = Red
Eye Color = Blue
Other Notable Traits = Ron’s hair was described as “flaming red”, a trait that he shared with all of his siblings and marked him as a Weasley.

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Magical Traits

Patronus = Jack Russell Terrier (this was a sentimental choice on the part of author J.K. Rowling because this is the breed of her dog)
Boggart = Aragog, an Acromantula which is a breed of giant spiders

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Wand Traits

Ron used three different wands throughout the series. Here are details on all three wands.

Ron’s First Wand

This wand broke when the flying Ford Anglia that he and Harry drove to Hogwarts for their second year of school crashed into the Whomping Willow. Ron tried to repair it with Spellotape but it was beyond repair. The wand never worked properly after it was broken and spells often didn’t work or backfired onto the spell caster. Ron was the recipient of a backfired spell when he tried to curse Malfoy. Instead of causing Malfoy to regurgitate slugs, Ron spent a miserable afternoon coughing them up himself.

Professor Gilderoy Lockhart was the second recipient of a backfired spell from the broken wand. Lockhart stole Ron’s wand and attempted to use a Memory Charm to wipe away Ron’s memory. However, the spell hit Lockhart and his memory was erased instead.

Ron’s Second Wand

Length = 14″
Wood = Willow
Core = Unicorn tail hair
Pliancy = Unknown
Maker = Garrick Ollivander
Master = Ron Weasley
Owners = Ron Weasley, then the Snatcher who confiscated it
Temporarily Owned By = Sirius Black
Additional Details = Ron’s parents replaced his broken wand with this one. This wand responded better to Ron than his previous wand and he used it successfully until it was taken by Snatchers in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It is possible that Ron recovered the wand when they were imprisoned at Malfoy Manor but this isn’t made clear.

Sirius Black used the wand just once to disarm Harry and Hermione after they chased him into the Shrieking Shack in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Ron’s Third Wand

Length = 9 1/4″
Wood = Chestnut
Core = Dragon heartstring
Pliancy = Brittle
Maker = Garrick Ollivander
Masters = Peter Pettigrew and Ron Weasley
Owners = Peter Pettigrew and Ron Weasley
Temporarily Owned By = Harry Potter
Additional Details = After being abducted, Mr. Ollivander was forced to make this wand for Pettigrew. Ron won it from Peter, and won its allegiance in the process, when he and Harry battled with Pettigrew in the basement of Malfoy Manor in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

This wand was made specifically for Peter Pettigrew, which was the first we know of a wand made specifically for a person. The combination of Chestnut wood and dragon heartstring is fitting for masters who are morally grey and materialistic, which are both characteristics of Pettigrew’s personality, though it is doubtful that Pettigrew understood this about his new wand.

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Nicknames/Alias/Titles/Appearances

Nicknames = Ron’s nicknames include the following:

• Ickle Prefect (by Fred and George)
• Ickle Ronniekins (by Fred and George)
• Master of Mystery (by Hermione Granger)
• Ronnie (by his mother)
• Roonil Wazlib (by a failing Spell-Checking quill that misspelled his name)
• Wallenby (by Horace Slughorn)
• Weasel King (by Draco Malfoy)
• Weaselbee (by Draco Malfoy)
• Weatherby (by Horace Slughorn)
• Wenby (by Horace Slughorn)
• Wheezy (by Dobby)
• Won-Won (by Lavender Brown)

Aliases = Ron’s aliases include the following:

• Barney Weasley (name he gave to Snatchers after being captured the first time)
• Stan Shunpike (name he gave to Snatchers after being captured the second time)

Titles = Ron’s titles include the following:

• Keeper
• Prefect
• S.P.E.W. Treasurer

Appearances = Ron’s additional appearances include the following:

• Dragomir Despard (while in disguise to break into Gringotts Wizarding Bank)
• Harry Potter (while using Polyjuice Potion to look like one of the seven Harry Potters)
• Reginald Cattermole (while using Polyjuice Potion to sneak into the Ministry of Magic)
• Vincent Crabbe (while using Polyjuice Potion to find out who the Heir of Slytherin was)

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Organizations/Teams/Clubs

Organizations = Order of the Phoenix and Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (aka S.P.E.W.)
Teams = Gryffindor Quidditch team
Clubs = Dumbledore’s Army

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What Happened to Ron After the Fall of Voldemort?

The new Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, offered Auror jobs to anyone who had fought against Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts, regardless if they had the required N.E.W.T.s. Ron, Harry and Neville Longbottom all accepted positions as Aurors, something Ron had secretly desired as an occupation ever since hearing that Harry was interested in becoming an Auror.

Ron worked as an Auror for a while but he eventually left the Ministry to help co-manage Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes with his brother George.

At some point after the Battle of Hogwarts Ron and Hermione got married. They had two children, Rose and Hugo.

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What Rupert Grint Has To Say About Ron Weasley

Actor Rupert Grint pretty much grew up playing the role of Ron Weasley and he is very grateful for this opportunity. He is aware that people may always see him as Ron regardless of what other films or theater he does, and Rupert is okay with that. Grint is thankful for the doors that have opened to him as a result of his time in the Harry Potter movies.

Source

Grint has admitted that he has a number of insecurities, including when it comes to girls. Although he didn’t directly relate this face to Ron’s insecurities, I couldn’t help but note the similarities between Ron and Rupert, including that they both come from large families (Ron is one of seven children and Rupert is one of five).

Source

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How Ron Changed Throughout The Series

Ron reminds me a lot of Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings series. Both Ron and Sam changed tremendously over the course of their respective stories, and both, interestingly, were sidekicks to main characters.

I have already explained how insecure Ron was when he first met Harry Potter, and his insecurities ruled almost everything Ron did for most of the series. At first Ron seemed to accept that it was his lot in life  to be overshadowed by his older brothers and Harry, but as Ron’s confidence grew he started to understand who he was and what his strengths were.

Although Ron’s relationship with Lavender was a shallow one, it helped him come out of his shell. It also made him appreciate Hermione because he had someone (Lavender) to compare her to.

Ron’s insecurities built up to an unbearable level while he was wearing the Horcrux locket when he, Harry, and Hermione searched for the remaining Horcruxes. His anxiety over his fears caused him to leave Harry and Hermione but Ron knew he had made a mistake the moment he left. He would have returned immediately but after Ron left he found himself in the midst of Snatchers and was captured by them. Ron escaped the Snatchers shortly after they caught him but not in time to rejoin Harry and Ron. Harry and Hermione had left their location so Ron had no way of finding and returning to them.

The entire time Ron was away he wanted to be back with his friends. He was eventually able to return because of the Deluminator that Albus Dumbledore had bequeathed to Ron. The Deluminator showed Ron the way back and he never again wavered in his trust and love for Harry and Hermione.

After he returned, Ron sheepishly told Harry, “Dumbledore always knew I’d leave.” Ron viewed Dumbledore’s gift as proof of his weakness.

Harry saw things differently and said, “No, he always knew you’d want to come back.” Harry was right. Dumbledore knew of Ron’s weaknesses, but Dumbledore also knew that Ron was brave and stronger than Ron knew. I believe that Harry’s response helped Ron understand himself better and to finally start to see himself in a positive light with strengths.

When Ron destroyed the Horcrux locket he was finally able to face his fears and overcome them. Before it was destroyed the locket fought back by showing Ron his deepest fears – that Hermione preferred Harry over him, and that his mother never wanted him and was going to replace him with Harry. This was a huge moment for Ron.

Ron also matured in his attitude towards inferior creatures. Early on in the series Hermione started an organization called Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (aka S.P.E.W.) in an attempt to give House Elves rights and respect. Ron initially mocked Hermione’s efforts and did next to nothing to help her with S.P.E.W.. Ron’s attitude changed by the final book. During a lull in the Battle of Hogwarts Ron remembered the school’s many house elves and said he wanted to help keep them safe. Not even Hermione had spared a thought for the house elves. This was the moment in the book when Hermione first kissed Ron, and I suspect this is also the moment when her feelings towards Ron turned to true love.

In the end, the world would remember all that Harry Potter had done to defeat Lord Voldemort and few would know of or remember Ron’s important contributions, but Ron was okay with that. The Horcrux locket told Ron that he was nothing, but Ron finally knew that he was a person of worth after all.

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How Ron Differs in the Books and Movies

Aside from having red hair, Ron’s physical appearance is different from that of actor Rupert Grint’s in a variety of ways. In the books Ron is described as tall with a long nose, blue eyes, and lots of freckles. In the movies Rupert’s Ron is not particularly tall, has a normal nose, has green eyes, and has no freckles.

In the books Ron was something of a chess master. We saw a snippet of this in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Ron was able to defeat the magical chess board created by wizards or witches with far more magical knowledge than Ron had, but that’s about it. In the books Ron loved to play Wizard’s Chess and was an excellent player. It was one of the few things where he excelled and Harry and Hermione didn’t.

Ron’s story lines were richer and more significant in the books than they were in several of the movies. One example of this can be seen in the fifth story, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In the book Dumbledore chose Ron to be a Prefect and caused a small amount of friction between Ron and Harry because Harry felt resentment towards Ron for being selected over himself. This subplot was not included in the movie, and I wish it had been because it was one of the few moments where we got to see Ron shine.

Another missing subplot also comes from the fifth movie. In the book Ron received a letter from his brother Percy who warned Ron to stay away from Harry, and to listen to and confide in Dolores Umbridge, that year’s Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The letter showed how the Ministry of Magic had turned against Harry. Ron chose Harry over his own brother, which showed his loyalty and allegiance to Harry.

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Video of Ron Weasley

This is a tribute video of Ron showing him throughout his seven years at Hogwarts and with Harry and Hermione.

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Ron Weasley Costume

I have gathered all the items you need if you want to dress in a Ron Weasley costume, including what you need for his school uniform, Quidditch outfit, or casual clothes.

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Biographical Details | Temperament and Personality | Physical Traits | Magical Traits | Wand Traits |  Nicknames/Aliases/Titles/Appearances | Organizations/Teams/Clubs | What Happened to Ron After the Fall of Voldemort? | What Rupert Grint Has To Say About Ron Weasley | How Ron Changed Throughout The Series | How Ron Differs in the Books and Movies | Video of Ron Weasley | Ron Weasley Costume