#meanwhile in the same scene Ron is the one noticing that Harry looks disturbed after kissing Cho / at the thought of dating her#and hermione didn’t notice#and Harry also didn’t get what hermione was talking about with cho’s feelings#but yeah it’s Ron who has the emotional range of a teaspoon#just to be safe this is not hermione hate. lord via @goldentriowins
Yes, you are so right about this. Harry and Hermione are kinda crap at feelings (looking at you Hermione sending birds after Ron because you can't tell him you like him in HBP), while Ron, the only one in the trio who grew up with siblings is actually the most observant one when it comes to emotions. Ron deserves so much more credit for being the emotional glue holding the trio together and being the one with the best emotional range.
I love Harry but feelings is not one of his strengths (even when it comes to his own feelings) while my boy Ron can read Harry and Hermione's feelings and moods (and manage them!) better than either of them do sometimes. A lot of his humor is a sign of emotional intelligence and maturity. Like this scene in DH:
“Because a Horcrux is the complete opposite of a human being.”
Seeing that Harry and Ron looked thoroughly confused, Hermione hurried on, “Look, if I picked up a sword right now, Ron, and ran you through with it, I wouldn’t damage your soul at all.”
“Which would be a real comfort to me, I’m sure,” said Ron. Harry Laughed.
It's a small moment, but I love it.
They're talking Horcruxes, Hermione is overly serious and Harry's moody, so Ron makes a joke. He isn't doing it because he's dumb and doesn't understand how important the mission is. He's doing it to make Harry and Hermione laugh and light the somber mood. there is a reason that when he was wearing the locket the trio's dynamic was hit the worst because Ron is the emotionally intelligent one who knows how to light the mood and help the other two's moods.
And I'm not saying Harry and Hermione don't have a reason to be angsty and all serious — they have plenty of reasons. But what Ron is doing is so important. It helps keep spirits high, it helps them remain hopeful and not give in to despair and he should be given way more credit for his emotional range.
There's a big difference between intelligence and wisdom. Hermione had intelligence, but Ron had wisdom. Both crucial to the story and to Harry's success, but in their own way.
Intelligence is the capacity for academic learning and logical thinking. This was Hermione's primary role in the story. Her ability to look at things from a purely logical perspective allowed the group to solve many of the problems that came their way.
Wisdom refers to life experience and insight into human nature. Ron had insider knowledge of the Wizarding World. He knew who was featured on the collectable cards, which colors of Bertie Bott's Beans to avoid, and all about Harry Potter before Harry knew.
Together, Hermione and Ron make up Harry's left and right brain. Logic vs. emotion. Book smarts vs. street smarts. Neither can be removed from Harry's story without causing an imbalance.
This is also why they work so well as a couple. They fill in the gaps where the other is lacking. Their debates are a test of skill - an odd love language they share - rather than a competition to be superior.
If your reason for not shipping Ron and Hermione is because of all their bickering... you have a child's grasp of their characters.
Ron has five brothers and a little sister. You have to be quick witted to keep up with the amount of friendly fire going on inside that house. The loudest gets heard. He's always ready for a fight.
Hermione secretly judges people by their ability to keep up with her intellectually. Condescension is a reflex. It pushes people away before they can actually match her (because god forbid she lose).
Unstoppable force meets immovable object. Ron can't stop once he gets started and Hermione is too stubborn to admit she's wrong. And, the thing is, they both clearly love it.
Hermione wouldn't want a "yes" man and Ron wouldn't want someone who can't handle teasing. He challenges her intellect, and she gets an intellectual challenge. It's a win win.
I think actually Harry and Hermione are the unstoppable force meeting immovable object. In the bad sense. What happens when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object? They pass through each other without affecting the other at all. We see that in DH when without Ron they barely get anything done and it's only Ron's return that brings back momentum.
Ron on the contrary knows how to catch that unstoppable force and redirect its momentum somewhere productive, and knows how to play around the immovable object to nudge it onto a new way of thinking.
Ron likes to take care of people and it's not a problem for him to entertain Hermione's need for discussion because of his biggest problems in the series is that nobody really sees him, so when Hermione focuses all her attention on him and their debate he is finding something for himself too. But he's also got enough self-respect to stand up for himself when he feels wronged by his friends (problem being that the narrative will then pile on a "omg Ron how dare you don't you know your friends suffer so much more than you do" message to convince readers Ron's being stupid and dumb instead of... being someone who's not being emotionally supported nearly enough for this shit). So indeed as you say, Hermione doesn't get a yes-man and Ron can make jokes and tease knowing it's all in good fun.
Ron and Hermione bickering with each other are entirely different from them being dicks at each other (GOF, HBP) because while they might use their bickering to cover for their feelings for the other, it's still a neutral ground where they know where they stand and are comfortable in. Ron making a prat of himself at the Yule Ball and Hermione being an ass during sixth year are not in the same category, those arguments were brought on by romantic jealousy they didn't know to manage and are different from the arguments they have around Harry.
Hiya! What do you think of the idea that Jily and Romione are meant to be parallels? I personally don't quite agree, but what's your take?
thank you very much for the ask, anon!
and the short answer is that i am definitely not convinced...
i presume that the idea that jily and romione are meant to be deliberate parallels hangs on a couple of things. the first of these are a series of superficial similarities, which i think we can dismiss fairly easily:
that each pairing is made up of a pureblood man and a muggleborn woman; that one person in each pairing is ginger; that both pairings fancied each other the moment they met, but didn't act on that attraction until their seventh years; and that both pairings seem to communicate primarily by bickering.
none of these hit for me - not least because, individually, none of james, ron, lily, or hermione are particularly alike.
[and i certainly think that it's tedious to suggest that two female characters must be broadly similar in terms of personality and serve parallel narrative roles simply because they're both muggleborn...]
the second piece of evidence for the two couples being intentional parallels is, however, slightly more persuasive. on paper, at least...
this is, of course, that idea that ron and hermione act like harry's "surrogate parents".
i do see why this is so widespread among the fandom [ron weasley, domestic god, my beloved], but it's a reading of the text which, i'll be honest, brings out the contrarian in me...
harry's character archetype is primarily the "everyman hero" - a hero who is perfectly, averagely normal in terms of talent, intellect, and appearance - who defeats a villain who is abnormal and exceptional. this is - obviously - one of the most common archetypes in the history of human storytelling, because it enables the people who read or hear those stories to see themselves in the protagonist, to root for them, to comfort themselves with the idea that evil people must be so unusual in terms of appearance or behaviour that they can be easily spotted, and to believe that ordinary people can triumph over evil.
but, nonetheless, harry is also required - like all heroes - to be special, and to be set apart from [and, indeed, above] all other characters in the series in terms of importance by virtue of this specialness.
[not least because the main hero-figure he resembles - especially in deathly hallows... is christ.]
in harry's case, his much-vaunted ability to love fulfils this requirement.
and we can see this narrative purpose affecting many of his relationships within the canon text - above all, in the way that he primarily views all the other characters with whom he interacts either as people he needs to keep safe from voldemort or people he needs to keep others safe from.
ginny is the primary victim of this tendency, especially at the end of half-blood prince, but ron and hermione experience it too - albeit in slightly more subtle ways...
for example, everything they ever know about harry's mission is at harry's own discretion - he notably doesn't trust them with several key aspects of it [above all, that he's a horcrux and that he's going to walk into the forest to die] within the canon narrative, and he generally holds the view that their interpretation of events is partial and wrong because they lack the special knowledge that he has as the series' singular hero [in particular, how he says several times in deathly hallows that neither of them understand voldemort as well as he does, and that's why they're so convinced that he'd have hidden a horcrux in the orphanage].
similarly, he insists throughout the series that following him - and following is the operative word - is dangerous to them. he never considers that being associated with them puts him in danger - because his narrative purpose is to be more important than they are in voldemort's hierarchy of interest.
[and, indeed, it's always really striking to me that deathly hallows heavily implies that voldemort doesn't have a clue who either of them are...]
ron and hermione certainly demonstrate many traits which can be associated with parent-child relationships - they are extremely loyal; they are [especially ron] extremely caring, including in domestic and pseudo-domestic ways. ron also provides harry with his greatest longing - the experience of a loving family - in a way which, superficially at least, mirrors james providing the same for sirius after he runs away from home.
but harry is - before the pre-epilogue end of deathly hallows - still set apart from the weasleys by virtue of his narrative specialness. we can see this throughout the series - in chamber of secrets, just after harry is astonished that everyone in the burrow likes him, his vastly different financial circumstances make him feel like there is a division between the weasleys and himself; in order of the phoenix, he initially aligns himself with the group who aren't family when visiting arthur in hospital, and is only brought into the family group at molly's insistence; he leaves ron's bedside in half-blood prince to make room for family visitors; he is adjacent to the family grief over both george's injury and fred's death in deathly hallows.
similarly, while james and sirius' relationship is set-up in canon as essentially fraternal, the same cannot be said of harry and ron. ron is narratively lesser than harry - he isn't as academically successful, or as good at quidditch, or as instantly recognisable, or as aspirational to get to know - and he is very aware of this, which is why his jealousy plays such a major role in the series.
[although it's worth saying, on a more positive note, that his and harry's relationship is genuinely close, mutually fulfilling, and nowhere near as codependent as james and sirius'...]
and so the apparently parental traits which ron and hermione display for harry actually reveal a power-dynamic which is very different from a pseudo-parent-child one - in which we would expect the parent-figures to consider their care for the child-figure to be their responsibility. instead, the dynamic is a [benevolent] master-servant [or, to return to the christ allegory, master-disciple] one - in which ron and hermione fill the role of harry's faithful retainers, who care for him, serve him, and follow him because it is their duty.
this doesn't mean that ron and hermione aren't more important to harry than other characters [ron - in particular - is harry's saint peter, the most important of the apostles, who doubts], but it does mean that they're subordinate to him within the narrative's hierarchy of power.
and this - obviously - is not the dynamic which existed between harry, james, and lily prior to his parents' deaths...
ron and hermione naming their kids after each other’s initials, while ginny and harry got drunk and made dices with the names of all the dead people that they knew instead of numbers and rolled them to leave the names of their kids to fate.
Do people realize how rare it is for a male character as cool-coded as Ron to be so down bad for a female character as dork-coded as Hermione? Ron, the class clown and consummate cool kid, falls completely head over heels in love with Hermione, the ultimate dork, BEFORE SHE GOT HOT. It's not her looks or her personality that he falls in love with BUT HER BRAINS. It's beyond me how all feminists aren't Romione shippers.
Just one drink would never lower Hermione's inhibitions enough to let her completely open up to the possibility of an amazing night... And so much more.
Fraternizing with the Enemy by @adenei
Join a sorority, they said. It’ll be fun! You’ll make so many lifelong friends and have more connections to the professional world than you could ever imagine. ...but what will happen when Hermione meets the mysterious man of her dreams who just so happens to be in the rival fraternity? The one they've been feuding with for fifty years? American College Muggle AU! Inspired by the Shakespearean classic, Romeo and Juliet.
Change Your Mind by @accio-broom
Lifelong friends Hermione and Ron take their relationship to the next level by having sex. Afraid of ruining their friendship, the new lovers make a pact to keep things purely physical, with no fighting, no jealousy and no expectations. They pledge to do whatever they want, wherever they want, as long as they do not fall in love. The question then becomes: who will fall first?
Lego House by @accio-broom
Muggle AU. When your best friend is a famous musician and you work as his bodyguard, life is mostly about partying and having fun. But after missing one too many important appointments, Harry’s manager Sirius hires a Personal Assistant to get them organised. Can Hermione Granger get them back on track before Harry’s upcoming UK tour? And what happens when Ron is less than accepting of her being in their lives.
Move On by @bluegreenandpurple
So far 2008 has been a very pleasant year. Ron was killing it as an Auror, he was going to become an uncle again, money was good, friends and family were safe, and even the Chudley Cannons had managed to not be last in the league. But 2008 wasn’t finished with him. Based on the romcom “The Switch”. Canon compliant with some little twist. Rated M because it's Ron's POV.
Moments in Time by ArrayOfColours
A collection of drabbles/one-shots of moments in tim timee between Ron and Hermione. Time period will vary. Ron/Hermione, Romione, Rhr, some Harry/Ginny Hinny thrown in. Fluff, smut.
To Know You is to Love You by @coyotelaughingsoftly
Calm, rational discussions have never been their strong point. When a pre-wedding fight shows them that they need to get it together, Hermione suggests couples counselling with an innovative new method. Ron reluctantly agrees, and now the two of them are going to learn about each other in a way never before possible.
Strip Chess by TheKillerTigerbunny
"Anyone else? Or am I the reigning champ again?" Ron announced to the party-goers. "There's got to be at least one person who's not afraid to lose their clothes to me?" "I'd like to give it a shot," Hermione responded sweetly. Hermione watched Ron freeze in place. "But...H...Hermione…y-you don't have enough clothes on..." he stuttered. Warning: Smutty smut three-shot!
The Wedding Date by @cheesyficwriter
Hermione Granger had no idea what she was getting herself into when she invited a complete stranger to be her date to her best friend's wedding. Muggle AU.
Chess by oppugnorhr12
Ron & Hermione were playing a game of chess when Hermione let slip something she never intended Ron to hear. Set in Grimmauld Place, the summer before they start their 5th year. Completely canon & FLUFFY.
Fit of Gallantry by The Duckster
Missing Moment Ron Hermione. Ron can't stop saying the word 'naked' and undressing in the same room together for the first time is awkward. Ron figures out what a bra is and peeks inappropriately and they bicker about couch cushions and chivalry
Waking Up In Vegas by @be11atrixthestrange
Muggle!AU- After a night of debauchery, Ron and Hermione wake up in Vegas... married!
Legally Ginger by @bavalon18
When Ron Weasley's college girlfriend declines his proposal because he doesn't meet her standard for a future husband, he comes up with a plan to let her see him in a new light. Inspired by the movie Legally Blonde.
Oh, I certainly can. Let's get into those AUs! We love them. I'll just link one or two stories of each author, but please have a look at their other stories as well.
Haven't read all of those yet, but I only heard good things about them and I can guarantee that you'll only read excellent stories by these authors.
Please don't forget to leave kudos and comments/reviews on these stories. It doesn't matter how old they are or if the authors are still active writers or not, they deserve our appreciation 🙏
Lego House by @accio-broom (Muggle AU)
Everything Has Changed by @accio-broom (Muggle AU)
Fraternizing with the Enemy by @adenei (Muggle AU)
The Arrangement by @adenei (Muggle AU)
If You Jump, I Jump by @romioneb (Muggle AU)
Camp Wizarding World by @romioneb (Muggle AU)
Isolated by @cheesyficwriter (Year 6 AU)
Lost in Translation by @cheesyficwriter (Hermione didn't go to Hogwarts)
Waking Up in Vegas by @be11atrixthestrange (Muggle AU)
The Loft by @be11atrixthestrange (Muggle AU)
all my best lies by @remedialpotions (HBP AU)
When Fate Decides by @azaleablueme (Post War AU)
In Search Of Hermione by @azaleablueme (Slytherin Hermione)
7 Years, 6 Months, 4 Days by @trademarkblue (Post War AU)
Pause by @trademarkblue (DH AU)
The Other Side Of Life by kjc1123 (Hermione didn't go to Hogwarts)
I'm tagging @folk-melody again. Because they're a human Romione library and they're a blessing for this side of the fandom 💛
Thanks for the ask, anon!
Ask me anything for the 500 followers celebration!
This is for people who think Ron and Hermione had no intellectual debates or Ron can't stimulate her intellectually. Here their intellectual debates in the books-
1. House elves
“They’re hats for house-elves,” she said briskly, now stuffing her books back into her bag. “I did them over the summer. I’m a really slow knitter without magic, but now I’m back at school I should be able to make lots more.”
“You’re leaving out hats for the house-elves?” said Ron slowly. “And you’re covering them up with rubbish first?”
“Yes,” said Hermione defiantly, swinging her bag onto her back.
“That’s not on,” said Ron angrily. “You’re trying to trick them into picking up the hats. You’re setting them free when they might not want to be free.”
Ron is the only one that confronts Hermione about SPEW and really engages into it (So that its clear: Hermione defends that the elves should be free at all costs, Ron says they should be aware and included in this choice = two points of view, both defended = intellectual debate)
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2. Discussing the ministry
“It could be a frame-up!” Ron exclaimed excitedly. “No — listen!”
he went on, dropping his voice dramatically at the threatening look on Hermione’s face. “The Ministry suspects he’s one of Dumbledore’s lot so — I dunno — they lured him to the Ministry, and he wasn’t trying to get through a door at all! Maybe they’ve just made something up to get him!”
There was a pause while Harry and Hermione considered this.
Harry thought it seemed far-fetched; Hermione, on the other hand, looked rather impressed and said, “Do you know, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that were true.”
Ron =shows how it could have been a frame-up and presents evidence; Hermione =considers his side and changes her mind; they were discussing something and reached an agreement over facts = intellectual
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3. In the creation of the DA, we see Harry behaving quite emotionally (understandable but this does not qualify, using your definition, as intellectual). Ron and Hermione make their case for why he should be the teacher and basically organize the entire thing themselves
“Let’s think,” he said, pulling a face like Goyle concentrating. “Uh . . .
first year — you saved the Stone from You-Know-Who.”
“But that was luck,” said Harry, “that wasn’t skil —”
“Second year,” Ron interrupted, “you killed the basilisk and destroyed Riddle.”
“Yeah, but if Fawkes hadn’t turned up I —”
“Third year,” said Ron, louder still, “you fought off about a hundred dementors at once —”
“Ron and I have been sounding out people who we thought might want to learn some proper Defense Against the Dark Arts, and there are a couple who seem interested. We’ve told them to meet us in Hogsmeade”
Hermione and Ron recruited and organized everything for the DA
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4. Discussing Dumbledore and Snape
“I did think he might be a bit better this year,” said Hermione in a disappointed voice. “I mean . . . you know . . .” She looked carefully around; there were half a dozen empty seats on either side of them and nobody was passing the table. “. . . Now he’s in the Order and everything.”
“Poisonous toadstools don’t change their spots,” said Ron sagely.”
“Anyway, I’ve always thought Dumbledore was cracked trusting Snape, where’s the evidence he ever really stopped working for You-Know-Who?”
“I think Dumbledore’s probably got plenty of evidence”
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5. Sirius death
They stayed together in the Hospital Wing for weeks and it can be correctly inferred that this was discussed given their behavior towards Harry
“Ron and Hermione left the hospital wing completely cured three days before the end of term. Hermione showed signs of wanting to talk about Sirius, but Ron tended to make hushing noises every time she mentioned his name”
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6. Mad-Eye’s death and the 7 Potters mission
“Oh, Ron’s mum forgot that she asked Ginny and me to change the sheets yesterday,” said Hermione. She threw Numerology and Grammatica onto one pile and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts onto the other.
“We were just talking about Mad-Eye,” Ron told Harry.
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7. Hermione’s parents and the Ghoul (they planned and prepared for the mission together)
“Didn’t realize that Ron and I know perfectly well what might happen if we come with you? Well, we do. Ron, show Harry what you’ve done.”
“Nah, he’s just eaten,” said Ron.
“Go on, he needs to know!”
“Oh, all right. Harry, come here.”
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8. How to destroy Horcruxes
“Hang on,” said Ron, frowning. “The bit of soul in that diary was possessing Ginny, wasn’t it? How does that work, then?”
“While the magical container is still intact, the bit of soul inside it can flit in and out of someone if they get too close to the object. I don’t mean holding it for too long, it’s nothing to do with touching it,” she added before Ron could speak. “I mean close emotionally. Ginny poured her heart out into that diary, she made herself incredibly vulnerable. You’re in trouble if you get too fond of or dependent on the Horcrux.”
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9. Hallows x Horcruxes
“Well, I don’t suppose it matters,” sighed Hermione. “Even if he was being honest, I never heard such a lot of nonsense in all my life.”
“Hang on, though,” said Ron. “The Chamber of Secrets was supposed to be a myth, wasn’t it?”
“But the Deathly Hallows can’t exist, Ron!”
“You keep saying that, but one of them can,” said Ron. “Harry’s Invisibility Cloak —”
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10. Formulating a plan to keep Hermione safe
“Ron glanced at Hermione, then said, “What if purebloods and half-bloods swear a Muggle-born’s part of their family? I’ll tell everyone Hermione’s my cousin —”
Hermione covered Ron’s hand with hers and squeezed it.
“Thank you, Ron, but I couldn’t let you —”
“You won’t have a choice,” said Ron fiercely, gripping her hand back. “I’ll teach you my family tree so you can answer questions on it.
Hermione gave a shaky laugh.
“Ron, as we’re on the run with Harry Potter, the most wanted person in the country, I don’t think it matters. If I was going back to school it would be different. What’s Voldemort planning for Hogwarts?” she asked Lupin.”
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11. Off page discussion
“What’s happened?” Ron asked apprehensively. He and Hermione had been poring over a sheaf of scribbled notes and hand-drawn maps that littered the end of the long kitchen table, but now they watched Harry as he strode toward them and threw down the newspaper on top of their scattered parchment.”
12. Off page (2)
“You can’t tell me you’ve stopped having funny dreams,” Hermione said now, “because Ron told me last night you were muttering in your sleep again. . . .”
Harry threw Ron a furious look. Ron had the grace to look ashamed of himself.
“You were only muttering a bit,” he mumbled apologetically.”
Yet another evidence of their connection and off-page discussions
“Neither Ron nor Hermione spoke, but Harry felt sure that they were looking at each other behind his back, communicating silently.”
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Ron and Hermione have emotional AND intellectual discussions throughout the series. So if you think Ron can't stimulate her intellectually you havent read the books. 😊
Like, I saw a lot of people talk about how funny Ron is (which is true, he's genuinely one of the funnier characters in the series), how loyal he is when it counts, he's brave as hell, and he is really smart, just not book smart. But what I don't see talked about enough (maybe it's just me though), is Ron Weasley's mean streak.
I talked about how Harry most definitely has what it takes to be a Slytherin, can be scary, and is willing to kill when push comes to shove. I also mentioned Hermione's ruthlessness, but I didn't discuss Ron's mean streak which is a joy when I see it crop up in the book. When it comes up, it always reminds me of the twins, and I feel like that's where Ron got it from.
So I'm just going to bring up a few quotes I had in my notes showing Ron's mean streak, I'm sure I missed some from the earlier books, but I find it a fun aspect of his character.
Snape cried: “Expelliarmus!” There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: He flew backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to sprawl on the floor.
Malfoy and some of the other Slytherins cheered. Hermione was dancing on tiptoes. “Do you think he’s all right?” she squealed through her fingers.
“Who cares?” said Harry and Ron together.
(CoS, 178)
This type of reaction is seen with Ron pretty often. He really doesn't care when someone he dislikes is hurt or injured and he is very vocal about it. He and Harry kinda share this trait, as seen above.
Later in the other quotes I bring up, I show that Hermione is the one usually playing morality police for Ron and Harry even if she herself isn't as innocent as she likes to act.
He raised Ron’s Spellotaped wand high over his head and yelled, “Obliviate!”
The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. Harry flung his arms over his head and ran, slipping over the coils of snake skin, out of the way of great chunks of tunnel ceiling that were thundering to the floor. Next moment, he was standing alone, gazing at a solid wall of broken rock.
“Ron!” he shouted. “Are you okay? Ron!”
“I’m here!” came Ron’s muffled voice from behind the rockfall. “I’m okay — this git’s not, though — he got blasted by the wand —”
There was a dull thud and a loud “ow!” It sounded as though Ron had just kicked Lockhart in the shins.
(CoS, 280)
I love this, Lockhart explodes the cave, obliviates himself, and Ron's reaction is to kick him in the shins. I don't know, I just find it hilarious.
“Don’t talk to me,” Ron said quietly to Harry and Hermione as they sat down at the Gryffindor table a few minutes later, surrounded by excited talk on all sides about what had just happened.
“Why not?” said Hermione in surprise.
“Because I want to fix that in my memory forever,” said Ron, his eyes closed and an uplifted expression on his face. “Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret . . .”
Harry and Hermione both laughed, and Hermione began doling beef casserole onto each of their plates.
“He could have really hurt Malfoy, though,” she said. “It was good, really, that Professor McGonagall stopped it —”
“Hermione!” said Ron furiously, his eyes snapping open again, “you’re ruining the best moment of my life!”
(GoF, 207)
Here you see Hermione the morality police crop up, but I'm talking about Ron here.
Hermione is definitely right in that Draco could've been seriously hurt, but Ron is just glad he saw Malfoy suffering. Actually, in the scene before it, Ron was the one who wanted to curse Malfoy and was held back by Harry and Hermione (as well as in the eat slugs situation in CoS), like, with as much as Harry calls Draco his nemesis, it really feels like Ron is the one that hates Draco and thinks of him as his nemesis.
“She’s an awful woman [Umbridge],” said Hermione in a small voice. “Awful. You know, I was just saying to Ron when you came in . . . we’ve got to do something about her.”
“I suggested poison,” said Ron grimly.
(OotP, 324)
I love you, Ron.
This is one of my favorite quotes for him. Hermione shuts down the poison idea, but I think they should've given it a shot, I think it could've been fun.
It would've been cathartic for them at least.
“You take Remedial Potions?” asked Zacharias Smith superciliously, having cornered Harry in the entrance hall after lunch. “Good Lord, you must be terrible, Snape doesn’t usually give extra lessons, does he?”
As Smith strode away in an annoyingly buoyant fashion, Ron glared after him.
“Shall I jinx him? I can still get him from here,” he said, raising his wand and taking aim between Smith’s shoulder blades.
“Forget it,” said Harry dismally. “It’s what everyone’s going to think, isn’t it? That I’m really stup —”
(OotP, 528)
I love how Ron always has Harry's back and is ready to fight anyone (including Sirius who he thought was a mass murderer when he was 13 with a broken leg) for Harry's sake. It's a real vibe the Golden Trio has that they're just ready to drop everything and curse out anyone for each other's sake. They are just so protective of each other and I love this for them, how they are all just each other's people, yk.
It's also another example of how Ron is the one of the trio that offers violence as the answer the most often.
“Reparo!” said Hermione quickly, mending Ron’s cup with a wave of her wand. “That’s all very well, but what if Montague’s permanently injured?”
“Who cares?” said Ron irritably, while his teacup stood drunkenly again, trembling violently at the knees. “Montague shouldn’t have tried to take all those points from Gryffindor, should he? If you want to worry about anyone, Hermione, worry about me!”
(OotP, 679)
Again Ron doesn't care for the injury of people who he considers deserving.
“Madam Pomfrey says she’s just in shock,” whispered Hermione.
“Sulking, more like,” said Ginny.
“Yeah, she shows signs of life if you do this,” said Ron, and with his tongue he made soft clip-clopping noises. Umbridge sat bolt upright, looking wildly around.
(OotP, 849)
Like, regardless of whether Umbridge was SAed or not (for the record, I don't think she was) it's not a nice thing to do. Umbridge is awful, but this is Ron literally spreading salt on the wound. but like I mentioned above, she's in the "deserving it" category.
“will you stop pretending to be asleep when Lavender comes to see you? She’s driving me mad as well.”
“Oh,” said Ron, looking sheepish. “Yeah. All right.”
“If you don’t want to go out with her anymore, just tell her,” said Harry.
(HBP, 411)
That is honestly so mean. Like, I'm not Lavender's biggest fan, I find her annoying, but she's a teenage girl in her maybe first relationship and she did nothing really wrong. I feel truly sorry for her for how Ron treated her, it wasn't really her fault. It's just mean that he pretends to sleep instead of talking to her.
“Same as he wanted at Christmas,” shrugged Harry. “Wanted
me to give him inside information on Dumbledore and be the
Ministry’s new poster boy.”
Ron seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, then he said
loudly to Hermione, “Look, let me go back and hit Percy!”
“No,” she said firmly, grabbing his arm.
“It’ll make me feel better!”
(HBP, 650)
Like, this is peak sibling behavior, but as I mentioned earlier, Ron tends to want to resort to violence more often than Harry and Hermione do (especially in the earlier books, as Harry does grow angrier after Sirius' death). He is usually the one to bring violence up, and I find it an interesting aspect of his character.
And Ron is correct in the fact hitting Percy would make him feel better. Not saying if it's the right thing to do, but Ron really would experience it as satisfying because Percy would deserve it in his mind.
“What are we going to do with them?” Ron whispered to Harry through the dark; then, even more quietly, “Kill them? They’d kill us. They had a good go just now.”
Hermione shuddered and took a step backward. Harry shook his head.
(DH, 167)
As I mentioned in one of the Harry posts, Harry is calling the shots, but Ron is the one who offered to kill the Death Eaters. He put that idea on the table. He was relieved when Harry said they shouldn't kill them, but if Harry said it'd be better if they killed them — Ron would've backed him up and done it, while Hermione might've preferred to pretend it wasn't happening.
“That treacherous old bleeder.” Ron panted, emerging from beneath the Invisibility Cloak and throwing it to Harry. “Hermione you’re a genius, a total genius. I can’t believe we got out of that.”
“Cave Inimicum. . . Didn’t I say it was an Erumpent horn, didn’t I tell him? And now his house has been blown apart!”
“Serves him right,” said Ron, examining his torn jeans and the cuts to his legs, “What’d you reckon they’ll do to him?”
“Oh I hope they don’t kill him!” groaned Hermione, “That’s why I wanted the Death Eaters to get a glimpse of Harry before we left, so they knew Xenophilius hadn’t been lying!”
(DH, 424)
Again, Ron not caring/enjoying when people who deserve it suffer. Xenophilius wanted to help them, he tried to persuade them not to come into his home at first so he wouldn't give them in, he tried so hard even though the Death Eaters had his daughter! Harry rightly feels bad for Xenophilius and Luna, it's easy to understand why he did what he did.
Hermione and Harry hope he is fine, but Ron is the one who thinks he has it coming. That he deserves to have his house blown up for betraying them, regardless of his reasoning.
I think Ron is the most black-and-white in his thoughts about people among the trio. There are those who deserve anything that comes to them and those who don't. Specific circumstances and context don't really play a part in what bad people deserve coming to them.
I don't know, I just find this interesting.
Harry has the compassion to understand people, even ones who harmed him or the people he cares about, he is capable of forgiving Voldemort and never really hated Draco.
Hermione is pretty black-and-white in her view of people, having the people she trusts and those she doesn't. She trusts Snape because he's an authority figure trusted by Dumbledore (and Hermione is the one who is truly Dumbledore's woman true and true in the books). Her view on people has less to do with their actions, but who they are endorsed by. She is compassionate to Xenophilius because he's Luna's dad, and Luna is good, therefore, she wouldn't love someone who is bad.
Ron is black-and-white in how he sees people in a very different way than Hermione. He looks at actions, and if you do anything to try and harm him or people he cares about, you get on the shit list. Getting out of Ron's shit list is probably not easy, he doesn't strike me as one who forgives easily and readily the way Harry does, but he does forgive. Like actions can get you on his shit list, actions can get you out. But once a person is on the shit list, they deserve any harm that comes their way.
But Ron is really loyal, and there are people he loves who are basically immune from going on the shit list (like his family, yes, even Percy. While he wants to hit him, I don't believe Ron ever really wished death on Percy). And there is just something interesting about Ron, with his mean streak and everything, being the glue that holds the trio together. Like, in Deathly Hallows once he leaves, Harry and Hermione barely talk to each other, they are barely friends without Ron there.
I don't know, I just love Ron. I love how he is loyal, and friendship glue, but has just as much of a mean streak to him as Harry and Hermione can pull. I just feel like he's sometimes left out of the discussion of how ruthless Harry and Hermione could be. Like, it's true, both of them can be ruthless, but don't leave Ron out. He can be ruthless and actually offers violence as a solution more often than Harry or Hermione do.
I mean, when people bash Ron by saying he's "a total jerk", that's usually what they refer to - that Ron can be mean when he wants to be.
Unlike Harry who is cooed over for being "savage" or Hermione who gets "yas kween"ed, Ron's biting retorts are - especially when he uses them on his friends, more than often in retaliation for a shitty thing they did/said to Ron - generally seen as a bad thing.
It's not nearly as accepted for Ron to be "mean" especially because fandom seems to assume that he's mean to the Hs specifically. Which... well, they ALL are mean to each other at some point, but for some reason people are much more okay with Harry and Hermione being mean to Ron than the reverse (or even more okay with Harry and Hermione being mean to people in general because they assume it's "for the greater good" bullshit, but Ron isn't allowed to use this particular smokescreen, where are we gonna get our scapegoat to project the Hs' flaws onto otherwise? /s).
While Ron is often threatening violence... he is the one who has canonically never physically attacked his friends while Harry and Hermione HAVE. A big thing to understand with Ron is that he really barks a lot more than he bites. When he does bite, as in HBP when he punches Harry after he drank expired love potion, it's that something is dreadfully wrong (the Horcrux Hunt shows us a Ron who's REALLY at the end of his rope and even then he manages to be nicer than Harry is during their argument).
However, one more thing: hating people who "deserve it" and enjoying their suffering is definitely a Rowling thing. Harry, Hermione and Ron all show this trait at various points (hell, Hermione was smug about Lavender's broken heart in HBP), it's spread all over the books and she based Snape, whom she does the utmost to make sure we hate, on her chemistry teacher because she thought he quote "deserved it" for giving her bad grades... like, you can't make this up... and then she has Hermione have perfect grades in every subject, yep, wish fulfillment indeed...
Honestly, I didn't think of Ron bashing in this context since these fics always portray him as a completely out of character type of mean. Like, yeah, while Ron does threat violence often (and he makes attempts to curse Malfoy, for example, it's not that he never follows through), Harry and Hermione do so as well.
I mentioned in the original post that Harry has a very similar "deserving it" attitude to Ron, down to them vocalising the thought at the same time in CoS regarding Lockhart. And while Hermione likes to play morality police and say: "he could've gotten seriously injured," I did mention she's a bit of a hypocrite, saying that considering what she does (Mariatta, for example along with the other examples you mentioned).
Really, the only reason you get her sometimes saying that is because she has a different method to judge who's "deserving it" from Harry and Ron.
(Definitely a JKR thing, though, considering the narrative treats it as justice)
Though I do want to note something about the Golden Trio's friendship in general in terms of Ron being mean to Harry and Hermione. Becouse he's definitely not the only one. Book Hermione doesn't call Ron and Harry "stupid" as much as movie Hermione does, but she still does. Harry often considers Ron and hermiones bantering useless and silly and often just doesn't listen when they're all talking. They fight, and they can be very scathing and mean to each other, but they are also incredibly loyal and protective of each other at the same time.
Like, Golden Trio fans sometimes like to paint their friendship as just that: "golden," but that's not what their friendship is. Harry and Ron have a bit more in common, but in general, they're not friends because they share interests the way many friendships usually form, they are friends becouse they had no one else.
All three arrived at Hogwarts incredibly lonely, and they found each other. They act more like siblings than like friends with their squabbling and mean comments and fights that are resolved and forgiven incredibly quickly. It's just how people who are very close act, that's why I call it sibling behaviour.
I have siblings, when we were younger, we'd fight over nothing because we knew it didn't matter because at the end of the day, we loved each other. The Golden Trio are kinda like that. Sure, they have their bigger fights like GoF or when Ron leaves in DH, but Harry forgives him basically instantly. Hermione takes a bit longer in DH, but forgiveness comes pretty quickly to her, too. Quick fights and quick forgiveness are the kind of fights you see within family. They are found family to the letter.
Ron is the one to start these bigger fights more often, and it might have to do with how used he is to fighting and immediately forgiving from having so many siblings. In contrast, to the only children, Harry and Hermione, who didn't really have that experience growing up. Ron even says in DH that he immediately tried to return to them. And, honestly, it was a good move on his part if they were fighting and living in the same house — go to another room to calm down for a bit and then everything goes back to normal. It's what you do with family when you fight. It just didn't work out in this context because of war, and both his friends are only children who aren't familiar with conflict resolution under the same roof.
And I like their friendship the way it is. I don't want it perfect, I want it with mean remarks and atupid arguments that they forget about an hour later. I think it's fun.
Honestly, I didn't think of Ron bashing in this context since these fics always portray him as a completely out of character type of mean.
I mean, fair, and I am very wary of anything that could be construed as bashing when it comes to Ron. But fandom has long been used to declaring Ron "a jerk", even while they praise him. The number of times I've had someone say "I love Ron, even though he can be mean" as if Ron's meanness is so overwhelming we should apologize for liking him... meanwhile the first "heroic" thing Hermione does is choose violence and set someone on fire but that's just "queen" behaviour apparently.
(and he makes attempts to curse Malfoy, for example, it's not that he never follows through)
Oh yes, he does, and the number of times he tries to punch him only to be restrained by his friends requires multiple hands to count; it's just that Ron won't go overboard. He has a hard limit. Harry has canonically succeeded in using Crucio and Hermione has, as you pointed out, the Marietta stuff and some more; I'd say Ron is more of a "talk shit get hit" knee-jerk guy while Harry and Hermione can be much more calculating - and Hermione is the only one we saw who calculatedly attacked a friend (multiple times even, as she did curse Neville in PS, long before the canaries).
Hermione takes a bit longer in DH, but forgiveness comes pretty quickly to her, too.
Eeeeehhh not really? It might be due to her romantic feelings for Ron but she is quite harsh on him. It takes him almost dying of poison to forgive him in HBP after she iced him out for months, and in DH she gets distracted by Harry becoming obsessed by the Elder Wand. Even after Malfoy Manor, when it's pretty clear she's forgiven Ron after yet realizing their mortality, she's still quick to get on her high horse and act precious when he suggests double-crossing Griphook before he can double-cross them.
Like, Golden Trio fans sometimes like to paint their friendship as just that: "golden," but that's not what their friendship is.
Heh, that's pretty much how I see it too but to me, there's a clear pecking order: Harry is above it all, due to being "the guy whose name is on the cover". Hermione is nearly on Harry's level and sometimes above him, especially with how much the narrative tends to coddle her and excuse her worse actions (and even when it doesn't: Rowling specifically mentions Hermione saying "you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon" "nastily", yet how many cutesy Romione edits do we have treating this line as a harmless funny quip when the text itself pointed out it was an insult?). The one who isn't given any breaks, who always has to bear the full force of the blame and doesn't get to deflect his behaviour because he is the deflection for the Hs to look "not as bad as he is", it's Ron. In the food chain of the Golden Trio, Ron is at the very bottom and when he dares try to stand as an equal to the other two, he's quickly slapped down and told he's immature for daring to want better from the people supposed to be his friends.
Ron starts a lot of the fights the three have because he is taken for granted by his friends and there's only so long one can go being called "immature" and "stupid" for completely innocuous things without going apeshit. His fight with Harry in GOF is due to Harry not being honest with him and Ron picking up on that; in DH Harry's incompetence as their leader and his dismissal of Ron's fears prompts Ron's outrage at Harry's seeming indifference to all the sacrifices and help the Weasley family made for him - something that would doubly hurt Ron as we saw his mother treat Harry better than her own children, which would hurt Ron who already feels neglected but he'd be able to bear it as long as he sees Harry enjoy a "normal" childhood. For Harry to reduce Ron's problems on the Horcrux Hunt as "mama not here to feed you", that's fucking low and I don't blame Ron for blowing a fuse.
Anyway, that is my own view of their friendship. Ron is the biggest loser here, contrary to what most of fandom seems to think because they assume he profits from Harry's status and fame - lolwut when does it ever happen in the book that Ron gets recognition based on knowing Harry? Harry uses his authority as Quidditch captain to keep Ron on the team in HBP, but no student or teacher gives Ron any kind of special treatment based on his closeness to Harry. Hermione also gets taken for granted by Harry a lot, but given how often Rowling uses her to dispense punishments to bad guys or solutions to a problem it's difficult for the reader to forget about her importance.
I definitely don't think the Golden Trio's friendship is one of equals, not as it is written in the books. There's too much dumping on Ron and dismissing his issues as "ugh when is he gonna get over it" for me to believe it's all good and well. They're all pretty damaged, even without Voldemort hanging over them, and sadly as the "quiet kid" of his family, Ron is a little more used to not rowing the boat, only taking a stand for himself when he's really feeling betrayed (Scabbers, GOF, HBP and DH) but every single time he ends having to say he was wrong even when he wasn't (Hermione may be the one apologizing in POA, but Hagrid first came along saying it was bad of Ron to prioritize his pet over his friend... but Hermione prioritizing her pet over Ron's boundaries and feelings was perfectly ok of course).
Bleh. Anyway. That's my own view and opinion of things, colored by my own experience of life and fandom.
daily reminder that at the age of thirteen ron weasley was dragged inside what he believed to be the most haunted place in the entire britain by somebody he believed to be a mass murderer on the loose and stood on a broken leg to shield harry from said murderer. he was thirteen absolutely terrified and injured and he stood up to a convicted murderer to protect harry. i have never in my life doubted why he was the person harry would miss most
