Ronald Weasley

Ronald Bilius Weasley is a fictional character in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. He is introduced in ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' as a first-year student on his way to the wizarding school Hogwarts. During the school year, Ron befriends Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Being the only member of the trio who was raised in wizarding society, he provides insight into wizarding customs and traditions. Along with Harry and Hermione, he is a member of Gryffindor House at Hogwarts and is present for most of the action throughout the series. Ron is portrayed by Rupert Grint in all eight ''Harry Potter'' films, and Alastair Stout in the upcoming television series.

Creation and development

Ron was one of the first ''Harry Potter'' characters that Rowling created. Although Ron and Hermione form a romantic bond in the series and eventually have children, Rowling confessed in a 2014 interview that she wrote the relationship as "a form of wish fulfilment". She said the characters are fundamentally incompatible in some ways, but that their relationship might function with "a bit of counselling".

Appearances

Novels

''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone''

Ron is introduced in the first novel in the series, ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997). He and his family encounter Harry Potter at King's Cross station and help him find the Hogwarts Express. Once aboard the train, Ron and Harry meet Hermione Granger, whom they initially dislike. At Hogwarts, all three students are assigned to Gryffindor House. After Ron and Harry save Hermione from a troll, they develop a friendship with her. When the trio seeks the Philosopher's Stone, Ron uses his skill at Wizard's Chess to allow Harry and Hermione to proceed safely through a dangerous, life-sized chess game. At the last dinner of the school year, the Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore rewards Ron's chess skill by giving him fifty House points, which helps Gryffindor win the House Cup.

''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets''

Ron returns in ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' (1998). During the summer after his first year at Hogwarts, Ron writes to Harry several times. He receives no answer because his letters are intercepted by Dobby the house-elf. Ron becomes so concerned that he and his brothers Fred and George fly to Harry's house in their father's enchanted car. Harry spends the next month at the Weasleys' home. When Harry and Ron are unable to board the train to Hogwarts, they take the flying car instead. Ron receives a Howler from his mother, who berates him for taking the car.

Later in the novel, Ron and Harry use Polyjuice Potion to disguise themselves as they infiltrate the Slytherin dormitory and attempt to gather information about the Chamber of Secrets. During a journey into the Forbidden Forest, Ron is forced to encounter his worst nightmare: spiders. The giant arachnids nearly devour Ron and Harry, but the enchanted car rescues them. Ron and Harry then enter the Chamber to save Ron's sister Ginny, who was kidnapped. After Harry rescues her, both boys are given awards for their service to Hogwarts.

''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban''

In '' Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' (1999), Ron's pet rat Scabbers goes missing. Ron, Harry and Hermione eventually discover him hiding in Hagrid's hut. When Scabbers runs off again, Ron chases him to the Whomping Willow, where he is snatched by a large black dog and dragged into a tunnel. Ron and his friends follow the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. The dog turns out to be Sirius Black, who explains that Scabbers is actually the Death Eater Peter Pettigrew. As Ron returns to Hogwarts with Harry, Hermione, Sirius and Remus Lupin, Pettigrew knocks Ron unconscious and escapes. Ron is forced to remain in the hospital wing of Hogwarts while Harry and Hermione travel back in time to rescue Sirius and the hippogriff Buckbeak.

''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''

The Weasleys invite Harry and Hermione to the Quidditch World Cup in ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' (2000). Ron is in awe when he sees his favourite Quidditch player, Viktor Krum. He is even more excited when Krum comes to Hogwarts to participate in the Triwizard Tournament. At Christmas time, Ron attends the Yule Ball with Padma Patil. He becomes very upset when he sees that Hermione's date to the Ball is Krum, and the two have a heated argument. In the second task of the Tournament, Harry must rescue Ron from the depths of the Great Lake in Hogwarts.

''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix''

In '' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' (2003), Ron is made a Gryffindor prefect. His brother Percy congratulates him and advises him to become an ally of Dolores Umbridge, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor appointed by the Ministry of Magic. Ron, however, does not support Umbridge's policy of refusing to teach students practical defensive magic. He, Harry and Hermione form the group Dumebledore's Army, which provides a venue for students to practise defensive spellcasting. Ron also joins the Gryffindor Quidditch team as Keeper and helps Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup. Near the end of the novel, Ron battles Death Eaters at the Department of Mysteries alongside Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. He is injured during the fight, but makes a full recovery.

''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince''

Ron returns as Quidditch Keeper in ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' (2005). However, he performs poorly at Quidditch after learning that Hermione may have kissed Krum. He becomes upset when he observes his younger sister Ginny kissing a boy, and Ginny reacts by pointing out that Ron has never been kissed. To bolster Ron's confidence for an upcoming Quidditch match, Harry pretends to give him a luck potion. Believing he has actually taken the potion, Ron performs well and Gryffindor wins the match. During the ensuing celebration, Ron kisses Lavender Brown. Hermione becomes jealous and begins to ignore Ron, who gradually becomes dissatisfied with his relationship with Lavender.

In March, Ron eats chocolates containing a love potion. Horace Slughorn administers an antidote, then kindly offers Ron some mead. Unbeknownst to Slughorn, the mead is poisoned; Harry saves Ron's life by forcing a bezoar down his throat. Ron is taken to the hospital wing, where he is visited by a panic-stricken Hermione. After recovering, Ron reconciles with Hermione and breaks up with Lavender. Later in the novel, Death Eaters enter Hogwarts. Ron, Hermione, Ginny and other students and staff fight them. Snape kills Dumbledore during the battle, after which Ron and Hermione vow to help Harry find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes. Rowling said that before this novel, Ron is "quite immature". She said the events of ''Half-Blood Prince'' help the character to "grow up emotionally" and "make himself worthy of Hermione".

''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows''

In ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' (2007), Ron and his friends use Polyjuice Potion to impersonate employees of the Ministry of Magic. They then infiltrate the Ministry and retrieve a Horcrux in the possession of Dolores Umbridge. Fearing the locket containing the Horcrux might be lost or stolen, Harry requests that someone wear it at all times. Wearing the locket has a profound effect on Ron, who lashes out at Harry and Hermione and abandons them. Ron immediately regrets his decision to leave, but is captured by Snatchers and cannot return. Eventually he reunites with his companions with the help of the Deluminator he inherited from Dumbledore. He finds Harry attempting to recover the Sword of Gryffindor from an icy pool and rescues him from drowning. Harry forgives Ron for leaving and insists that he use the sword to destroy the locket.

The trio are captured by Snatchers but are rescued by the house-elf Dobby, who dies during the escape. Eventually, the trio returns to Hogwarts, hoping to find the last unknown Horcrux shown in Harry's vision. Having lost the Sword of Gryffindor to Griphook the goblin, Ron gets an idea to procure more Basilisk fangs and manages to speak enough Parseltongue to open the Chamber of Secrets, where Hermione destroys the Horcrux in Helga Hufflepuff's cup. He begins to worry about the fate of Hogwarts' elves. Upon hearing this, Hermione drops the basilisk fangs she was carrying and kisses him for the first time. He also takes part in the Battle of Hogwarts, witnessing the death of his brother Fred, and teams up with Neville to defeat Fenrir Greyback.

In the epilogue of ''Deathly Hallows'', which is set nineteen years after Voldemort's death, Ron and Hermione are sending their daughter Rose Granger-Weasley off to her first year at Hogwarts. They also have a younger son named Hugo. In interviews following the release of the novel, Rowling gave differing accounts of Ron's life after the events of the series. On one occasion she said Ron and Harry work for the Ministry of Magic as Aurors. In a later interview, she said that Ron works at the joke shop Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes with his brother George.

Portrayal

Film adaptation

Rupert Grint portrays Ron Weasley in all eight ''Harry Potter'' films. He auditioned after seeing a segment on the children's news programme, '' Newsround'', inviting children to apply for the role. Grint sent in a photo, a self-written script and a rap explaining his suitability for the part. Rowling was supportive of the casting, calling Grint perfect for the role. Grint's performance in ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' earned him the Satellite Award for Outstanding New Talent and the Young Artist Award for Most Promising Young Newcomer. In a 2020 article, Nathan Sharp of ''Screen Rant'' described him as the most "natural" child actor in the early films, and "excellent from minute one". Grint commented on playing Ron in the series: "The line between Ron Weasley and me got thinner with each film".

Stage adaption

'' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'' is a play written by Jack Thorne from an original story by Thorne, J.K. Rowling and John Tiffany. The plot occurs nineteen years after the events of ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows''. In the play, Ron and Hermione send their daughter Rose on the train to Hogwarts. Hermione is now the Minister for Magic, while Ron manages Weasley's Wizard Wheezes with his brother George. In the second act, Harry's son Albus Severus and Draco Malfoy's son Scorpius travel through time, and their actions change Ron and Hermione's relationship during their time at Hogwarts. Ron falls in love with Padma Patil at the Yule Ball, with the result that Ron and Hermione never marry. However, this alternate timeline is eventually erased, and the original timeline is restored.

In 2016, Paul Thornley portrayed Ron Weasley in the stage debut of the play at the Palace Theatre in London. For his performance, Thornley was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Play at the 2017 WhatsOnStage Awards. Thornley reprised the role in 2018 at the Lyric Theater on Broadway.

Television series adaptation

Alastair Stout is set to portray Ron Weasley in the television series version of ''Harry Potter'', as it was announced on 27 May 2025.

Characterisation

Outward appearance

In the first novel, Ron is described as "tall, thin and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose". He has the trademark red hair of the Weasleys, and is one of Harry's tallest schoolmates, even outgrowing some of his older brothers. Rowling has stated that Ron has blue eyes.

Personality

Ron is known for his humour, loyalty, readiness to defend his friends and his love of food. In an interview, Rowling described Ron as very funny but insensitive and immature. As his first exercise with the actors who portray the central trio, Alfonso Cuarón, who directed the third film in the series, '' Prisoner of Azkaban'', assigned them to write an autobiographical essay about their character, written in the first person, spanning birth to the discovery of the magical world, and including the character's emotional experience. Of Rupert Grint's essay, Cuarón recalls, "Rupert didn't deliver the essay. When I questioned why he didn't do it, he said, 'I'm Ron; Ron wouldn't do it.' So I said, 'Okay, you do understand your character.'" Commenting on Ron's character development in the final book, Rowling explained that "Ron is the most immature of the three main characters, but in part seven he grows up. He was never strong footed, people see him mostly as Harry's friend; his mother had actually wanted a girl and in the last book he finally has to acknowledge his weaknesses. But it's exactly that which makes Ron a man."

Ron proves his bravery and magical ability several times, such as by playing 'real wizard's chess' in the first book, entering into the Forbidden Forest with Harry during the second book despite his arachnophobia, producing a full-corporeal Patronus Charm in the fifth book and even, in the seventh book, getting basilisk fangs from the Chamber of Secrets by mimicking Parseltongue without understanding it.

Some of Ron's qualities serve as foils to Harry's. Whereas Harry is an orphan with more gold than he needs, Ron comes from a loving but poor family. Many of his possessions are hand-me-downs. Harry is famous but would prefer to avoid the spotlight; Ron, in comparison, is often perceived as a mere lackey and sometimes becomes jealous of the recognition Harry receives. Overshadowed by his many siblings and the fame and achievements of his friends, Ron's inferiority complex and need to prove himself are the main thrusts of his character arc. As the books progress, he matures from an insecure boy to a competent young man capable of strategy and leadership.

Magical abilities and skills

Ron is given his brother Charlie'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 at the start of ''Chamber of Secrets'', but it malfunctions dreadfully after this, backfiring spells, making strange noises, and emitting objects from the wrong end. Ron's new wand is , willow and unicorn hair, which he procures before the start of his third year at Hogwarts. Ron's talents are rarely shown, but he, like the other DA members, survives a violent encounter with adult Death Eaters in ''Order of the Phoenix'', and it is implied that during the Death Eater assault in ''Half-Blood Prince'' he held his own quite well because he was being helped by Felix Felicis, the good luck potion. In ''Deathly Hallows'', Ron loses his original wand, and takes Peter Pettigrew's wand for his own. Following this, Ron begins to demonstrate more aptitude and general knowledge, along with a sudden spurt in maturity after a terrible row with Harry. For a while, he effectively leads the trio in the hunt for the Horcruxes while Harry suffers a major depression.

Reception

The entertainment website ''IGN'' selected Ron as the third best ''Harry Potter'' character, writing that his status as comic relief makes him "instantly endearing". The ''IGN'' writers observed that "unlike most sidekicks, Ron isn't a coward or a simpleton, nor is he content to live in Harry's shadow ... Ron overcomes his shortcomings with faithfulness and perseverance". ''Empire'' magazine included Ron's friendship with Harry as one of the 33 best friendships in film.

In popular culture

In 2003, the British charity organisation Comic Relief performed a spoof story called ''Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan'', in which Jennifer Saunders appeared as both Ron and J. K. Rowling.

Notes

References

Further reading

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