The Romance (was HBP: the Good, the Not So Good, and the Ridiculous (Spoile

[Richard Shepard]

> > Richard wrote:
> >  
> > I think that Ron considers Hermione too good for him and has always expected Hermione and Harry to end up together because they are both so awesome.  He is just the average bloke that is lucky enough to be their friend and gets to help them out in whatever small ways he can while they save the world.  
> 
> va32h:
> 
> Oh no, I disagree very much here!  The movie version of Ron certainly comes off that way, but that's because Steve Kloves keeps giving his lines to Hermione and the director's seem hell-bent on making Ron a buffoon. 
> 
> But Ron from the books - at least from the early books - is a crucial part of the Trio.  He won the chess game, which is no "small way" of helping, and he's the one who sacrificed himself so that Harry could continue. 
> 
> In Chamber of Secrets, it's Ron who comes up with the idea to rescue Harry from the Dursleys, stands up for Muggleborns, tries to curse Malfoy to defend Hermione's honor (and only fails because of his malfunctioning wand, not because he's incompetent), faces up to his great fear of spiders.  In PoA, Ron's the only one who notices Hermione's crazy schedule and figures out how impossible it must be, and he's the one who stands up for Harry in the Shrieking Shack, even though he's injured. 
> 
> Ron is the only member of the trio with any true knowledge of the magical world too - which is frequently quite important. 
> 
> Ron was a terrific character until Steve Kloves came along, and unfortunately, Rowling seemed to have forgotten what "her" Ron was like and went with the Kloves version (ptui!)
> 
> But then Harry was a better character too, in those early books. By DH, Harry and Ron have both become useless lumps that Super!Hermione! has to drag around with her. 
> 
> va32h
>


Richard:  

I agree with everything you say about Ron.  He is clever, funny, brave, loyal, insightful, etc... but he is also insecure.  He does not see himself clearly (of course most people don't, including Harry and Hermione).  In my opinion, it is his insecurities that drive all the big moron moments.  We saw what happened when he thought Harry had given him luck potion.  He played amazing quidditch and was snogging a cute girl all in a couple hours :) 

"He is just the average bloke that is lucky enough to be their friend and gets to help them out in whatever small ways he can while they save the world."  This sentence is how I think Ron would describe himself at the beginning of DH.  

The movies may make him out as a slightly bigger buffoon than he is in the book, which is too bad... but that does not change the fact that it is a legitimate aspect of his character.  The locket in DH just magnifies this and it is finally resolved once and for all when he destroys it.  

Maybe we should have a contest to see who can name the most insecurities that each of the three main kiddos exhibits in the series :)