Quidditch!Ron...

[Rita Winston]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., Amber <reanna20 at y...> wrote:

> I've read several fics where Ron becomes Quidditch-Master. Whether
> he's Beater, Chaser, Keeper (although never Seeker...), he's 
> wonderfully good at it. I find this extremely odd. I mean for the 
> first four books I haven't seen *any* evidence that Ron is a good 
> Quidditch player. And  you'd think it would've surfaced by now...

There's no evidence in canon yet that Ron is a good Quidditch player, 
but also no evidence that he isn't. There is evidence that he adores 
Quidditch (as well as the evidence that Simon mentioned that he has 
several brothers who are very good Quidditch players). We see him 
playing in a pick-up game at home with his horrible old Shooting 
Star. We don't see him playing in pick-up or intra-House league games 
at school because Harry is the POV and Harry was paying attention 
only to inter-House Quidditch. But Ron loves Quidditch so much that 
Ron must have played in at least pick-up games whenever he could 
borrow time and a decent broomstick (maybe from Fred or George when 
they were doing something else). But we weren't watching so we don't 
know if he did good.

We don't see him play on the House Team because he isn't on the House 
Team -- that doesn't say anything about how well or badly he would do 
in try-outs, because the Gryffindor team hasn't HAD any try-outs -- 
Oliver, Fred, Greg, Katie, and IIRC Alicia were already on the team 
before Ron came to school, Angelina (or maybe I have Angelina and 
Alicia confused) was added for Ron's first year, but apparently that 
was arranged at the end of the year before. Harry was given the 
Seeker position before there were any try-outs. So all the positions 
are filled until Oliver graduates, and the team members (apparently 
with no interference from their House Master) seem to have decided 
not to allow competition for any position that is already filled.

In fourth year, there was no Oliver but there was no inter-House 
Quidditch either, so still no try-outs. In fifth year, will JKR come 
up with another excuse to eliminate Quidditch? If not, the Gryffs 
will need a new Keeper, a new Captain, and maybe some Reserves. I 
thought there would be Quidditch in 4th year and expected that Fred 
and George would be chosen co-Captains. But now that I expect there to 
be Quidditch in 5th year, I expect Harry to be chosen Captain by his 
team-mates (6 in favor, the only vote against is Harry's own) as they 
like him and he won them the Cup in 3rd year and he's old enough and 
the twins are busy with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes ... will they be so 
busy that it will interfere with their Quidditch as well as their 
marks? 

So if the writer likes Ron and wants to give him a little happiness, 
she (I, in unposted fragment) lets him win the try-outs for Keeper 
and be a good one, turn pro after graduation. That tall long-limbed 
physique seems to me to be good for a Keeper. Of course, with him 
playing at the same time as Fred and George, he can't borrow their 
broomsticks. He will need a decent broomstick of his own. Will he 
allow Harry to pay for it if it is presented as a necessity for the 
sake of the team? With a reminder that the Slytherins were all given 
good broomsticks by Mr. Malfoy back in second year, and that Harry 
was given his Nimbus by McGonagall for Gryffindor's sake? 

If the writer wants to turn up the pressure on poor Ron, to see how 
he'll deal with it, (s)he makes him lose in the try-outs, beaten by 
Muggle-born (but tall and sports-mad) Dean Thomas or a girl or a 
younger student or -- a girl who is younger AND his very own sister! 
He's too young to drown his sorrows, so what does he do when he 
receives this news? Pull out his wand and explode a few things?