Character Sketch - Ron Weasley Part I - friendship and destiny

[Schlobin at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 15970

Ron Weasley.
 
Ron Weasley is of course a major character in the world created by J.K. 
Rowlings. He is Harry Potter’s first friend. He is one third ofthe triad of 
Ron, Hermione and Harry. And he is part of the Weasley family – a family that 
as we learn more about, we learn is very important and influential in the 
wizard world.
 
This disorganized character sketch focuses on: Harry and Ron’s friendship; 
Ron’s journey into adolescence; Ron and the Weasley family; Ron’s demons; 
Ron’s character, talents, abilities, adventures and achievements; and Ron’s 
future.
 
In relationship to Harry and Harry’s relationship to him:
 
Is Ron Harry’s first friend? Or is it Hagrid who rescued Harry from the house 
where his parents were killed and then rescues him from the Dursleys?
 
The Philosopher’s Stone paints a bleak picture of Harry’s life before 
Hogwarts. Locked in a cupboard, never allowed to have fun or to go to the 
park or the zoo, Harry witnesses Dudley showered with gifts, while he himself 
has never received even a card on this birthday. Harry’s best days are when 
he successfully hides or is ignored.  He spent countless hours and energy 
avoiding Dudley and his friends who tormented and hit him.  “At school, Harry 
had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley’s gang hated that odd Harry Potter in 
his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with 
Dudley’s gang.”
 
It is within this context that Harry meets Ron Weasley. 
 
Just before Harry meets Ron, Harry meets Draco Malfoy. Many children who are 
bullied and/or abused make a decision at some point to either join the ranks 
of those who themselves bully or champion those who are bullied. Harry has 
the opportunity to hang out with the rich elite of Hogwarts. Draco explicitly 
invites him to join those who see themselves as the pureblood elite at 
Hogwarts.  Harry has money inherited from his parents and could easily join 
Malfoy’s crowd. The Sorting Hat would have made him a Slytherin<A HREF="file://C:\WINDOWS\Personal\%23_ftn1">[1]</A>. Malfoy 
even  threatens him with death if he refuses (“you’ll go the same way as 
your parents”) Yet the cost to Harry if he joins with Malfoy? 
He would have to reject Hagrid the first person who befriended him and Ron, 
who he has chosen as his friend. 
 
Harry immediately rejects Draco. In a historic moment, he sides with Ron and 
one of the great friendships and alliances is forged. (It is significant that 
Hermione does not become their friend until Chapter 13 of PS/SS.  “From that 
moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend” (italics are mine).
Without knowing it, Harry is also allying himself with the Weasley family and 
rejecting the Malfoy family which has great significance in the larger world.
 
Ron and Harry are both afraid of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. For  the first of 
many times, they support each other, are brave, confront an enemy and 
prevail. They share their firstvictory. They share food. They share their 
fears about Hogwarts. They are bothf ascinated by the other. Ron is 
fascinated to meet the boy who lived, he who survived the murderous attack of 
Lord Voldemort and has a scar (cool!) to prove it. Harry voraciously gobbles 
every morsel of information that Ron gives him about wizards, witches, 
Hogwarts, Houses, dragons and Quidditch.
 
Does Ron have any friends before he goes to Hogwarts?


<A HREF="file://C:\WINDOWS\Personal\%23_ftnref1">[1]</A> The Chamber of Secrets. 
“So I should be in Slytherin”. Harry said lookingd esperately into 
Dumbledore’s face. “The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin’s power in me, and 
it…” Dumbledore “Put you in Gryffindor……” You know why that was. Think…” 
Harry:” It only put me in Gryffindor.” said Harry in a defeated voice. 
“because I asked not to go in Slytherin.”
“Exactly”, said Dumbldeore..”….It is our choices,Harry, that show what we 
truly are, far more than our abilities”. 

What does this Dumbledore quote say about Ron?


Susan McGee in Saline, Michigan who apologizes for her tardiness..the raucous 
and wonderful sounds of the frogs making love outside my study window 
indicate that Spring is finally on the way






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