Ron

[ciircee at netscape.net]

No: HPFGUIDX 16385

Hey all!  I'm Circe, and I'm new here, but I probably won't stick 
around, I've had some very bad times on lists...but I had to come and 
defend Ron. :)

First off, Harry/Ron's fight in GoF: Harry does just as much to 
prolong the fight.  Remember what happened when Ron accidentally 
interrupt Sirius's visit before the first task?  Was Ron jealous?  
Yeah, I think Hermione hit the nail on the head.  And I, having two 
younger brothers, found his reaction to Harry being Champion to be 
very reasonable.  He's fourteen.  For me, that explains a lot of his 
behavior in the fourth book.  Puberty, anyone? lol

But Ron is a good kid, really.  He takes over the research and work on 
Beaky's appeal.  He's helping Hagrid and Hermione.  To me, that seemed 
to be his way of telling Hermione how sorry he was about the fight.  
Like his fight with Harry, I think that Ron wanted to make up but 
didn't know quite how to go about it.  

We see that Ron is smart--the impediment curse, chess, finding the 
right flying key in book one, passing his tests with good scores.
He's brave: Facing down the giant spiders (his worst fear!) facing the 
boggart, standing up to Sirius even though his leg is broken, going 
down to the Chamber of Secrets to help save Ginny --staying behind to 
move rock to get Harry and Ginny out, going to face Fluffy and the 
enchantments in the first book.
Finally, he's loyal: He helped Harry with the tasks (once the fight 
was over) he stood up to Black with Harry--despite injury, he always 
stands up to Malfoy when he insults Hermione and even Neville, he's 
overcome Wizard-World predjudice like werewolves and giants, because 
of Lupin and Hagrid, decent guys that he knows and won't let the 
standard social opinion affect the way he feels about them.

Does Ron have faults?  Yeah, he's got a quick temper (we see it most 
with Malfoy) and he can be irrational (though he's got a reason with 
Krum, he just doesn't seem to know what his reason is ;)) and he can 
be a bit impulsive, like flinging the crocodile heart at Malfoy and 
calling Snape names (in defence of his friends).  But that's what 
makes Ron a neat character and not some Mary-Sue.  

Whew, Circe is wordy today folks! lol