Notes on the Weasleys continued...

[linman6868 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 21125

Here are the rest of my musings on the Weasley family in re their 
hardships...

RONALD WEASLEY
I've posted a lot on Ron in the last several weeks, so I won't cover 
the same ground twice...it's probably obvious by now that I really 
like Ron.  We see that what he tells Harry on their first train trip 
to Hogwarts is true:  His brothers before him have all run the 
spectrum of How To Carry Proudly the Weasley Name, and he's going to 
have a *very* difficult time trying to find his own niche without 
being either a cookie-cutter or a loser.  He shares Charlie's love of 
Quidditch, but like Charlie doesn't regard it as a career option, and 
it's not mentioned that he's even tried out for a spot on the 
Gryffindor team.  He plays lots of chess with Percy, and seems to 
have the better strategical mind, but like Fred and George is 
irritated by Percy's obsequiousness.  Unlike F&G, however, Ron's wit 
is too dry to put to active use playing pranks, and so doesn't have 
much of a way to let off his irritation in some good-old-fashioned 
fun.  He'd probably excel if he acted like Percy, but he can't stand 
Percy, so he doesn't work at his studies.  He's very slowly tumbling 
to the fact that if he's going to find that niche of his, he's going 
to have to do it himself; it's not going to fall into his lap.  Ron 
has a challenge ahead of him; and I'm really curious to find out what 
JKR will do with him next.

GINNY WEASLEY
Okay, it's been pretty well-established that Penny Doesn't Like Ginny 
<g>, and that the main reason Ginny's fans are mostly in the closet 
is that, well, that's where Ginny is most of the time, too.  In my 
view, she has less of a challenge ahead of her than Ron; she's a 
girl, and whatever that means, it most certainly means that there 
aren't any other Weasleys who beat her to the punch in every way.  
Tom Riddle mocks her private anguish when he repeats her diary 
entries to Harry:  "She said her brothers *tease* her, that she had 
to come to school with secondhand robes and books, and the good, 
great Harry Potter might *never* like her"...  If Riddle hadn't 
mocked her for us to hear, we might never have known that she has the 
Weasley pride too.  She loves Hogwarts, has been looking forward to 
getting in on the fun all her life.  She "never shuts up normally" -- 
that is, at home, according to Ron -- but at school, or at least in 
Harry's presence, keeps her mouth shut except for the occasional leap 
to Harry's defence.  She suffers in silence, but when we get to see 
her act, she is very practical-minded -- mends her books with 
Spellotape whereas Ron lets his fall apart (see FB margin notes).  
She seems to have a special relationship with Percy -- at least, 
Percy's taken it upon himself to parent her whether she needs it or 
not, and I suspect she has an instinct similar to his.  We don't know 
what kind of student she is.  I'm beating on the glass to see more of 
her, frankly.

Well, that's all on the Weasleys for now.  I feel better.  

Lisa I.