"Dam' Good Auror"

[dfrankiswork at netscape.net]

No: HPFGUIDX 27182

Penny wrote:
> As Catherine says in the above 
> message (21458), it always strikes me that Ron is just grasping at 
straws, and 
> when he's right, it's through sheer luck.
> 
> Yes, yes ... I know Ron contributes some skills & strengths to the 
Trio. 
>   But, on the whole, his contributions don't really stack up in my 
mind 
> .. not as far as sleuthing & solving the puzzles anyway.  

Yes and no.  Yes, Ron's contributions to sleuthing and puzzling are 
minimal (something that has always sat oddly with his chess playing 
ability).  And I am among the sceptics on the Ron-is-a-seer front.

What he does contribute are ordinary blokeishness, and friendship.  
The argument in GOF illustrates this well: Harry spends a lot of time 
with Hermione, but it is a bit library-ish for his tastes - he misses 
Ron.  And when he gets Ron back, it gives him an enormous lift.

It strikes me as deeply realistic that Harry's morale depends on the 
friendship of someone who makes no obvious intellectual or practical 
contribution.  We sitting in our ivory towers can discuss the puzzles 
of the books endlessly, but in the final analysis they are not 
detective stories - they are 'life action' (technical term please) 
stories with a puzzle element.  Hermione plays the role of puzzle-
solver in relation to that important but not dominant element.  Harry 
is the man of action, as we have discussed before - he has the 
intuition to know just what to do at the right time, as in setting 
Dobby free.  Ron provides the connection to normality, to ordinary 
human reactions and the mindset of wizarding society.

I am nervous to say such an easily shot-down thing, but it is so 
obvious to me throughout the entire canon that it is as a trio that 
they function effectively in the long term as an anit-dark force 
unit, that I can't think of any specific instances to support it - 
it's just woven in at every point.

David, ending up adopting the opposite position to Penny yet again - 
it really isn't personal