Ron's Reward (was: Cheese... Ambition.. Ron... Hermione... Harry)

[blpurdom]

No: HPFGUIDX 38760

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "heiditandy" <heidit at n...> wrote:
I said: 
> 
>  If being Head Boy were really his ambition, he'd be working 
toward that, which he clearly is not.  What DO we see him working 
hard at?  Finding out about the Philosopher's Stone, finding out 
about the Chamber of Secrets, helping Harry prepare for the second 
and third tasks of the Tournament.  Are any of these things likely 
to get him fame and glory?  
> 
> And answered, "No."

Heidi:
> 
> I, OTOH, say, "Absolutely!" 
> 
> What better way to become Head Boy than to help save the world a 
few times? Especially if a decision is made to not have Harry as 
Head Boy, who else are they to choose? Draco? Possibly, but the 
strongest competition for the role, if Dumbledore is one of the 
decision-makers, would be Ron. We don't know exactly how Head Boy is 
chosen, but it seems that while grades are part of it, it's unlikely 
that they're the whole reason behind the choice. Furthermore, it's a 
very reasonable way to become famous and get glory - Ron learns that 
lesson, if he didn't know it already, after the second task, when he 
gets a kiss from Fleur just for helping Gabrielle out of the water, 
and where he's a center of attention among his fellow students. Even 
Padma is more interested in him after that. It's glorious. It's a 
bit of fame. And if he does something really wonderful, like help 
Harry, even from the background, in defeating Voldemort, he'll have 
fame, and possibly fortune as well. What a great thing for Ron and 
his ego!

Me again:

It's all very well and good to speculate about what could be in the 
future, but if we go on what has already occurred, one of the few 
things Ron's gotten from any of his heroics is a kiss from Fleur.  
In the first book, Harry is in the hospital wing surrounded by gifts 
from everyone in the school, because Dumbledore says everyone knows 
what happened.  Do they know Ron sacrificed himself?  Do they care?  
Ron gets points for Gryffindor for that, but we don't hear about him 
receiving any nice get-well cards when he was in the hospital wing 
(where he must have spent some time, presumably, after his chess 
injury--does "chess injury" sound odd to anyone else? <g>)  

Although it would be nice to see Ron as Head Boy, he'd probably have 
to get quite a lot of O.W.L.s in book five or pull off some enormous 
feat in book six to move past Harry.  (Unless JKR pulls a fast one 
and gives us--Head Boy!Neville.)  Plus, of course, he would have to 
be made a prefect first, and that's also starting to look fairly 
unlikely. (Although we'd at least know that at the beginning of book 
five and not the end--less waiting.  Unless you count all the 
waiting for book five. ::sigh::)

The Draco/Hermione argument was, of course, something I was waiting 
for. <eg>  Based on things JKR has said, I'm afraid I have to 
say, "Dream on..."  But hey, that's what fanfic is for, after all, 
right?

--Barb

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HP_Psych
http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb