Ron and the Mirror of Erised

[jenny_ravenclaw]

No: HPFGUIDX 60775

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "viewsonpotter" 
<shagufta_naazpk2000 at y...> wrote:

> My contention is that if Ron is greedy or 'obsessed 
> with wealth' as another poster put it a while back, he would not be 
> averse to accepting gifts. Infact he would exploit Harry's genrosity 
> to the full. The fact that he is so sensitive about taking, what he 
> percieves as charity points to his pride and self respect.>

Why exactly do you think Ron would exploit Harry's generosity?  I have 
yet to see him do that and as much as Ron gets sensitive about his own 
issues, I'd be truly shocked to see him turn on Harry in such a way.

I wrote: 
> Unfortunately, Ron is also quite insecure.  It is possible that his 
mediocre grades are due to more than just teen boy laziness; many  
kids don't study because they are worried about failing even if they  
make  an effort.>

and you responded with:  
> Excuse me. Is this canon? I dont recall any specific mention to Rons 
> grades being poor, infact the perception i recieve is that he and 
> Harry are pretty much at par academically -not brillliant, but not 
> touching the bottom either. Surely if his grades were less than 
> acceptable we would have seen Molly saying something about it. 
> Remember her blasting the twins?>

I see in my post that I clearly used the word "mediocre", not "poor".  
I did not say Ron had bad grades - I said his grades were nothing 
special.  There is no canon to support Ron having particularly good 
*or* bad grades, but there is canon to support the fact that Ron is 
not much of a studier.  We know that both he and Harry would copy 
Hermione's answers if they could (SS, I think), which certainly shows 
me they (Ron included) don't study as much as they should.
 
> Ok i went and reread the chapter on Unforgivables. It specifically 
> states that Harry was the only one able to resist Imperious. We see 
> the lingering effects on Ron because he is the one 'on screen' right 
> then. I bet Neville had a worse time shaking it off.>

It's interesting that you just asked me if there was canon to support 
Ron's grades, yet you use an example here that cannot be supported by 
canon.  If JKR chose specifically to mention that Ron couldn't shake 
Imperius, I'm willing to bet there's a reason and that it *will* come 
up again.  I'm not concerned with whether or not Neville can throw 
Imperius, but red flags went up when I read that it's hard for Ron to 
do so. 

I don't know where along the line I started bashing Ron like this!  
Really, I think Ron has a lot of potential, but, as we all know, he 
needs a hell of a lot of maturing.  If Ron leaned to deal with his 
insecurities, I'm sure he could throw off the Imperius Curse, but as 
of now, he lacks the focus and the confidence he needs to do so.

--jenny from ravenclaw *************************