[HPforGrownups] Ron as prefect

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 91668

On 25 Feb 2004 at 18:47, astratrf wrote:

> Hello there.  I was rereading OotP, and I was left with a nagging 
> question.  Maybe some of you more alert people out there can 
> enlighten me.
> 
> Isn't prefect a position of honor, given to excellent students, who 
> can then boast throughout their life, and put on their resume, "I 
> was a prefect"?

It can be - but at my school, and at most schools I know of, it was 
more a position of duty, responsibility, and trust. There was 
respect associated with the position, certainly, but that mostly 
because you were expected to work pretty hard.
 
> How, then, does Ron deserve the position?  I know he has 
> helped "save the day" with Harry more than once, but he hardly 
> seems to be a really good student--more like one who manages 
> to scrape by with adequate grades.  Or are Gryffindors 
> undeniably brave but lacking enough in smarts (except 
> Hermione, of course!  Why ISN'T she a Ravenclaw?) that Ron 
> represents the top of the heap?  Even with the understanding 
> that DD didn't want Harry to have the extra responsibility, I can't 
> figure this out.

To be a prefect in most schools I know of, didn't mean you had to 
be someone who did well academically - though it helped. At my 
school, what they seemed to want was people who either stood out in 
one area, with adequate performance in others, or who had good 
performance across the board - a well rounded person. There was 
also the added factor that they sometimes appointed prefects who 
they thought would rise to the challenge - it was, like most things 
at school, intended to be a learning experience - and if they had 
someone who they felt had the potential to develop into a leader if 
given the chance, then they could be appointed as well. I think Ron 
could fit that category quite well - youngest brother with five 
fairly successful older brothers - even the twins are successful in 
the things they think are important who has had to live in his 
shadow. He's proven his courage more than once. I can see him 
getting the position partly as an expression of confidence that he 
will rise to it.

That's roughly what happened to me at school - I was appointed a 
prefect and it was a surprise to everyone, including me. But I 
think I rose to the occasion, and the responsibility, and the duty. 
I just needed the chance.



 
> -Astra (cautiously dipping yet another toe into this forum)
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Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia