How good Ron is at Quidditch? WAS:Draco as leader and bigot

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 145005

> > Magpie:
> > Ron is a player that gets a nudge to put him on the Quidditch 
team 
> when he's 
> > not the best for the job and we see the results in his 
performance.
> 
> MercuryBlue:
> Who did as well as or better than Ron in tryouts? Vicky Frobisher, 
who 
> admitted practice wouldn't be her priority. Geoffrey Hooper, 
who's 'a 
> real whiner' and would make life miserable for the rest of the 
team, 
> causing their teamwork and overall performance to deteriorate. 
Cormac 
> McLaggen, who single-handedly lost them the match with Hufflepuff 
by 
> several hundred points, and put his own team captain in the 
hospital 
> wing besides. Ron might not be a consistent player, but he is 
> excellent when he's on form and he averages out to pretty decent. 
> Certainly he's better than his competition for the spot.


Magpie:

'Look, I know he's your best mate, but he's not fabulous, [Angelina] 
said bluntly. 'I think with a bit of training he'll be all right, 
though.  He comes from a family of good Quidditch players.  I'm 
banking on him turning out to have a bit more talent than he showed 
today.  Vicky Frobisher and Geoffrey Hooper both flew better this 
evening..." (OotP, p. 249)

Angelina then goes on to explain her reasons for not picking these 
other people (one's a whiner, one doesn't seem to have Quidditch as 
a priority) but the point is that Angelina says right there that 
these two other people both flew better than Ron and that she's 
taking a chance on him having more talent than he showed at his try-
outs because Quidditch is in his blood(!!).  Had Ron just been an 
ordinary person who showed up and didn't fly well, he'd not have 
gotten in, but she gives him a chance despite that, partially due to 
not picking strictly for talent and partially due to knowing his 
brothers and how they play.  In his second year, strictly in terms 
of flying, he also gets a nudge when Hermione cheats for him.  I'd 
still rather have Ron than McClaggen on my team (and so would Harry) 
but the point is that Ron's strength as a player is always 
inconsistent--third choice in terms of skill under pressure isn't 
too good. 

That inconsistency is an ongoing storyline with Ron.  He gets onto 
the team on shaky grounds and he's insecure later.  My original 
point was just that, that this sort of thing doesn't go away once 
Ron is on the team.  The rest of the story plays out on the field.

-m