Ron as a prefect

[ericoppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 151215

I think that about 90% of Ron's lackluster performance, his first 
year as a Prefect, can be traced to the twins' influence.  He may be 
a prefect, but to them he's still their "ickle Ronniekins," and they 
pay him absolutely no mind.  They never have before, after all.  

This is often a problem when you mix up family and non-family 
dynamics; there are reasons why, forex, the military generally tries 
to not have members of the same family serving in the same unit.  
When someone's supposed to be your superior in rank but you still 
see him as your little sibling, it's hard to override a lifetime's 
impressions and treat him as a superior.  

I'd say that all the Gryffindor prefects in the year of OotP found 
Gred-and-Forge a trial to deal with.  They were as old as the oldest 
Gryff prefects, and with their well-honed teamwork, well able to 
double-team a lone prefect any time they wanted.  Or they could use 
their identicalness to good effect, confusing people about who had 
done what.  

Once the twins were gone, Ron did better at Quidditch, and I think 
he probably did well enough as a prefect after they left, or in 
situations where they weren't involved.  He just couldn't rein in 
his older brothers---and neither could anybody else, as Umbridge 
discovered.