Ron and the Slug Club (WAS: On Moral Compasses/Slughorn & favoritism

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 168638

Montavilla47:
I wondered if the Slug Club wasn't even more of a factor in Ron and
Hermione's
relationship problems than is obvious.

[snip] Going out on a limb, I think Ron might have been wondering whether
Hermione
was simply out of his league--romantically speaking. Her life is on an
upward
trajectory--and his is not. Slughorn couldn't make that clearer if he
painted a
big LOSER sign on Ron's forehead.

So, maybe Ron isn't appraising Lavender's physical assets in that moment.
Maybe
he's thinking: why take the risk of losing a friend who is posed to leave
you
behind socially anyway? Why not pick the girl who is obviously attracted and
not
so demanding in either academic or social standards? Maybe it's time to stop
going
for the top prize and settle for something easier?

Debbie:
I think you could also say that Hermione painted the LOSER sign on Ron.  She
questioned his selection as prefect in OOP.  She decided to confound
MacLaggen even before Ron had tried out for the Quidditch team because she
was uncertain he could make it on his own.  The whole Lavender episode was
an attempt by Ron to fit into the pigeonhole that he thought Hermione was
assigning to him.  The Slug Club didn't help things, but I think the turning
point was Hermione's reaction.  Four of the six kids from the DoM were
invited to the Slug Club; only Ron and Luna were left out.  When Hermione
tells Harry his exploits at the DoM are part of the reason why Slughorn
wants to collect him, Ron is left grasping at straws -- which Hermione
ignores.  I doubt Ron would have cared about the Slug Club if Hermione had
not seemed so eager for Slughorn's recognition.

Attempting a relationship with Lavender was a valuable lesson for Ron.  He's
a lot smarter than he gives himself credit for (if he would only apply
himself to his work) and he realizes that there's not much to a relationship
with an airhead.  JKR often paints Ron as an *average* teenager but the fact
that he scraped as many OWLs as Harry without seemingly doing any work
suggests that he's plenty smart.  To be worthy of Hermione, however, I think
he needs to work a bit harder than JKR makes it seem like he does.

Debbie
back after a long hiatus


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