DH reread CH 4-5

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 186275

Montavilla47 wrote:
> 
> I'm not so sure that it's about the author's desire to take revenge as it may be about the author's desire to build up to that Horcrux scene.  The problem is, it wasn't really very well done.  
<snip>
> And, while I can see the narrative Carol presents, I don't see why I should believe that Ron "triumphed" over his insecurities when he destroyed the Horcrux when he didn't after winning the Quidditch cup in OotP and realizing he didn't need good-luck potion to win in HBP.

Carol responds:
But Ron doesn't understand himself or his own insecurities until he sees them enacted by the Horcrux (especially Hermione praising and kissing Harry). By destroying the Horcrux (after having heroically saved Harry and shown his worthiness as a true Gryffindor), he symbolically and *literally* destroys the terrible thoughts that have been tormenting him. I doubt very much whether he'll ever take such thoughts seriously again. He *knows* that he's worthy to be with Harry, that Harry is his true friend and not a rival for Hermione, and that he deserves to be forgiven. (Eventually, Hermione realizes that, too, though I suppose it takes the House-Elf moment--to me, both unnecessary and anticlimactic--for her to fully realize his worthiness. But for Ron himself, the destruction of the Horcrux is a moment of triumph, of victory over the demons that he has quite literally destroyed. It's an epiphany, as none of his other victories were.

As for the epilogue, where he's talking about the driving test, I don't think he's afraid to tell Hermione the truth. He's joking about it, man to man. (It's not as if the rearview mirror were a big deal, or as if Hermione herself hadn't used the Confundus Charm on occasion. Even Dumbledore used it or recommended its use to get the results he wanted.) And Ron, being Ron, is joking about being the person who's being applauded. He can now take Harry's fame in stride and joke about it. He has his self-confidence now.

Carol, who thinks that Ron is also joking about Slytherin in the epilogue and should not be taken too seriously