I agreee with the several poster who have stated that we need to give Molly Weaslya break whenit comes to her parenting-esp of Ron!  Yes, she keeps buying him maroon & he hates it!  We DON"T know if he's ever SAID he doesn't like it.  It was a popular color inthe mid 90's, so it's probably pretty easy to find 2nd hand or on clearance. He probably looks great in maroon & she remebers *that*. It's probably accepted in their family that whatever is on sale at the market that week is qhat they get for sandwiches!  Some weeks it's maybe Percy's favorite, corned beef.  Other weeks, Ron's favorite (ham?) is on sale so everyone gets ham that week whether they like it or not!  My daughter know this (& we're not on a tight budget),she gets her favorite sometimes & other times it's Daddy's favorite! Sorry, not bringing home 4 different bags of meat from the deli hoping everyone finsihes their before it goes bad!  In Molly's case, it could be as many as 9 kinds of deli meat or whatever when everyon's home.  I know what a pain it is that I have to remember that the 7 y/o doesn't want jelly on her pb sandwiches & likes it cut into 2 rectangles while the 3 y/o insists upon jelly and for it tobe cut into 4 trianges & aranged like butterfly.  You can imagine my DH's exasperation when Mom's not home at lunchtime!  Ya kind of get to the point of "Oh just eat the d#%n sandwich!"  Yes kids are our jobs, but is it our job to cater to their every whims?  Maybe when Ron was 4 years old he would ONLY eat corned beef sandwich, now has had *enough* corne beef, but Mom is stuck on "Ron can't get enough corned beef!"  
As far as her favoring Ron, let us ALWAYS remember that this entire story is done Harry's point of view!  of course Molly gives Ron attention and love! She goe overboard with Harry cause she has precious little opportunity!  The deal with Ron's robes could be that she's giving him these dress robes she could afford, yes they're maroon (he'll look good in them, very popular color, only one in his size, whatever)assuming that a fourth year Hogwarts student should have enough knowledge and be clever enough to doctor them up himself!  If he could dabble with a spell that would change his rat's color even before attending a class, shouldn't he be able to transfigure a robe into something a bit more suitable?  Possibly these type of charms or whatever would be temporary (or else Lupin would not look shabby), but Ron only needs his robes to look good for a few hours!  Beetles into buttons, shabby lace into gold piping, shouldn't be too much difference!  He's old enough to do these things himself if he'd just use his head!  
There's also a lot to be said about Ron's ability to be the Harry Potter's best friend.  Truly, Harry could make friends with just about anyone-fakey people who just want to be his friend because of who he is.  Hary and Ron have developed a real bond. They have thier fights, but always see the light. Ron has helped Harry through some really rough stuff and visa versa.  Some it is stuff Molly and Arthur don't know about, but I would think that they are very proud of him for that.
Now, on to Percy.  He need to get his own place!  Kids live at his parents house during the summer holiday and he needs to deal with it or get out!  Large family gatherings are celebration!  You can't expect others to be quiet at such times!  He also needs to get over himself- witht the World Cup and the Tri-Wizard Tournement coming up does he really believe Crouch cares if the cauldron bottoms report comes back early?  Probably won't have time to look at it for weeks!  He IS only 18  anf this is a very tough time between parents and their kids. Kid wants to show he's a grown up with his own opinions, but forgets to respect the fact that Dad has the right to his own opinions AND is feeding him and putting a "defying logic and gravity" roof over his head!  Not that young adult children shouldn't live with their parents! This is when they need to compromise and sometimes bite their tongue and let Dad know his opinions when there isn't company around and it isn't a party!  I think Percy a is well-intentioned, eager, intelligent prig!  He's 18!  He'll learn!  
Another thought on Percy and I'll go away.  Percy may be really trying hard to get ahead and save up enough money for his own place so that he can marry Penelope Clearwater!  I would LOVE to see a Wizard wedding! Could be great tension breaker in future book.  Getting married during a "war" shows hope for the future and the desire to carry on!  


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