Ron Weasley

Who is Ron Weasley?

Ron Weasley is Harry’s best friend and one of the series’ three central characters. He’s the sixth of seven children in a warm, loud, pure-blood family that’s always short of money. He grows up with hand-me-down robes, a second-hand wand and a pet rat, and in the shadow of five older brothers.

Ron meets Harry on the Hogwarts Express, where he shares his sandwiches and Harry buys them both sweets. They’re friends from that moment on.

Why Ron was sorted into Gryffindor

Every Weasley before him was a Gryffindor, and Ron spent the journey to Hogwarts worrying what his family would say if he ended up anywhere else. The Hat sorted him almost immediately.

Ron’s courage is the most relatable in the series. He’s scared of spiders, nervous about Quidditch and constantly comparing himself to others, and yet he follows Harry into danger again and again. His bravery isn’t the absence of fear. It’s acting in spite of it. Read the Gryffindor guide.

Personality and traits

Ron is funny, loyal and down-to-earth. He’s the one who makes Harry laugh and who understands the wizarding world from the inside. He’s also insecure, hot-tempered and prone to jealousy, especially of Harry’s fame and Hermione’s attention.

His growth over the series is one of its quiet strengths. He goes from a boy who feels like an afterthought in his own family to a man who walks away from the Horcrux hunt, comes back and saves everyone.

Magical abilities and skills

Skill	Details
Wizard’s chess	An outstanding player, good enough to win McGonagall’s giant chess game.
Strategy	Thinks well under pressure when the stakes are clear.
Quidditch	Gryffindor Keeper from his fifth year; won the Quidditch Cup.
Parseltongue (imitated)	Opened the Chamber of Secrets by copying Harry’s Parseltongue.
Deluminator	Inherited Dumbledore’s Deluminator and used it to find his way back to his friends.
Patronus Charm	Learned it in Dumbledore’s Army.

Ron’s story, book by book

Book	Key moments
Philosopher’s Stone	Meets Harry; sacrifices himself in the giant chess game.
Chamber of Secrets	Flies the Ford Anglia to Hogwarts; breaks his wand; faces the spiders in the Forbidden Forest.
Prisoner of Azkaban	Discovers his rat, Scabbers, is Peter Pettigrew; stands on a broken leg to protect Harry from Sirius.
Goblet of Fire	Falls out with Harry over the Triwizard Tournament; is Harry’s “treasure” in the second task.
Order of the Phoenix	Becomes a prefect and Keeper; fights at the Department of Mysteries.
Half-Blood Prince	Wins Quidditch matches; is poisoned and saved by Harry’s bezoar.
Deathly Hallows	Leaves the hunt, returns to save Harry from the frozen pool and destroys the locket; opens the Chamber of Secrets to fetch basilisk fangs.

Key relationships

Character	Relationship
Harry Potter	Best friend, and later brother-in-law.
Hermione Granger	Best friend, then wife. They have two children, Rose and Hugo.
Ginny Weasley	Younger sister.
Fred and George Weasley	Older brothers and Hogwarts’ most famous pranksters.
Peter Pettigrew	Disguised as Scabbers, Ron’s pet rat, for twelve years.
Draco Malfoy	Mutual dislike from their first meeting.

Strengths and flaws

Strengths: loyalty, humour, strategic thinking and courage that shows up despite his fears.

Flaws: insecurity, jealousy and a quick temper. He sulks, and he says things he regrets.

Fun facts

• His boggart is a giant spider, the result of Fred turning his teddy bear into one when he was a child.
• He was named a prefect over Harry in fifth year.
• Like Harry and Hermione, he got his own Chocolate Frog card after the war. J.K. Rowling has said Ron considered it his finest hour.
• His family’s ghoul was disguised as Ron with spattergroit so he could join the Horcrux hunt.

Ron in the books vs the films

Rupert Grint played Ron in all eight films. Book readers often feel Ron was treated worst by the adaptations:

• His best lines go to Hermione. Several moments where book-Ron defends Hermione or knows something about the wizarding world are given to her instead.
• His knowledge. In the books Ron is the trio’s guide to wizarding culture, explaining things Harry and Hermione don’t know. The films make him mostly comic relief.
• “You’ll have to kill us too.” On screen, Hermione steps in front of Harry to face Sirius. In the book it’s Ron, standing on a broken leg.

Why Ron matters to the story

Ron gives Harry a family. Through him, Harry gets the Burrow, Christmas jumpers, the Weasleys’ love and eventually a wife. His story is also the series’ most honest portrait of insecurity: what it’s like to stand next to someone famous and wonder if you matter. His return in Deathly Hallows is one of the turning points of the war.

Are you like Ron?

If you’re loyal to a fault, funnier than people expect and braver than you think, you might share his house. Take our house quiz.