Ronald Weasley

Ronald Bilius Weasley
Born	1 March 1980
Also called	Ronniekins (by Fred and George Weasley) Prefect
Character information
Species	Human (Wizardkind)
Blood status	Pure-blood
Family	Arthur Weasley (father) Molly Weasley (mother) Hermione Granger (wife) Rose Weasley (daughter) Hugo Weasley (son) Bill Weasley (elder brother) Charlie Weasley (elder brother) Percy Weasley (elder brother) Fred Weasley (elder brother) George Weasley (elder brother) Ginevra Weasley (younger sister)
School	Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1991 - 1997)
House	Gryffindor
Wand	12", ash, unicorn hair (broken in second year) 14", willow, unicorn hair
Patronus	Jack Russell terrier
Boggart	Spider
Occupation	Auror (1998 - ?) Co-owner of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
Loyalty	Dumbledore's Army Order of the Phoenix
Book information
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Last appearance	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

"Don't let the Muggles get you down."

— Ron Weasley's support for Harry Potter.

Ronald Bilius "Ron" Weasley is a character in the Harry Potter book series. He is Harry Potter's best friend who was brought up in the wizarding world at The Burrow. He and Hermione Granger help Harry save the Philosopher's Stone and find the Chamber of Secrets. He is a co-founder of Dumbledore's Army who fights at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. He helps to defeat Voldemort and the Death Eaters by hunting down Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes, and fights at the Battle of Hogwarts which he survives.

Biography

Early life

Ron is the sixth of seven children born to Arthur and Molly Weasley. He has five elder brothers, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George, and one younger sister, Ginny. He is raised at The Burrow until he starts Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They are not a wealthy family and Ron receives everything second-hand from his elder brothers.

During his childhood, Ron took Charlie's broom and nearly crashed it, hitting a hang-glider. When he is eleven, Ron receives the family's pet rat Scabbers from Percy after he gets an owl instead.

Philosopher's Stone

Ron and "Scabbers" in 1991

Ron is introduced to Harry Potter at King's Cross when he asks the Weasley family for help finding Platform 9 and 3/4. Ron joins Harry in a compartment on the train, and quickly establish a friendship. He tells Harry that his family has no money so Harry buys everything from the lunch trolley. Ron teaches Harry about the wizarding world. At one point, Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger asks if they have seen his pet toad. Hermione notices that Ron is practicing spells and asks if he will show her one. Ron tries a spell that Fred and George told him about, only to realise they gave him a fake spell and he is left embarrassed by his failure. Hermione's response is rather condescending which annoys Harry and Ron.

They are interrupted later by Draco who tells Harry that he should befriend the right sort of people, but Harry declines Draco's offer of frienship in favour of Ron. Draco continues to be rude to Ron and eventually they start fighting. When Scabbers bites Gregory Goyle, they run away. Fred and George also lied to Ron about the Sorting ceremony and he worries he will have to fight a troll. The Sorting Hat places him in Gryffindor like Harry.

Ron is happy when he finds out Harry is going to be the youngest Seeker in a century for the Gryffindor team. A jealous Draco challenges Harry to a duel at midnight and Ron signs up to be Harry's second. Hermione tries to stop it but she and Neville end up joining them. They realise Filch is waiting there to catch them and they run away accidentally onto the out-of-bounds third-floor corridor where they discover Fluffy.

After they escape Fluffy, Hermione points out that Fluffy is guarding a trapdoor which Ron and Harry propose is an object Hagrid collected in the summer. During a Charms lesson, Hermione upsets Ron when she tries to tell him how to pronounce the Levitation Charm. She overhears him criticising her and he causes her run away in tears. She does not attend the Hallowe'en feast and hides in a bathroom. Ron and Harry go to rescue her when a troll is let loose in the castle, and Ron saves her by correctly pronouncing the Levitation Charm. Hermione lies to Professor McGonagall to get Harry and Ron out of trouble and they became friends.

Ron watches the first Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin. He and Hermione notice Harry's broom is being jinxed when it starts uncontrollably bucking, and they believe Professor Snape is responsible. Hermione intervenes and stops the real culprit, Professor Quirrell, in the process. When they find out through Hagrid that Fluffy is guarding a secret known only to Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel, they start researching to find out who Flamel is and what the secret could be.

Ron spends the Christmas holidays at Hogwarts. He teaches Harry how to play his favourite game, Wizard Chess, One evening, Harry wakes Ron up and takes him to the Mirror of Erised under the Cloak of Invisibility. Ron sees himself as a Quidditch Captain, winning the Quidditch Cup and shaking Dumbledore's hand. He figured out that the mirror only shows them what they want and did not represent a reality. Ron tells Harry that he needs to let go.

In the new year, Neville is cursed by Draco with the Leg-Locker Curse. Ron tells him that he needs to stand up for himself when people make fun of him. Harry then suddenly remembers reading about Nicolas Flamel on the back of Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog Card. They find out that Nicolas is the creator of the Philosopher's Stone. At the next Quidditch game, Ron and Neville are taunted by Draco and Ron snaps and starts a fight. He and Draco punch each other until Harry catches the Golden Snitch.

When they find out that Hagrid has received a dragon egg, they point out that he can't possibly keep a dragon in his tiny wooden hut. Hagrid pays no attention because he has always wanted a dragon. They run down to the hut when the egg is hatching. The dragon is a danger in the hut and they persuade Hagrid to let Ron send a letter to Charlie, a dragon-keeper, and ask him to take her. Norbert bites Ron and he has to stay in the Hospital Wing. Draco stops by to find out why and takes a book that Ron has hidden Charlie's response in. He tells on them and Harry and Hermione to get caught out of bed by Professor McGonagall.

Defeating the giant chessboard

While he is serving detention, Harry is confronted by a cloaked figure in the Forbidden Forest that wants to hurt him, and that it is implied that it is Voldemort. Ron tells him that Hermione is right in saying nobody can hurt him when Dumbledore is around. Harry then has a epiphany and wonders why a stranger would just give Hagrid a dragon egg. Hagrid confesses that he told the stranger how to get past Fluffy. They suspect that Snape is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone, and resolve that they have to try and prevent it.

Harry, Ron and Hermione sneaks past Fluffy when he is sleeping and go through the trapdoor. They fall into a Devil's Snare where Hermione panics when she can't think of a way out. Ron encourages her and she realises she can use light to soothe it. Ron leads the group to a giant chessboard where they have to play Wizard Chess. He takes the position of the Knight and leads the group to victory but has to sacrifice himself so Harry is able to checkmate the enemy's King. Ron is knocked out and has to stay behind while the other two move on.

Ron, Harry, Hermione and Neville celebrating

Ron is reunited with Harry three days later when he visits him in the Hospital Wing. Harry had learned that Professor Quirrell was working for Voldemort to steal the Philosopher's Stone. At the end of the year, Ron is awarded fifty points for playing the best game of chess that Hogwarts has ever seen which helps to ensure Gryffindor wins the House Cup for the first time in seven years.

Chamber of Secrets

In the summer holidays, Ron sends Harry letters inviting him to go to The Burrow. However, he doesn't receive any replies and Ron believes that it is Errol's fault when it is Dobby who has been intercepting Harry's mail. When Ron finds out that Harry has been sent an official government warning for using under-age magic, he flies to Privet Drive with Fred and George in their father's flying car where Ron wakes Harry up by knocking on his bedroom window, which has bars on it. They tell him they are taking him back to The Burrow with them and help him gather his luggage. Vernon wakes up to the noise and tries to grab Harry's ankles when he is getting in the car but Fred, George and Ron pull him in and they escape.

Ron tells him about the letters he has been sending him and that they were worried about him. Harry informs them about Dobby who has warned him he will be in great danger at Hogwarts that year. They debate who the Dark wizard that Dobby says is behind it could be and consider it is Lucius Malfoy. When they arrive at The Burrow, they discover an angry Mrs Weasley waiting who has realised that they took the car. Fred, George and Ron are ordered to de-gnome the garden.

Harry spends the summer at The Burrow and stays in Ron's room. Along with Fred and George, he takes turns riding a Nimbus 2000 during their mini Quidditch tournaments. During a visit to Diagon Alley to get new school supplies, Ron spends an hour with just Harry and Hermione and get ice-creams. At Flourish and Blotts during Gilderoy Lockhart's book signing, Ron witnesses Harry, Ginny and Draco arguing. When he intervenes, Draco insults Ron and Hermione and they try to fight Draco each other. Harry and Hermione hold him back until Arthur and Draco's father, Lucius, get into a fight instead.

In September, Ron goes back to Hogwarts for his second year. They are nearly late getting to King's Cross. Harry and Ron are the last ones to try and walk through the wall to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters but Dobby has blocked it and they hit it, missing the train. Desperate to find another way to Hogwarts, they decide to fly the Ford Anglia the entire way. However, upon flying, Ron goes to push the Invisibility Booster button which does not work instantly. Until the Booster shrouds the flyinh car, they are witnessed by several Muggles and break both the International Statute of Secrecy and the law against underage sorcery.

The long flight to Hogwarts is incredibly boring and hot. When they finally get there, the car suffers a power cut and they fall from the sky into the Whomping Willow. During an ensuing beating by the tree, his wand is nearly snapped in half and irreparably damaged. When the car springs back to life, they get out of the tree but the Ford Anglia kicks them and their possessions out onto the lawn and drives away into the Forbidden Forest.

Professor Snape is the first to catch them and he wants to punish them with expulsion after showing them the news reports of their shenanigans. Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore decide they should sit detentions instead, and they are not able to join the others at the Start-of-Term feast that evening. Upon returning to their common room, they are greeted with applaud from their classmates but Hermione is unhappy with their actions. Ron admits that even though he is in the wrong, he loves the admiration.

Ron receives a Howler from Mrs Weasley in which he is berated for taking the car and getting Arthur into trouble at work. Ron is teased by the classmates that overhear it but Hermione is happy because he has now been punished. He tried to use Spellotape to put his broken wand back together but it is beyond repair and keeps sparking. During his first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with Professor Lockhart, cornish pixies are let loose and they are abandoned to put the creatures back in their cages on their own. Ron is sceptical about Lockhart and believes he is incompetent and a fraud.

Ron and Hermione watch Harry training on the Quidditch pitch. They go over when the Slytherin team take over the pitch with special permission to train their new Seeker, Draco, whose father has gifted the team with Nimbus 2001s. Hermione tells Draco that at least everyone else got into the team for their talent and with bribes. Draco calls her a "mudblood" but Hermione does not know the word and doesn't react. Ron does however and tries to curse Draco using the Slug-vomiting Charm but his broken wand malfunctions and his is struck by his own spell when it bounces back. Harry and Hermione take a vomiting Ron to Hagrid's hut while the whole Slytherin team is laughing.

Hagrid advises Ron to wait it out and that he will eventually stop throwing up. Ron and Hagrid tell Harry and Hermione what the word "mudblood" means. Hagrid also shows them the pumpkins he is growing in his vegetable patch and they figure out he is using an Engorgement Charm. After returning to the castle, Ron finds out he has detention helping Filch clean the trophy room. He has to spend the whole evening there and coughs up slugs when he is cleaning the Special Award for Services to the School. He is also made to buff the Quidditch Cup fourteen times until Filch is happy.

He walks back to the common room nursing a tired arm and finds Harry is still awake. Harry tells him how during his own detention with Lockhart, he heard a very strange, ice-cold voice whispering about killing but Lockhart did not hear it. Ron agrees that it is strange but they can't figure out who or what might be responsible.

Ron attends Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party but it is dreary and dull and he leaves the party early with Harry and Hermione. Harry then hears the voice again in the corridor but he and Hermione cannot hear it. Harry tracks the voice to the body of Mrs Norris who has been Petrified and hung by her tail near a warning that "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir beware". Ron wants to just leave because he is worried they will not look good if are caught at the scene, but it is too late because a crowd of students suddenly appear in the corridor after leaving the Hallowe'en feast.

Harry, Ron and Hermione are suspected of being involved but Dumbledore does not agree and says they could not have possibly been involved. Harry asks Ron if he should have told people about the voice he heard, but he disagrees and says that hearing voices, even in the wizarding world, is not a good sign. The next day, Ron notices that Ginny is very fraught about Mrs Norris and tries unsuccessfully to cheer her up by joking that she was not very nice cat and it is a good thing.

Ron overhears that other Hogwarts students believe Harry is the Heir of Slytherin. He also learns what the Chamber of Secrets is and notices spiders appear to be fleeing the school in a hurry. Ron admits to Harry and Hermione for the first time that he has a fear of spiders. To prove Harry is innocent, they work together to try and find the real Heir of Slytherin. Ron believes it is Draco and Hermione hatches a plan to prove it by using Polyjuice Potion to pose as Draco's friends and ask him. They persuade Professor Lockhart to give them permission to get a book outof the Restricted Section whih has the potion's recipe and search for the ingredients.

Ron and Hermione take Harry to the Hospital Wing after he broke his elbow during a Quidditch game and his arm is subsequently rendered boneless by a hapless Lockhart. Ron asks Hermione how she can continue to defend Lockhart when it is clear he is incompetent but she counters that everyone gets things wrong sometimes. In December, they join a Duelling Club created by Professor Lockhart. Ron is put in pairs with Seamus Finnigan to duel together but his broken wand leaves Seamus ash-faced.

Toward the end of their first Duelling Club meeting, Ron witnesses Harry unknowingly speak Parseltongue after Draco summoned a snake during their own duel. Harry tries to order the snake not to hurt Justin Finch-Fletchley. They take a confused Harry to the side and warn him about the language, and that to everyone else, Harry appeared to have been encouraging the snake to attack. Ron tells Harry that speaking Parseltongue is a bad thing because it is related to Dark magic, one that Salazar Slytherin and his descendants can speak, and that the whole school will believe it is proof that Harry really is the Heir of Salazar Slytherin.

After hearing Draco signing up to stay behind at Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays, Ron, Harry and Hermione also decide to stay. They successfully brew a complete Polyjuice Potion by Christmas Day and obtain the hair of Draco's friends. Ron take the appearance of Crabbe and Harry takes Goyle's but Hermione has accidentally got a piece of Millicent Bulstrode's cat's hair and has transformed into a half-cat, half-human. The boys leave her to talk to Draco but he reveals that he is not the Heir of Slytherin. The conversation isn't entirely fruitless because Draco also reveals the Chamber of Secrets was first opened fifty years ago, that a student was killed and the person responsible was expelled.

Harry later discovers through Tom Riddle's Diary that Hagrid was the student held responsible. Ron and his friends say nothing to Hagrid about what they have learned but resolve to do so if anyone else is Petrified but then Hermione is Petrified when researching in the Hogwarts Library. Harry and Ron finally confront Hagrid who claims he is innocent but they have to hide under the Invisibility Cloak when Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge and Lucius arrive at the hut. Fudge takes Hagrid to Azkaban and Lucius informs Dumbledore that the Board of Governors have sacked him for incompetency. Hagrid shouts out three final parting words to Harry and Ron; that they should "follow the spiders" to find out the truth.

Ron and Harry find spiders and follow them into the Forbidden Forest with Fang. The spiders lead them to Aragog, an Acromantula that belonged to Hagrid fifty years ago. Aragog tells them that he is not the monster in the Chamber, that Hagrid is innocent, and that the real monster is a thing that spiders fear and do not speak of. Harry figures out that the student who was killed the first time is Moaning Myrtle. However, Aragog will not let them go and decides to his hungry children eat them. Ron and Harry are forced to fight their way out of the hollow until they are saved by a feral Ford Anglia.

While they are visiting Hermione in the Hospital Wing, and they find a piece of paper in her hand. Her research has led her to the conclusion that the monster is a Basilisk. Ron and Harry try to tell the Professors in the staff-room to tell but overhear them talking about a final warning they have received from whoever had opened the Chamber of Secrets. Ginny has been taken into the Chamber by the creature and the school is going to be closed down. Professor Lockhart is given the task of saving her because he has been boasting that he knows where the Chamber is. With the knowledge they have received from Hermione, they decide to join Lockhart.

When they get to Lockhart's office, they catch him trying to run away. He admits to being a fraud and that he has no idea what he is doing. Ron and Harry force Lockhart to help them and they speak to Moaning Myrtle who tells them where the entrance to the Chamber is. Harry speaks Parseltongue and opens it which goes to the tunnels under the school. Lockhart manages to get Ron's broken wand and attempts to inflict Memory Charms on them but the spell bounces back and hits Lockhart. The iact causes rocks to fall and separates Harry from Ron. Harry carried on by himself while Ron stays with a confused Lockhart.

Harry slays the Basilisk with the help of Fawkes and saves Ginny. They pick up Ron and Lockhart on their way back to the castle with Fawkes where they discover Dumbledore has been reinstated as Head of the school. Ron is awarded Ron one-hundred and fifty points for saving the school. Ron and Harry are reunited with Hermione and Hagrid at a celebratory feast.

Prisoner of Azkaban

During the summer holidays, Ron tries phoning Harry after receiving the phone number for 4 Privet Drive. Being a wizard, he didn't own a phone nor had he ever used one. Arthur helps to obtain one but when Ron phones up, Vernon Dursley answers. Ron shouts down the phone and tells Vernon he is a friend of Harry's. Vernon shouts at Ron to stay away, that he doesn't even know a Harry Potter and he should never phone back. Ron knows he has gotten Harry into trouble and doesn't retry.

Arthur wins the Grand Prize Galleon Draw and takes the family to Egypt to visit Bill. They appear on the front page of the Daily Prophet which Ron sends a copy of to Harry for his birthday with a card and a Sneakoscope. In the card, he apologises for phoning and now understands that he shouldn't have shouted. He also sends a letter to Hermione to tell her what happened. He invites Harry to go shopping for school supplies when he gets back. In the meantime, Harry runs away from Privet Drive and starts staying at the Leaky Cauldron. On the final day of the holidays, the Weasleys also stay there. They are also accompanied by Hermione.

Ron and Hermione hangs out with Harry in Diagon Alley for the day. They have ice-cream together and then shop in the Magical Menagerie. While she tries to pick an owl, Ron has Scabbers checked out because he is looking very sick and he is advised to buy Rat Tonic. A cat, Crookshanks, then launches at Scabbers who escapes, but Ron is frustated when Hermione decides to adopt Crookshanks.

On the first of September, Harry ieeps trying to tell Ron something he has learned the night before but they are too busy getting ready to return to Hogwarts. When he is boarding the train, he receives sandwiches from Molly. They have to share a compartment with Remus Lupin who is sleeping. Harry finally tells Ron and Hermione that an escaped Azkaban prisoner, Sirius Black, apparently wants to kill him. While they talk, the Sneakoscope starts screeching to signify someone untrustworthy is nearby but they think it is faulty.

When they are nearly at Hogwarts, the train suddenly stops. The compartment is entered by a dementor searching for Black. Under its influence, Ron feels like he will never be cheerful again. It attacks Harry until Lupin intervenes. Ron helps get him back up and when he asks Ron who he heard screaming, he is confused and tells him nobody was screaming. After arriving at Hogwarts, Draco laugh at Harry for fainting but Ron stands up for him. At the Start-of-Term Feast, Ron points out that Professor Snape doesn't look happy after it is announced that Lupin will be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He also learns that Hagrid will be teaching Care of Magical Creatures to which Ron remarks it makes sense because else would have assigned them a biting book.

The next day, Sir Cadogan helps Ron, Harry and Hermione after they get lost on the way to their first Divination lesson. Sir Cadogan's over-the-top bravado attitude irritates Ron who says he will only call for his help if he needs someone "mental". Very early in the lesson, Sybill Trelawney warns Parvati Patil that she should "beware a red-haired man" causing her to look at Ron in alarm. Ron and Harry read each other's tea leaves, leading to the revelation that Harry's shows the Grim, an omen that he will die very soon.

Although others assure Harry that Trelawney predicts purposely a death in her first lessons for show, Ron is not so sure. Harry confirms he has seen a black dog recently. Hermione does not believe this is proof of anything but Ron argues that it isn't good and tells them his great-uncle Bilius died after he saw a Grim. The two argue over the validity of this superstition until Ron says she is just upset she isn't good at something for a change. Hermione leaves after remarking Arithmancy is a better subject but Ron is confused because she can't have attended that lesson yet.

During his first Care of Magical Creatures lesson, Ron witnesses Buckbeak's attack on Draco. He hopes Hagrid will not be fired because of it. They visit Hagrid after tea where Ron pledges his support to Hagrid. During a Potions lesson, Draco sets his cauldron up next to Ron and feigns his injuries so that Snape demands Ron help him. Ron cuts roughly Draco's ingredients up and is forced to switch them for his own. Draco keeps on teasing Harry and Ron, confessing that he is faking his injuries to get Hagrid fired. Ron threatens to give him a real injury if he carries on.

They hear that Sirius Black has been spotted nearby Hogwarts Castle. Draco suggests that Harry should be very eager to get revenge on Black but Harry and Ron are very confused as to why. After the lesson, Ron is complaining about Snape when he turns around to discover Hermione has disappeared, only to reappear back at the bottom of the stairs. He notices her bag is crammed with books she doesn't even have lessons for that day, but she glosses over it. Ron questions whether Hermione is hiding something.

Ron faces a boggart in Lupin's first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. Unsurprisingly, his takes the form of a giant spider whose legs he removes with the Riddikulus spell. Ron says it is the best lesson they've ever had and questions whether Hermione's boggart would turn into a piece of homework that isn't ten out of ten. While discussing the first Hogsmeade weekend, Crookshanks stares at Ron intensely until he leaps onto his bag where Scabbers is sleeping. Ron fights Crookshanks for the bag but Scabbers flies out the top and scurries away. Ron shouts for everyone to catch the cat but he eventually recaptures Scabbers.

Ron and Hermione have an argument over Crookshanks who he reckons is strange and has got it in for Scabbers. He is concerned for his rat who is very thin and frail. The next day, Ron tries to encourage Harry to try and ask if he can go to Hogsmeade without a permission slip to no success. Ron goes to the village with Hermione where they visit every possible place and bring back sweets for Harry. However, when they return to their common room, they cannot enter because the Fat Lady's painting has been slashed and she has disappeared. Ron has to sleep in the Great Hall for the evening while the castle is searched for the attacker, Sirius Black.

That night, Ron overhears Dumbledore and Snape discussing Black. Snape suggests that Black has had help getting into the castle, and asks Dumbledore to reconsider his concerns that a recent appointment to the staff is responsible. Ron asks his friends what that could be about. Later, his Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson is covered by Snape while Lupin is ill. Ron snaps during the lesson when Snape is rude to Hermione for being an "insufferable know-it-all". After shouting at Snape that he shouldn't ask the question if he doesn't want the answer told, he receives detention. At the end of the lesson, he learns that he has to scrub the bedpans in the Hospital Wing without magic.

Ron watches the first Quidditch game of the season. He rushes to the Hospital Wing to be there when Harry wakes up after he was attacked by dementors and fell from his broom. He and Hermione have to tell Harry his Nimbus 2000 is broken after it fell into the Whomping Willow. Ron and Hermione get to return to Hogsmeade before the Christmas holidays but like the first time, they have to leave Harry behind. Ron is delighted when Harry sneaks into Honeydukes and is outraged Fred and George didn't tell him about the Marauder's Map.

Hermione suggests they have to give the Map to the Professors in case it is cursed. She also says that Harry should return to the castle in case Sirius Black gets into the village but Harry and Ron refuse. Ron points out the impossibility of it and tells her that Harry deserves a break. While having a drink in the Three Broomsticks Inn, the three overhear Professors talking with Cornelius Fudge and learn Black is the godfather of Harry and betrayed the Potters to Voldemort.

Ron and Hermione are concerned for Harry over the next few days. The next morning, he asks Harry if he is okay and points out he doesn't look well. They try to persuade him not to go looking for Black, and Ron says Black isn't worth dying for. Harry responds with an outburst about the suffering Black has caused, and Ron asks Harry if he is going to kill Black but does not get a response. Ron calls Harry out when he suggests that he should take Draco's advice and get revenge, and says that Draco would like it if he died. Ron unsuccessfully tries to encourage Harry to play a game and instead they go to visit Hagrid.

They arrive at Hagrid's to find him crying. He has received a Ministry letter about Buckbeak. After reading the first part, Ron believes it is good news because Hagrid will not be held responsible. However, he tries to console Hagrid when he learns Buckbeak is going to be put on trial. They resolve to help Hagrid put up a defence in court. On Christmas morning, Ron wakes Harry up so they can open their presents. He is very excited when Harry opens up a Firebolt. Ron is not particularly bothered about who the anonymous sender is and is eager to try riding it, but Hermione is very worried that it was Black.

Crookshanks then tries to lunge at Scabbers so Ron grabs the rat by his tail and then tries to kick Crookshanks away. In the process, he kicks a trunk and knocks out the Sneakoscope. While it is shrilling, he screams at Hermione to take Crookshanks away. After attending a Christmas feast, Ron and Harry are very upset when Hermione reveals she has told the Professors about the Firebolt and it is confiscated to be checked over.

Ron and Harry stop speaking to Hermione for a while. A few weeks later, he hears Hermione tuttering when he wonders why Lupin looks ill. She suggests that it is obvious but will not tell him why to his frustration. Later that evening, he watches her study for all of her lessons and realises the impossibility of her being able to have time to attend every one of them. Harry soon receives the Firebolt back and the boys decide to make friends with Hermione. This is short-lived however when Ron discovers Scabbers has apparently been eaten by Crookshanks.

Ron and Hermione fall out and it appears to be the end of their friendship. Ron considers Hermione responsible for what Crookshanks did because she didn't keep an eye on him, but Hermione does not believe there is enough evidence that Crookshanks is guilty. Ron is devastated by his rat's death so Harry tries to cheer him up by letting him ride the Firebolt. When they return to the castle, they are startled by Crookshanks and Ron shouts at him to get away.

The day of Gryffindor's match against Ravenclaw, which will decide the winner of the Quidditch Cup, Ron is gleeful when he notices Draco looking thunderstruck when he realises Harry has a Firebolt. When the match ended in victory for Gryffindor after Harry catches the Golden Snitch, Ron is the first to run on the pitch and cheer with Harry. Ron also falls into hysterics at the sight of a disheveled Draco, who tried to scare Harry by dressing up as a Dementor and got attacked with the Patronus Charm.

At a party to celebrate in the Gryffindor Tower, Ron overhears Harry trying to get Hermione to join them. Ron then loudly shouts out that if Scabbers were alive, he could have enjoyed some Fudge Flies. Hermione leaves in tears but Ron tells Harry that he would forgive her if she apologised but that she keeps acting like Scabbers has just gone on holiday. That night while he is sleeping, Ron is woken up to discover Sirius Black slashing the curtains around his bed with a knife. At first, everyone believes Ron has just had a nightmare until Sir Cadogan reveals he did let someone in.

In the days that follow, everyone wants to hear the story of how Sirius attacked Ron, who is enjoying the attention. Ron and Harry are also confused as to why Sirius ran away when Ron woke up instead of silencing him. Although they consider that Sirius got in through the secret passageway to Honeydukes, Harry is glad when Ron points out they would have hear if the sweetshop had been broken into.

On a visit to Hagrid's hut, Ron is disappointed to learn Hagrid has already heard his story. Instead, he and Harry are pleaded with to make up with Hermione and friendship is more valuable than broomsticks and rats. However when Hermione overhears Harry with Ron about sneaking into Hogsmeade at the weekend so they can visit Zonko's Joke Shop, they argue because she considers it dangerous and threatens to tell the teachers. Ron calls her out for trying to get Harry expelled and she walks away.

The day of the Hogsmeade trip, Harry meets Ron in the village under his Cloak of Invisibility. They visit several shops and toward the end of the day, Ron takes Harry to the Shrieking Shack. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle notice Ron there, who appears to be standing on his own as Harry is still invisible, and decide to harass him. After several insults, Harry began throwing snowballs at them. They are confused and scared that they are being attacked by a ghost. However, during the theatrics, Harry's cloak slips and he is noticed by Draco. Ron urges Harry to get back to Hogwarts before he tells a teacher.

Ron also rushes back to the castle where Harry is being quizzed by Professors Snape and Lupin about the Marauder's Map. Ron lies and says that he bought it in Zonko's for Harry. Lupin later reveals he knows the truth, and that Harry shouldn't be leaving the castle when Sirius Black is still on the loose. Ron feels guilty and isn't interested in talking to Hermione until she reveals Hagrid lost Buckbeak's case and the Hippogriff is going to be put down. Ron agrees to help her with an appeal and they finally forgive each other.

They visit Hagrid, who is inconsolable, where Ron pledges to put together the appeal. However, when Hagrid leaves, they hear Draco and his friends laughing and calling him "pathetic". Ron and Harry started to move towards them but are beaten to it by Hermione, who slaps Draco across the face. Ron tries has to grab her hand but she pulls out her wand on a fleeing Draco. Ron is very impressed and stunned. Shortly after, they walk to their Charms lesson but the boys are befuddled when they realise Hermione has suddenly disappeared and does not turn up all lesson. When she fails to show up to lunch, they start to worry about her.

When they return to the common room, they discover Hermione asleep. She is surprised to learn she missed Charms and a confused Harry and Ron point out she was there when they arrived. Ron is also shocked when Hermione argues with Professor Trelawney and storms out of the lesson. During the Easter holidays, Ron takes over the researching for Buckbeak's appeal because Hermione is very busy and stressed with her lessons. One night, he is woken up by Harry who wants Ron to look out the window to confirm that Crookshanks is walking with the Grim but Ron says it is dark and goes back to sleep.

Upon reading Hermione's conflicting exam schedule, Ron questions how she will be able to attend two exams at once but she shrugs away the question. Ron does very well in his Defence Against the Dark Arts exams until he reaches a hinkypunk and is led into a quagmire. Afterwards, they return to the castle only to run into Cornelius Fudge who is there to witness Buckbeak's execution. Ron instantly reacts and abruptly asks Fudge if they've already had the appeal and when he hears it is this afternoon, shouts that he might not have to watch an execution then. He is pulled away when he tries to question why the executioner has the axe ready. Ron believes they have already decided the result of the appeal.

Ron is eager to get his Divination exam over so he can prepare to hear the result of Buckbeak's appeal. He makes up fake visions in a crystal ball, considering Professor Trelawney a fraud, but she does not appear convinced. When he returns to the common room, he receives a note from Hagrid that he has lost the appeal and not to go down and watch Buckbeak's execution at sunset.

Goblet of Fire

During the summer holidays, Ron learns that Harry is starving after being put on Dudley's diet. He sends Harry a birthday card and a cake. He has also adopted a very large frog which he keeps on the windowsill of his bedroom in a fish bowl. Arthur secures tickets to the 422nd Quidditch World Cup final for the family, Harry and Hermione. Molly writes a letter to Vernon and Petunia Dursley to ask for their permission to take Harry. Ron sends his own letter to Harry to say even if the Dursleys refuse, they are going to pick him up anyway.

Ron travels with Arthur, Fred and George through the Floo Network to Privet Drive to collect Harry. Upon returning to the Burrow, he shows Harry to his room where he tells him the latest in the wizarding world. The next morning, they leave for their campsite near the venue for the World Cup. After their arrival, they walk around the campsite while Ron excitedly talks about Viktor Krum, his favourite Quidditch player. Before the final, Ron buys a mini figurine of Viktor and a shamrock decorated hat.

Appearance

At the age of eleven, Ron is very tall and lanky with red hair and blue eyes. He has a pale, freckled complexion, a long nose and big hands and feet.

Trivia

• Mrs Weasley gives Ron a maroon jumper every year for Christmas but in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, he "half-heartedly" claims he hates that colour.
• Ron's bedroom is decorated in support of the Chudley Cannons.