Ronald Bilius Weasley

"I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left -- Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."
     -- Ron Weasley (SS6)

Timeline: Ron Weasley

Ronald Bilius Weasley is the sixth of Molly and Arthur's sons. He is currently attending Hogwarts where he is the best friend of Harry Potter. Ron has a generally positive outlook on life but struggles with feelings of having to live up to five older brothers who have made their mark on Hogwarts one way or another.

Ron also finds himself frustrated with being poor. "Why is everything I own rubbish?" he exclaims when he is faced with second hand dress robes with lace on them and a maniacal little owl who chokes on owl treats (GF10).

Ron and Harry find themselves at odds occasionally and have even spent some weeks not speaking to each other, but Ron is a devoted friend and helper for Harry. Ron's skills at chess helped Harry pass through McGonagall's enchanted chess set guarding the Sorcerer's Stone. He lied for Harry when Snape caught Harry with the evidence of an illicit visit to Hogsmeade in their third year, saying he'd brought the Zonko's stuff back for Harry on a previous visit (PA14). After Hagrid lost Buckbeak's case, Ron took over responsibility for the appeal from Hermione, who was strained to the breaking point from her classload (PA15), and he was deeply offended over the Committee's unjust handling of the final hearing (PA16). He urged Harry to protest to their Head of House or the Headmaster when Umbridge gave Harry sadistic detentions.

Ron has been very supportive of Harry as he's been plagued by feedback from his mental connection with Voldemort. His questions after a post-Quidditch practice vision helped them both analyze how much information Harry was getting, and he gave Harry some intelligent advice, although Harry refused to take it (OP18). He's taken action to snap Harry out of a couple of overpowering nighttime visions, and protected Harry from having his problems become public property via the other boys in their dormitory (OP24, OP26).

Ron seems to be developing an interesting and possibly romantic relationship with Hermione, but for now it's in the arguing and teasing stage. He was highly annoyed that Hermione went to the Yule Ball with Krum, but never got around to asking her himself. He ended up going to the Ball with Padma Patil, but he was so busy glowering at Hermione and Krum that Padma abandoned him to dance with some boys from Beauxbatons. Ron didn't seem to mind in the least.

Ron is an avid Quidditch fan; his favorite team is the Chudley Cannons and his bedroom at the Burrow--an attic room at the top of the stairs--is plastered with posters of the team. Ron's broom, however, like everything else he owns was a hand-me-down Shooting Star which is "frequently outstripped by passing butterflies" (CS3). In August of 1995, however, Ron became a prefect and was rewarded by his mother with a new broom, a Cleansweep Eleven. That fall he tried out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and was made Keeper (OP13).

Ron gets plenty of teasing from his older brothers, particularly Fred and George. When he was made a prefect during the twins' last year at Hogwarts, they resumed their old habit of calling him by baby-talk nicknames, something they hadn't done since his first year. They taunted him for awhile about whether he would try to give them detention, but Hermione indirectly put a stop to the worst of that (OP).

When Ron was three, he broke Fred's toy broomstick, and Fred retaliated by changing Ron's teddy bear into a giant spider, while Ron was holding it. Ron's been terrified of spiders ever since, although he can tolerate working with dead ones in Potions (CS9). After encountering Aragog in the forest, Ron was so afraid he threw up in Hagrid's pumpkin patch.

Ron joined Hermione and a group of other students in forming a group to study Defense Against the Dark Arts from Harry during his fifth year. As a member of Dumbledore's Army, as they called themselves, Ron fought in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. He was wounded in that battle and spent some days in the Hospital Wing recovering afterwards (OP35ff.).