10 Facts about Ronald Weasley

  1. Ron is a member of the pure blood Weasley family. Both of his parents, Arthur and Molly, come from pure blood lines. Draco Malfoy describes the Weasleys as having, “red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford.” He is the fifth Weasley son to attend Hogwarts. His elder brother, Percy, is a prefect and his older twin brothers, Fred and George, excel academically and are extremely popular because of their pranks. Ron and his family don’t really know much about the muggle world and are often fascinated by the things that Harry tells them about that aspect of his life.
  2. Ron has six siblings: Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and Ginny. Ron often feels overlooked and left out. During their first meeting in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone, Ron tells Harry, “Every one expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it’s no big deal, because they did it first.”
  3. Besides Hagrid, Ron is Harry’s first friend in the wizarding world and at Hogwarts. They meet on the platform 9 ¾ and then share a compartment on the train. They bond when Harry buys all of the tea lady’s sweets to share with Ron who only has homemade sandwiches to eat.
  4. Ron helps Harry defeat Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone by directing their trio as they play a life size version of wizard’s chess. Ron sacrifices himself by allowing the white queen to smash his knight, which renders him unconscious, but wins the game. Harry and Hermione are then able to complete their quest.
  5. In the second book of the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ron and his twin brothers, Fred and George, steal their father’s flying car and drive to the Dursley’s home to rescue Harry. Their father is curious about how this artefact operated, but their mother is livid.
  6. In the fourth book of the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Ron and Harry fall out when Harry is selected as the fourth participant in the Triwizard Tournament. Harry insists that he didn’t put his name in the goblet of fire. Ron doesn’t believe him. He feels as if he is constantly in Harry’s shadow. They don’t reconcile until Ron sees how dangerous the tournament is and realizes that Harry would never sign up for it.
  7. Ron realizes that he may have romantic feelings for Hermione when she is Viktor Krum’s date for the Yule Ball.
  8. Ron’s first girlfriend is Lavender Brown. They start dating during their sixth year at Hogwarts. Part of his reason for doing it is obviously to make Hermione jealous. They spend a lot of time making out (snogging) in public. She gives also gives him the annoying nickname, Won Won.
  9. Ron destroys one of Voldemort’s horcruxes, Slytherin’s Locket, but not before the necklace convinces him to abandon Harry and Hermione. The locket plays on Ron’s insecurities and whispers to him, “I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasley, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all that you dread is also possible. . .Least loved, always, by the mother who craved a daughter. . .Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friend. . .Second best, always, eternally overshadowed. . .” Eventually Ron destroys, but not after much temptation and anger.
  10. Ron and Hermione wind up together! In the epilogue of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, we see how the characters are faring 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione are married with two children, Rose and Hugo. In this final scene, they are seeing their daughter Rose off to her first year at Hogwarts. 

By Any Other Name: What Harry Potter Names Mean

Names in fiction are an excellent way to give readers a clue as to the personality or nature of a character—whether it’s in their nicknames, their first names, or their last names, the way characters are referred to in stories like Harry Potter are important.

Remus Lupin, for example. When Remus Lupin was a child, a werewolf bit him, and that bite turned Remus into a werewolf as well. This didn’t stop him from becoming a Hogwarts professor, or from having a group of loyal and dedicated friends. The interesting thing is Lupin’s name. Remus is actually also the name of a mythological figure. Legends about Remus and his brother Romulus detailed that they were raised by a she-wolf—and that they founded Rome. Like the legendary Remus, Professor Lupin manages to overcome his past and rise to great heights. Another interesting point about Lupin’s name is that ‘lupin’ is actually related to the Latin word for wolf. It seems that Remus Lupin was destined to be associated with wolves (and werewolves) from birth.

Sirius Black is Harry Potter’s godfather, as well as a close personal friend of Remus Lupin. While they were students at Hogwarts, Sirius, along with James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, studied and trained to become an Animagus, or a wizard who can transform into an animal. The animal that Sirius chose to take on the appearance of is a big, black dog—one that other characters routinely mistake for being a Grim, a particularly nasty omen of death. Astronomically speaking, Sirius is the brightest star of the Canis Major or “Great Dog” constellation. This association has led to the star/star system of Sirius being colloquially referred to as the “Dogstar”.

Merope Gaunt, the mother of Tom Marvolo Riddle, Jr. (who would later become Lord Voldemort) is named after the youngest of the Pleiades, the companions of Artemis. They were the daughters of the Titan Atlas and the sea-nymph Pleione, and share their name with the star-cluster of Pleiades. In the mythology, Merope married Sisyphus, a mortal. After bearing him several sons, she faded away—this is in part because she was becoming mortal. It is interesting to note that Merope Gaunt died after giving birth to Tom Riddle, Jr. In some ways, there seems to be a reflection of the Merope of myth in the Merope of Harry Potter.

Tom Marvolo Riddle was Voldemort’s name, before he took up the mantle of Dark Lord. In both the book and the movie, it is revealed that Tom Riddle’s full name is actually an anagram of “I Am Lord Voldemort”. This means that when the books were translated into different languages, in order to translate the anagram with the name, the name of Voldemort had to be changed. For example, in the French edition of Harry Potter, Voldemort’s name is Tom Elvis Jedusor.

Voldemort itself is an interesting name—Voldemort can be translated from French to mean ‘flight from death’. (It’s a fitting title for someone who tried so hard to escape death by not only seeking eternal life but also by attempting to become death’s Master.)

The tradition of having names that relate to stars and mythology extends to the younger generations of Harry Potter characters—Draco Malfoy, for example. “Draco” is the Latin for ‘dragon’, and can refer to not only the mythological creature, but also an Athenian lawgiver. This lawgiver was known for his particularly ruthless laws. “Malfoy” can be translated from French to mean ‘bad faith’; this is particularly interesting, seeing as the Malfoy family was not only aligned with Voldemort for years, but also seeing as the family broke from Voldemort’s ranks and aided Harry Potter, Voldemort’s greatest enemy.