What are 10 facts you didn’t know about Ron Weasley? He’s got red hair and he’s Harry Potter’s lovable, loyal right-hand man. But of course, there’s a whole lot more to Ron Weasley than his colorful hair and his famous best mate (we promise).
Throughout the Harry Potter series, Ron stakes a claim to be among the best Harry Potter characters. Whenever Harry and Hermione get themselves into a mess, Ron is right there with them to help them get out of it – through sheer bloody-minded effort rather than supreme magical skill, we’d suggest. Every time you watch the Harry Potter movies in order, you learn more about Ron’s bravery and devotion to his friends.
So let’s delve into the world of Ron Weasley and one of the most enjoyable members of the Harry Potter cast, Rupert Grint. Across the best movies in the franchise, Ron was the ultimate hero, so here are some Ron Weasley facts to celebrate the finest wielder of the phrase “bloody hell” in cinema history. Who needs the best Harry Potter spells when you have such excellent swearing?
10. Scabbers was just one of his unfortunate pets
We all know that Scabbers, Ron’s pet rat, actually turned out to be one of the best Harry Potter villains, Peter Pettigrew. Ultimately, Pettigrew got strangled to death by his own hand.
But he wasn’t the only one of Ron’s pets to meet an unfortunate end. Before his time at Hogwarts, Ron owned a Puffskein – a round, furry creature with a long tongue. The cute pet was a great companion for Ron, right up until Fred decided to use it for bludger practice. Oops.
9. His owl totally stole the show
We don’t get to meet Pigwidgeon in the Harry Potter movies, but he’s a ball of pure chaos and fun. Sirius Black bought him as a gift for Ron as he felt partly responsible for the loss of the aforementioned Scabbers.
Pigwidgeon was a tiny scops owl prone to cannonballing around and performing for willing audiences. He was wildly entertaining but, unfortunately, he wasn’t particularly good at delivering letters promptly.
8. His name reflects his temper
Ron’s middle name is Bilius which, aside from being a very silly name, is a reference to the word “bilious” – meaning spiteful or bad-tempered. We know that Ron has a temper, as evidenced by the blow-up row that led to him abandoning Harry and Hermione in Deathly Hallows.
If he wasn’t so bilious, we’d never have had that dance scene. We’ll let you decide whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
7. He got far too drunk at his wedding
In the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play, Ron mentions that he wants to do a vow renewal ceremony with Hermione. He admits to her that the reason behind this is that they were young the first time around and he got so drunk that he can’t remember much of the day. That’s our Weasley!
6. He didn’t take to being an Auror
Just like Harry, Ron became an Auror at the Ministry of Magic in the wake of Voldemort‘s defeat. They “utterly revolutionized” the department, but Ron left after two years to take up his late brother Fred’s role alongside George at Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley.
To be honest, we think helping to run a joke shop suits Ron a lot more than magical law enforcement.
5. He beat Harry in one big way at school
Ron was pretty much always doomed to spend his time in the shadow of his buddy. But this didn’t happen in his fifth year when both Ron and Hermione were chosen to become Gryffindor prefects, while Harry wasn’t.
Dumbledore later explained that he thought Harry already had more than enough responsibility, what with the whole fighting Voldemort thing. But we think that Ron getting to be a prefect gave him a real confidence boost.
4. His fear of spiders comes from childhood trauma
Ron’s not just scared of massive spiders like Aragog and his fellow Acromantula; he’s scared of the little ones too. But it turns out that there’s a good reason for his fear.
When Ron was just three years old, he accidentally broke Fred’s toy broomstick. In response, Fred transfigured Ron’s teddy bear into a giant spider. That’s enough to traumatize any toddler, we think.
3. He cheated to get a driving license
In the epilogue at the end of the Harry Potter series, we learn that Ron surprised Hermione by passing a Muggle driving test. But, in a surreptitious chat with Harry, Ron admits that he used a Confundus Charm on the examiner after forgetting to check his mirrors.
2. He actually achieved his greatest goal
As well as being in the shadow of Harry, Ron found himself struggling to match up to the successes of his siblings. He might not have been Quidditch Captain or Head Boy at Hogwarts, but Ron did eventually manage something none of the others did. He was immortalized on a collectible chocolate frog card.
The Harry Potter author has said in interviews that this achievement was Ron’s “finest hour”. Given how much of a keen card collector Ron was in the books, we can understand why he’d really love getting a card of his own.
1. Ron very nearly didn’t survive the series
The last Harry Potter book is an utter bloodbath, from the early demise of Hedwig and Mad-Eye Moody through to the many casualties of the Battle of Hogwarts. At one stage, Ron was among those on the author’s chopping block.
In an interview on the DVD for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, the author said: “I planned from the start that none of them would die. Then midway through, which I think is a reflection of the fact that I wasn’t in a very happy place, I started thinking I might polish one of them off. Out of sheer spite.”
She had a change of heart, however, and we think she made the right choice. It feels right that, after everything they’d been through together, all three of the protagonists got their versions of a happily ever after.
For more from the world of Potter, learn about everyone who’s owned the Elder Wand and find out why we think the Dursley Horcrux fan theory is rubbish. You can also find out more about Hagrid, Luna Lovegood, and Grindelwald, or learn why we still can’t forgive the Harry Potter finale’s worst change from the books.
Finally, learn about new movies with our guides to the Fantastic Beasts 4 release date and the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child release date. We’ve also got small screen Potter on the way with our guide to the Harry Potter TV series release date.
The creator of the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling, has made a number of transphobic remarks on social media in recent years. If you’d like to learn more about transgender equality or lend your support, here are two charities we encourage you to visit: the National Center for Transgender Equality in the US and Mermaids in the UK.