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[author_by_night]

Poster at a messageboard (not SQ or FA):

"And Ron is a useless wizard".

 

Why does everyone think he's useless? I have reasons for thinking he's not.

Here lie the points against him, and my refuting them:

1: "Ron can be so clueless."

Oh, nobody's denying that. But so can Harry, who actually told Ginny he forgot she'd been posessed by Voldemort. So can the twins, who had no apparent guilt over almost severely injuring a fellow student. Even Hermione's clueless - she might be book smart, but her persona skills are dismal. (Sending Umbridge to be beaten up by Centaurs? Treating Luna like an annoying five year old? Patronizing the House Elves?) Yes, those things are annoying - but we're all human. And Ron has never gone to Hermione's extreme. (I don't know that I think Hermione actually meant any harm in any of those cases, though - I think she just needs to learn to control her emotions).

Besides, he's not completely clueless; he risks his life for his friends, and he's great at things when he's confident.

2.1: "Ron isn't loyal to his friends."

Ah, so he never risked being killed by a chess piece, or volunteered to be murdered by Sirius? The shame of him!

2.2: "But in GoF, he turned against Harry!"

Okay; everyone here who has ever been slightly resentful of a friend or someone else you love with little justification, raise your hands. Everyone here who has ever overreacted against that person, raise your hands.

It happens. And Ron realized he was wrong - and admitted to it.

3: "Ron makes fun of Hermione."

I think it's called banter; banter is when people who care about one another share inside jokes, sometimes only getting away with them because they are friends. My friends and family make fun of things about me all the time; they get playful glares back, and then its fine. Sometimes the jokes go too far - and I'm sure mine have too. But that's part of any sort of relationship.

4.1: "Ron is worse  than Draco."

No, he's not. While I suppose you could successfully compare them in small ways, there's a difference between someone who loses his temper, and someone who idly states that they want a classmate to die, frames someone's pet for almost killing them, and suggests people different from him aren't as human.

4.2: "And the comment to Remus in PoA?"

Quite honestly, I don't think Ron was showing his anti-werewolf side. I think he was in pain, and he also felt betrayed - it looked like Remus was about to help Sirius, who, as far as Ron knew, wanted to kill Harry. Add that with the fact that Ron admittedly is rash, and you get a comment that is very biased and hurtful..

I'm not defending what Ron said at all - I think that was very Draco-like. However, Draco has done and said things unprovoked, and Ron did not hold onto that bias - Draco does.

5: "Ron and Hermione won't get together."

I've seen this one, and am thoroughly confused as to what liking Hermione/Draco or Hermione/Harry has to do with liking Ron. I don't think Sirius and Remus will get together, and I still like both of their characters.

I'm not saying Ron is the best HP character; he isn't. But give him some credit.