In Chamber of Secrets when Harry confesses not knowing what floo powder is, Ron’s immediate reaction is “Sorry, Harry, I should’ve realized”. As in him, Ron, should’ve remembered that Harry’s life is different from his own. No “you should’ve told me!” or “Why didn’t you say anything?” The first thing out of his mouth is to assure Harry that he, Ron, is to blame here, not Harry for not knowing a thing that’s everyday and ordinary to Weasleys.
Ron is an awesome friend.
(via lupinatic)
do you think after Ron and Hermione got out of the trapdoor and raised the alarm and were being patched up in the hospital wing
do you think they were given the most royal proud mama smackdown by McGonagall like “ how DARE you infiltrate a death maze you are ELEVEN and miss granger how on earth did you solve my chessboard i”
and hermione interjected like “oh professor it wasn’t me. i’m useless at chess. it was ron.”
and McGonagall turned to look at Ron Weasley in total amazement at this 11 yr old kid who had been pretty ordinary in all her classes but had apparently beaten her in death chess and he just shrugged like “rookie mistakes, professor. you made some rookie mistakes.”
(via lupinatic)
As some people might already know about me, I’ve never been one to shy away from a good debate. That’s a trait that I share with Hermione.
There are some people who don’t particularly like arguing or disagreeing. Some people genuinely do. Hermione falls into the second category, and since I do as well, I wanted to try to explain what’s up with all of the arguing between her and Ron.
I don’t think there are that many people who would say that she isn’t an argumentative person by nature. In addition to Ron/Harry, Hermione clashes with Lavender over the rabbit, Luna over her theories, Umbridge over Ministry rules, Snape over the lesson plans for Lupin’s DADA class, Professor Trelawney, Parvati, Draco over Hagrid/Buckbeak, etc. And she argues with everyone about house-elves. Hermione is argumentative, and that’s how she prefers it.
Hermione finds it intellectually stimulating to argue, and needs someone who’s going to argue right back.
Genuine Friendship
Hermione is not the sort of person who’s afraid of being the person reading the book while everyone else is having fun. When she fights with Harry/Ron in PA, she doesn’t buddy up with Lavender/Parvati or apologize to the boys just to have someone to sit with at lunch. She just goes it alone. In other words, Hermione is not the kind of person who chooses a bad friend over no friend at all.
If she did not enjoy spending time with Ron, she would have no problem sitting on the other side of the common room reading a book while waiting for Harry to return. And yet, we constantly see her in Ron’s company even when Harry’s not around.
In every book after CS, she arrives the Burrow/Leaky Cauldron/Number 12 before Harry does. Harry takes it for granted that Ron and Hermione will be sitting together when he shows up in the common room, but that’s not a small thing. In PA, the two of them return from Hogsmeade “looking as though they’ve had the time of their lives.”
Despite how much they fight, it’s very clear that Hermione genuinely enjoys spending time with Ron.
Comfort with Conflict
Harry was raised by the Dursleys, and sees arguing and conflict as associated with strife. He also doesn’t feel comfortable expressing his emotions, so he tends to bottle things up until they explode.
Hermione frequently nags Harry, which Harry does not particularly appreciate. He basically has three strategies when being nagged by Hermione. The first is avoiding/ignoring her, the second is lying to her, and the third is exploding at her. Examples of the first and second include occulmency, sneaking into Hogsmeade, his doubts over Dumbledore’s past, the egg clue, his homework, his feelings about Ron’s absence, Voldemort’s visions in DH, his grades, etc.
Nagging is simply Hermione’s style, and while she might learn to tone it down, it’s always going to be part of who she is.
When he can’t lie/avoid/ignore, Harry will explode at Hermione. At which point the balance of power tilts sharply toward Harry. When Harry explodes, Hermione crumples. She will cry, shrink back, speak “in a small voice,” etc.
The problem is that Hermione needs feedback. Because Harry doesn’t engage with Hermione’s nagging, it’s hard for her to know when she’s entering the danger zone.
Like Hermione, Ron is pretty comfortable with the idea of conflict. He was raised in a house where such behavior was acceptable. He knew that just because his mother shouts or his brothers tease doesn’t mean that they don’t love him. He might be insecure about his worth, but he never has to worry that his family will simply stop loving him if he crosses some kind of invisible line.
Both Hermione and Ron wear their emotions on their sleeves and give each other instant feedback. If Hermione is upset with the boys, she tells them exactly why. Ron is the same way. Even when he fights with Harry, he chooses to immediately engage with him that night rather than giving him the cold shoulder and forcing Harry to work it out on his own.
Ron/Fleur/Krum/Hermione is a good example as well. When Ron sees something developing with Hermione/Krum, he immediately reacts and Hermione reacts right back.
When Hermione sees that Ron has a crush on Fleur, she wastes no time talking about how Fleur “really thinks a lot of herself” and “scowls” when Fleur gives Ron attention. Hermione reacts to Ron kissing Lavender not by sulking but by sending a flock of birds flying at his head. Neither of them are great at hiding how they feel.
There is a brief period in HBP where Ron decides to give Hermione the cold shoulder after finding out that she kissed Krum. Hermione is actually quite rattled and upset by this behavior saying she “doesn’t know what she’s supposed to have done.” Because normally when Ron is upset at Hermione, he tells her why.
A lot of the problems in the later books regarding their romantic lives stem from the same thing - for the first time, they’re not being honest and upfront with one another. Which creates a comedy of misunderstandings and poor decision-making.
Arguing as Conversation
There’s not really anger between Ron/Hermione’s arguments. I know that sounds odd, but to them it’s a cross between a rational discussion and intellectual exercise. Ron presents an idea, Hermione counters, Ron counters, and so on and so forth. It’s basically just a way to pass the time and exchange perspectives.
The morning after Ron/Hermione’s heated argument about Krum after the Yule Ball, Harry notes that they were being “quite friendly to each other, though oddly formal.”
In other words, they’re bending over backwards to be polite to one another and it’s making things weird. It’s totally different from their normal behavior.
There are many times in canon where they will segue from an argument to a normal conversation with no visible ill-will.
Even with Scabbers and the Firebolt, when an argument is finished, it’s finished.
PA:
Hermione flung her arms around Ron’s neck and broke down completely.
Ron, looking quite terrified, patted her very awkwardly on the top of the head.
Finally, Hermione drew away.
“Ron, I’m really, really sorry about Scabbers…” she sobbed.
“Oh — well — he was old,” said Ron, looking thoroughly relieved that she had let go of him.
“And he was a bit useless. You never know, Mum and Dad might get me an owl now.”
They’re perfectly capable of stopping in their tracks in order to focus on Harry or something else that’s just happened.
For another example, look at OP:
“Poisonous toadstools don’t change their spots,” said Ron sagely. “Anyway I’ve always thought Dumbledore was cracked trusting Snape. Where’s the evidence he ever really stopped working for You-Know-Who?”
“I think Dumbledore’s probably got plenty of evidence, even if he doesn’t share it with you, Ron,” snapped Hermione.
“Oh, shut up, the pair of you,” said Harry heavily, as Ron opened his mouth to argue back.
Hermione and Ron both froze, looking angry and offended.
“Can’t you give it a rest?” said Harry. “You’re always having a go at each other, it’s driving me mad.” […] The vision of Ron and Hermione’s shocked faces afforded him a sense of deep satisfaction.
Ron/Hermione are shocked, offended, and angry at Harry’s remark, because they don’t see anything wrong with their behavior. That’s just how they talk.
Harry leaves the table and goes straight up to Divination, and Ron joins him a few minutes later:
The rest of the class arrived over the next five minutes. Ron emerged from the trapdoor, looked around carefully, spotted Harry and made directly for him, or as directly as he could while having to wend his way between tables, chairs and overstuffed pouffes.
“Hermione and me have stopped arguing,” he said, sitting down beside Harry.
“Good,” grunted Harry.
“But Hermione says she thinks it would be nice if you stopped taking out your temper on us,” said Ron.
“I’m not -”
“I’m just passing on the message,” said Ron, talking over him. “But I reckon she’s right. It’s not our fault how Seamus and Snape treat you.”
So in a matter of minutes, Ron and Hermione resolved their argument and discussed the best way to handle Harry. Notice that Ron doesn’t actually apologize for arguing with Hermione, he just tells Harry they’ve stopped.
An Expression of Trust
When you get to know someone, you learn that there are certain things they’re sensitive about, and you try to steer away from those topics. This is no different with Hermione/Ron. They both know what’s safe and what’s off-limits.
Hermione can call Ron tactless numerous times and nag him to do his homework, but she’s not going to take a shot at his family’s finances. Ron will tell Hermione to stop nagging and call her a know-it-all, but he would never insult her appearance.
That’s how they operate. And Hermione knows that if she accidentally strays into the danger zone, Ron will let her know. And vice versa.
Keeping Things Balanced
The movies turn Hermione into this perfect superwoman and Ron into a cowardly idiot who’s the butt of the joke, but the truth is that both characters are flawed in their own way.
One of Hermione’s more abrasive qualities is her tendency to be a bit of a know-it-all.
To be clear, being a know-it-all is not the same as being smart. Being smart is knowing the answer. Being a know-it-all is being unable to resist telling everyone else the answer. Essentially the way that Hermione and Ron negotiate a balanced relationship is by Ron engaging her when she nags him or acts like a know-it-all.
Hermione cannot help telling him that he’s not pronouncing something correctly. Plenty of people are offended by that kind of behavior, even when the other person is right. But Ron, instead of ignoring her corrections or acting as though he’s been gravely insulted, just calls her a know-it-all to keep things even. This evens the scales between them and prevents their relationship from becoming Hermione bossing Ron around.
It’s important to understand that Ron does have a huge amount of respect for Hermione’s abilities. He’s not always the best about coming out and saying it, but he takes it for granted that she’s the cleverest person in the room.
PS:
“But we’re not six hundred years old,” Ron reminded her. “Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it all.”
GoF:
“But Hogwarts is hidden,” said Hermione, in surprise. “Everyone knows that… well, everyone who’s read Hogwarts, A History, anyway.”
“Just you, then,” said Ron. “So go on - how d'you hide a place like Hogwarts?”
When the O.W.L.s arrive and Hermione looks slightly unhappy and says that she did “not bad,” Ron takes the paper and announces that she got 10 Outstandings and 1 Exceeds Expectations and then playfully makes fun of her for being disappointed given how impressive her scores are. When Ron and Hermione take their apparition tests, he tells Harry that Hermione was “perfect, obviously.” Even when he himself fails, he doesn’t seem to bear any ill-will toward Hermione.
Ron’s not threatened by Hermione’s intelligence, and he’s not too prideful to do exactly what Hermione’s told him to do. But his teasing and his unwillingness to automatically agree with Hermione is what creates a balanced relationship between the two.
And Hermione genuinely needs this in a partner. She needs someone who will volley right back when she argues with them. She needs someone who will understand that her tendency to be a know-it-all is an instristic part of her personality. She needs someone who finds it endearing rather than annoying.
(Source: owlpostagain, via lupinatic)
broadwayandfandomsandfeelsohmy:
A group of Slytherin students camping outside the common room because the password is something bigoted and they refuse to say it
a group of Slytherin students having a sleepover in the Hufflepuff dormitory because the Hufflepuffs found out
A group of ravenclaw students trying to magically change the doors password when the hufflepuffs tell them
a group of Gryffindors trying to forcibly remove the door when they finally find out
“#im so into the idea of the ravenclaws being like #‘we tried every spell we could think of and we cant get it to change the password or let us in without it’ #and the gryffindors are just like #‘ALRIGHT EVERYONE STAND BACK WE’RE EITHER GONNA JINX THIS DOOR INTO OBLIVION OR BLOW IT THE FUCK UP WITH LITERAL EXPLOSIVES BUT WE ARE GETTI #*GETTING IN WITHOUT THAT PASSWORD ONE WAY OR ANOTHER'” (via: detectivejoan)
(via cthulhu-with-a-fez)
Do you think seventh years at Hogwarts have a muck-up day? On the last day of school, half the students have swapped uniforms, timetables and common room passwords with friends from other houses and are steadfastly insisting to the teachers that “of course I’m in Slytherin, what do you mean I’m a Ravenclaw, you insult me”. Meanwhile, someone’s enchanted suits of armour to act as bodyguards for random first years, who can’t even enter a classroom without a vaguely panicked pile of metal clattering along behind them and leaping on potential attackers. Sir Cadogan has been convinced to battle the Fat Lady for possession of the Gryffindor common room (the Fat Lady is a surprisingly vicious fighter) and nobody can get through the portrait hole. In the spontaneous sleepover that ensues in the Great Hall, a group of over-emotional seventh years huddle together, clutching Butterbeers they’ve smuggled in from Hogsmeade as they sing “Hogwarts Hogwarts Hoggy Warty Hogwarts” one last time.
THIS IS EVERYTHING
(via bronzedragon)
Reminder that when Harry James Potter was given more accurate instructions and a competent potions professor he made a perfect batch of an extremely complicated potion on the first try
Which makes sense since his mother was great at potions and the Potters were literally potioneers
But hey Snape did all he could and had to keep up appearances right?
(Source: marisaauntmay, via lupinatic)
the slytherins making a drinking game where they take a shot every time draco malfoy talks about harry potter
Madam Pomfrey banning the drinking game the very next day, after 90% of Slytherin house is admitted to the hospital wing with alcohol poisoning
#She drags Albus Dumbledore down to the hospital wing to show him the damage#Slytherin classes have been cancelled for the day as nearly everyone is here#too drunk to function#most are silent#but a few will occasionally look off into the distance with a sneer#and under their breaths#in the most disdainful and haughty voice they can manage#will mutter#POTTER#causing a fit of giggles to ripple through the room#Dumbledore agrees to ban the game and makes the announcement at dinner that evening#the only Slytherin in the Great Hall at that time is#of course#Malfoy#who turns red and immediately mutters that obviously this is Potter’s fault#Snape takes a shot#Harry Potter (x)
Oh my god it got so much better.
Snape takes a shot
A bunch of drunk Slytherin kids giggling in the nursery is more than I could’ve asked for
(via clockwork-mockingbird)
friendly reminder that Harry Potter
- at eleven, was described by his teachers as ‘bright’
- at the same age, according to the Sorting Hat: “Not a bad mind, either. There’s talent, oh my goodness, yes” and “You could be great, you know, it’s all here in your head”
- mastered the challenging Patronus Charm at thirteen and proceeded to teach it at fifteen
- resisted the Imperius Curse at fourteen and soon learned to throw it off completely, even when cast by the incredibly powerful Voldemort
- also at fourteen, learned to cast a powerful Accio Charm
- at fifteen, was training other students
- at the same age, under extreme stress, tested as ‘exceeds expectations’ or ‘outstanding’ in every subject that required actual magic (including the dreaded Potions)
- same age, cast a briefly effective Cruciatus Curse
- at sixteen, became a star Potions student simply by following superior instructions
- at seventeen, successfully cast the Imperius Curse on his first try, and used it repeatedly
- at the same age, cast a successful Cruciatus Curse
#god almighty!!!!!! #this post??? is e v e r y t h i n g #it addresses all of my pet peeves in fandom regarding harry #people refuse to acknowledge how bright and talented harry really is #its such a joke tbh #they point to his average academics as if that is a true measure of intelligence #all the while disregarding the stressful situations he’s put in and horrible teachers that hinder his learning #people have adopted snapes mentality when judging harrys intelligence and its utterly belittling #snape purposely gives shitty instructions and literally fucking sabotages harrys work in his class #and puts him in a fake remedial potions class to humiliate him in front of his peers #and fandom? they gobble it up and laugh about how shitty harry is at potions #but when harry gets legitimately good instructions from snapes old textbook for the first time in his potions career #under a teacher who is not abusive but actually encouraging? #he fucking thrives #snape had been keeping innovational and helpful potions instructions from his students for YEARS #so apart from being a shitty person he was also a shitty teacher #anyways~ #harry is extremely bright and talented and powerful for his age #love and forgiveness were not his only ~powers~ #or the reason he survived so long #ty for this gr9 post op (via ginevvra)
That’s not all. He was also quite perceptive.
- He was able to immediately connect the dots between the package that Hagrid retrieved from Gringotts to the break in based on a news article and Hagrid’s reactions.
- He was the one who figured out the motive of Quirrell when he played cards with Hagrid betting a dragon’s egg.
- He figured out that it was Myrtle who died when the Chamber of Secrets was opened before and seemed to be the only one who was smart enough to actually ask her about her death.
- He figured out that it was Lucius Malfoy who gave Ginny Tom Riddle’s diary (with subtle clues from Dobby) and used it to outsmart Malfoy into freeing Dobby.
- He knew that Draco Malfoy was up to something (even though Ron and Hermione didn’t believe it) their 6th year. He also figured out Malfoy succeeded when Trelawney told him she heard a male voice whooping in the RoR.
- He was the one who figured out that there was a horcrux inside Bellatrix’s vault judging only by her reactions to their possession of the Gryffindor’s Sword.
- He figured out the connections of the Peverells, the cloak, the ring (and the snitch by extension) and the elder wand to the Deathly Hallows. He even figured out that it was Dumbledore who owned it and that ownership was passed on the Draco Malfoy and, eventually, to Harry himself.
These are only the ones I could remember right now but I’m pretty sure there were more instances that showed how perceptive he really is.
(via lupinatic)
james, lily, and snape must have been the three best potioneers in their class
the three of them
slughorn must have been going crazy over their potential
and the DYNAMICS
lily and snape all buddy buddy for the first few years
churning out great work
then lily and snape aren’t friends
but lily and james are still not friends either
so the three of them are in strict competition
then lily and james start brewing together
and make even more amazing work
and snape is SO FUCKING MAD BECAUSE POTIONS WAS HIS THING WITH LILY
(via lilypcttr)
Vodka Tia Moran