Harry Potter: 10 Things Only Book Fans Know About Ron Weasley

While Harry Potter is close to Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood, Ron Weasley is very much his partner in crime. The pair meet for the first time at Kings Cross station and, though their relationship has its ups and downs throughout the course of the seven books and eight movies, they always end up standing by each other – no matter the severity of the circumstances they find themselves in.

The movies did a brilliant job of bringing Ron to the big screen, with Rupert Grint excelling in the role. However, with such limited time, not every tidbit of information about the character made it into the films.

10 He Has A Long Nose And Freckles

Sure, Grint was certainly a good pick as Ron Weasley. But, though that was the case, the character wasn’t necessarily portrayed like he was in the source material.

Ron is described as being covered in freckles whereas Grint, despite being red-headed, doesn’t have any on his face. He’s also said to have a long nose but, again, this isn’t the case with Grint definitely having a smaller beak than his character. Obviously this is no big deal but it’s still something that only fans of the Potter books are aware of – because the movies omitted these details completely.

9 He Encountered Sirius Black On The Run

In the Prisoner of Azkaban blockbuster, Harry and his friends learn of Sirius Black’s attack on the Fat Lady after returning from a trip to Hogsmeade. Things are different in the book, however, with Ron actually encountering the escaped convict up close.

Sirius sneaks into Gryffindor Tower in a frenzied state, determined to find Scabbers (who is actually Death Eater Peter Pettigrew, presumed dead many years ago). During his attempt to locate his old friend Ron wakes up and screams, alerting the other boys in the Gryffindor Boy’s Dormitory. Most people don’t believe him but the hangings around his bed are ripped and slashed and it’s this which prompts everybody being forced to sleep on the cold, hard Great Hall floor for the night.

8 He Obtained A New Pet After Scabbers

After it’s revealed that Scabbers is actually a grown man, who has been sharing Ron’s bed for nearly three years at Hogwarts (and probably longer at home), you could understand if the youngest Weasley boy shunned pets for life. After all, that’s a pretty scarring experience right?

But he has no choice but to take on an owl, later named Pigwidgeon, given to him by Sirius Black. The former Azkaban prisoner gives the creature to Ron as an apology for breaking his leg during their skirmish on the grounds of Hogwarts. Ron pretends the creature irritates him – and perhaps he does – but deep down has love and affection for the animal, as all pet owners should.

7 He Overheard Key Rubeus Hagrid Information

During the Yule Ball at Hogwarts in the Goblet of Fire, Harry and Ron decide to eavesdrop on a conversation between Severus Snape and Igor Karkaroff. Unfortunately, that isn’t the only thing they overhear while hiding in the bushes outside Hogwarts.

The pair actually hear a conversation between Rubeus Hagrid and Madame Maxime, which gets pretty deep pretty fast. Hagrid opens up about his giant heritage, the way his mother abandoned him, and how he feels at peace with her because she’s the same. She denies this, insisting she’s ‘big-boned’ and rushes off, with the pair never striking up a romantic relationship as a result. This conversation never takes place in the movie, with all details of Hagrid’s kind left out of the final cut – probably for time reasons.

6 He Became A Prefect

Somewhat surprisingly, the revelation about Ron Weasley and Hermione becoming Prefects is left out of the Order of the Phoenix movie. This makes Harry feel pretty bad – after all, he’s the one who has gone up against Lord Voldemort and other dastardly foes time and time again – but the Boy Who Lived does his best to put on a brave face.

Ron is chuffed and his mother, Molly Weasley, is even more ecstatic. Despite funds being in short supply, she forks out on a new broomstick for her darling boy – The Cleansweep Eleven. This broom can go from nought to seventy in ten seconds, the handle is made of Spanish oak and it features anti-jinx varnish and in-build vibration control. Pretty neat.

5 He’s Actually Distantly Related To Sirius Black

While Harry is the godson of Sirius, Ron is actually related to the former Azkaban prisoner. This is revealed in the fifth book, much to the Boy Who Lived’s surprise.

Septimus Weasley married Cedrella Black, with Arthur a direct descendant of the pair. Sirius’ own father and Cedrella are first cousins, meaning Sirius and Arthur are second cousins. And that means that Ron is actually distantly related to him. While it’s pretty neat it’s also quite confusing at the same time. Pretty much all Pure Blood wizards are related, with Harry himself a descendant of Salazar Slytherin.

4 He Was Scarred For Life

In the Order of the Phoenix, Ron is part of the huge battle at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Mysteries, having accompanied Harry, Hermione, Luna, Neville, and his sister Ginny in their mission to rescue Sirius Black from Lord Voldemort’s clutches.

As a huge battle breaks out, Ron ends up in a dazed and confused state. He summons an actual BRAIN, which soars into his hand, and begins to wrap its tentacles around him. This very nearly kills him but he’s left scarred for life as a result. The brain’s tentacles apparently displayed moving images and sounds like just the sort of things you’d expect to find in one of the Ministry’s darker rooms.

3 He Was Nearly Tricked Into An Unbreakable Vow

An Unbreakable Vow is exactly what it says on the tin: unbreakable. If you do decide to go back on your word, you die, which makes it a pretty serious thing. And, when Harry asks Ron for more information about it, the Hogwarts Prefect reveals that he was nearly tricked into making one himself by brothers Fred and George.

“Fred and George tried to get me to make one when I was about five. I nearly did too, I was holding hands with Fred and everything when Dad found us,” he said. He also reveals that Fred has insisted his ‘left buttock has never been the same since’ and you can imagine he was given quite a big punishment for his actions. Not cool Fred, not cool.

2 He Took Felix Felicis

In the Half-Blood Prince movie, Ron is tricked into taking Felix Felicis – the potion that makes you the luckiest person on the planet. But only true fans of the books know that he actually ends up taking it for real late on in the books.

Harry insists Ron, Hermione, and Ginny take some to help protect them should anything happen the night himself and Albus Dumbledore travel to locate one of Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes, the Locket. This comes in handy because Death Eaters make their way into the school but every single one of their curses misses its mark and they make it out unscathed. Not everybody is so lucky, however, with Bill Weasley savagely attacked by Fenrir Greyback – and left scarred for life. as a result.

1 He Tried To Stop Peter Pettigrew Dying

Obviously, it was weird that Pettigrew spent years sleeping in the same bed as Ron – despite being a grown man. But this doesn’t mean Ron wishes him dead and, when Pettigrew’s silver hand closes around the villain’s throat, both Ron and Harry desperately try to stop him from dying.

They fail, however. The hand, given to the Death Eater by Lord Voldemort, turns on its master because Pettigrew shows the slightest hesitation when it comes to carrying out the villain’s evil orders. He was put into Gryffindor House for a reason and his innate bravery shines through at the very end, somewhat redeeming him of mistakes made in the past.