Ron is the sixth sibling of seven. His older brothers have all been extremely accomplished. Bill was a prefect, Head Boy, and is the eldest (which gives him much attention by default). Charlie was a prefect, captain of the Quidditch team, and studies dragons in Romania. Percy was a prefect, Head Boy, and works in the Ministry of Magic, working very close with the Minister. Fred and George were not prefects; however, they were well known for their jokes and pranks, all of which were very impressive and often required very advanced magic, and became hugely successful with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. His younger sister, Ginny, is the only girl in the Weasley family as well as the youngest sibling. This gives her a lot of attention by default. She is also a skilled Quidditch player, a powerful witch, extremely pretty, and has a very commanding personality. He is also overshadowed by his dearest friends. Harry, The Boy Who Lived, was famous since infancy. Harry had ended Voldemort's reign as a baby, and he was known to every witch and wizard. He is a very skilled wizard, and he must eventually face Voldemort. Then, Hermione is perhaps the brightest witch of her age. She gets perfect marks on nearly everything and is extremely clever.
This leaves Ron with a lot to live up to, and very high expectations. As a result, he becomes an underachiever. He does not really try in any of his classes because it is much easier to not try at all than to try and perhaps fail and be a disappointment to everyone. He has very low self-confidence, and feels that he is inadequate. He does not think he could possibly live up to the standards he is held at, although he dreams of it. When he looks into the Mirror of Erised, he sees himself as Head Boy, as Quidditch Captain, as someone great. He does not see these things because he is vain and selfish; he sees them because he feels he is invisible, and he wants to be successful, to be acknowledged. When he is about to kill the locket horcrux, it attacks him by taunting him, showing Hermione choosing Harry because Harry is great, is a hero, while Ron is a nobody. He feels as if he is merely a sidekick to Harry, instead of anybody of real importance.
However, this is far from the truth. Ron serves as far more than merely "the comic relief of the trio." Harry and Hermione both rely on him in many ways. In fact, they probably wouldn't have survived their first year at Hogwarts if not for Ron. He is a brilliant chess player; he was able to get Harry and Hermione through the chess game and closer to the Stone, sacrificing himself to do so. This shows two important things: it shows that Ron is intelligent and strategical, and it shows that Ron is brave, loyal, and is willing to sacrifice himself for his friends and to do what is right. In their seventh year, Ron saves Harry's life again; after long months of searching for Harry and Hermione, he finally finds them, saving Harry's life after Harry (impulsively) dives into a freezing lake to obtain the Sword of Gryffindor. Yes, Ron did leave them. But this was because he was under the influence of the locket horcrux. However, when he was finally free of it's influence, he was desperate to get back to them. Now, it took Ron months. In that time, he could have easily given up, resigning to the fact that he would never find them. He could have easily gone back home, or gone over to Hogwarts. But he didn't. He persisted. This shows a great amount of determination. Throughout the books, he continues to show these wonderful traits. In his second year, he stands by Harry's side, even when he has to face his greatest fear (which is, of course, spiders). Ron fought by Harry's side no matter how much danger it put him in. Ron always remained loyal to Harry.
Also, Ron has a way of getting into people's hearts. The most obvious example would be Hermione; even from a young age, there were hints at how much they really cared for each other. However, at this point, they were not mature enough to show it. As the books progress, however, they grow closer, and their bond grows deeper. Hermione and Ron's relationship has never been shallow, has never been merely passion; it represented a far deeper love. I really don't think that anybody in the world was more dear to Hermione than Ron was. Also, although Harry loved both Ron and Hermione more dearly than anybody, and although Harry would do absolutely anything for both of them, there have always been subtleties which showed that he was especially close to Ron. Ron and Hermione have gotten into quite a lot of fights. However, just about every single time, Harry sided with Ron, even when Ron was probably wrong. Sometimes, he wouldn't take a side. But he would never take the opposite side. When Ron was angry at him in both his fourth year and his seventh year, when Ron was not by his side, it effected Harry in every aspect of his life. It drained Harry's sense of happiness, his sense of hope. Of course, when Hermione was angry at Harry, he felt lost as well. But not nearly as deeply as with Ron. Finally, in his fourth year, the second task of the Triwizard Tournament required that the person who the Champions cared about more than anybody was to be taken hostage by the merpeople. Who did they take from Harry? Ron. The first person he went after was Ron. He went for Hermione next, as she is also extremely dear to him, but Ron was his first instinct.
Finally, of course, there is his personality. Ron is funny, sarcastic, loyal, dedicated, and brave. Does he have his flaws? Certainly. He is sometimes a bit tactless, or a bit thoughtless. But he has so many other wonderful traits as well which make him extremely lovable. Ron is also, in some ways, the most real of the trio. Now, don't get me wrong; JK Rowling is usually wonderful at creating her characters, and nearly all of them are deep and fully developed, and very realistic. But of the trio, Ron is probably the most real. He is flawed, and he has a lot of personality, and he has strengths and weaknesses. He acts like a kid; he sometimes slacks off. He jokes around. He has sibling rivalries. He also very much fits the role of being often ignored; although he may sometimes seem selfish, try to understand how he must feel. When he became a prefect, nobody bothered to congratulate him. Everyone just said, "You?! Why you?! Why not Harry?" Can you imagine how much that must have hurt, to hear all his friends, all his family right out tell him, and after he's achieved such an honor, that he doesn't deserve it? No wonder Ron sometimes acts a bit selfish. I'm not saying it's okay for Ron to be selfish, but it is 100% understandable, and 100% expected. I think anyone would feel the same. But even so, Ron has always made a remarkable friend. Ron will always be the first person to stand up for his friends, often even before Harry himself! Ron will face his fears and stand by his friends until the end, no matter what. Ron will do anything he can to support his friends, no matter what he must go through. Ron will risk everything to fight for what is right. I think anybody would be absolutely blessed to have a friend like Ron by their side.
The letter we have all been waiting for
