Harry had talent and good instincts but he was quite lazy and not willing to work hard. Its not hard to figure out these qualities came from his best friend. I disagree about the loyalty part. Ron abandoned Harry in GoF out of jealousy. Ron abandoned Harry during the Horcrux search out of jealousy and spite. He is, in my opinion, not loyal or dependable.

 

I wouldn't call Harry an enthusiastic learner. He liked to read, but he didn't have something he was enthusiastic about. Something that can actually be laid at Hagrid's feet, but that's not the argument.

Does Ron dislike intelligence or does Ron not see the point in spending all his life in a library?

Harry and Ron were two eleven year old boys with inferiority complexes who found comfort in each other. The legend that was Harry Potter was just as normal and as nervous as he was. And the pureblood boy wasn't ahead of him, Harry, in magical education. In short, Harry influenced Ron just as much as Ron influence him. I mean, when Harry learned something new Ron typically followed.

Edit:
@hawthorn Harry actually does read his books before school. It's how he found Hedwig's name and it's pretty absurd to expect him to have memorized any one in a month.

 

It's fun to argue about this stuff, but I don't think anyone's mind is likely to be changed. People use the canon books as 'evidence' for their views in the same way that people use the bible as evidence. They start with the thing they want to be true and then they go looking for evidence for it, ignoring everything that contradicts it. I'm guilty of this too. /shrug

If you dislike Hermione, you can find evidence that she's a bossy, self-righteous bitch. If you dislike Ron, you can find evidence that he's a jealous, traitorous dick. If you hold an extreme view about a character, that probably reveals more about you than it does the character.

The fact that we can debate stuff like this endlessly, especially in relation to Dumbledore, is a testament to JKR's skill. I wouldn't call it great characterization exactly, but she was fantastic at manipulating our emotions and getting us to root for and hate people. There was also so much ambiguity and absurdity in the books that they invite debate and set the stage for a huge fanfiction community.

I don't particularly like a lot of canon events, especially after book 5, but I love the world and the characters she created, and it's fun to manipulate that world to your own end. Everyone's instinct is to 'fix' or 'improve' what they found dissatisfying about the books, at least when they're starting out. Bashing is the just laziest, most immature form of that impulse.

 

I'll be honest, I hate Ron because he's one of the poors.

 

Saw this video recently about how they butchered Ron in the movies; giving his 'good' lines to other characters (namely Hermione), pretty much making him a comedic idiot, and and generally making him a worse friend and person. It's a pretty in depth comparison if you have the time to watch it.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if this had a big influence on how he is written in fanfiction, it seems like movie/show portrayals often stick in people's minds more so than written ones.

 

The Weasley bashing is basically why I stopped reading HP stuff on FFN. FFN in general is a hit or miss site for me. I swear that stories on that site are either absolute trash or works of art. Fucking confusing.

I honestly never got the hate for Ron, he was always my favorite.

 

Is there a site that isn't hit or miss? FFN may be 90% trash, but in my experience Ao3 and HPFF are even worse. Am I missing out on a great site somewhere?

 

Well, I did find this. Admittedly, it's not to everyone's liking but most of the stories on there are pretty good. I've even posted my own fanfiction there a while ago.

 

/rimshot

 

Maybe it’s just me but I find AO3 to be somewhat more balanced.

 

The problem with AO3 is if you removed all the good stories that you are likely to have already read on other platforms, 95% of what is left is a Venn diagram of smut, trash, and slash. That other 5% can be good, but it really worth digging for?

I guess on the plus side there is an extensive tag system to cut that 95% down considerably.