Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Rowling first introduces Ron with his family in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Harry is lost at King’s Cross railway station and the Weasleys guide him through the barrier of Platform 9¾ into the wizarding world. Ron and Harry share a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, and they begin their friendship: Ron fascinated with the famous Harry, and Harry fascinated with the ordinary wizard Ron. It is here that they both meet Hermione Granger as well, whom they initially dislike but who later becomes their close friend after they save each other during a dangerous encounter with a mountain troll.[PS Ch.6] Ron and Harry share the same classes throughout the series, and generally have similar academic successes and disappointments. Ron plays a vital part in the quest to save the Philosopher’s Stone. His strategy at Wizard’s Chess allows Hermione and Harry to proceed safely through a dangerous life-size, animated chess game. During the game, Ron allows his piece to be sacrificed and is subsequently knocked unconscious.[PS Ch.16] At the Leaving Feast, the last dinner of the school year, Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts’ Headmaster, awards Ron fifty House points to Gryffindor for “the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years.” These last-minute points help support Gryffindor’s win of the House Cup.[PS Ch.17]

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The second instalment, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), takes place the year following the events of the Philosopher’s Stone. During the summer, Ron attempts to write to Harry several times. He receives no reply because Dobby the house elf is stopping Harry’s wizard mail. Ron becomes so concerned that he and his brothers Fred and George fly their father’s enchanted Ford Anglia car to Harry’s home at his aunt and uncle’s house.[CoS Ch.3] Harry spends the next month at the Weasleys’ home, the Burrow. While attempting to depart from King’s Cross station, Harry and Ron find themselves unable to enter the barrier to access Platform 9¾. With Harry, Ron conceives the idea of taking the flying Ford Anglia to Hogwarts. The plan is successful, but the Anglia loses power at the end of the journey and crashes into the Whomping Willow. Ron and Harry survive the impact, but the car drives itself off into the Forbidden Forest, a forest at the edge of the Hogwarts grounds in which student access is prohibited. Ron receives a Howler from his mother, chastising him for taking the car.

Later in the novel, Ron and Harry transform themselves using Polyjuice Potion to resemble Draco Malfoy’s close associates Crabbe and Goyle, so that they can spy on him, and find out what he knows about the Chamber of Secrets.[CoS Ch.12] During the hunt to find the Heir of Slytherin, Ron is responsible for providing the first clue to the identity of Tom Marvolo Riddle, recalling that he saw the name “T. M. Riddle” on a trophy inscribed “For Special Services To The School”.[CoS Ch.13] Later Ron is forced to come face-to-face with his biggest fear, spiders, in the Forbidden Forest, where the two have ventured at Hagrid’s suggestion. Giant spiders nearly eat the two of them, but the Ford Anglia returns from the Forbidden Forest and rescues the pair.[CoS Ch.15] Ron and Harry then discover the entrance into the Chamber, and enter it in the hopes of saving Ginny Weasley, Ron’s sister, who had been kidnapped and kept in the Chamber. Due to an accident with Ron’s wand, the Chamber Entrance’s ceiling collapses, trapping Ron on one side and Harry on the other. Harry goes on to rescue Ginny and save the day. Ron and Harry are given Special Awards for Services to the School for this.[CoS Ch.18]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), Ron’s role is minor compared to that in Chamber of Secrets, and Hermione’s role, which was more sidelined in Chamber of Secrets, is larger.

When Ron’s rat, Scabbers, already seen in Philosopher’s Stone, goes missing, he blames Hermione’s new cat Crookshanks, and the two have a falling out.[PoA Ch.11][PoA Ch.12] They eventually make up when Hermione has a nervous breakdown brought by taking too many classes and distress at the fate of the hippogriff Buckbeak. The animal, owned by Hagrid, has been put on trial for injuring Draco Malfoy and risks execution. Ron offers to help with the preparation of Buckbeak’s defence, but this fails to help. Harry, Ron and Hermione go to see Hagrid on the execution day where they discover Scabbers hiding out in Hagrid’s hut.[PoA Ch.15] As they leave, Scabbers struggles free of Ron and runs away. He chases Scabbers to the Whomping Willow where he is grabbed by a large black dog and dragged into a tunnel hidden below the tree.[PoA Ch.16][PoA Ch.17]

Harry and Hermione follow the tunnel, which leads to the Shrieking Shack. The dog is actually the animal form of Sirius Black (an Animagus), Harry’s godfather and an escaped convict from the wizard prison Azkaban. The school’s Defence Against the Dark Arts professor Remus Lupin arrives just after Harry and Hermione. Along with Black, Lupin casts a spell on Scabbers, who also turns out to be an Animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew. Pettigrew was Black’s, Lupin’s, and James Potter’s school friend, thought to have been murdered by Black.[PoA Ch.16][PoA Ch.16] Pettigrew, who had lived as a rat ever since faking his death, denies everything, but Sirius and Lupin piece together that he has been a servant of Voldemort, and it was he who divulged the secret whereabouts of Harry’s parents, leading to their murder. Initially, Ron does not believe Sirius and refuses to turn over Scabbers to him, but he is disgusted when he learns his rat’s identity. Pettigrew escapes when the main characters lead him out of the Whomping Willow.[PoA Ch.18][PoA Ch.19][PoA Ch.20] Ron, knocked out by a spell from Pettigrew, is taken to the hospital wing, and is forced to remain there while Harry and Hermione travel back in time to save Sirius and Buckbeak.[PoA Ch.21] At the end of the novel, Sirius sends Ron an excitable little owl whom Ginny names Pigwidgeon, but whom Ron refers to as “Pig”.[PoA Ch.22]

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), the Weasleys invite Harry and Hermione to the Quidditch World Cup. Ron is in awe of his favourite Quidditch champion, Viktor Krum.[GoF Ch.7][GoF Ch.8] Ron is even more excited when Krum, still a student at the Durmstrang wizarding school, comes to Hogwarts to take part in the Triwizard Tournament, a magical wizarding tournament opposing the top three magic schools in Europe.[GoF Ch.12] However, when Harry, underage, mysteriously becomes the fourth Tournament champion, Ron joins the dissenters who think Harry somehow cheated his way into the tournament and feels let down; according to Hermione, this stems from Ron’s latent feelings of being left out of the spotlight shared by Harry or his brothers. The rift is serious enough that the friends fail to make up for nearly a month.[GoF Ch.17] They only reconcile shortly after Harry successfully gets by a fire-breathing dragon in the first task; Ron realises how dangerous the Tournament is and finally believes that Harry did not enter himself.

At Christmas time, as per Triwizard Tournament tradition, Hogwarts hosts a Yule Ball. Ron and Harry panic at the prospect of having to secure dates for the event, and Ron appals Hermione with his immature approach, particularly for failing to extend her an invitation, apparently failing until the last minute to even realise she is a girl. At the last minute, Harry saves the day by getting Parvati Patil and her sister Padma to agree to come with the duo, although Padma seems less than pleased at Ron’s surly attitude and shabby dress. Ron becomes overcome with jealousy when he sees Hermione with her date: his former idol Viktor Krum. When Hermione comes over to Ron and Harry for a friendly chat, Ron loses control and accuses her of “fraternising with the enemy” and giving away Harry’s Triwizard secrets. At the evening’s end, the two have a heated row, in which Hermione tells Ron he should have asked her before Krum, rather than simply hoping to secure her by default.[GoF Ch.23] Ron completely fails to get the hint and remains either in denial or oblivious to the pair’s increasingly obvious feelings for each other. Ron’s jealousy over Krum is mirrored by Hermione’s dislike of Fleur Delacour (of the Beauxbatons Academy and a Triwizard competitor), on whom Ron has an obvious crush.[GoF Ch.22]

In the Second Task of the Tournament, Ron is the person selected for Harry to rescue from the depths of the Hogwarts Lake, as he is the one whom Harry would most miss. Harry successfully saves him and Ron mocks him gently for thinking that the hostages for the task were in actual danger.[GoF Ch.26]

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003), Ron is appointed a Gryffindor prefect, much to the surprise of himself and everyone else, especially Hermione, the other new prefect.[OotP Ch.9] His brother, Percy, now distant and disconnected from the family, sends Ron an owl congratulating him and advising him to “sever ties” with Harry and side himself instead with Professor Umbridge, the abominable new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts; the letter angers Ron.[OotP Ch.14] Ron explicitly shows his support and loyalty for Harry when his classmates imply Harry is lying about the return of Voldemort, sometimes using his power as prefect to threaten them into silence.[OotP Ch.15] Though they spend their usual amount of time bickering, Ron and Hermione present a united front endorsing Harry. Ron supports Hermione’s suggestion of Harry teaching students practical Defence Against the Dark Arts, which Umbridge, using the Ministry of Magic to slowly take over the Dumbledore-run school, has all but banned. He co-founds the secret students’ group called Dumbledore’s Army.[OotP Ch.15] He also joins the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but his nerves and confidence issues often get the better of him during practices and matches, causing the Slytherins to make up a song about how Ron will make sure Slytherin win the interhouse Quidditch Cup. However, during the last match, Ron plays better and wins the game and the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor. At the climax of the novel, Ron battles the Death Eaters alongside Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood at the Department of Mysteries. He is injured in the fight, but makes a full recovery by the end of the novel.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005) Ron, who has grown taller over the summer, attracts the attention of Lavender Brown. Harry, the new Quidditch Captain, picks Ron to continue as Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, over competing candidate Cormac McLaggen who is equally-skilled but has difficulty with teamwork and following orders.[HBP Ch.11] Upon learning Hermione most likely had kissed Viktor Krum, Ron performs increasingly badly at Quidditch, and thrown off by jealousy of his former idol, becomes unkind to Hermione. His low self-esteem is not helped much by his younger sister, Ginny Weasley, who after Ron reacts badly to finding her kissing her boyfriend, throws in the fact that of those in the group, Ron is the only one who has never had his first kiss. To bolster Ron’s confidence, Harry pretends to give him Felix Felicis, a potion which makes the drinker lucky; believing he has actually taken it, Ron performs admirably and Gryffindor wins the match. However, this leads to a major row between Ron and Hermione: Hermione accuses Harry of helping Ron cheat, while Ron berates Hermione for having no faith in his abilities [HBP Ch.14]. At a post-game celebration, Ron kisses Lavender (though Ginny describes it as “eating her face”). Hermione, jealous and seeking retaliation, takes Cormac McLaggen as her date to new Potions professor Horace Slughorn’s Christmas party, but he proves to be an egomaniac.[HBP Ch.15] After Christmas, Hermione continues to ignore Ron, stopping only to give him disdainful looks and occasional snide remarks. By now, Ron is visibly discontent with his relationship with Lavender.[HBP Ch.17]

On his birthday in March, Ron accidentally eats love-potion-infused Chocolate Cauldrons (actually meant for Harry). After being cured by Slughorn, he then consumes poisoned mead (which Draco Malfoy actually intended for Dumbledore). Harry saves his life by forcing a bezoar, a poison antidote, into his mouth, and Ron is transferred to the hospital wing. A panic-stricken Hermione arrives, forgetting her past anger. While sitting by his bed, Hermione, Harry, Ginny and the twins hear Ron mutter Hermione’s name in his delirium, although they do not hear what he is saying and ignore it. Conversely, Ron feigns sleep when Lavender visits him. Upon recovering, Ron and Hermione reconcile,[HBP Ch.18][HBP Ch.19][HBP Ch.20] and a little while later, Ron and Lavender break up. Rowling in an interview said that she “really enjoyed writing the Ron/Lavender business, and the reason that was enjoyable was Ron up to this point has been quite immature compared to the other two, and he kind of needed to make himself worthy of Hermione….he had to grow up emotionally and now he’s taken a big step up.”

Initially, Ron does not support Harry’s belief that Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater, a follower of Voldemort, but later is convinced. Before leaving Hogwarts with Dumbledore to recover a Horcrux Harry arranges for Ron, Hermione, and Ginny—together with any of Dumbledore’s Army they can summon—to keep a close watch on Malfoy and Snape. Harry also provides them with the remains of his vial of Felix Felicis, to aid them in the effort.[HBP Ch.25] Despite the D.A.’s watch, Malfoy provides the Death Eaters entrance into Hogwarts, and a battle ensues. Thanks to Felix Felicis, Ron, Hermione and Ginny are unharmed by the Death Eater’s hexes during the battle.[HBP Ch.29] Snape kills Dumbledore during the battle when Malfoy proves that he is unable to.[HBP Ch.27] During his funeral, Ron comforts a weeping Hermione. Ron and Hermione vow to help Harry find and destroy the Horcruxes and kill Voldemort, even if it means leaving Hogwarts.[HBP Ch.30]

Attention is drawn several times to Ron’s deepening relationships to Harry and Hermione, with unresolved romantic tension with Hermione being one of the main subplots of the novel (and indeed, the entire series). Furthermore, Harry and Ron’s friendship has strengthened to the point where Harry can tell Ron that his Quidditch performance is endangering his membership on the team without either character taking it personally.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Ron agrees to go with Harry and Hermione on the quest to destroy all of Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Worried that the Ministry, now taken over by Voldemort will learn he is with Potter on a quest, Ron dresses the family ghoul up in pajamas and spreads the story he is ill with “spattergroit,” a type of highly contagious magical illness. Ron disguises himself as Reginald Cattermole as the trio attempts to find the locket Horcrux in the possession of Dolores Umbridge.

Harry decides he wants someone to wear the Horcrux at all time, fearing it might be lost or stolen. This has a much more profound effect on Ron than it seems to have on Hermione or Harry. Ron ends up lashing out in frustration at the lack of comforts and a concrete plan, eventually leaving his friends behind. Distressed over his absence, Harry and Hermione do not even mention his name during the time that he is gone. However, when they finally mention his name, Ron, who had immediately regretted his decision to leave but was captured by Snatchers and then could not return due to Hermione’s anti-Death Eater enchantments, was lead to Harry’s location by unknown magic within the Deluminator he inherited from Dumbledore. Ron dramatically returns by saving Harry from drowning when Harry is attempting to recover Godric Gryffindor’s sword from an icy pool. Harry, a sudden believer in the fate created by his return, immediately forgives Ron and insists it must be Ron who uses the sword to destroy Slytherin’s locket. However, the portion of Voldemort’s soul inside it plays on Ron’s insecurities by revealing that he thinks he is “least loved by a mother who craved a daughter”, then by showing him a Harry who tells him that he was happier without him and a Hermione that does not return his affections and is involved instead with Harry. Ron summons his courage and finally breaks through the spell, destroying the locket, but is visibly shaken until Harry tells him that he thinks of Hermione as a sister and a friend, nothing more.

The trio are eventually captured by Snatchers, and Bellatrix Lestrange tortures Hermione with the Cruciatus Curse for information. This sends Ron into a panic, and he continually screams and fights with all his effort to save her, despite Harry’s instruction that he calm down and think of a better plan. The trio and some other prisoners are rescued by Dobby, but the house-elf is killed by Bellatrix during the escape. Eventually, the trio returns to Hogwarts, hoping to find the last unknown Horcrux shown in Harry’s vision. Having lost the Sword of Gryffindor to Griphook the goblin, Ron gets an idea to procure more Basilisk fangs and manages to speak enough Parseltongue to open the Chamber of Secrets, where Hermione destroys the Horcrux in Helga Hufflepuff’s cup. He begins to worry about the fate of Hogwarts’ elves. Upon hearing this, Hermione drops the basilisk fangs she was carrying and kisses him for the first time. After this, he looks as if he has been hit by a bludger. He also takes part in the Battle of Hogwarts, witnessing the death of his brother Fred, and teams up with Neville to defeat Fenrir Greyback.

Epilogue
Nineteen years after Voldemort’s downfall, Ron is married to Hermione and they have two children – Rose, whom they are sending off to her first year at Hogwarts, and a younger son named Hugo. Ron has also passed a test in Muggle driving, despite Hermione’s apparent belief that he could not do so without Confunding the examiner. However, Ron secretly reveals to Harry he actually did Confund the examiner. He and Harry work for the Ministry of Magic as Aurors, and along with Hermione they have helped to revamp the Ministry, and it is far different from the one that existed before. Before becoming an Auror, Ron joined George at Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, which became a very lucrative business.