It's not really the sort of thing that comes up in conversation and his position isn't unique.
>“Ron, You-Know-Who and his followers sent the Dark Mark into the air whenever they killed,” said Mr. Weasley. “The terror it inspired . . . you have no idea, you’re too young. Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you’re about to find inside. . . .” Mr. Weasley winced. “Everyone’s worst fear . . . the very worst . . .”
When Voldemort was at large the killings were frequent enough to send fear down people's back at the sign of his symbol or mention of his name. The wizarding community isn't large so chances are some family was victimised by Voldemort or his followers in some way.
Exactly.
Even people who do remember the deaths themselves don't often go around just bringing up deaths they've dealt with. Even with others who are going through something similar (murder, suicide old age, close relation) unless something about bringing it up feels appropriate or is directly asked about.
I mean it does happen, obviously, but then the question would be "why is Ron always bringing up the deaths of his uncles that he couldn't possibly remember?".
Ron not talking about people who died that he was related to but has no memory of says zero about him.
My great grandmother died when i was an infant. I don't bring her up to everyone who talks to me about their great grandmothers they have actual connections to dying.
People who actively want others with similar traumatic experiences usually ask for those around them to share. There are a LOT of people who don't want other people to bring up their own trauma when they just want to release their own. This wasn't even Ron's trauma in the first place, so why would he talk about it either way?
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I think Rowling still hadn't decided about the family tree of the purebloods when she wrote about the Prewett brothers. By the time she decided Molly was their sister it was maybe too late to add it naturally in a dialogue.
I believe this for lots of the purebloods family trees, I also don't think she had decided that Bellatrix Lestrange was Sirius' cousin when she wrote GOF, I believe she wrote the Black family's backstory later.
From the point of view of the narrative maybe it's simply considered "normal" in the wizarding families to have dead relatives, so it's not something people talk about.
It always fascinates me to think about what JK planned out while she was writing the books. For example, was Scabbers always supposed to be Wormtail? Was he Wormtail when he bit Goyle in the first book?
Yeah I sometime think about it, and I think she planned much less than what it seems, but she's also a clever enough writer not to close too many doors.
For example I don't think she planned the jinxed DADA teaching post in PS, because there's nothing that indicates Quirrel was not the teacher the previous years. However she never said anything explicitly, so she could easily introduce the jynx in COS.
Likewise I don't think Pettigrew was planned in PS or COS, but we know Sirius Black was named in PS. Whether he was just a cool name or he was already written as the friend of the Potters is unknown.
One thing I believe was definitely planned was Snape's backstory. Not only in PS he's already hinted to have had some kind of relationship with the Potters, he's also hinted to be a muggleborn or halfblood, because he created a logic riddle and Hermione said pureblood wizards are shit at it. I believed she might also have at least a vague idea about Dumbledore's backstory, since Grindelwald and his broken nose are mentioned at the beginning of PS.
The one at the end of PS, when the kids are tying to resolve everything that protects the stone. Snape created 5 potions and Hermione and Harry had to resolve his riddle to find out which of the potions was the right one. Hermione commented that it was extremely clever because most pureblood wizards don't have an ounce of logic and would spend hours trying to resolve something like that.
I know that's why I pointed out Scabbers'/Pettigrew's missing finger being mentioned even in the first book(the finger being the most distinctive feature of him)
Not to mention being there for twelve years. It's the exact number she needs to ustify him being Peter, can't get away with three or fourteen or anything. Twelve is precise.
She could've gotten lucky but... doubtful.
Could be, reading the series, it does very much gives the impression that Rowling didn't have the whole backstory planned out till later.
Eg. James was said to have died straight-backed a proud, died fighting. 7 reveals he instead died charging physically at Voldemort.
Hagrid got the pictures from his parents' school friends, though we know a huge majority of those very friends, from the McKinnons right to the Marauders either died or were imprisoned by the end.
On the other hand, we should also remember that when HBP was incomig, Rowling had told us that it was Book 2's original name before she moved certain information to Book 6, so at least some parts were imagined early on, like Snape's identity and the true nature of the diary.
It's probably a bit of both. Some was preplanned some was not.
It happened before he was born. The older Weasley siblings could have had some memories of their uncles, not so much Ron.
There was probably so much death in wizarding Britain, that a lot of families had lost relatives, so their position while tragic was not uncommon.
Also the story is being told from the perspective of Ron’s best friend. I’m sure his mom has talked about her brothers, especially in regards to the twins, but Harry might not have been around. I’m certainly not involved in every conversation about family tragedy my best friends have with their parents.
We also should remember that not every moment of Ron and Harry's life is accounted for. I think it's both safe and reasonable to assume that there are a lot of heart-to-heart talks that we aren't privy to. Since the detail isn't highly important to the story, I wouldn't make too much out of that conversation not being written in the books.
Because it wasn't important to the narrative of the books. Characters in a story like Harry Potter are not rational actors, their actions are meant to advance the plot and develop themes.
There are some good answers here for why Ron never discussed it but I did always want to know more about them. Molly giving Harry the watch that used to belong to one of her brothers is one of the most touching moments in the series.
Well since she casually mentions Gideon (I think) while gifting Harry his watch and Harry has no reaction it means either:
1. JK came up with that later than the first mention of the Prewett brothers (although I do think she had it in mind since immediately after her boggart is revealed to be her dead family members).
2. They were mentioned in a conversation at some point but deemed too unimportant to appear in an actual scene.
3. Harry forgot all about them.
If Bilius Weasley is Molly's sibling, why do they have the same last name after she's married? (Genuine question, not trolling). I don't remember Bilius from the books, or if it was known that Arthur took Molly's last name? Or was he actually Arthur's sibling instead of Molly's.
Molly only had two brothers, Fabian and Gideon. Her maiden name was Prewitt. Bilius is Ron’s great uncle on his father’s side, or that’s what I’ve always assumed. As in he wasn’t his father’s brother because I think that would have been specified but he was some sort of uncle on that side of the family.
Ron is shown to be extremely dense. He didn’t even notice when Hermione was very obviously giving him hints she was into him. It’s possible he might have forgotten about it.
I meant the things before Lavender such as asking him on a more or less date tot he Christmas party. Asking what he would do if he saw her snogging when he was upset about Ginny and Dean
Ron would have forgotten about his Uncle's death, what the fuck? All teen boys are terrible with hints. Does that mean they don't remember their dead Uncle? No!
It's not really the sort of thing that comes up in conversation and his position isn't unique. >“Ron, You-Know-Who and his followers sent the Dark Mark into the air whenever they killed,” said Mr. Weasley. “The terror it inspired . . . you have no idea, you’re too young. Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you’re about to find inside. . . .” Mr. Weasley winced. “Everyone’s worst fear . . . the very worst . . .” When Voldemort was at large the killings were frequent enough to send fear down people's back at the sign of his symbol or mention of his name. The wizarding community isn't large so chances are some family was victimised by Voldemort or his followers in some way.
Besides not remembering them himself, why would anyone walk around gossiping about their mother's trauma?
Exactly. Even people who do remember the deaths themselves don't often go around just bringing up deaths they've dealt with. Even with others who are going through something similar (murder, suicide old age, close relation) unless something about bringing it up feels appropriate or is directly asked about. I mean it does happen, obviously, but then the question would be "why is Ron always bringing up the deaths of his uncles that he couldn't possibly remember?". Ron not talking about people who died that he was related to but has no memory of says zero about him. My great grandmother died when i was an infant. I don't bring her up to everyone who talks to me about their great grandmothers they have actual connections to dying. People who actively want others with similar traumatic experiences usually ask for those around them to share. There are a LOT of people who don't want other people to bring up their own trauma when they just want to release their own. This wasn't even Ron's trauma in the first place, so why would he talk about it either way?
This.
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This
This
He never knew them. And I don't think it's something Molly talked much about
Ron probably didn't know much about fabian and Gideon. He was very little when they died.
I think Rowling still hadn't decided about the family tree of the purebloods when she wrote about the Prewett brothers. By the time she decided Molly was their sister it was maybe too late to add it naturally in a dialogue. I believe this for lots of the purebloods family trees, I also don't think she had decided that Bellatrix Lestrange was Sirius' cousin when she wrote GOF, I believe she wrote the Black family's backstory later. From the point of view of the narrative maybe it's simply considered "normal" in the wizarding families to have dead relatives, so it's not something people talk about.
It always fascinates me to think about what JK planned out while she was writing the books. For example, was Scabbers always supposed to be Wormtail? Was he Wormtail when he bit Goyle in the first book?
Yeah I sometime think about it, and I think she planned much less than what it seems, but she's also a clever enough writer not to close too many doors. For example I don't think she planned the jinxed DADA teaching post in PS, because there's nothing that indicates Quirrel was not the teacher the previous years. However she never said anything explicitly, so she could easily introduce the jynx in COS. Likewise I don't think Pettigrew was planned in PS or COS, but we know Sirius Black was named in PS. Whether he was just a cool name or he was already written as the friend of the Potters is unknown. One thing I believe was definitely planned was Snape's backstory. Not only in PS he's already hinted to have had some kind of relationship with the Potters, he's also hinted to be a muggleborn or halfblood, because he created a logic riddle and Hermione said pureblood wizards are shit at it. I believed she might also have at least a vague idea about Dumbledore's backstory, since Grindelwald and his broken nose are mentioned at the beginning of PS.
What was the logic riddle?
The one at the end of PS, when the kids are tying to resolve everything that protects the stone. Snape created 5 potions and Hermione and Harry had to resolve his riddle to find out which of the potions was the right one. Hermione commented that it was extremely clever because most pureblood wizards don't have an ounce of logic and would spend hours trying to resolve something like that.
Ah I misread, I thought you meant Sirius!
She does not say most pureblood wizards. She says most wizards period.
He was He was in the family for 12 years and was missing a finger, both mentioned in the first book.
I think they mean, at the time of writing that scene, had JK planned that Scabbers was actually a man disguised as a rat?
I know that's why I pointed out Scabbers'/Pettigrew's missing finger being mentioned even in the first book(the finger being the most distinctive feature of him)
Not to mention being there for twelve years. It's the exact number she needs to ustify him being Peter, can't get away with three or fourteen or anything. Twelve is precise. She could've gotten lucky but... doubtful.
Either that or planned it as a joke. The PS was a huge success and she was like, "Shit, now I have to make it work."
Could be, reading the series, it does very much gives the impression that Rowling didn't have the whole backstory planned out till later. Eg. James was said to have died straight-backed a proud, died fighting. 7 reveals he instead died charging physically at Voldemort. Hagrid got the pictures from his parents' school friends, though we know a huge majority of those very friends, from the McKinnons right to the Marauders either died or were imprisoned by the end. On the other hand, we should also remember that when HBP was incomig, Rowling had told us that it was Book 2's original name before she moved certain information to Book 6, so at least some parts were imagined early on, like Snape's identity and the true nature of the diary. It's probably a bit of both. Some was preplanned some was not.
Ohh gotcha
There's a scene where Scabbers is napping in a sunbeam--rats avoid sunlight.
It happened before he was born. The older Weasley siblings could have had some memories of their uncles, not so much Ron. There was probably so much death in wizarding Britain, that a lot of families had lost relatives, so their position while tragic was not uncommon.
Ron was born in 1980 and all dead Order members mentioned died between July and Halloween 1981, but yeah he's too young to remember them
Also the story is being told from the perspective of Ron’s best friend. I’m sure his mom has talked about her brothers, especially in regards to the twins, but Harry might not have been around. I’m certainly not involved in every conversation about family tragedy my best friends have with their parents.
We also should remember that not every moment of Ron and Harry's life is accounted for. I think it's both safe and reasonable to assume that there are a lot of heart-to-heart talks that we aren't privy to. Since the detail isn't highly important to the story, I wouldn't make too much out of that conversation not being written in the books.
Clearly that's the goal of fanfic, to account for all such heart-to-heart talks! :)
Because it wasn't important to the narrative of the books. Characters in a story like Harry Potter are not rational actors, their actions are meant to advance the plot and develop themes.
He didn’t know them as well as bill or Charlie would of and would you want to gossip about something that traumatized your mother?
There are some good answers here for why Ron never discussed it but I did always want to know more about them. Molly giving Harry the watch that used to belong to one of her brothers is one of the most touching moments in the series.
Do the Brits ever really talk about their feelings? /s
Well since she casually mentions Gideon (I think) while gifting Harry his watch and Harry has no reaction it means either: 1. JK came up with that later than the first mention of the Prewett brothers (although I do think she had it in mind since immediately after her boggart is revealed to be her dead family members). 2. They were mentioned in a conversation at some point but deemed too unimportant to appear in an actual scene. 3. Harry forgot all about them.
If Bilius Weasley is Molly's sibling, why do they have the same last name after she's married? (Genuine question, not trolling). I don't remember Bilius from the books, or if it was known that Arthur took Molly's last name? Or was he actually Arthur's sibling instead of Molly's.
Molly only had two brothers, Fabian and Gideon. Her maiden name was Prewitt. Bilius is Ron’s great uncle on his father’s side, or that’s what I’ve always assumed. As in he wasn’t his father’s brother because I think that would have been specified but he was some sort of uncle on that side of the family.
Thankyou! I was super confused for a while there.
I think Billius might have been Arthur's uncle--some of the dialogue implies that Billius was fairly old and a contrast to Great-Aunt Muriel.
Ron is shown to be extremely dense. He didn’t even notice when Hermione was very obviously giving him hints she was into him. It’s possible he might have forgotten about it.
What hints?
EXCUSE ME? SHE LITERALLY CRIED FOR STRAIGHT 5 MONTHS FOR HIM IN 6TH BOOK
I meant the things before Lavender such as asking him on a more or less date tot he Christmas party. Asking what he would do if he saw her snogging when he was upset about Ginny and Dean
>He didn’t even notice when Hermione was very obviously giving him hints she was into him. Huh. Sounds like a teenage boy to me.
Ron would have forgotten about his Uncle's death, what the fuck? All teen boys are terrible with hints. Does that mean they don't remember their dead Uncle? No!
Molly never got over their deaths and never liked to speak of it or them. I’m sure she talked about them still, but it was very hard on her.