When Ginny Weasley is first introduced in The Sorcerer's Stone, she's a shy and timid girl. Having six older brothers appeared to have dented her confidence and she didn't seem majorly important in the grand plot, despite opening the Chamber of Secrets during her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
How wrong we were. Ginny evolves over the course of the books and ends up marrying Harry Potter with the pair having three children together, named James Potter II, Lily Potter, Albus Potter. While Ginny was fleshed out to perfection in the source material, the movies left out plenty of details about the character. So here are 10 things only book fans know about the youngest of the Weasley clan...
She Sent Harry An Embarrassing Valentine's Day Card
During his early years at Hogwarts, Harry has absolutely no interest in romance. So his heart inevitably sinks when, on Valentine's Day during the events of the Chamber of Secrets, a dwarf hired by Gilderoy Lockhart sings him a song. Not quietly, either. Loud enough for the whole school to hear.
Naturally, Harry feels embarrassed. But Ginny feels even more red-faced when Draco Malfoy implies that it was her responsible for the message, with the youngster Gryffindor pupil bursting into tears and fleeing the Great Hall. This was just the least of her worries, however, with Ginny having opened the Chamber of Secrets and inadvertently set the Basilisk on muggle-borns while under the control of Lord Voldemort.
She Found Out Percy's Big Secret
During her first year at Hogwarts, Ginny is greatly troubled. But, when she attempts to let Harry, Ron, and Hermione in on her secret about the Chamber, she's cut off by Percy Weasley.
But Percy doesn't interrupt her to be rude. Instead, he's fearful that she'll blab about his own secret - his relationship with a Ravenclaw pupil Penelope Clearwater. With brothers like Fred and George, we can't say we blame him. Penelope is one of the students left petrified by Tom Riddle's Basilisk but, fortunately, she makes a full recovery. Ginny eventually lets the gang know Percy's big secret while on the Hogwarts Express at the end of the school year.
The Dementors Impacted Her Greatly
Dementors are horrible creatures, one who suck the life out of every room they enter and leave you feeling cold and miserable. They impact Harry Potter greatly, making him relive the past trauma of Lord Voldemort murdering his parents. As somebody who has gone through the ringer, the Boy Who Lived feels alone with many of his peers having not faced the same issues throughout their lives.
But they impact Ginny, too. She's left very pale and shakes like mad during their visit on the Hogwart's Express in the Prisoner of Azkaban, eventually sobbing and having to be comforted by Hermione. Ginny is forced to relive the times where Voldemort invaded her mind yet, thankfully, she's able to bounce back from the situation and live a relatively normal life. As normal as you can be if you're close to Harry, that is...
She Had Boyfriends Before Harry
Ginny has always loved Harry. But, realizing she isn't getting anywhere with The Boy Who Lived by acting nervously around him, she decides to change tact after a sweet conversation with Hermione Granger. Hermione urges her to date other boys to gain confidence, and therefore spark Harry's attention. And, during the Order of the Phoenix book, she begins a relationship with Michael Corner.
The pair end up splitting after Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw at Quidditch, with Corner described as a "bad loser." In her fifth year she strikes up a relationship with Dean Thomas, which makes Harry jealous. And, once the pair split, she finally gets with the boy she's always wanted to be with.
She Came Up With Dumbledore's Army
In Harry's fifth year, Hogwarts falls under the control of the Ministry of Magic. The wizarding world's governing body are suspicious of both Harry and Albus Dumbledore and install Dolores Umbridge as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher as a result. She refuses to teach pupils, instead ordering them to copy out of a textbook in order to learn. And, if you've been at school, you know exactly how boring and unhelpful that can be.
Consequently, Harry begins to teach them the subject secretly. And it's Ginny Weasley who comes up with the idea of naming the group "Dumbledore's Army." It was initially going to be called the Defence Association but Ginny insists on renaming it, saying Dumbledore's Army is "the Ministry's worst fear." She's proven right as well, with the Ministry attempting to arrest Albus Dumbledore after finding out about the secret organisation.
She Became Seeker (And Then Chaser)
In the Order of the Phoenix, Harry is brutally booted off the Gryffindor Quidditch Team after an altercation involving himself, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle. It's a crushing blow for the house but Ginny takes over as Seeker and ends up propelling them to Quidditch Cup glory - despite the odds being stacked against them.
The following year, she stays on the team as Chaser. She insists that area of the team anyway because she's an avid goalscorer. Ginny is forced to become a Seeker again after Harry misses the final game of the season through detention and, once again, she propels them to the prize.
She Got The Better Of Draco Malfoy
Ginny is part of a small group who are apprehended by Dolores Umbridge and her Inquisitional Squad after Harry breaks into her office in a desperate attempt to contact Sirius Black, who he believes is being held prisoner by Lord Voldemort after being shown his godfather writhing in pain while tortured. What the Order of the Phoenix movie doesn't show, however, is her getting the better of Draco Malfoy.
A scuffle inside the office breaks out and Ginny hits Malfoy with her specialist Bat-Bogey Hex. This would have been fun to see, especially given how Malfoy enjoys teasing and bullying the Weasleys at every opportunity he gets.
She Had A Pet Pygmy Puff Named Arnold
How we wish there was a shop like Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in the real world. You can buy anything there, from rubber wands to sweets that help you get out of school, work, or any situation of your liking. And, in the Half-Blood Prince, Ginny and her family travel to the shop to see just how successful Fred and George Weasley's business has become.
Once there, Ginny takes a liking to a Pygamy Puff. She ends up purchasing it and names it Arnold, for reasons we have no idea. The tiny creature is only briefly glimpsed in the movie of the same name but it's never revealed that she took it home and cared for it.
She Took Felix Felicis
In the sixth Potter movie, we see Harry take Felix Felicis - the little gold potion that makes you lucky. The Boy Who Lived takes it once in the blockbuster to help him obtain an old, yet crucial, memory from Horace Slughorn. But what's not shown is that Ginny, along with Ron and Hermione, take the potion as well.
In the source material, Harry insists the trio take it on the night himself and Albus Dumbledore leave Hogwarts to go looking for Lord Voldemort's Horcrux, the old locket that once belonged to Salazar Slytherin. And this proves to be a shrewd move, with the Death Eaters attacking the castle the very same night. Ginny, under the potion's protection, emerges from the Battle of the Astronomy Tower unscathed. The same can't be said for her brother Bill, however, who is savagely attacked by werewolf Fenrir Greyback.
She Escaped Death By An Inch
In the Deathly Hallows book, Ginny is initially forced to wait in the Room of Requirement while the Battle of Hogwarts goes on around her. She eventually gets permission from Harry to leave and dashes off into the fight, assisting Nymphadora Tonks on the battlefield prior to the auror's tragic death.
And she very nearly dies. Bellatrix Lestrange, the loathsome character she is, fires a killing curse at her that literally misses her by an inch. This sparks her mother, Molly Weasley, into life and she gets the better of Bellatrix, wiping her out and leaving Lord Voldemort enraged in the process.