For fans of the Harry Potter series, it’s no secret that Ron and Harry didn’t always make the smartest or best choices. While Harry might have been the chosen one, he didn’t always have a lot of common sense and would act rally recklessly at times. Ron also had his reckless side, and the two of them would get themselves into situations that could have been avoided with a little more logic and good sense. While the trio, including Hermione, made some bad choices together, often Hermione was left to keep the two boys from being ridiculous.
Hermione definitely deserves more credit for what she had to put up with. While it’s definitely not Hermione’s fault when Harry and Ron got up to some of their shenanigans, there are plenty of times that they wouldn't have got into trouble if she had been there to babysit them. If only she had been around for these mishaps...
10. WHEN RON AND HIS BROTHERS FREED HARRY FROM THE DURSLEYS
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry is being locked in a room after Harry is blamed for the magic Dobby does. Dobby also steals all his letters so his friends don’t know if he is all right. Of course, it's understandable that Ron would be worried about Harry.
However, stealing their dad’s flying car and going to rescue Harry themselves was a reckless move that could have ended really horribly.
9. HARRY TAKING THE MERMAID SONG LITERALLY DURING THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
Harry definitely isn’t known for being the most logical sort. When he participates in the Triwizard Tournament, he is convinced that the people being held at the bottom of the lake will die if they aren’t rescued during the challenge. Of course, Hermione and Ron think this was pretty ridiculous for him to think. This is just one example of Harry letting his emotions get the best of him and feeling the need to play the hero instead of doing the common sense thing.
8. BASICALLY ANYTIME HARRY OR RON TALKED TO GIRLS THEY LIKED
When rereading the Harry Potter series as an adult, it’s pretty obvious that Harry and Ron aren’t very good in love. While most of the time teenagers aren’t, it is sometimes unfortunate how they treat the girls they have crushes on.
Harry is rude to Cho about her emotions even though Cedric Diggory had just died a few months ago. Ron also treats girls poorly from Lavender Brown to Hermione herself.
7. RON AND HARRY FLYING THE FORD ANGLIA TO HOGWARTS
Ron and Harry get up to a lot of shenanigans in Chamber of Secrets. While some of this can be excused given the fact that they are both twelve years old, they also act way more reckless than your average twelve year old would. Instead of just waiting 20 minutes for Molly and Arthur Weasley to show up to the car and help Ron and Harry figure out how to get to Hogwarts. They literally steal the car and fly it straight to Hogwarts. If Hermione was around, this probably wouldn’t have happened.
6. WHEN HARRY USED SECTUMSEMPRA WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT THE SPELL DID
Luckily, not all Gryndindors are as rash as Harry is. If that was the case, Hogwarts would be a giant disaster full of one-fourth of students running around making bad decisions. When Harry uses the Sectumsempra spell on Malfoy, he has no idea what it will do. He knows the spell says that it’s for enemies, but he doesn’t even stop to think that the spell could be deadly. He definitely needs to learn to use his brain more and take a page from Hermione’s book.
5. WHEN HARRY DIDN’T ALERT AN ADULT ABOUT TOM RIDDLE’S DIARY
When Harry gets a hold of Tom Riddle’s diary after he finds it in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, he doesn’t act very rationally. He lets himself become invested in the stories and images that Tom Riddle shows him and doesn't question things enough. Both Hermione and Ron in this instance are concerned and warns Harry not to trust it.
4. RON GETTING ANGRY AT HARRY FOR BEING CHOSEN FOR THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
This is an instance where Hermione was aware of what was going on but felt caught in the middle of the two boys fighting. This makes sense, but it’s clear that Ron needed to have a bit of sense put into him. While Ron’s jealousy of Harry might be somewhat understandable, Ron didn’t believe Harry that he hadn’t entered his name in the Goblet of Fire. He definitely wasn’t a good friend in this situation.
3. RON NOT HAVING THE GUTS TO BREAK UP WITH LAVENDER BROWN
Ron Weasley is not very nice at all when it comes to romantic relationships. Many fans and even Rowling herself feel that Hermione and Ron would be a bad match because Ron is pretty emotionally stunted. This is especially clear when it comes to his relationship with Lavender.
Instead of breaking up with her when he was ready, he continued to string her along and waited for Lavender to be the one to break things off.
2. RON AND HARRY WANTING TO USE THE FIREBOLT HARRY GOT SENT RIGHT AWAY
There were a few times in the book when Hermione put her foot down and did the responsible thing to try and keep Harry and Ron safe from themselves. When Harry anonymously receives the Firebolt, Hermione went to Professor McGonagall because she was worried the Firebolt could be jinxed. Even though Harry and Ron were mad at her for this, they really should have thanked her for looking out for Harry’s safety.
1. HOW THEY ALWAYS ACTED ABOUT THEIR COURSEWORK
Poor Hermione had to put up with a lot when it came to how Harry and Ron acted about schoolwork. She was often finishing their homework and helping them out. They definitely had the ability to do most of this work, but they were usually just too lazy to do it, especially in Ron’s case.