The Harry Potter series of books and movies managed to capture the imaginations of readers and moviegoers all over the world. Who doesn’t love a world of magic where children can go to a fantastical school inside a castle where they can learn to cast spells, make potions and prophesy the future? Who doesn’t love teachers with fantastical beasts and phoenixes?
What makes those tales so fascinating has nothing to do with magic. What fans really fell in love with are the characters introduced in the stories. Fans fell in love with Harry, Ron and Hermione as they grew up together with their studies at Hogwarts, all the while battling an evil that could end the world as they knew it. Through their trials and tribulations, Harry Potter fans continued to cheer them on. In the end, the golden trio of Harry Potter managed to defeat Voldemort, save Hogwarts, and save the day.
But these young people also had romantic entanglements throughout the story. Two members of that trio, Ron and Hermione, somehow fell in love during their journey throughout the books and movies. Many fans rooted for them to finally act on their feelings, and were happy when they finally got together in The Deathly Hallows and eventually married. However, with some time and critical thinking, there are some things about their romantic relationship and marriage that don’t seem to make any sense at all.
Here is Harry Potter: 20 Things That Make No Sense About Ron And Hermione’s Relationship.
20. Their pets hate each other
Hermione has a cat, Crookshanks. Ron has a hand-me-down rat named Scabbers. These critters are more than pets, though, they are familiar, animals that every witch and wizard have on hand to help them with their magical work.
And Crookshanks and Scabbers hated each other. Sure, that’s natural for a cat and rat, but Crookshanks had an extra reason for hating Ron’s rat. Ron’s rat was a traitor and was actually Peter Pettigrew, who was helping Voldemort all along. How could Ron not know that?
Instead, Ron just complained about Crookshanks being mean because Ron couldn’t see the very thing that was under his nose.
19. They spend much of their time arguing with each other
In both the books and the movies, Ron and Hermione spend a lot of time together. But when they are together, they spend much of that time arguing and bickering over various things. This is because they are two very completely different people, with different ideas and different goals.
One can only imagine what they’re like now that they’re married. Do they argue all the time? How does that affect their children?
Their entire relationship seems to be about arguing.
No matter what, that kind of bickering does not make for a healthy relationship. Hopefully they saw a marriage counsellor who could help them work this out.
18. Ron eyes other women
What is most surprising about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is that Ron never seemed to have grown up.
Although he’s now a middle-aged man and father, he still acts like an insecure teenaged boy.
He gets downright creepy when he describes Delphi, a 23-year-old woman, to Harry. Here are his exact words: “And a cracking one at that — gorgeous silver hair.”
Ron is a 40-year-old man drooling over a 23-year-old woman. And why? He’s married to Hermione, who fans believe is pretty much perfect. It makes him feel like some weird creepy uncle that no one wants to invite over anymore. We can’t imagine that the Hermione that fans know would accept that kind of behavior.
17. Hermione was always closer to Harry
While Hermione was often yelling at Ron and telling him what an idiot he was, she had a much closer and healthier relationship with Harry. Hermione had respect for Harry, although she never showed much respect for Ron - especially in the films, where many of Ron’s big moments in the books went to Hermione.
She confided in Harry, even when she wouldn’t consider telling Ron her deepest and darkest secrets and fears.
Hermione also seemed to spend more time with Harry and was always the first person to defend him, even though Ron was the one she eventually fell for.
16. Ron is really immature, especially when compared to Hermione
Everyone has heard the statement that girls mature faster than boys, although it’s probably more due to society giving boys that as an excuse than anything else.
Hermione starts out at Hogwarts already very mature. She stays that way as she grows older. Someone has to, right? Ron, on the other hand, remains immature, not just throughout his years at Hogwarts, but well into his adulthood, as seen in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
In fact, it seems that Ron never bothered to grow up, something that Hermione would probably dislike. For some reason, the two are still together, in spite of that.
15. Hermione conjured birds to attack Ron
Hermione and Ron spend a lot of time being mean to each other. Besides arguing a lot, Hermione once completely crossed the line when she tried to hurt Ron.
Hermione was so jealous of Ron’s relationship with Lavender that she used the oppugno curse to conjure birds to attack viciously attack him.
That’s not something you do to someone you profess to love, is it? Also, how could Ron possibly love her back after she did something so unbelievably cruel? This is just another one of those things about their relationship that doesn’t make sense.
14. The Alternate timeline where Hermione is bitter
Hermione is a strong and independent female character. She has often shown that she does not need anyone to help her reach her goals and ambitions. One might think this would also apply to her adult life. Sure, she loves Ron and marries him. They even have two children together, but that doesn’t mean that her life would suck without him.
In Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, an alternate timeline shows Hermione without Ron.
In that timeline, Hermione is a failure in her life because she never met and fell in love with Ron.
How does that even make sense for the Hermione that fans know?
13. Ron’s unfair expectations of Hermione
Sure, Ron is a heroic and loyal friend, and served as good comedic fodder in the movies, but he is certainly not good boyfriend material. Ron has concrete ideas about what girls should and shouldn’t be, and they are quite reductive and outdated.
He mocks Hermione for being so studious because girls aren’t supposed to be. It was as if she was expected to continually apologize for who she was because Ron didn’t think she fit into an idealize box for how girls should behave. As fans know, Hermione Granger is not one to be put in any box.
12. Rupert Grint believed they would get divorced
After filming the movies, one of the actors began to question the relationship that Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had with each other. Rupert Grint, the actor who portrays Ron, even went on to say that he believed that Ron and Hermione would end up divorced and that Ron would end up lonely somewhere on his own.
Regardless of Grint’s opinions, when Harry Potter and the Cursed Child came out, the two were still together, and married, with a daughter and son. That play even made it clear that the marriage between the two probably should have never happened.
11. Ron resents Hermione for being so smart
Hermione is brilliant. The books and movies established this from the time she first appeared. Ron is not very smart, at least not in an educational environment. Ron seems to feel stupid, especially when he is around Hermione. But instead of being okay with that, he resents it, and it comes across in a lot of the things that he says and does.
Ron makes little off-handed comments about her being brainy. When Hermione does something intelligent, he sits in the background and mopes. As already mentioned, he is very immature, and it comes across in the resentment that he has for Hermione.
10. They have completely opposite personalities
The Harry Potter books and movies quickly establish that Ron and Hermione don’t have much in common - form their backgrounds to their interests. Not only that, but the two have entirely different personalities.
Hermione is serious and studious. Ron is goofy and hates to study.
Hermione has ambitions that go beyond her time at Hogwarts. Ron has no idea what he wants to do when he grows up.
Although some fans might argue that this is a case of opposites attracting, it is not a good example of what to base a long-term romantic relationship on. As seen in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, these are still issues with the couple today.
9. Ron’s treatment of Hermione after the Yule Ball
One of the biggest incidents in Ron and Hermione’s past is the Yule Ball. Apparently, the two wanted to go together, but Ron didn’t have the courage to ask Hermione until the last minute. By then, Viktor Krum had already asked Hermione, and she told him yes. This made Ron angry, although he had no right to feel that way.
Ron gets jealous and starts treating Hermione horribly.
He even told Hermione that Viktor’s interest in her was only to get information about the Triwizard Tournament. That’s just incredibly mean. After the ball, he continued to act out toward Hermione although it was his fault all along that she went to the ball with Viktor.
8. In Cursed Child, Ron still resents Hermione for her success
One might think that Ron would get over many of his issues as he got older. Yet, in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Ron still acts as the same as he did as a teenager.
At the age of 40, he seems to resent Hermione for her successes, maybe now more than ever. In one of the alternate timelines, this resentment shows its angry head, but even in the “true” timeline, Ron seems to have problems with Hermione being the Minister of Magic while he runs a joke shop.
There’s also an incident where he tells her to “shut up” twice. That’s not a happy relationship.
7. Hermione rarely laughs at Ron’s jokes
Ron’s role in the movies, even more so than in the books, is decidedly comedic relief. Fans love him for his wry jokes and funny reactions that we find relatable.
Does Hermione enjoy Ron’s jokes? Not so much. She seems to respond to his jokes more with eye-rolls and disapproval than laughter and sincere enjoyment.
Doesn’t everyone want to be with a romantic partner who genuinely makes them laugh?
Of course, being funny isn’t everything in a romantic relationship, especially one that’s been through as much as Ron and Hermione’s, but a shared sense of humor is often an indication of compatibility.
6. J.K. Rowling says she regrets the couple
J.K. Rowling wrote the characters of Harry, Ron and Hermione, so if she comes out and says that she doesn’t think that Ron and Hermione make sense, then fans pay attention.
That’s precisely what Rowling said in an interview with The Times: “I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfillment. That’s how it was conceived, really. For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione ended up with Ron.”
She went on to confirm that she wished she had written Hermione ending up with Harry, though.
5. They’re awful at communicating with each other
Another problem that Ron and Hermione have is that they don’t communicate well with each other. Sure, many couples have those kinds of communication problems, but they were friends before they ever dated, so they should have learned to work out these issues already.
The Goblet of Fire’s Yule Ball is an excellent example. Ron wanted to ask her, but he didn’t, at least not until it was too late and Hermione already had a date. Likewise, in The Half-Blood Prince, Hermione waited until Ron was feeling angry and left out to ask him to accompany her to the Slug Club party.
4. They have different ambitions in life
Hermione is very ambitious and has a very good idea of what she wants to do with her life. This is a personality trait that she carries through all of the Harry Potter franchise, right up until the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
In the play, Hermione has become the Minister of Magic.
Meanwhile, in the play, Ron hasn’t done much of anything with his life - reflective of his unclear ambitions when he was at Hogwarts. His job is managing his brothers’ joke shop.
Sure, opposites attract, but it would have been nice if Hermione’s ambition had inspired Ron.
3. Ron doesn’t remember their wedding
One of the most horrifying confessions by Ron in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child that proves that he and Hermione make no sense comes when he speaks about his wedding.
Even after everything the couple went through, Ron barely remembers his wedding.
In the play, Ron says: “Well, we were young when we did it the first time and I got very [inebriated] and — well, to be honest, I can’t remember much of it and… the truth is — I love you, Hermione Granger, and whatever time says — I’d like the opportunity to say so in front of lots of other people. Again. Sober.”
2. In Deathly Hallows, Hermione chose Harry over Ron
This moment in The Deathly Hallows fueled a lot of fans who wanted Hermione and Harry to get together instead. When it came down to it, Hermione chose to go with Harry to help him find the Horcruxes, even after Ron was overwhelmed by the evil power of the locket.
Firstly, Hermione chose Harry over Ron, showing where her loyalties were. Second, Ron saw that Hermione chose Harry over her, which should have been a sign that she had a solid preference in who she spent her time with. None of that mattered, though, and in the end, the two became a couple.
1. Emma and Rupert see each other as siblings
In the movies, the actors portraying Ron and Hermione, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, had to kiss and cuddle on screen. But after years of working together, he two admitted that the first kiss felt awkward.
In an interview with MTV, Watson said: “The only good side to it was the fact that we were both in the same boat. We were both just like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe we have to do this. This is so awkward. Really awkward.’ So I could take comfort in the fact that Rupert felt the same way. We were both giggling. We were like 12-year-olds. We were like giggling children where you just couldn’t keep it together.”
What else doesn’t make sense about Ron and Hermione’s relationship in Harry Potter? Let us know in the comments!
