Everyone knows Ron Weasley as the sidekick from the Harry Potter series. However, many don't truly notice vital things about our favorite red-haired character that makes him rise above the rest and a model to us all. People could probably talk about him for hours without even mentioning the most important thing about him- he is the most developed character in the series. People who didn’t read the books may not know this, but Ron starts out in the series nearly as prejudiced as the Malfoy family.

Now, before you jump to conclusions, I’m not saying Ron is a bad person. On the contrary, Ron might be one of the best people in the series, and it is partially because of the prejudices I’m talking about. As you can imagine, the Wizarding World has very different prejudices than the ones that we have. Prejudices of the Wizarding community consist of a type of “racism” towards those of different species, such as Werewolves, House-elves, Giants, Goblins, Trolls, Centaurs, etc. and also a general mistreatment of Muggle-borns (people with magical powers who are the children of non-magical families).

We all know that the Weasley family had no problem with Muggle-borns, having welcomed Hermione into their family with open arms. However, Ron having been raised in a Pureblooded family, means that his entire upbringing was done by pureblood wizards and their culture. This also means that instilled in our favorite ginger was the beliefs of prejudiced pureblood wizards, without any thought that these beliefs may be wrong. Molly and Arthur, Ron’s parents, were also purebloods born into ignorance. They raised their children this way, not because they were bad people, but because they knew no better. They were filled with fear of werewolves and trolls and giants. They feel that house elves exist to be slaves and nothing more.

The more you think about it, the more similar Ron is to fellow pure-blood Draco Malfoy, who is a bully at Hogwarts. Draco is seen as a villain character, and mistreats Hermione for her blood status, as well as allowing his other prejudices to shine through at every possible moment. The vital difference between Ron and Draco is that Ron, throughout the series learns to overcome his prejudices and see all creatures of the Wizarding World as equals. He does this through the help and friendship of Harry and Hermione.

The biggest prejudice for Ron arises in the second book and continues all the way until the very last one. This is his prejudice against House-Elves. These creatures are small, with large ears and for centuries have been used by wizards as slaves. This is so much so that most House-Elves live to work- and they enjoy it. Dobby, the first house-elf we meet, is one of the very few elves who does not want to be a slave. He is a kind a goofy elf, who disobeys his masters to help Harry Potter on numerous occasions in the second book. House-Elves wear rags as clothes, most of them all their lives, as they are only given clothes if they are being liberated by their masters.

The mistreatment of House-elves is, sadly, much worse than just them being subjected to work without pay or breaks. Many of them are abused by their masters when they do things wrong or not to the perfect standards. A house-elf must do whatever their master tells them to, so many of them are used to even hitting or harming themselves when they step out of line or speak ill of the family that they serve. And the worst of it is, house-elves don’t even know that their punishments qualify as them being mistreated- as this is how they have been treated for centuries and they are used to it. Poor Dobby shows us this in his first visit to Harry. “…Dobby is always having to punish himself for something, sir. They lets Dobby get on with it, sir. Sometimes they reminds me to do extra punishments” ('Chamber of Secrets,' 14).

At the end of the second book, Harry finds a way to free Dobby from his awful master. Dobby is very grateful and goes off into the world in search of work for money- a real job. In the fourth book, “Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire”, when Dobby returns announcing that he now works in Hogwarts for 1 Galleon (wizarding gold) a week and 1 day off a month, Harry and Hermione are ecstatic for him. Ron, however, is at a loss. He does not understand why Dobby wants to get paid for what he was, as Ron sees it, born to do. He sees the matter very similarly to another house elf we meet in “The Goblet of Fire,” Winky, who tells Harry that “House-elves are not to be paid, sir! …House-elves is not supposed to have fun, Harry Potter” (Goblet of Fire, 98).

“‘Well, the elves are happy, aren’t they?’ Ron said. ‘You heard old Winky back at the match… that’s what she likes, being bossed around…” (Goblet of Fire, 125). Ron assumes this because, even after witnessing the mistreatment of Winky, he takes her word for it. Winky told them that she does what she is told, even things that scare her very much, because of her loyalty to her master. She tells the trio that this is what house-elves do, and Ron agrees. He has always been told that this is what house-elves are for, so why would he think any differently, especially when one is telling him that his beliefs are correct? This often happens with prejudices- it is such a common idea that people with the prejudice just assume that they are correct.

Hermione, however, does not. Our heroine is so upset by the mistreatment of house-elves that she speaks out about house-elf rights whenever she can and starts an organization called the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W.). Ron thinks that this is silly, and even tells her that “They like being enslaved!” (Goblet of Fire, 224). Hermione goes as far as to knit hats and clothes and hides them for the house-elves to find while they are cleaning- her strategy to free them.

While Harry keeps a neutral standpoint on the matter, Ron continues throughout the series to think that house-elves should indeed be enslaved, although he does grow quite fond of Dobby. In the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, however, Ron seemingly has a change of heart. Hogwarts is under attack and all the students who did not want to or were to young to fight in the battle had been evacuated, when Ron remembers the house-elves weren’t evacuated. “I mean we should tell them to get out… We can’t order them to die for us-” (Deathly Hallows, 625). This is Ron’s real prejudice transformation, as his views and feelings towards house-elves change through his friendship with Dobby, as well as how strongly Hermione feels about it. Dobby’s death may also have something to do with his change of heart, since he may have been surprised that the loss affected him, and that the elf had come to their rescue yet again.

Ron Weasley shows us snippets of many prejudices throughout the series, though none of them as pronounced or discussed as the one explained prior. Our dear Ronald has many flaws, quite a few of them being his prejudices, but he is also a very good role model as he improves greatly as a friend, person, and overcomes many of his prejudices right before our eyes. And that is why, even Slytherins sing: Weasley is our King.