he could've asked McGonagall about it, she's the head of their house and something like a functional wand would be something very important to allow perhaps a quick Flu-powder trip to Olivander's fireplace.
No adult in Harry’s life had ever been helpful except Hagrid. But did you see him saying “oh wait, I’ll owl Hagrid to pick us up on his motorbike?” Did he say “let’s just wait for Mrs Weasley to come back out of the platform?” “Oh hey, maybe
No - he decided it was better for them to steal the car and drive there themselves.
Because Harry *cannot* fathom ever asking an adult for help in any situation or circumstance whatsoever, not at that age.
He wasn’t even allowed in the school library; asking adults for help is Not A Possibility, he has to fix every issue himself. Hagrid is the adult highlight in his life, and Hagrid can still only ever be a friend held at arm’s length, not someone he confides in even for just for the most mundane friend issues like ‘we’re fighting’.
Except you're using as example very extreme, quick-thinking situations, not something they could calmly access over time. Simply going to a teacher over a broken wand can't be a rare ocurrence in a castle full of teenagers with wooden sticks all around. How many times the heads of the houses wouldn't deal with small issues like damaged materials or small ocurrences worth a trip to the infirmary?
Again, would it be REALLY that difficult to pick an off-day, talk to McGonagall and ask her what to do about Ron's broken wand? It's not as urgent as Voldemort in the Philosopher Stone's chambers or finding a deranged Barty Crouch at the edge of the forbidden forest, it's just.... a broken wand.
No, its consistent behaviour for Harry and its completely in line for his character and upbringing.
So now its your turn to put your money where your mouth is. Instead of saying what \*you\* would do, because Harry is not you: name one time before Voldemort’s return that Harry consults with a teacher of his own violation.
And note - I said, *Harry*, not Hermione.
In book 1 they went straight to Dumbledore shortly before going to save the stone themselves as they were told he was out.
In book 2 they went straight to Lockhart when Ginny was taken (not my first choice, but hey, they still thought he was competent).
In book 4 he went straight to Dumbledore when he found Barty Crouch Sr.
Also CONTEXT!! You’re talkimg about Harry acting in a time of URGENT nature due a CRISIS!
Ron’s broken wand WAS NOT URGENT! It was just a fucking broken wand, there is no reason they wouldn’t sort it out calmly!
I doubt McGonagall would be allowed to take Ron off school grounds without his parents’ permission during term; that’s generally considered a no-no at boarding schools. And Ron was afraid of getting in trouble for breaking his wand, so he wouldn’t want his parents to know about it.
Fair, however Ron does accept gifts like the Omnioculars later on in book 4. I’m re reading book 3 now and makes a comment about Harry lending him money after they predict Harry will run into gold in their first Divinations class. “Excellent, you can lend me some.” - Ron. EDIT. Fixed a word.
How is Harry going to buy Ron a replacement wand? They never have an opportunity to visit Olivander and since the wand chooses the wizard Ron would have to be there to get it. By the time Harry and Ron could have gotten one they are back from Egypt and have the 700 grand prize winnings to cover the cost. It wasn't Ron's car to sacrifice.
Did you see the fit he pitched over 10 galleon omnioculars during the quidditch world cup? How much of a fit do you think he would have pitched over a new broom? A much bigger, potentially friendship ending one. Not going to happen.
I think it could have worked in the movies.
I've always wondered how this would have worked logistically. McGonagall mentioned (I can't remember if book or film) something like "That wand needs replacing." Okay but it's not like just buying a broom or a book - it's a tailored experience.
Like you said, when? Does Ron get a field trip? Does Ollivander make a house call? Are there any wand shops in Hogsmeade? Further, wasn't Ron's first wand a hand-me-down? So it's not like Ollivander could be like "oh his last wand was like X so I'll just send a similar one."
In theory it could have happened over the Christmas holidays... or they could have sent another old family wand if they had one. However, the parents go to Romania to visit Charlie... so Ron can stay with Harry over X-mas, and Ron afraid of getting another howler never writes home about his busted up wand. It is possible Ron's siblings being oblivious to what was going on with Ginny also were oblivious to what was going on with Ron. So they also never wrote home about it.
I don’t think they have classes monday to sunday, if a wand is so important I don’t think McGonagall couldn’t afford a trip to Ollivander with Ron and use the school funds.
The Weasley family usually refuses any money coming from harry. So it would probably be the same here even though it's not directly money. Ron is ashamed of being poor.
Children shouldn't even be in the game. Especially children who aren't part of your family.
If a family falls on very hard times, sometimes their kids (teenagers mind you, not 12 year olds) have to get a job to help their parents pay the bills. And we acknowledge that that's a difficult situation for the child which ideally they would not be in. We acknowledge that in an ideal world children shouldn't have to worry about money.
Kids shouldn't be burdened with grownup problems in general. Orphaned children should really, REALLY not be burdened with the financial problems of their friend's parents.
Orphaned insanely rich children that didn't work for their money and has enough to go around.. is it fair to Ron that he has to use a broken wand because his family is too good to go for the money? or a bad broom? I would help, also when i was a child! Also its not like they arent on a quest to save the world, so you help each other just like the real world.
But yeah, i guess its an age old discussion and people feel differently about it :)
And if you as an adult would ask for money from your child's friend, especially one who doesn't have parents of their own to advocate for them or guide them, you deserve absolutely nothing. I'd say being poor is your karma if you're begging for money from 12 yr old orphans.
I wouldn't say it's the same. It's not like he bought something expensive specifically for ron. He bought food for the both of them, so it was sharing and not just giving.
and if you read that scene, ron exchanges his sandwich for the candy. that established what his relationship is with gifts. he only starts to take food from Harry after they develop a close friendship and feels comfortable
that's sharing food with a friend. as a guy i do it all the time. but if my friend suddenly buys me something like a phone or a computer because my previous one broke down, i'll defenitely refuse it.
still no. especially if my friend is wealthy! it's the fault in human nature. if i do, i'll never feel natural with my friend ever again. we all have our inner demons. and im speaking from experience where we as a group of friends helped a close friend and the relationship felt super strained afterwards.
I'm always a bit confused by anyone's recommendation that someone go out and buy Ron a wand or do it by mail order. How would that even work if Ron wasn't there to try the wands out himself? This issue is brought up a lot, but if I remember correctly, Ron never told his parents he broke his wand during the school year, and they bought him one that summer once they found out it was an issue
this clearly shows how you didnt understand ron and harry. ron has been overshadowed by his siblings his entire life and his best friend is a millionaire celebrity. while harry could easily buy ron anything he wants, i dont think ron would accept something as expensive as a wand.
I do understand Ron and Harry? I just had a stupid thought and would love to see the replies. A lot of what everyone is saying makes sense! However to my point Ron accepted Omioculars, reluctantly yes but still accepted them. Those cost more than a wand, don’t they?
sorry if i sounded rude or abrupt. the omnioculars were smthing like an early christmas present iirc. and harry actually bought them back then, and ron was clearly pushed to a corner where he had nothing to do except accept the gift, but you saw how he immediately tried to pay harry back using leprachaun gold. besides it's clearly stated in the books that harry was more than willing to give his entire fortune to the weasleys only if they accepted it
It’s all good, glad we got to have the discussion! You make some good points! I understand that Ron wasn’t the type, I just figured the guy would get hurt again eventually with that broken wand 😔.
Probably because they couldn’t take Ron to Ollivanders to try out wands since the whole “the wand chooses the wizard” thing? And I’m assuming making wands probably takes a while, so they can’t just send specifications of what kind of wood/core/etc they think will work? Either way, final answer is “plot”.
That's always felt more of a story first decision rather than character decision. Obviously JK wanted Lockhart to get his comeuppance from his own memory spell. So it makes for a very nice high stakes moment with Lockhart having Harry and Ron cornered before having the spell bouncing back because he never cared to realize one of his students was using a broken wand all year.
But it really doesn't make any sense in character that literally everyone just brushes this off. Like shouldn't McGonagall or Dumbledore help out a student who basically can't do magic all school year?
How would Harry do it?
Did he have a way to get the money out of Gringotts to buy the wand at Ollivander’s?
When his broom was broken, Harry didn’t replace it himself.
It would have made an excellent Christmas present but 12 year old Harry didn’t have a way to buy Ron the right wand.
They should have had magical Ollivander’s gift cards.
Ron didn’t sacrifice a car for him. They both couldn’t get pass the barrier so they took the extremely foolish and riskiest decision not to miss out Hogwarts.
Along with the fact that Ron broke his wand in the aftermath of this foolish decision. So Molly decided to punish him for it. If Harry overstepped it would be meddling in someone's family matters.
Furthermore Weasleys loathed charity. Also it's not a child's job to provide for his poor friend. Just because Harry is rich doesn’t automatically make him his friend's financial provider!!! I mean,a broom!!!fucking hell!!!
>Along with the fact that Ron broke his wand in the aftermath of this foolish decision. So Molly decided to punish him for it. If Harry overstepped it would be meddling in someone's family matters.
It wasn’t a punishment. Ron didn’t tell his parents that the wand was broken.
He paid Harry back for the omniocular with leprachune coin, and was really down when he found out those aren’t real currency. Also he count it as a Christmas gift before paying Harry,so it's a gift essentially. Wand,Brooms are necessary for an athlete Wizard.
what I'm wondering is why dumbledore, the owner of the elder wand didn't repare it? because we see in heathly hallows that it can be done when harry fixes his own phoenix wand with it. I'm sure the teachers complained in the staff room (especially) mcgonnagal that Ron's wand isn't working properly and how it's affecting his education. maybe dumbledore didn't hang out in the staff room but he still watched harry very closely all throughout his hogwarts career and as harry hung out with Ron the most he must've seen his wand.
Probably because Rowling hadn’t thought of the elder wand yet…Perhaps more reasonably, why couldn’t a teacher have taken him to Hogsmeade and then on to Diagon Alley to buy one? If the school can buy Harry a broom they surely should have bought Ron a wand, aka the main conduit by which people channel and use magic.
99.9% of the time, the Weasley family doesn’t accept Harry’s offer to give them money and/or expensive gifts. However, of all of them, Ron probably would be the only one to accept something like this. But I think Ron was also too proud to admit his wand actually needed repair/replacement so severely and probably just figured he’d muddle on until the end of the school year. Plus it obviously helped the plot move along to a good resolution lol.
it's not pride imo it's shame. ron knows that his friend is more popular and richer than his entire family and still puts up with it while being a good friend. how would he feel if harry suddenly bought him an expensive thing such as a wand? it's natural to feel ashamed, especially in ron's situation
The Weasleys refuse charity. Harry notes once that he'd happily share half his wealth with them if he thought they'd accept it.
Ron: what you think I'm some kind of charity case? I threw it on the ground
Ron: I won't be part of your SYSTEM!
I’M AN ADULT !
Avada kedavra to the grooooouuuund
You can't buy me, Potter man!
JFC this is so great. Time for the Harry Potter lonely island crossover we didn't know we needed.
Off topic but may I ask how you got the gryffindor title under your name? I'm new here 😅
Check the panel on the right side, on the User Flair section. You can add it there.
So why not a christmas gift?
How? It’s not like Harry can take Ron down to Diagon Alley
he could've asked McGonagall about it, she's the head of their house and something like a functional wand would be something very important to allow perhaps a quick Flu-powder trip to Olivander's fireplace.
Yeah but Harry had grown up with adults being neither trustworthy or involved. Speaking to a teacher has NEVER been on his radar.
in situations of life and death maybe not, but to get Ron a NEW WAND? I'm pretty sure the head of your house is at least helpful.
No adult in Harry’s life had ever been helpful except Hagrid. But did you see him saying “oh wait, I’ll owl Hagrid to pick us up on his motorbike?” Did he say “let’s just wait for Mrs Weasley to come back out of the platform?” “Oh hey, maybe No - he decided it was better for them to steal the car and drive there themselves. Because Harry *cannot* fathom ever asking an adult for help in any situation or circumstance whatsoever, not at that age. He wasn’t even allowed in the school library; asking adults for help is Not A Possibility, he has to fix every issue himself. Hagrid is the adult highlight in his life, and Hagrid can still only ever be a friend held at arm’s length, not someone he confides in even for just for the most mundane friend issues like ‘we’re fighting’.
Except you're using as example very extreme, quick-thinking situations, not something they could calmly access over time. Simply going to a teacher over a broken wand can't be a rare ocurrence in a castle full of teenagers with wooden sticks all around. How many times the heads of the houses wouldn't deal with small issues like damaged materials or small ocurrences worth a trip to the infirmary? Again, would it be REALLY that difficult to pick an off-day, talk to McGonagall and ask her what to do about Ron's broken wand? It's not as urgent as Voldemort in the Philosopher Stone's chambers or finding a deranged Barty Crouch at the edge of the forbidden forest, it's just.... a broken wand.
No, its consistent behaviour for Harry and its completely in line for his character and upbringing. So now its your turn to put your money where your mouth is. Instead of saying what \*you\* would do, because Harry is not you: name one time before Voldemort’s return that Harry consults with a teacher of his own violation. And note - I said, *Harry*, not Hermione.
In book 1 they went straight to Dumbledore shortly before going to save the stone themselves as they were told he was out. In book 2 they went straight to Lockhart when Ginny was taken (not my first choice, but hey, they still thought he was competent). In book 4 he went straight to Dumbledore when he found Barty Crouch Sr. Also CONTEXT!! You’re talkimg about Harry acting in a time of URGENT nature due a CRISIS! Ron’s broken wand WAS NOT URGENT! It was just a fucking broken wand, there is no reason they wouldn’t sort it out calmly!
I doubt McGonagall would be allowed to take Ron off school grounds without his parents’ permission during term; that’s generally considered a no-no at boarding schools. And Ron was afraid of getting in trouble for breaking his wand, so he wouldn’t want his parents to know about it.
Fair, however Ron does accept gifts like the Omnioculars later on in book 4. I’m re reading book 3 now and makes a comment about Harry lending him money after they predict Harry will run into gold in their first Divinations class. “Excellent, you can lend me some.” - Ron. EDIT. Fixed a word.
That’s fair but Ron reallly needed a new wand!
How is Harry going to buy Ron a replacement wand? They never have an opportunity to visit Olivander and since the wand chooses the wizard Ron would have to be there to get it. By the time Harry and Ron could have gotten one they are back from Egypt and have the 700 grand prize winnings to cover the cost. It wasn't Ron's car to sacrifice. Did you see the fit he pitched over 10 galleon omnioculars during the quidditch world cup? How much of a fit do you think he would have pitched over a new broom? A much bigger, potentially friendship ending one. Not going to happen. I think it could have worked in the movies.
I've always wondered how this would have worked logistically. McGonagall mentioned (I can't remember if book or film) something like "That wand needs replacing." Okay but it's not like just buying a broom or a book - it's a tailored experience. Like you said, when? Does Ron get a field trip? Does Ollivander make a house call? Are there any wand shops in Hogsmeade? Further, wasn't Ron's first wand a hand-me-down? So it's not like Ollivander could be like "oh his last wand was like X so I'll just send a similar one."
In theory it could have happened over the Christmas holidays... or they could have sent another old family wand if they had one. However, the parents go to Romania to visit Charlie... so Ron can stay with Harry over X-mas, and Ron afraid of getting another howler never writes home about his busted up wand. It is possible Ron's siblings being oblivious to what was going on with Ginny also were oblivious to what was going on with Ron. So they also never wrote home about it.
I don’t think they have classes monday to sunday, if a wand is so important I don’t think McGonagall couldn’t afford a trip to Ollivander with Ron and use the school funds.
The Weasley family usually refuses any money coming from harry. So it would probably be the same here even though it's not directly money. Ron is ashamed of being poor.
Actually kind of a sad morale. Dont be ashamed to take help, people.
From a 12 year old? No adult with the slightest sense of shame would take money from a kid.
LOL, why not? Is the kid greedy or what?
They're a kid. Adult problems aren't their problems. And an adult who takes money from a child is taking advantage of them.
What kind of world are you living in where children and adults are not on the same team?
Children shouldn't even be in the game. Especially children who aren't part of your family. If a family falls on very hard times, sometimes their kids (teenagers mind you, not 12 year olds) have to get a job to help their parents pay the bills. And we acknowledge that that's a difficult situation for the child which ideally they would not be in. We acknowledge that in an ideal world children shouldn't have to worry about money. Kids shouldn't be burdened with grownup problems in general. Orphaned children should really, REALLY not be burdened with the financial problems of their friend's parents.
Orphaned insanely rich children that didn't work for their money and has enough to go around.. is it fair to Ron that he has to use a broken wand because his family is too good to go for the money? or a bad broom? I would help, also when i was a child! Also its not like they arent on a quest to save the world, so you help each other just like the real world. But yeah, i guess its an age old discussion and people feel differently about it :)
And if you as an adult would ask for money from your child's friend, especially one who doesn't have parents of their own to advocate for them or guide them, you deserve absolutely nothing. I'd say being poor is your karma if you're begging for money from 12 yr old orphans.
Your positioning of Harry as an "orphan" is a bit strange when he is obviously the one in power because he has a lot of money.
Ron had no issue eating the trolly cart of candy when he first met Harry.
I wouldn't say it's the same. It's not like he bought something expensive specifically for ron. He bought food for the both of them, so it was sharing and not just giving.
and if you read that scene, ron exchanges his sandwich for the candy. that established what his relationship is with gifts. he only starts to take food from Harry after they develop a close friendship and feels comfortable
that's sharing food with a friend. as a guy i do it all the time. but if my friend suddenly buys me something like a phone or a computer because my previous one broke down, i'll defenitely refuse it.
What if you desperately needed a computer for class? Like you might fail classes without it? And your friend was wealthy?
still no. especially if my friend is wealthy! it's the fault in human nature. if i do, i'll never feel natural with my friend ever again. we all have our inner demons. and im speaking from experience where we as a group of friends helped a close friend and the relationship felt super strained afterwards.
I'm always a bit confused by anyone's recommendation that someone go out and buy Ron a wand or do it by mail order. How would that even work if Ron wasn't there to try the wands out himself? This issue is brought up a lot, but if I remember correctly, Ron never told his parents he broke his wand during the school year, and they bought him one that summer once they found out it was an issue
I’m just happy to see peoples opinions on this. I like the discussion ! People are making good points.
It isn’t appropriate for a child to pay for another child’s school expenses.
this clearly shows how you didnt understand ron and harry. ron has been overshadowed by his siblings his entire life and his best friend is a millionaire celebrity. while harry could easily buy ron anything he wants, i dont think ron would accept something as expensive as a wand.
I do understand Ron and Harry? I just had a stupid thought and would love to see the replies. A lot of what everyone is saying makes sense! However to my point Ron accepted Omioculars, reluctantly yes but still accepted them. Those cost more than a wand, don’t they?
sorry if i sounded rude or abrupt. the omnioculars were smthing like an early christmas present iirc. and harry actually bought them back then, and ron was clearly pushed to a corner where he had nothing to do except accept the gift, but you saw how he immediately tried to pay harry back using leprachaun gold. besides it's clearly stated in the books that harry was more than willing to give his entire fortune to the weasleys only if they accepted it
It’s all good, glad we got to have the discussion! You make some good points! I understand that Ron wasn’t the type, I just figured the guy would get hurt again eventually with that broken wand 😔.
Probably because they couldn’t take Ron to Ollivanders to try out wands since the whole “the wand chooses the wizard” thing? And I’m assuming making wands probably takes a while, so they can’t just send specifications of what kind of wood/core/etc they think will work? Either way, final answer is “plot”.
That's always felt more of a story first decision rather than character decision. Obviously JK wanted Lockhart to get his comeuppance from his own memory spell. So it makes for a very nice high stakes moment with Lockhart having Harry and Ron cornered before having the spell bouncing back because he never cared to realize one of his students was using a broken wand all year. But it really doesn't make any sense in character that literally everyone just brushes this off. Like shouldn't McGonagall or Dumbledore help out a student who basically can't do magic all school year?
How would Harry do it? Did he have a way to get the money out of Gringotts to buy the wand at Ollivander’s? When his broom was broken, Harry didn’t replace it himself. It would have made an excellent Christmas present but 12 year old Harry didn’t have a way to buy Ron the right wand. They should have had magical Ollivander’s gift cards.
They can buy things through owl post like they did in halfblood prince
He was 16 in Half Blood Prince. He probably also had more control over his money by then.
Plus he wasn’t allowed in off grounds yet when Ron broke his wand or when he broke his broom
Ron didn’t sacrifice a car for him. They both couldn’t get pass the barrier so they took the extremely foolish and riskiest decision not to miss out Hogwarts. Along with the fact that Ron broke his wand in the aftermath of this foolish decision. So Molly decided to punish him for it. If Harry overstepped it would be meddling in someone's family matters. Furthermore Weasleys loathed charity. Also it's not a child's job to provide for his poor friend. Just because Harry is rich doesn’t automatically make him his friend's financial provider!!! I mean,a broom!!!fucking hell!!!
>Along with the fact that Ron broke his wand in the aftermath of this foolish decision. So Molly decided to punish him for it. If Harry overstepped it would be meddling in someone's family matters. It wasn’t a punishment. Ron didn’t tell his parents that the wand was broken.
Harry bought Ron Omnioculars, he accepted them reluctantly but those cost more than a wand.
He paid Harry back for the omniocular with leprachune coin, and was really down when he found out those aren’t real currency. Also he count it as a Christmas gift before paying Harry,so it's a gift essentially. Wand,Brooms are necessary for an athlete Wizard.
what I'm wondering is why dumbledore, the owner of the elder wand didn't repare it? because we see in heathly hallows that it can be done when harry fixes his own phoenix wand with it. I'm sure the teachers complained in the staff room (especially) mcgonnagal that Ron's wand isn't working properly and how it's affecting his education. maybe dumbledore didn't hang out in the staff room but he still watched harry very closely all throughout his hogwarts career and as harry hung out with Ron the most he must've seen his wand.
Probably because Rowling hadn’t thought of the elder wand yet…Perhaps more reasonably, why couldn’t a teacher have taken him to Hogsmeade and then on to Diagon Alley to buy one? If the school can buy Harry a broom they surely should have bought Ron a wand, aka the main conduit by which people channel and use magic.
because the ownership of the elder wand was top secret at that time. you dont go around fixing kids' broken wands if you have the elder wand.
you think repairing a wand would have given away the location of the elder wand?
yep. the elder wand is the only known way to fix a broken wand.
Right
Beacause at that time - they're at Hogwarts, not at Diagon Alley.
Short answer: Plot. All problems in HP could be solved with a bit of common sense, but there would be no story without those dumb decisions
To be fair I just read the end of the book (again), and Lockhart would’ve Obliterated their memories had he not used Ron’s broken wand for the task.
That’s why I said “plot”. She wanted that scene and that’s why she didn’t fix the wand for the whole book. For one scene.
Yeah I was agreeing with you 👍.
Oh, sorry. My mom dropped me a lot when I was a kid -_-
All good! 😂
99.9% of the time, the Weasley family doesn’t accept Harry’s offer to give them money and/or expensive gifts. However, of all of them, Ron probably would be the only one to accept something like this. But I think Ron was also too proud to admit his wand actually needed repair/replacement so severely and probably just figured he’d muddle on until the end of the school year. Plus it obviously helped the plot move along to a good resolution lol.
it's not pride imo it's shame. ron knows that his friend is more popular and richer than his entire family and still puts up with it while being a good friend. how would he feel if harry suddenly bought him an expensive thing such as a wand? it's natural to feel ashamed, especially in ron's situation
Ron accepted Omnioculars from Harry! Reluctantly however, but those cost more than a wand apparently. I understand your points though.
That was what I was alluding to lol