There are a lot of people who like to discredit Ron Weasley for leaving Harry and Hermione in Deathly Hallows. I don’t think that’s fair. He had one moment of weakness and that seemingly paints over all the good he’s done in the rest of the series. He stuck with Harry in Sorcerer’s Stone, risked his life in the chess match so that Harry could go on and do what he had to do. He followed Harry into the Chamber of Secrets to help save Ginny, knowing full well they were up against a basilisk and he could have died just by looking at the wrong spot. He flat out told Sirius Black who, up until that point was believed to be a murderer, that if he wanted to kill Harry, he would have to kill Hermione and himself first. Goblet of Fire didn’t have Ron risk his life so blatantly, but he still was what Harry would most “sorely miss” in the Second Task. That alone should speak volumes, but I digress. In Order of the Phoenix, Ron was right by Harry’s side in the Ministry, along with the rest of the DA. In Half-Blood Prince, Ron fought with the DA again against Death Eaters—Death Eaters, Voldemort’s supporters, murderers and torturers and just straight up evil people. The very premise of Deathly Hallows can be used as an argument for Ron Weasley: he chose to go with Harry to find the horcruxes, the same as Hermione. I don’t know about you, but it’s fair to say that Ron proved himself time and time again, the same as Hermione, and Luna, and Ginny, and Neville. Making one mistake shouldn’t automatically make him a bad friend or a bad character. He had to deal with his life being in danger every day they were searching for the horcruxes, the same as Harry and Hermione. I won’t condone Ron leaving, but I don’t think it ruins his character either.