Harry Potter: 5 Times Ron Was Smarter Than Hermione

Every Harry Potter fan knows Hermione Granger is Harry’s most intelligent friend. If it wasn’t for her use of logic and her immense capacity to learn and recall spells, Harry would have endured even more pain and suffering during his adolescence.

Ron, on the other hand, was not overly intelligent. Though far from stupid, his most admirable trait was his sense of humour rather than his academic abilities. As such, Hermione was almost always the smarter of Harry’s two best friends. But every now and then, Ron was able to intellectually oust her.

Due to the fact he was raised by a magical family, Ron picked up on a few things Hermione did not when the two of them were growing up. There were also a number of instances when Hermione failed to spot the obvious for one reason or another. Such moments were – unsurprisingly – a rarity. Indeed, not only was Hermione the cleverest of the main trio, she was also the most gifted student in Harry’s year.

Still, these moments clearly indicate that Ron’s sense of humour wasn’t the only impressive aspect of his personality…

To help them in their quest against Voldemort, Dumbledore left Harry, Ron and Hermione several useful items in his will.

Hermione’s gift – The Tales of Beedle the Bard – seemed like a strange choice given it was simply a book written in runes with no magical powers. Hermione had never even heard of the book and had no idea what it was about.

Ron, on the other hand, recognised the title at once. Having been introduced to the book at a young age, he knew The Tales of Beedle the Bard was a collection of children’s stories. He could even reel off the titles of the individual stories from the top of his head.

Though it was Hermione who made the connection between the written symbol in the book and Xenophilius Lovegood’s necklace, Ron was the only member of the central trio who initially knew about The Tales of Beedle the Bard.