Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger are the best of friends in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. However, they are not friends from the beginning of the book. In fact, the three cannot stand each other in the first half of the novel: “‘It’s no wonder no one can stand her,’ [Ron] said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, ‘she’s a nightmare, honestly’” (p. 172). But when a troll enters Hogwarts, Harry and Ron go to find Hermione so she doesn’t get hurt, given that it’s partially their fault that she doesn’t know about it: “Harry suddenly grabbed Ron’s arm. ‘I’ve just thought — Hermione...doesn’t know about the troll’” (p. 173). And after they’ve saved her from the troll and she takes the fall for it when the professors find them, their friendship is solidified to the point of being unbreakable: “But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them” (p. 179).
Each of the three get something different from the friendship. Harry and Ron’s initial friendship gives them both something they need. Harry knows nothing about the wizarding world or magic, whereas Ron has grown up in a wizarding family. He is therefore able to teach Harry about much of the conventions that many of the purebloods and even some of the half-bloods know. For example, when Malfoy challenges Harry to a wizard’s duel, Ron immediately steps up to help him out: “‘I’d take you on anytime on my own,’ said Malfoy. “Tonight, if you want. Wizard’s duel. Wands only — no contact. What’s the matter? Never heard of a wizard’s duel before, I suppose?’ ‘Of course he has,” said Ron, wheeling around. ‘I’m his second, who’s yours’ (p. 153)? On the other hand, Ron is able to outgrow the shadow of his brothers because his best friend is famous. For Hermione, being friends with the boys helps her learn humility and bravery: “Harry headed straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where he found Ron and Hermione playing chess. Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry and Ron thought was very good for her” (p. 217). The boys, on the other hand, do better in their classes with Hermione’s help: “Hermione was checking Harry and Ron’s Charms homework for them. She would never let them copy (‘How will you learn?’), but by asking her to read it through, they got the right answers anyway” (p. 182). And in the end, having his friends helps Harry face Quirrel and Voldemort knowing that he is not alone. So the friendship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione is a mutually beneficial and very important friendship.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s friendship is a true testimony that one must have friends to make it through life’s difficult times. The trio could not persevere and survive their time at Hogwarts had they not had one another’s backs. Rowling tells us Harry could not survive giant trolls, huge dogs, and the evilest wizard of all time without the help of his two best friends. The three not allow each other to develop into their greater selves. Hermione’s intelligence is her greatest attribute, but she has no friends because she does not know humility. Harry, who is very humble after living his life in a cupboard, teaches Hermione how to behave better; in return, Harry is “really lucky [to have] Hermione as a friend [because] he didn’t know how he’d have gotten through all his homework without her” (page 181) The three’s friendships are mutually beneficial, because they bring out the best in each other. In addition, they are loyal to each other in the most difficult of times. When Harry tells the others he is going to get the Sorceror’s Stone, Ron tells him “you don’t think we’d let you go alone?”, followed by Hermione asking him, “How do you think you’d get to the Stone without us?” (page 271) Harry, not entirely accustomed to having a group of loyal friends because of his upbringing, does not realize that Hermione and Ron are willing to risk their lives for him until they tell him they will support him in whatever he needs. Harry, Hermione, and Ron show that to persevere in life, all one needs is a group of close and loyal friends.
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