The Harry Potter Moments You Never Realized Ron Predicted

Ron Weasley is the main source of comic relief in the Harry Potter series, but he's also incredibly wise... though that might be by accident.

Played by Rupert Grint in the film adaptations, Ron, the youngest of his six brothers, becomes Harry Potter's (Daniel Radcliffe) first and best friend at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After that, the two friends — along with their other best friend Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) — are rarely ever seen apart, and though Ron always adds some much-needed levity to dangerous situations, he's also a talented and capable wizard in his own right. Alongside Harry and Hermione, Ron helps bring down several bad guys, and as the books and films reach their climax, Ron is essential in the hunt for Horcruxes, magical items that contain pieces of the Dark Lord Voldemort's (Ralph Fiennes) soul.

As it happens, many of Ron's jokes — flip as they may be — ended up inadvertently predicting some of the series' most important moments. Here are just a few huge Harry Potter twists Ron predicted by accident. Spoilers to follow!

As Redditor Daughter_of_Dorne noticed recently, one of Ron's accidental predictions happens in the second installment, Chamber of Secrets, when Ron is given detention and must clean the plaques in the school trophy room. When he and Harry find a diary belonging to former Hogwarts student Tom Riddle, Ron remembers that Riddle won an award for special services to the school, and jokes that maybe Riddle killed Moaning Myrtle (Shirley Henderson), the annoying ghost who haunts one of Hogwarts' bathrooms. As it turns out, Riddle, the heir of Salazar Slytherin who grew up to become Lord Voldemort, did kill Myrtle by releasing Slytherin's basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets.

This isn't the last time Ron's jokes come to pass. In Prisoner of Azkaban, when the two are reading tea leaves in Professor Sybil Trelawney's (Emma Thompson) unpleasant Divination class. Ron inadvertently correctly predicts two events in Harry's life: first, he says that Harry's tea leaves look like a bowler hat, which means he might go on to work for the Ministry of Magic. In fact, after Hogwarts, both Harry and Ron go on to become Aurors, or Dark wizard catchers, for the Ministry. Because Ron is terrible at reading tea leaves, he also thinks the blob might be an acorn, which predicts a windfall of gold; one year later, Harry wins the Triwizard Tournament, and earns 1,000 gold Galleons for his considerable trouble.

Finally, in Deathly Hallows, Ron, much to Harry and Hermione's chagrin, stops saying Voldemort's name. While they think he's being ridiculous — as many wizards are afraid of calling Voldemort by name, but the bravest among them feel that refusing to name the Dark Lord gives him too much power — Ron stands his ground, and ultimately, he's right. As it turns out, Voldemort's Death Eaters have jinxed their master's name, knowing that anyone who utters it is probably a part of the Order of the Phoenix, an organization dedicated to bringing Voldemort down.

Ron briefly leaves Harry and Hermione after an argument, but when he returns, he tells them about the jinx, though the three eventually fall prey to Death Eaters when Harry, without thinking, utters his nemesis' name. However, the fact is that Ron's hesitation was completely founded, and his friends should have listened to him the entire time.

Many of Ron's correct predictions are found solely within the Harry Potter book series, but if you want to relive Grint's defining performance as Harry's best friend, the Harry Potter films will arrive on Peacock, NBCUniversal's streaming service, soon.