RON WEASLEY, FOUR?

This one’s going to take a process of elimination.

Ron is an Envy person. Harry’s success poisons their friendship for a while. Anyone who feels so strongly that they covet against character is a Heart Type. In case you doubt, we also know Ron’s no Body Type. Although he loves quidditch and wants to be good at it, his performance is mixed. Also, he may like the strategy of wizard’s chess, but delving into the thinking of things as a Head Type would is not his strong suit.

This means Ron is a Two, Three, or Four.

Well, he’s clearly not a Three! To others the life of a Three can seem charmed. Ron’s the opposite. He seems cursed. If a Three got sent the moth-balled dress robes they’d turn it into a fashion statement and everyone else would want the same. Shame is really not in the Three wheelhouse.

Is he a Four? A Four can be tormented with the depth of their feelings, which Ron indeed is. However, Four Men are also extremely witty. It’s like they’ve drunk a truth bomb. They are so cutting, and yet fun. Ron, again, this is not.

That leaves a Two. Is Ron a Two? Whoa. Hard call. Two Men are very giving and sweet-natured. They are vulnerable to abuse because they’re so kind. They also tend to accumulate hobbies and the gear that goes with it. A Two Man is a tinkerer. That doesn’t particularly sound like Ron, either.

I’m going to go with Four, even though it’s not a perfect match. It’s the wildly swinging emotions that decide it for me.

Or, Rowling did not nail his character as thoroughly as she did with the others, and he’s really no number at all.

HERMIONE GRANGER, SIX

A stickler for the rules and the boundaries of right and wrong. Organized and prepared. Willing to champion a cause and brave enough to lead others in it.

Is Hermione a Six, or is she a One?

These two numbers are very similar. Build-wise, women are slight, possibly wiry, and not tall. Both numbers have quick wits and sharp tongues. Hermione’s bookishness could point more clearly toward Six, a Head Type, but Ones also enjoy sharing knowledge and insight.

However, a One is a Body Type, and that leads us to the definitive answer.

If Hermione were a One, she’d play quidditch. 

Her disinterest in the game (or lack of physical prowess in it) makes her a Six.

HARRY POTTER, NINE

It quickly becomes clear when studying character Enneagrams that a disproportionate number of protagonists, especially male ones, are Nines. It starts to get a little tedious, actually, to always say, “Oh, look, a Nine again.”

Harry’s a Nine.

Man Nines come in two shapes: extremely heroic, muscular, tall, athletic (you can see why writers would favor a Nine protagonist); and lean, medium-height, and quite prone to wear a beard.

Yeah, that seems strangely specific, but it is a consistent observation.

Harry is the latter. (Minus the beard, of course. If he were to ever be portrayed as a man, the characterization wouldn’t be quite accurate if they left off the beard.)

His ability as a Seeker suggests Body Type. His diplomatic friendship with everyone except his most hated enemies is Nine-ish. His passive nature through his younger years at the Dursleys is classic Nine-avoidance of conflict. And his heroism — he doesn’t particularly agonize or fret, he just steps up — have that placid Nine confidence.

Nines are very likable, which makes them so suitable as a main character. They can veer off into boring, though, so keep a tight leash on your writing. Don’t get them started on an anecdote; they’ll talk forever.

MARILLA CUTHBERT, EIGHT

Family usually have some kind of relationship between their Enneagram numbers. Because Matthew is a Five, Marilla’s Enneagram will either be in the strength-weakness number relationship, or in a Head Type adjacent number.

A Five in strength moves to Eight, and an Eight in weakness moves to Five. These siblings have a great dynamic, a great partnership even, because Marilla is an Eight.

No matter how genteel Marilla plays it, you know she wants to take Rachel Lynde’s head off sometimes. Very Eight. Her firmness in disciplining Anne is Eight-ish. Pleas for mercy are not effective on an Eight, and they don’t move Marilla. She’s a hard nut to crack, and when I read the novel as a child her character was very unsympathetic to me. Only later did I appreciate her no-nonsense pragmatism.

Marilla enters very reluctantly into a relationship with Anne, but once she’s in she will defend Anne to the death.

MATTHEW CUTHBERT, FIVE

Matthew is a drop-dead classic Man Five.

His gentleness, his shyness, his observational attention to Anne, and his abhorrence of socializing, are all Five traits. He is steady, quiet, and loyal. Five.

He’s also awkward, boring, and invisible. Five.

In one version of Anne of Green Gables Richard Farnsworth plays Matthew’s Five-ness perfectly. He is the exact lovable mix of qualities. However, the actor is built nothing like Men Fives, who are tall and sometimes gangly, lean, or rangy. Physically, a Man Five is quite similar to a Man Four. The personalities are diametrically opposed, of course, but on first glance they are hard to differentiate.

It just goes to show that an actor’s Enneagram number will not restrict their ability to convincingly play a character’s Enneagram number. I like that.

ANNE SHIRLEY, FOUR

Maybe I’m being too hasty, but doesn’t Anne of Green Gables seem like she must be an Enneagram Four?

She feels everything so very deeply. Drama, glory, beauty, vengeance — they’re all peak emotions for her. Gilbert teases her, and she’ll never forgive him. Diana is her friend, but they must be inseparable bosom buddies. If Marilla and Matthew don’t keep her, she’ll absolutely die. The color of her hair is a lifelong sorrow.

Also, she has the resigned Four way of dealing with pain. Her prior foster family is abusive and cruel. Anne knows this, yet when she talks about them she speaks matter-of-factly. While most of us cherish the highs and disdain the lows, Fours know life is a 50/50 prospect. Tragedy happens. Don’t make more of it than it deserves.

Anne is actually a great Four. Her envy-driven competitiveness at school leads her to outstanding accomplishments. Her stubborn attachment to feelings leads to Matthew’s loyalty and Marilla’s agreement to keep Anne, even though it goes against everything she’d planned. And Anne’s mishaps, which make for engaging storytelling, arise from weaknesses that can become her strengths.

Makes me want to re-read something I haven’t visited in decades.