Ron Weasley, Parslemouth

[Nurvingiel]

In Book Seven, Ron Weasley speaks in Parsletongue (the language of Snakes) solely from copying what he had hear Harry say in the past. (Harry wasn't there.) Up until this point, we were led to believe that Parslemoths were born, not made.

Is Ron the unrecognized greatest wizard of all time or is Parsletongue some kind of deus ex machinae plot device? After all, the intrepid trio needed something to destroy a Horcrux but Harry was already engaged elsewhere in the plot. Ron solves this by doing something no wizard has ever done.

Here is the scene, p.500-501, book seven.

"Where the hell have you been?" Harry shouted.
"Chamber of Secrets," said Ron.
"Chamber - what? said Harry, coming to an unsteady halt before them.
"It was Ron, all Ron's idea!" said Hermione breathlessly. "Wasn't it absolutely brilliant? There we were, after you left, and I said to Ron, even if we find the other one, how are we going to get rid of it? We still hadn't got rid of the cup! And then he thought of it! The Basilisk!"
"What the -?"
"Something to get rid of Hurcruxes," said Ron simply.
Harry's eyes dropped to the objects clutched in Ron and Hermione's arms: great curved fangs torn, he now realized, from the skull of a dead Basilisk.
"But how did you get in there?" he asked, staring from the fangs to Ron. "You need to speak Parsletongue!"
"He did!" whispered Hermione. "Show him Ron!"
Ron made a horrible, strangled hissing noise.
"It's what you did to open the locket," he told Harry apologetically. "I had to have a few goes to get it right, but," he shrugged modestly, "We got there in the end."
"He was amazing!" said Hermione. "Amazing!"


The other weird bit is that Harry does not understand the Parsletongue that Ron speaks (he usually either doesn't realize he's hearing Parsletongue, or understands that he is. He never hears what non-Parslemouths hear).

Odd, all around. I have a feeling that Rowling just didn't know how to deal with Griphook keeping Gryffindor's sword. But I welcome other theories.