What does Ron Weasley contribute to the Harry Potter trio?

He only helped Harry when he " finds basilisk fangs, destroys locket, and saves Harry's life from the locket"? That's a lot. He follows the spiders, in the Chamber of Secrets book even though he has Arachnophobia. Ron says "You’ll have to kill all three of us!" (PoA, pg. 339) while in the Shrieking Shack, defending Harry. Of course, compared to Hermione it seems much less but Ron also provided humor. "Harry liked Hermione very much, but she just wWASt the same as Ron. There was much less laughter and a lot more hanging around in the library when Hermione was your best friend." (GoF, pg. 316-317) Apart from being the comedic relief, he also provided Harry with a family and friends. If it wasn't for Ron, Harry wouldn't have met any of the Weasley family, including his future wife, Ginny. He would have been stuck with the Vernons during Christmas and summers. He made Harry feel less like a lonely kid and more like he belonged to a family.