Maybe Peeves hadn't intended to spread the word about Ron at all. Maybe he just wanted to tease him! So, although he was making a racket now, look at the route he was taking—he kept choosing deserted, out-of-the-way places to run through! Hermione, following behind, had already figured it out: Peeves really just wanted Ron to chase him around the school corridors!
"Ron! Please stop chasing him! You'll never catch him like this! Just give up! The more you chase him, the more fun he'll have! You know Peeves is always like this!" Seeing Ron still hobbling after Peeves, Hermione reached out to grab him.
Hermione had just checked her watch. It was already very late, and the three of them had been chasing Peeves for quite a while! If they kept hanging around the corridors, they wouldn't make it back to their common room in time to rest! And if Filch caught them after curfew, they'd be punished with detention and lose House points! Compared to Ron being laughed at, that was far worse and far more worrying!
"No! Hermione! I think I'm about to catch him! He can't have gone far! He must be just up ahead!" Stubborn Ron wasn't willing to give up. He had to catch Peeves and stop his nonsense! He hadn't figured out how he'd stop him, but he'd catch him first and worry about that later!
Hermione stopped and sighed, looking at Ron as she shook her head helplessly. Even if he caught Peeves, what could he do? Threaten him? Or beat him up? Hermione couldn't think of any way a second-year student like her could deal with a ghost.
Of all the spells they could learn at their current level, not one could effectively harm a ghost without a physical body! And