Neville Longbottom

Neville Longbottom is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series. He is described as a round-faced Gryffindor student in the central character Harry Potter's year. Throughout the series, Neville is often portrayed as a bumbling and disorganised character, and a rather mediocre student, though he is highly gifted at Herbology. However, the character's personality appears to undergo a transition after he joins Dumbledore's Army in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The encouragement he receives gives him confidence in his magical abilities, turning him into a more competent wizard.

Character development

Although a secondary character in the first four books, Neville appears often in the role of comic relief. He is one of Harry's strongest supporters over the course of the series, and becomes close friends with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna as well. As stated by Rowling, the fifth Harry Potter book "was a real turning point for Neville", due to the bigger role he played in that book.^[1] She further hinted that Neville was about to play a significant part in the two final books and the fight against Lord Voldemort.^[2]

Rowling revealed in an interview that "there's a lot of Neville in me - this feeling of just never being quite good enough... I felt that a lot when I was younger".^[3] For that reason, she wanted Neville to do something brave in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in which Neville "finds true moral courage in standing up to his closest friends - the people who are on his side" towards the climax of the novel. She also said in that interview that this was "...a very important moment for me too in the first book".

Appearances

First four books

Neville Longbottom first appears in Philosopher's Stone before the initial journey in the Hogwarts Express, in which he is seen being accompanied by his grandmother looking for his toad pet Trevor. He befriends Harry, Ron and Hermione, and takes part in some of the trio's first adventures. Neville makes one significant contribution in his first year at Hogwarts: by attempting to stand up to the trio when he sees them about to break the rules and possibly do more harm to Gryffindor house, he earns the respect of Albus Dumbledore. For this act Dumbledore mentions him especially at the end of year dinner, pointing out the bravery required to stand up to one's friends and awarding him the final 10 points necessary for Gryffindor house to beat Slytherin.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, despite being a Pure-blood wizard, Neville fears that Slytherin's monster would attack him because he is "almost a Squib", as he is a poorly skilled student. However, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Remus Lupin is one of the first to help Neville develop his true power by asking him to confront and destroy a Boggart, which Neville successfully did. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire the author reveals for the first time why Neville was raised by his grandmother. During one of the fake Alastor Moody's lessons, Neville introduces the Cruciatus Curse to the rest of the class, for it was the curse that permanently incapacited his parents, and is terrified upon viewing the effects of the curse used on a spider. The fake Moody later gives Neville a Herbology book so that he could assist Harry in getting Gillyweed to survive the second task in the Triwizard Tournament; however, Harry never asked him for help as the fake Moody intended him to. He invited Hermione to the Yule Ball but was declined, so Neville was accompanied by Ginny at the Ball instead.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Neville's magical abilities improve dramatically under the tutelage of Harry during meetings of Dumbledore's Army, and then devotes himself to Harry's training regimen. He also receives far greater characterisation than he has in the past, with Harry, and thus the reader, coming to understand him on a deeper level, beginning when Harry's friends learn about the fate of Neville's parents at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. In this book, Neville's mother Alice gives him a Droobles bubble gum wrapper during his visit at Christmas break, and Neville puts it in his pocket even though his grandmother tells him to throw it away, saying that he already has enough to "wallpaper his bedroom". The significance of this incident was hotly debated by fans, but this debate has recently been put to rest in an interview with Rowling, in which she stated the event has no further implications towards the plot of the story, but was merely based on events of a friend and his mother with Alzheimer's.^[4]

Neville saves Harry's life during the battle in the Department of Mysteries, and plays a key role, if inadvertently, in keeping Voldemort from knowing the prophecy made about "Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter"^[5]. He and Harry are also the only students left standing after the battle, despite a Death Eater breaking both Neville's nose and his father's wand. His usefulness is impaired by his nose being broken, which alters his voice and renders his spell casting ineffective. Because the prophecy was destroyed during the battle, neither Harry nor Neville manage to hear its contents. Dumbledore, to whom the prophecy was originally made, explains that it concerns "the Chosen One", a wizard that would have the power to vanquish Voldemort. This "Chosen One" would be born "as the seventh month dies", and thus could refer to either Neville, born July 30, 1980, or Harry, born July 31, one day later.^[6] It is Dumbledore's opinion that Voldemort indeed marked the "Chosen One" by attacking Harry rather than Neville. According to Rowling, this "does not give Neville either hidden powers or a mysterious destiny ... Neville remains the tantalising 'might-have-been.'"^[2] The author also explained that last part of the prophecy ("neither can live while the other survives") does not mean that Harry or Neville must kill each other.^[7]

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Neville receives a new wand in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as the old one, which was actually his father's, was broken during the struggle with Death Eaters in the previous book. During the train ride to Hogwarts, Neville is invited to join Horace Slughorn in his cabin, along with several other students, to join the "Slug Club", but apparently did not pass Slughorn's first test as he was not invited again. It is revealed that Neville achieved an "Outstanding" in Herbology, and he did well in Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms, earning an "Exceeds Expectations." Neville wants the D.A. meetings to continue, as he feels they have helped him and the others to improve their skills, however they stop as Harry now says there is no need as they now have a "proper teacher".

When a group of Death Eaters guided by Draco Malfoy attack the castle, Neville answers the call for help, and he fights against the Death Eaters once again, though he suffers minor injuries. During Dumbledore's funeral Neville is accompanied and assisted by Luna, and Harry felt a "great rush of affection" for them because they were the only two D.A. members that helped Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in the struggle with the Death Eaters. When asked about Neville and Luna developing a romantic relationship, Rowling replied that she sees "Neville and Luna as very different kinds of people and while they share a certain isolation within Hogwarts, I don't think that's enough to foster true love - friendship, perhaps, although I think that Neville would always find Luna's wilder flights of fancy alarming".^[8]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

With Harry's absence and the control of Hogwarts in the hands of Severus Snape and Death Eaters Alecto and Amycus Carrow in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Neville spends much of his seventh year at Hogwarts as the resistance leader against Voldemort's takeover. Together with Ginny and Luna, Neville reactivates Dumbledore's Army, stepping into the leadership position in Harry's absence and helping students who were tormented under the new regime. Neville reveals that the Carrows beat him and that the Death Eaters targeted his grandmother when Neville was acting up at school. Neville goes into hiding in the Room of Requirement, which he shows an incredible ability to control, because he, along with a number of other students, had such a great need for its protection. Upon Harry's return to Hogwarts, Neville sends messages to the D.A., which in turn gathers the Order of the Phoenix.

Neville is a leading figure among the students during the Battle of Hogwarts. He is spotted twice by Harry using his knowledge of Herbology to help ward off the attackers. With Professor Sprout and a dozen other students, they hurl aggressive and violent plants at the Death Eaters from the castle walls. He is later seen helping Oliver Wood carry the body of Colin Creevey. Before his penultimate confrontation with Voldemort, Harry asks that Neville destroy Nagini, Voldemort's snake and will-be final Horcrux, if the opportunity presents itself.

When Voldemort returns with Harry's apparently lifeless body, Neville defies him. After Bellatrix Lestrange identifies Neville, Voldemort offers him a place among the Death Eaters due to his pure-blood status and his bravery, but Neville refuses by yelling, "I'll join you when hell freezes over... Dumbledore's Army!" Voldemort responds by placing Neville in a Body-Bind Curse, summoning the Sorting Hat, placing it on Neville's head and setting it on fire, as a sign of showing both his control over Hogwarts and a warning to those who continue to fight against him. However, Harry's attempted self-sacrifice has rendered Voldemort's curses ineffective against those fighting for Hogwarts, so when reinforcements arrive and Voldemort is distracted, Neville breaks free, pulls the Sorting Hat off his head, draws the Sword of Godric Gryffindor from it, and decapitates Nagini, thus destroying the final Horcrux, and making Voldemort mortal once again. When the battle goes to the Great Hall, he is shown assisting Ron in taking down Fenrir Greyback. After the battle is won, Neville is shown surrounded by a group of admirers.

Epilogue

In the epilogue of Deathly Hallows, Ginny mentions that Neville has gone on to be the Herbology professor at Hogwarts. In an interview, Rowling also mentioned that he shows off his D.A. coin to many admiring students and tells them about his adventures.^[9] Rowling revealed more information about Neville when she stated that he married Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff classmate, who became the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron.^[10] The couple live over the pub, a fact that Rowling thought people would find "particularly cool".^[11]

Film portrayal

Neville has been played by Matthew Lewis in all of the Harry Potter films to date. Lewis' portrayal of Neville has been "clowned up", as he wears yellow and crooked false teeth, two-sizes-too-big shoes and has plastic bits placed behind his ears in order to make them stick out more.^[12] Lewis stated in a 2005 MuggleNet chat that he had already read the first four books of the series before his audition, and that he did not care which part he was going to play in the film series, but did not think he would actually be in the film before he was given the part.^[13] Prior to the release of the fifth film, Lewis commented on Neville's character development that he thinks "it's amazing that the character of Neville has really shaken off his klutz image (to an extent.) It very good to see him finally being a help as oppose to making things worse, I'm looking forward to the 5th film, it will be interesting to almost play a different character."

When asked if he feels related to Neville, Lewis replied that he is "clumsy and terribly forgetful" just like his character is, but that he does not have "the same nervous disposition as Neville".^[13] He later commented that it is interesting to play somebody that, despite being picked on at school, still does the right thing.

Attributes

Outward appearance

The narrative describes Neville as round-faced. In Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry draws some physical comparison between Neville and Peter Pettigrew, a fact that prompted some to speculate that Neville was actually a son of Pettigrew, but this was dismissed by Rowling,^[14] and is later confirmed to be false when his parents are introduced in the fifth book.^[15] In a 2000 interview, Rowling recalled a conversation with a reader, to whom she described Neville as "short and plump and blond".^[16] By the final book, Neville's appearance has changed due to the conditions he passes through in his seventh year under the Death Eaters' regime at Hogwarts. His hair is described as "longer than Harry had ever seen it",^[17] his face having cuts and gouge marks, one of his eyes being "swollen yellow and purple", and having a "general air of unkemptness".^[18] The Battle of Hogwarts worsened his appearance: when Harry spots him before his confrontation with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest, Neville "looked like an old man".^[19]

Personality

For most of the first part of the series, Neville is described as lacking self-confidence and being shy. In the third book, his boggart is revealed to be Professor Snape, whom Neville is terrified of because of the treatment the potions teacher gives to the boy. Rowling said that the "worst, shabbiest thing you can do" as a teacher is to bully students.^[20] Along with Luna, Neville is isolated within Hogwarts for most of the series. Although Professor Lupin is one of the first to encourage Neville, the character develops more self-confidence since the fifth book. In the final book, the situation pushes Neville's personality to unseen limits as he becomes the resistance leader within Hogwarts and is greatly admired by his fellows. However, since the first book Neville has displayed great courage, a feature that is recognised by Dumbledore for standing up to his own friends, and valued by Rowling above all other virtues. She described Neville as not having "that showy macho type of courage that Harry shows playing quidditch."^[21]

Magical abilities

During the first books of the series, Neville is portrayed as an incompetent wizard and as poorly skilled at school (with the only exception of Herbology). The character himself reveals in the second book that it was even feared by his family, especially his grandmother, that he was a Squib during his childhood. Neville describes a time when he was younger and his great-uncle Algie attempted to "scare the magic out" of him by throwing him off one of Blackpool's piers to see if he would float (or at least not be harmed), as well as dangling him out of a window, before accidentally dropping him; Neville's magic caused him to bounce into the street. Neville's family is relieved, therefore, when he receives his letter inviting him to Hogwarts.

Neville's magical abilities greatly improve in the fifth instalment,^[22] due to the character joining Dumbledore's Army, a group dedicated to practice Defence Against the Dark Arts. In Half-Blood Prince, Neville receives a new wand made of cherry wood and unicorn hair, as his previous wand was destroyed while fighting Death Eaters in Order of the Phoenix. He proudly asserts that his new wand was one of the last which Mr Ollivander sold before disappearing. The wand appears to have added further improvement to Neville's school performance. It has been commented on several occasions "the wand chooses the wizard," and that one "never gets as good results with another wizard's wand"; Neville had previously been using his father's wand.

Family

Neville is a pure-blood wizard born to Frank and Alice Longbottom, who were prominent Aurors and also members of the Order of the Phoenix during the first war against Lord Voldemort. It is stated by Dumbledore that both of them had "thrice defied" Voldemort by 1981. Their success, however, was cut short, as Frank and Alice were tortured to the point of insanity with the Cruciatus Curse by a group of Death Eaters, led by Bellatrix Lestrange. The torture of the Longbottoms is remembered by the Order as one of the most horrific crimes committed by Voldemort's followers. Since then, Frank and Alice reside in a closed ward of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Neville visits Frank and Alice over the holidays, but neither of them recognise him as their son.

Augusta Longbottom, Neville's paternal grandmother, raised him from a young age. Early on, it is established that Neville is terrified of his grandmother, who is a very strict disciplinarian, a perfectionist, and a no-nonsense witch, especially towards Neville, and sometimes complains of his lack of talent. She appears to want Neville to follow his father's example, regardless of his desires or suitability. Deathly Hallows is a definite turning point for the relation between Augusta and her grandson. Towards the climax of the book, it is revealed that the Death Eaters targeted Augusta when Neville was acting as leader of the reformed Dumbledore's Army. The Ministry official Dawlish is sent to arrest her but does not succeed and winds up in hospital when she apparently fights back before going on the run. Augusta also arrives to the Battle of Hogwarts to assist her grandson. When Harry tells her that Neville is fighting Death Eaters, she replies, "Naturally." Bolstered by Neville's leadership of the D.A. during his seventh year at Hogwarts, Augusta ultimately becomes extremely proud of him.

References

External links

• Neville Longbottom on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki
• Neville Longbottom at the Harry Potter Lexicon