Neville Longbottom

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Template:HP Character Neville Longbottom (born 30 July 1980)^[1] is a fictional character in the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling.

Neville is a plump, rather bumbling, Gryffindor student in Harry's class, and has a notoriously bad memory. He shares a dormitory at Hogwarts with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.

Neville's best subject is Herbology, and his worst is Potions - showing great fear for the intimidating Potions instructor Professor Severus Snape. Neville owns a pet toad named Trevor, which was a gift from his great uncle Algie upon his acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Neville could have been the one that Voldemort chose as his equal, but Voldemort chose Harry Potter instead.

Neville is played by Matthew Lewis in all the Harry Potter films.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

1 Neville's family
2 Personality and development
3 Neville in Half-Blood Prince
4 References
5 Translations
6 External links

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Neville's family

The Longbottoms are one of the last few old pure-blooded families left. Neville's parents are Frank and Alice Longbottom. They were both Aurors and prominent members of the Order of the Phoenix during the time of Lord Voldemort's original reign. They were driven mad by a group of Death Eaters, notably Barty Crouch Jr. and Bellatrix Lestrange, who tortured them with the Cruciatus Curse. They are now in a closed ward of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Neville's paternal grandmother Augusta has raised him from a young age. Augusta is a strict disciplinarian and a perfectionist who seems remarkably blind to her grandson's feelings. When Augusta realises that Neville never told his friends what happened to his parents, she assumes he is ashamed of them; and when his mother gives him a sweet wrapper as a present, she orders him to throw it away - but Neville folds it neatly and puts it in his pocket. She appears to want Neville to follow in his father's footsteps, regardless of his desires or suitability. When Neville tells Professor McGonagall that his grandmother feels Charms is the "soft option" over Transfiguration, McGonagall informs him that "It's high time your grandmother learned to be proud of the grandson she's got, rather than the one she thinks she ought to have." Template:HP6 Neville is distantly related to the Black family. Callidora Black, a granddaughter of Phineas Nigellus, married a Harfang Longbottom. (It is also probable that Neville is distantly related to the Potters, Prewetts, Crouchs, Weasleys and maybe even the other Death Eater families, as all the old pureblood families are interrelated).

The loss of his parents to madness has affected Neville greatly. It could be that much of Neville's uncertainty stems from events concerning his parents' madness. While Harry Potter learned of the fate of Neville's parents in the course of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Neville was unaware of this. During the course of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry and his friends Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Ginny Weasley saw Neville visiting his parents at St. Mungo's. These three have kept Neville's secret, and Neville has only spoken of that meeting on one occasion.

Neville also has an Uncle Algie, who is mentioned many times, and who gives Neville his toad Trevor, which always seems to be getting away from Neville. Algie's rather idiosyncratic motivational techniques, such as throwing Neville off the Blackpool pier to see if he would float, and dropping him out of a window to see if he would bounce, very likely contributed to the boy's fragile emotional state. Algie has not appeared as of book 6.

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Personality and development

Image:Neville first movie.jpgNeville's lack of self-confidence has affected his abilities as a wizard-in-training; despite being pure-blooded, Neville shows an ineptitude with magic that often gets him into trouble. But he also shows great strength and potential, being able to whiz the Charms teacher, Professor Flitwick, around the classroom, yet he lacks focus. His use of his father's wand may also be a factor, since magic wands in the Harry Potter series must "choose the wizard" - not the other way around. Nonetheless, he has stood up both to his friends (notably in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, where his bravery earned Gryffindor the House Cup), and later, his enemies (see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Template:HP5 for details).

Neville is also known for his forgetfulness; he tried using a Remembrall in the early books of the series to help him recall things, but couldn't remember what it was telling him that he had forgotten. It has been suggested that Neville's forgetfulness may have been caused by the adverse effects of memory spells given to him because he may have witnessed his parents' torture.

Image:Neville longbottom hppoa.jpg

Despite a portrayal that could be described as "one-sided" in the first four books, Neville has come into his own, particularly in the fifth book. Indeed, during the course of the fifth book, with proper and fair teaching, Neville's magical abilities improve dramatically, as shown in the renegade Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons as taught by Harry. Template:HP5. This, and a few of his actions in The Order of the Phoenix, indicate a passionate, unspoken desire to avenge his parents, especially after Lestrange escapes Azkaban. Upon encountering Bellatrix Lestrange, Neville is overcome by such a rage that he nearly knocks over the Death Eaters trying to keep him down. Neville plays a key role (albeit inadvertently) in keeping Lord Voldemort from knowing the prophecy made about Voldemort and Harry, and he saves Harry's life during the battle in the Department of Mysteries.

An interesting point which Dumbledore brings up in the denouement of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is that both Harry and Neville were born during the same month, on almost the same day, and the aforementioned prophecy could possibly have applied to either of themTemplate:HP5. It is Dumbledore's view that the choice of exactly who was 'the Chosen One' was made by Voldemort when he chose to attack Harry rather than Neville. Many fans, however, wonder if this tidbit about Neville could mean something more, and author J.K. Rowling has only said that the prophecy is worded "very carefully."

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Neville in Half-Blood Prince

In Book 6, we first see Neville on the Hogwarts Express, where as it turns out, his grandmother, who he feared would be angry about the battle in the Department of Mysteries was actually quite pleased. Neville was also pleased to show his new wand, one made of Cherry and Unicorn hair, which was apparently one of the last ones Mr. Ollivander sold before he disappeared. Neville was invited to Horace Slughorn's party on the train, along with Harry and Ginny, because of his parents, where it was uncomfortable for him to talk with Slughorn about his parents.

We also learn about Neville's O.W.L. grades. He achieved an "Outstanding" in Herbology, and he did well in Defence against the Dark Arts and Charms, earning an "Exceeds Expectations". He got an "Acceptable" in Transfiguration, and was disappointed when Professor McGonagall wouldn't allow him to join her NEWT class - as she (and most Hogwarts professors) required a minimum of "Exceeds Expectations" on the OWLs to proceed to NEWTs. He had not planned to take the advanced Charms class, because his grandmother indicated that it would not be suitable for him, but Professor McGonagall persuaded him to ignore that viewpoint.

In The Half-Blood Prince, Neville wanted the DA (Dumbledore's Army) meetings to continue, as he felt it had helped him and the others to improve their skills. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Neville answers the call for help, and he fights against the Death Eaters once again.

Neville is not aware of the Prophecy he "shares" by fate with Harry that could have dramatically changed his life, had Voldemort selected him instead.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series

Philosopher's Stone	book	film	game
Chamber of Secrets	book	film	game
Prisoner of Azkaban	book	film	game
Goblet of Fire	book	film	game
Order of the Phoenix	book	(film)
Half-Blood Prince	book	(film)
Unnamed Seventh Book	(book)

Other books		Other games
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them		Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup
Quidditch Through the Ages

Plot – Characters – Places – Translations – Wizarding world - Related articles