The HBP? Elkins does it again...

[carolynwhite2]

In a completely exceptional post [38398], in which Elkins surpasses 
even herself [warning - very long], she eventually reasons her way to 
this point, which has suddenly made me think he could be the HBP 
after all, but for quite the reverse reasons suggested by most 
people. Powerful stuff:


Would Neville with a restored memory become more like Harry? Would 
this necessarily be a Good Thing?

People who believe that Neville has a memory charm often speculate 
that this charm will eventually be removed, and that when it does, 
Neville will "come into his own." He will be able to access 
previously-suppressed reservoirs of magical power; he will gain self-
confidence; he will become SUPER-Neville. He will go out and kick DE 
butt. He will bring honor to the family name; he will exhibit Proper 
Pure-blooded Wizarding Pride. He will become at last a True Warrior-
Spirited Gryffindor.

I lie awake sometimes at night, fearing that something like this 
might indeed be the author's intent. Because if it is, then I won't 
view it as a triumph for the forces of Good at all. I will view it 
as a horrible horrible tragedy. 
<snip>

In terms of their respective coming-of-age stories, Harry and 
Neville seem to me to represent mirrored archetypes. Harry's 
story is that of the orphan boy revealed to be the heir to the 
throne. His adoptive family had denied him the knowledge of the 
potency of his legacy: his magical power, his financial wealth, 
the social status that he holds by default within the wizarding 
world. His story then, the coming of age story that accompanies 
his own particular archetype, is one of acceptance, of "coming 
into ones own" by proving oneself worthy of the legacy that one 
has inherited, and by learning to accept that legacy's negative 
aspects along with its positive ones.

Neville, on the other hand, I tend to read as a representation
of the opposing archetype: the prince renunciate, the abdicator or 
the apostate. Neville has always known that he is (or that he is 
"supposed to be") a wizard. He has always known that his family 
is old and proud and well-respected, that they are "pureblood." 
He has always known that his father was a kind of a war hero, albeit 
a martyred one. And he has always been aware -- far too well 
aware, I'd say -- of the role that he is expected to play within 
his society.

And he's running away from it just as fast as he can. His 
story, the coming of age story that accompanies Neville's type, 
is one of renunciation, rather than of acceptance, of "coming 
into ones own" by finding the strength to *reject* the legacy 
and to forge instead a new destiny of ones own choosing.