[HPforGrownups] neville's story

[Christina Gross]

No: HPFGUIDX 5213

On 06.11.2000 at 07:16:25 Susan McGee wrote:

>What strains credulity is that no one told Ron Weasley about this..
>not his parents or his brothers...we hear that the Longbottoms
>were popular...etc..

What happened to the Longbottoms may be well known throughout the
wizarding community, but it was certainly nothing that would be
discussed with kids of Ron's age, or even Fred and George's. 

>No one has told Ron not to question neville?

Why would anybody tell Ron that? He didn't know there was anything
worth questioning Neville about, and such an admonition would only
have roused his curiosity. 

>Dumbledore tells harry and then tells him not to question neville,
>but this should have been something that was common knowledge...

Not among Neville's age group. Dumbledore only tells Harry after the
subject had come to Harry's attention. The kids never discuss their
parents. I don't think kids their age would. Ron has only a vague
idea of what his father does, isn't keen to find out more, is even
bored and stops listening when Arthur tells his family about his
work. Hermione's parents are dentists, and that's about all we know
about them. His fellow students believed Neville's parents to be
dead, but he is probably not the only orphan in his generation. He
wouldn't necessarily be questioned about their death, unless there is
something sensational about it. I didn't get the feeling that what
happened to the Longbottoms was as notorious as the fate of the
Potters, probably because they are not really dead. 

>Was there a conspiracy of silence, not to tell the children
>the horrors of L.V. Yet Ron knows enough to be shocked by harry's
>use of L.V.s name..

That's not really a contradiction. For most of the wizarding world
Voldemort's reign is over. Let's forget about it as fast as we can.
Let's not even mention his name.  And if you can't name him it's
harder to ask questions about him. But the events are still too
recent for people of Harry's and Ron's age not to know anything about
them.

Greetings
Christina


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