Neville's courage

[Karin]

No: HPFGUIDX 5929

"smitster " wrote:
> I know its more than a month off, but when the character discussion 
> for Neville rolls around, there's one thing that I'd hate to get 
over 
> looked.  I'm sure there are other examples, but I think Neville 
shows 
> great courage in PoA in the chapter where Serius uses Neville's 
> password list to break into Gryffindor castle.  

I won't leave this out of Neville's character summary.  I was pretty 
impressed with the fact that Neville had the nerve to admit to that 
in front of everyone.  I think it shows maturity that he was willing 
to accept the consequences of what he had done.

Gen made the point that writing Neville off is easy because of the 
way he's usually portrayed.  I agree.  We see Neville from Harry's 
perspective, and Harry tends to write Neville off most of the time.  
I think, also, that Neville is more comfortable with being written 
off than being noticed--that is to say, he has grown up with the 
knowledge that his parents don't even know who he is, and his 
grandmother is a very intimidating person (whether she is loving or 
not--I agree with Rita that there is evidence that she is).  Neville 
seems to have grown up very unsure of himself and his abilities.  I 
think he probably thinks the best he can do is not to be noticed too 
much when he doesn't do well.  And yet I think he struggles against 
that mindset and fights his fears on a daily basis.  It just happens 
that people notice his failures more than his successes, and don't 
often see the struggle and effort behind both.

Voicelady, he's one of my favorites, too--and I really hope he does 
become a more integral part of the story in upcoming books.  I think 
he will.

There have been so many Neville discussions lately that I'm afraid 
the character summary is going to be quite long.  :)  

Karin