[HPforGrownups] Re: Neville grandmother

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 16923

Andrea said, following Stephanie:

<< Well, not doubting that Grams is a very cool and strong witch, I've never
thought that Lupin's prompting indicated that he necessarily knew her at
all.  I thought he was just trying to get Neville to picture the clothing as
completely as he could, and a grandmother carrying a big handbag is fairly
typical.>>

Lupin does, at least, know Neville's parents aren't around, so I wouldn't
surprised if Granny turned out to be a widely known witch.  It seems to be a
small world, the wizarding world, especially when it comes to the
established families.

I think that JKR rarely, if ever, provides character details (or names)
unless she plans to bring those characters in later on in the story.  I
agree with Steve: the fact that we don't know Neville's grandmother's name
is very significant.  Do we know if she is the maternal or paternal
grandmother?  Hmmmm...  The thing I remember about her is that she wears a
hat with a vulture on it.  That's a pretty bold piece of headgear by any
standards (especially if it's not a pointed witch hat, as everyone else
seems to wear) and it sounds like she is dripping with comic potential.

I wonder whether Granny came onto the scene after the attack on the
Longbottoms, or was already the strong matriarch of the family when they
were around?  Certain cultures are very matriarchal and I wouldn't be
surprised if she had been ruling the Longbottom roost for decades.  I'm
suddenly very vague on Longbottom details... perhaps someone can recall more
info...

Neil

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