the Next Big Battle & Memory Charms

[lipglossusa]

No: HPFGUIDX 31961

cindy wrote:

> Now, to inject some canon into this post, Neville's story doesn't 
end 
> with the explanation of why his memory is poor.  Whether it is some 
> memory charm or something else, JKR still has to develop it in 
future 
> books.  Many of us seem to think that Neville has a lot of talent 
and 
> power that is currently being repressed.  What device could JKR 
> possibly use to bring forth this talent and power?  


I have a partial answer for you: maybe the reason Neville isn't good 
at magic is because he's a bit afraid of it.  After all, look what 
happened to his parents!  He knows what happened to them-- he may not 
remember being there, but he's still grown up with that knowledge and 
perhaps a genuine fear of the dark side of magic.  And really, it 
doesn't help that horrid things always happen to him when he makes 
mistakes-- how many cauldrons has he melted now?  Virtually every 
class-- potions, transfiguration, charms-- he's always getting boils 
or backfiring spells onto himself, not to mention the Body-Binding 
curse incident, or being turned into a canary by Fred and George.  
One thing he's good at is Herbology-- which isn't really magic in the 
sense that spell casting and potions are.  But I think that the 
aptitude to be good at magic is there-- and that it is evident that 
Neville will be able to show his stuff soon-- after all, out of all 
the scary things in the world, the one he's most afraid of is Snape! 
While the boggart incident with Snape makes for an amusing DADA 
lesson, I also think it shows that Neville has a lot more nerve than 
one might think--  it's the other kids in the class who are afraid of 
monsters, banshees, zombies, and giant spiders.


Also, I just read through his part in the Dementor-on-the-train scene 
in PoA to get a look at Neville's reaction.  He seems pretty 
terrified, which makes me wonder if he experiences the same 
feeling/memory Harry does when the Dementor appears.  If you think 
about it in the context of our theory of Neville witnessing his 
parents' torture, it would make sense that Neville, too, might be 
sucked into his most horrible memory. He seems pretty terrified 
afterwards, while the other characters seem more shaken up out of 
concern for Harry.  So you can interpret that as you will-- maybe 
someone wants to make the case that a Dementor could somehow break a 
memory charm?

Marina