TBay-Speaking Frankly

[lucky_kari]

No: HPFGUIDX 40762

Eileen sits there sobbing uncontrollably. It's over now, but she now 
understands more than ever the sad fate of the sycophant. Avery pats 
her sympathetically on the back. He's been through this before, and 
knows how to be supportive.

"But I have some new canons," sobs Eileen. 

But it is too painful to think long on. In desperation, she searches 
for another topic. What about Neville Longbottom?

But Neville has been about done to death. Us Subversive!Neville types 
have made ourselves rather unpopular in the process, but what more can 
we say about Neville?

Somehow Eileen can't but feel that we'll never understand Neville 
until we know something about Frank Longbottom.

But we tried that before, didn't we? Eric Oppen said that Frank 
Longbottom was "Judge Dredd on acid," Eileen tried to prove that he 
was in Slytherin, someone else said something about Avery...

"Ave, tell me about Frank."

Avery shakes his head violently, his eyes firmly focused on the 
ground, his face white. 

No, there's no point in asking Avery. The whole basis of Fourth Man 
after all is that Avery tortured Frank within an inch of his life. 
It's not something Avery likes to reminisce about. He feels rather 
guilty about it, actually, and anyway, generally pretends it never 
happened. 

So why is it important to know about Frank?

Well, Frank's not dead, in the first place. Insane or sane, it's 
virtually guaranteed that he'll make an appearance in the upcoming 
books, don't you think? 

Oh, and Neville's mother, of course. When we were talking about the 
warrior culture and Neville, it was pointed out that the poor woman 
isn't even graced with a name. Why not?

Well, perhaps because the first thing we have to understand about 
Frank is that his appearance in GoF is tied up with the theme of 
"patricide." We are well within canon to believe that Neville's 
grandmother is urging him on to avenge the family's honour, to redress 
the injury done to them. And I think canon strongly hints that Neville 
 is not to keen to do this. All this is old hat. Read Elkins' " 
Neville: Memory, History, Legacy, Power (LONG!) (Was:: Still Life)" 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/38398
and you shall know what manner of beast Subversive!Neville is, and 
weep.

But, if this is true, isn't Neville involved in a case of symbolic 
patricide? To refuse to revenge a father's death in the old warrior 
tradition is to be an accomplice in it. 

Things get stickier and stickier for Neville, don't they?

Porphyria once wrote:
> If the series in general revolves around Harry accepting his 
> legacy as a Potter, then maybe Neville is there to demonstrate 
> the refusal to accept a legacy, and just exactly why legacies 
> are such a dangerous and threatening things to have.

and Elkins wrote:

>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. 

So, while much of HP fandom is rooting for a kick-ass fight scene with 
Mrs. Lestrange, Mr. Lestrange and the Fourth Man combined, we few, we 
unhappy few, want something else for Neville.

What exactly?

I believe that Elkins and I once made up a list of our demands. They 
included that Neville organize sit-ins at the Ministry of Magic, speak 
up publicly that the House Cup is meaningless, and wear a pillowcase 
in solidarity with the enslaved House-Elves. If these demands are not 
met, it will be "a horrible horrible tragedy." :-)

But, what do we really want? There seems to be some confusion on the 
list as to what "Subversive!Neville" people are after. Someone 
suggested a scenario in which Voldemort is about to kill Harry, and 
Pacifist!Neville refuses to lend Harry a hand, while lecturing Harry 
about embracing one's inner subversiveness. Others have charged that 
"Subversive!Neville" theorizes that Neville, as he now is, is coping 
fine, and if Harry, Gran, and Snape were to cease bothering him, he 
could enjoy a life of being beat up by Draco Malfoy without 
distractions.

Well, it seems time for that yellow flag special. Eileen stealthily 
retrieves it and finds herself back in time on Thursday, May 23rd. 
Three figures are coming towards her. She hastily ducks behind a bush. 
 They are Debbie, Cindy, and a very dazed Eileen.

"Neville... sacrifice... memory," moans the Eileen of HPfGU past.

"Don't worry about that," said Debbie kindly. "We've got almost all of 
that figured out."

Tell.... Elkins...."

"Elkins Shmelkins," says Cindy rather fiercely. "You know what Elkins  
said? Have you seen her and her yellow flags? We're through with  
Elkins. She doesn't even do her share of cleaning up the hovercraft. 
Her and her memory charms."

The Future-Eileen smiles. Elkins and Cindy will never be through with 
each other. They keep visiting each other to say that they're through, 
you see.

"Super..."

"Super what?" asked Debbie attentively.

"Super Neville," said Eileen in a daze. "Elkins doesn't like Super 
Neville."

"You mean the Neville that regains his memory then kicks serious DE 
butt?" asked Cindy.

"Right," said Eileen. "I think I remember.... Of course, I can't 
remember all the research I did into the theme of memory in 
literature."

"Sheesh," said Cindy.

Sheesh is right, thinks the future-Eileen. She's much better off 
without those memories.

"But Elkins was afraid Neville was going to end up that way as the 
avenging angel, if I recall correctly. She wants him to Renounce 
things, doesn't she?"

"Things that he can't remember," said Cindy quickly. "Yes. She has 
said that." A look approaching a glare shows on Cindy's face.

The future-Eileen starts guiltily. MATCHING ARMCHAIR, of course. Back 
then, she was one of Cindy's devoted MATCHING ARMCHAIR followers. But 
since then, Elkins' memory charms have acted like a Siren call on her. 
 The future-Eileen has not completely left MATCHING ARMCHAIR, but she 
is hanging on to a leg with three fingers. 

"Well, I have a different theory," said Eileen of the past

Cindy and Debbie exchange glances. "Are you sure you're strong 
enough?" begins Debbie.

"Yes. What are the three ways by which a hero can succeed?"

"He can conquer!" cried Cindy, her eyes wild with excitment.

"He can renounce!" added Debby.

"Or he can sacrifice himself," said Eileen quietly.

* * * * * * * * 

The future-Eileen is intrigued. How could she have forgotten all this? 
She continues to listen to her harangue.

> If the Longbottoms are, as Elkins has so ably demonstrated, 
> emblematic of the memory theme in the wizarding world, will not 

their 
> eventual fate be emblematic of the theme's resolution? And, has not 
> JKR basically promised to us that there will be a resolution, that 
> the wizarding world will learn to remember or forget, or whatever it 
> is that JKR thinks they should be doing? Cornelius Fudge, with his 
> dementor escort, will not be here for long. When Arthur Weasley is 
> Minister of Magic (End of Book 7 :-), what will have happened to the 
> Longbottoms? Is there any questions that they must learn to 
> remember/forget? That Frank and his wife must be restored to the 
> world of the living for the sake of the theme?

The future-Eileen nods. That still seems sound. Even from a mechanical 
POV, doesn't it seem a little odd that the Longbottoms are still 
alive? JKR insists that Lily and James aren't coming back, because 
no-one comes back from death. But from fifteen years of 
magically-induced insanity? Now, that's possible. Now, JKR may have 
put Frank and his unnamed wife in this state for dramatic effect. 
After all, as Harry notes, it puts Neville in a worse emotional 
situation that said Harry. But, if so, one will leave the book with 
the Longbottoms still representing all the memory problems of the 
Potterverse. It would make so much more sense if they didn't die 
because, like everything else in the book, they will be rewakened.

> But that's too good to be true, you say. Well.... What do we know 
> about these "unburials," these acts of remembrance? That they come 

at 
> a price. That they're painful, and yet always productive. Frank 
> revived will, I have no doubt, remember something, perhaps making it 
> redundant and un-bangy to have a secondary 
Nevile-remembers-something 
> plot, btw. <Smiles at memory-charmers.>

Ah yes, perhaps there's something in this MATCHING ARMCHAIR after all, 
or in Tabouli's "Neville is just an ordinary kid with a traumatic but 
unwitnessed past who is clumsy, forgetful, and under a lot of stress."

It all comes down to Frank, you see. Revived, who is Frank Longbottom? 
What did he do? What will he do? What is his function in the story?

> 
> But, what ends a revenge, what puts a stop to that cliche: the never 
> ending cycle of violence? Sacrifice, that's what. From the dawn of 
> human history, it has been understood that sacrifice has this role. 
> Some civilizations try to pawn it off on the old guy, or the little 
> kid. Some see it as symbolic. Others think it's going far enough to 
> sacrifice your possessions. And then, there's a long history of 

self-
> sacrifice, from the Livian hero who flung himself into a bottomless 
> pit for Rome's sake, to Christ's crucifixion, to Ron's Chess Game in 
> PS/SS.
> 
> What do you want to bet that Neville shall eventually be tortured by 
> Cruciatus for a secret? It fulfills two generational parallels. 
> Frank/Neville, connecting the father and son in a way that Gran has 
> not envisioned, and Peter/Neville, both under pressure by Voldemort. 
> 
> And it fulfills the need for sacrifice. 
> 
> Elkins, it would not suit you if Neville killed for his parents' 
> sake, what if Neville was to die for his parents' sake? And that 
> would be, come to think of it, a mirror of Lily's sacrifice for 
>Harry.

I still like the above, but I wonder...

You see, Frank had a rather intriguing life. He was an auror, and 
extremely popular, but he managed to eclipse these accomplishments by 
being tortured by DEs to discover where Voldemort was.

Time after time, listies have pointed out that the DEs were probably 
wrong. Frank had absolutely no knowledge of where Voldemort was. How 
could he? He didn't divulge the information because he didn't know it. 
It's perfectly rational, but I don't buy it.

In a world where Peter is Scabbers, I refuse to believe that JKR sets 
up this fascinating possibility that Frank knew something, something 
that could still influence the plot as a complete red herring. It's 
well, as one my masters taught me when I was a young padawan learner, 
not BIG BANGY. If JKR passes up on this chance, I will be very 
disappointed. If Frank is to wake up, and my reasons for that 
assumption are above, he should do something other than drink tea with 
Moody while catching up on the last 15 years' news and gossip. 

Well, what could he do? There is this BIG BANGISH part of me which 
right now can see the scene. Mrs. Lestrange is torturing poor Neville 
with cruciatus.  "Now, where did I see this before?" says the evil 
Mrs. Lestrange, her heavy-lidded eyes glinting with pure malice. "It 
seems I'll deal with you as I did your parents." Then, of course, 
suddenly ressurected Frank comes out of nowhere, his wand in hand, 
showing off what an auror can do (which admittedly needs showing since 
so far they seem very susceptible to ambushes, nose injuries, Imperius 
etc.)

But, err, I don't know. 

What if Frank and Mrs. Lestrange were to finish each other off? The 
expression "Let the dead bury the dead" comes to mind. :-)

Back to more serious speculation, what if it was Frank who was to 
sacrifice himself for Neville, thereby repeating the parent 
sacrificing themselves for their child theme (the opposite of 
patricide), and winding up Neville's obligations "burying the dead"?

Especially, if as we like to think, Frank wasn't exactly the bloody 
boring saint James Potter apparently was. 

* * * * * * * * *

"Well, Avery, lets call it day," says Eileen. I'm way too tired to 
think anymore about this...." Her voice trails off as she sees Avery's 
face. He looks frozen with horror. Before Eileen realizes what is 
happening, she feels cords around her legs and arms, and losing her 
balance falls to the ground. Managing to get into a sitting position, 
she sees a wand pointed straight at her and the similarly bound Avery. 
The wizard holding the wand is a stranger. He is tall and very good 
looking. His skin is tanned, his hair perfectly in place, and Eileen 
could swear that his teeth sparkle. Under his robes seem to be 
rippling muscles. And yet, there is something familiar about him.

"Who are you?" gasps Eileen.

"My name is Neville Longbottom, auror extraordinaire," says the 
paragon. 

For a second, Eileen's mind spins. Then it clicks. Somehow, all this 
talk of Super!Neville has conjured the man himself. 

"You obviously aren't a Death Eater," says Super!Neville with a 
condescending smile. With a swish of his wand, Eileen's cords fly off. 
"You should be careful keeping such woeful company."

"What are you planning to do to Avery?" asks Eileen nervously. 

"I have come to avenge the honour of the Longbottoms," says Neville. 
"A Longbottom does not forget the past so easily, or had you 
forgotten, Avery?"

Avery, as expected, begins to sob. 

"So," says Eileen, desperately trying to think of a way out. "So, did 
you marry Ginny?"

A look of amazement comes into Neville's face. "Ginny? No, no. I'm 
married to Cho Chang, didn't you know? Ginny was a nice girl, of 
course, but where does niceness rank? Did Godric Gryffindor value 
niceness? No! Cho was the only girl who could really be a match for 
me. Smart, a capital quidditch player, good looking, nice - yes, she 
is nice - all around perfect. We have two sons now called, of course," 
he smiled delightfully here, "Frank and Cedric. Frank's just finished 
his first year at Hogwarts. To tell you the truth, he basically won 
the House Cup for Gryffindor, with all those points he racked up. I 
was so proud. The House Cup is about the most important thing in one's 
Hogwarts life, of course."

"Did you always think so?"

A shadow crosses Super!Neville's face. "I'd rather not remember my 
first years at Hogwarts. I was a very different and foolish child in 
those days. Oh well, enough of this. I must not forget my purpose. 
>From now on, let my thoughts be bloody or nothing worth!" With a wave 
of a wand, the cords fall from Avery as well. Neville takes a wand 
from his pocket and throws it to Avery. 

"It wouldn't be heroic and chivalrous of me not to duel you man to man 
on an even chance," says Neville. And, then Neville bows. 

Avery looks as if he is contemplating escape, but stands his ground.

"You should know," says Neville, "just as a matter of fairness, of 
course, that no living man can kill me."

One never knows when inspiration will strike. After months of silent 
sulking, Avery opens his month, and wonder of wonders, cries out in 
loud voice, "But no living man am I! You look upon a theory, Avery the 
Fourth Man, the child of Elkins' imagination. And I will smite you 
with my wand if you do not withdraw."

For a moment, Super!Neville looks a little disturbed. But suddenly, he 
cries "Expelliramus!" In the twinkling of an eye, Avery blocks the 
curse. Those demonic Voldemort powers sure look good. Super!Neville is 
enraged. "Resist any further, Avery and I will not kill you in fair 
and open duel. I will bear you away to Azkaban where you will become a 
wraith of your former self."

"Do as you will!" says Avery proudly. So intent in his wrath is 
Super!Neville on the man before him that he has forgotten Eileen 
crouched down on the ground. She is shaking and seems to have lost 
control over her limbs. But, seeing Avery so brave, so defiant, a 
dogged look in his beautiful brown eyes, she resolves that he will not 
die without her aid. Super!Neville raises his wand to finish Avery off 
with Avada Kedavra.

But in that moment, he drops his wand, and falls forward. For Eileen 
had crept up behind, and jabbed him with a Fourth Man kayak paddle. 
Avery cried "Avada Kedavra!" and then fell forward on his vanquished 
enemy. The paddle mets away in smoke. No other weapon could have 
killed the evil Neville, and glad would she who crafted it long ago 
have been to know its fate, for Super!Neville had always been her 
greatest foe.

Some hours later, Elkins finds Eileen wandering miserably along the 
shores of Theory Bay. "It's not always bad to be a sycophant," says 
Eileen, tears in her eyes. "I was overlooked just now by... But I 
can't talk about it. Are you going to bury me, Elkins?"

Eileen Brandybuck