Neville Longbottom

[ftah3]

No: HPFGUIDX 40452

Clareysage wrote:
> it always seems to me as if Neville 
is being
> set up as a dunce to surprise us all and give him room to develop - 
ie basic
> motivations are just as important as cleverness.

You know, this is my inclination as well.  I like your speculation 
that Neville's aptitude for herbology foreshadows him discovering 
something important like a cure for his parents' (possibly implied) 
insanity, too.  

Also, I think that the fact that he's less a dunce/less
sniveling than he appears might be supported by the fact that he not 
only had the guts to stand up to Harry/Ron/Hermione at the end of 
SS/PS but also that he had the gumption to ask Ginny to the dance in 
GoF.  

Incidentally, I also think that his standing up to HRH in SS/PS 
dissociates him from a parallel with Peter Pettigrew, and with 
Pettigrew's fate.  Pettigrew is described as having followed Potter, 
Black & Lupin around like a puppy, always wanting to be accepted; 
also, he grovels to those who, by association with them, will gain
him 
esteem/power (in school, the Marauders; later, Voldemort).  It was 
that habit of toadying which imho was at the root of his betrayal of 
James & Lily Potter - he switched sides *not* due to moral strength 
but due to the fact that he was such a weakling that he was
determined 
to align himself with the one he felt was most powerful.  

On the other hand, Neville has never groveled around HRH.  He doesn't 
follow them around like a puppy, either - he's around them, because 
he's in the same house, but he doesn't follow them around looking for 
approval nor acceptance (unlike, say, possibly Colin Creevy in CoS, 
who made himself such a nuisance around Harry).  

Also, when he has a moral disagreement with their actions, he stands 
up to them - he stands up to The Famous Harry Potter to protect 
Gryffindor from losing more points at the end of SS/PS!  Heck, he
even 
offers to fight them if they didn't go back to bed.  From what I've 
gleaned about Peter Pettigrew, he wouldn't have done that; actually, 
he'd probably have offered to go along with them, or gone back to bed 
himself if they told him to.

I don't actually think that Neville parallels anyone from recent 
(reign of Voldemort/death of Lily & James) history, at this point.  
Unless he parallels his own parents - if they were like him: good 
people, loyal and brave friends - in which case perhaps their fate 
would be his.  ...but I hope not, I really like Neville!

Anyhoo, really enjoying the discussion of Neville....
Mahoney