Concern for Neville

[ruben at satec.es]

No: HPFGUIDX 36507

Finwitch just said:
> All Neville's problems have to do with forgetting something - there's 
> nothing *else* wrong with him - only that he can't remember...

He's also quite clumsy. But then, so am I :-)

Now seriously - a botched memory charm would be a good explanation to his
behaviour. It's been used quite convincingly by some fanfic authors, too.
Not that it matters here.

The reasons why he got the charm aren't that clear to me - the most obvious reason
would be to help him get over the trauma of the DE attack on his parents.
But just think - he visits his parents regularly and we assume he knows what
happened to them. It wouldn't have been *right* keeping that from him.
If you want to spare a small child some of the  suffering, but don't really
want him to *forget*, wouldn't you use a less definitive method? Such as we
do in 'real' life without magic?

Any other ideas? Did something else happen, which he absolutely *had* to forget?
Did some DE put the charm on him so he wouldn't remember *something*?
They wouldn't have felt compelled to be overly careful about it.
If he ever gets his memory back - will we learn something important?

Some other thoughts: Neville's innate magic ability took quite long to surface,
and it only appeared under danger of death. Could a bungled memory charm have
affected his ability to react with spontaneous magic to adverse situations?
Or maybe the innate degree of magic is not the same for everyone? It was quite
evident in Harry's case...

Last but not least, why do people think Neville is weak? He's too shy,
owing to his memory problems, but I see him as a strong character once
he gets over that. And he has an excellent reason to oppose Voldemort -
he knows first hand the kind of world Voldemort wants.

Elirtai, who doesn't think Neville will ever become a DE.