Neville's role (Was: Re: Neville: Memory, History, Legacy, Power (LONG!))

[booklovinggirl]

No: HPFGUIDX 38476

Abigail:
> And I think it's a foregone conclusion that, whatever makes Neville 
so 
> forgetfull, we will eventually see a reversal in his situation.  
There has to 
> be a payoff.  I just don't equate becoming powerful with using that 
power
>  - just knowing that you could use it is enough.  This is the kind 
of vibe 
> that people get from Lupin.  In an entire book he never raises his 
voice, 
> never loses his temper except once at the shrieking shack and even 
then 
> he's trying to be reasonable by pointing out to Snape that he is 
letting a 
> schoolboy grudge decide a man's fate.  And yet, he's a werewolf, 
he's a 
> highly qualified DADA teacher, and he just exudes power.  Wouldn't 
that 
> be a neat twist?  In our heart of hearts we're all wondering if 
Neville isn't 
> following in Peter's footsteps - JKR makes the allusion herself - 
wouldn't 
> it be great if he turned out to be the new Lupin?

Indeed, this is an interesting connection between Marauder and 
current times, and since I firmly believe that Harry's days are 
mirroring James's, I have to now write a post on this.

While some connections are easy to see, where does Neville fit in? 
I'm still trying to puzzle it out. Is he Pettigrew, is he Lupin, or 
is he someone else altogether?

Neville fears Snape more than anything. Why is this? Other kids 
raised in the WW fear banshees, mummies, disembodied hands-but 
Neville, who has been raised in a very traditional family fears 
Snape. And fear of a person is something very significant.

Most people believe this comes from Snape's cruelty to Neville. I 
think this goes deeper. Snape is bitter, unfair, cruel, and haunted 
by his past.

Elkins:
> Neville, on the other hand, I tend to read as a representation
> of the opposing archetype: the prince renunciate, the abdicator or 
> the apostate.

<snip>

> And he's running away from it just as fast as he can.  His 
> story, the coming of age story that accompanies Neville's type, 
> is one of renunciation, rather than of acceptance, of "coming 
> into ones own" by finding the strength to *reject* the legacy 
> and to forge instead a new destiny of ones own choosing.

Neville is under a memory charm, and when it's broken, he might not 
embrace his lost past. Snape is haunted by his past, and Neville will 
(unless JKR plans to make him into some sort of *shudder* Super-
Auror) not embrace his past. He's been pushed away from his past by 
whoever cast the charm. He'll either keep running from it or face and 
renounce it. (Provided he doesn't become a Super-Auror)

It is this choice and what methods he uses to make this choice that 
will determine who he is.

-Katherine