[HPforGrownups] Paralleling the past and the present

[Aloha Moira]

No: HPFGUIDX 44017

There's Nothing to It wrote a very long and
interesting post about parallels between HRH and MWPP:

>>>>> When paralleling the HRH era to the one of MWPP
it is always assumed in the dynamic that Harry
represents James, Ron is Sirius, Hermione is Remus,
Neville is Peter and Draco is Severus. But I have a
problem with some of these connections, especially the
last two.
 
>>>>> Paralleling Peter with Neville is easy and
obvious as it seems there powers and how the teachers
view them are the same however Neville is not really
part of the trio and if Ron or Hermione were a
werewolf then I can hardly see Harry asking Neville to
join then in a little illegal animagi magic.  Also
Neville happens to have a backbone, even though he
doesn't show it much it is there, and Peter clearly
does  not.  I prefer to parallel Neville with Remus. 
Both probably terrified of going to Hogwarts and
latching on to the first person that shows them
kindness, Sirius or James for Remus and Hermione for 
Neville.  And, now here's where I like my theory, both
Remus and Neville bring with them to Hogwarts a
terrifically bangy secret that they will go to any
lengths to hide. (and a big snip of the rest of the
post) <<<<<

You made a really interesting point, however, I think
there is too much other evidence of the parallel
between Neville and Peter. As students (not
necessarily as adults, though), they're both chubby
(physical similarity), both less-than-powerful, and
both have significant difficulty standing up to their
peers, teachers etc. I know Neville *does* in SS/PS,
but he seems to have a tough time doing it, doesn't
he? They both also have relatively "weak"
personalities, compared to the rest of their mates.

Peter may not have been very good friends with *all*
of the Marauders, as Neville appears to be better
friends with Hermione, certainly, than he is with Ron
and Harry; there's really no canon that tells us they
were extremely close aside from the Animagi
transformations and the Marauders Map. And in terms of
those: when it came to the Animagi transformations, it
was necessary to have a third Anmagus. James and
Sirius needed to become large animals to keep Remus in
line (and just barely, at that, Sirius says in PoA how
many close calls there were). But it was also
necessary to have a smaller creature to deactivate the
Whomping Willow. If Hermione *was* a werewolf, as
you've used as a parallel, and Harry and Ron needed a
third person to join them, I am sure they would ask
Neville, there's really nobody else they know and
could trust.

Of course, there are differences between Neville and
Peter, most notably Neville's courage (although we
don't really know how courageous/noncourageous Peter
was or may be in the future. I think it can be assumed
that he was in Gryffindor with the other Marauders,
there must have been some reason to put him there).
Personally, I think that JKR is going to use this
initial similarity and minor, but important,
difference to show how our decisions can affect the
course of our lives; Neville is going to take the
opposite path that Peter did, and this may (or may
not) be a real turning point for the Light Side. He
may even save Harry's life, just the opposite of what
Peter did for James. 

I find it difficult to believe, as some do, that
Neville will turn Dark; I think he has too much
baggage related to Dark Wizards (ie, for what they did
to his parents) to join them, even if Voldemort tempts
him in the same way he tempted Wormtail. And I do
think that this will be likely in future books.

Anyway, just wanted to share my thoughts on why
Neville/Peter *is* a valid parallel... but please,
feel free to disagree with me more... :)

~ Aloha

=====
Check out my fics at:
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http://www.thedarkarts.org/authors/amoira/AG.html
(snippets reside in the Cookie Jar, filks can be found at Rhythm&Rhyme, all at www.fictionalley.org !)

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