TBAY: Oh, What a Tangled Web - Generational Parallels

[abigailnus]

No: HPFGUIDX 78098

Abigail's footfalls echo in the dusty halls of the Canon Museum.  
Galleries stretch in every direction, completely deserted.  
Everyone, it seems, is having too much fun frolicking on the 
beach, collecting driftwood, buying souvenirs and generally 
doing summer things.  Abigail can't blame them.  The Canon 
Museum is good for a field trip now and then, but it can be a 
little dry.  Still, she's heard a great deal about this new exhibit.  
Now if she could only find it.  She squints at the grubby piece 
of paper she picked up at the information desk.  It is 
completely blank.

"Oh, for heaven's sake."  Abigail says, and pulls out her wand.  
She touches it to the paper and recites "I solemnly swear that 
I am up to no good."  

Lines begin to flow and connect, forming a map of the museum.  
Unfortunately, this map only serves to increase Abigail's 
confusion.  She stares at it for a few minutes, turning it this way 
and the other, when she notices that there seems to be a dot 
moving in her direction.  She squints at the tiny lettering, trying 
to read the newcomer's name.

"Dicentra?"  She calls out.  "Is that you?"

"Hello, Abigail."  Dicentra replies.  She's wearing work clothes 
and is covered in dust.  "I'm just here putting up a display on 
The Role of Writing In the Series.  Wanna come see?"

"I've seen it."  Abigail says.  "It's very good, but I'm looking for the 
new wing.  You know?  The Stubby Boardman Modern Art Wing?"

Dicentra tries, and fails, to conceal her distaste.  "Why would 
you want to go there?  It's all weird installations that no one 
understands.  I hear one of their latest acquisitions is a copy of 
Captain Cindy's big paddle made of cheese.  It's called 'Plastic 
Crouch Extravaganza 13'."

"Well, if you must know."  Abigail replies.  "George made me 
promise to go take a look.  Apparently he has a piece there."

"I didn't know George dabbled in the arts."  

"He's quite the renaissance man, for an anthropomorphic 
personification, isn't he?"  Abigail says.  "Shall we go see?"

Dicentra assents, and leads the way.  Unlike the rest of the 
Canon Museum, the modern art wing is all glass and high 
ceilings.  Beams of sunlight fall from the skylights overhead 
and illuminate canvases, sculptures, and things that Abigail 
can only describe as 'installations'.  

"I wonder what that's supposed to represent?"  She asks, 
pointing at a pile of bricks and timber in the corner of a gallery.

Dicentra frowns.  "I think those are the building materials that 
have gone missing from the new fifth floor of the museum.  
I'll have to tell the director where they are.  I think George's 
piece is in the next gallery..."  She looks up to see Abigail 
staring, horror-struck, at a large canvas hanging on the far wall.

"My God."  Abigail whispers.  "What is that thing?"

There's very little that offensive about the canvas, in 
Dicentra's opinion.  It is comprised of five straight lines.  
Looking closer, Dicentra can see that each line is in fact two 
separate, differently shaded lines, running parallel to each 
other.  "It says in my brochure that this is..."  She looks up.  
"Oh, dear."

"Generational Parallels 1."  Abigail reads tonelessly from the 
plaque on the wall.  "Look at the list of artists!  Nearly 
everyone on the list contributed to this piece at one point 
or another."

She walks up to the canvas.  From this close, she can see that 
each line has a name written on it in silver letters.  "It's the 
Marauders plus Snape."  She says.  "Compared to the Trio plus 
Neville plus Draco."

"Let me guess."  Dicentra says.  "Harry equals James, Ron 
equals Sirius, Hermione equals Lupin, Neville equals Peter and 
Draco equal Snape."

"It's just so..."  Abigail begins to say.  "So... so wrong!"  She 
turns her back to the canvas and strides off, looking determined.  
"Well, I won't stand for it.  *Alohomora!*"  A door bearing the 
sign "Museum Staff Only" bursts open in front of her.  Dicentra 
follows in Abigail's wake, and finds herself in yet another 
high-ceilinged, well-lit room.  This one, however, is 
unmistakably a workshop.  Blank and half-painted canvasses 
are ranged against the walls.  Boxes of paints and crayons are 
stored on shelves.  In a corner of the room are planks of wood 
and lengths of metal.  

"I think for this we require a three-dimensional medium."  
Abigail waves her wand and cries "Accio!" and several pipes and 
a welding torch fly towards her.  She procures a stand for her 
new piece, and proceeds to stand six pipes in a circle and weld 
them to the base.

"Which of those is meant to represent the Trio?"  Dicentra asks.

"None."  Abigail replies.  "These pipes represent the Marauders 
plus Snape plus Lily."  With a flick of a wand, she makes names 
appear on each pipe.  "It makes no sense to draw generational 
parallels from the children to the parents.  Parents don't parallel 
their children.  We'll start with the past, and see how the future 
echoes it."

She approaches the pipe labeled 'James Potter'.  "So, who 
parallels James?"

"That's easy."  Dicentra answers, making herself comfortable on 
a worktable.  "Harry."

"Yes."  Abigail says, picking up a pipe and labeling it 'Harry Potter'.  
She begins to weld the two pipes together at the base.  "And no."  
A short way up, she twists the Harry pipe away from the James pipe.  
"The similarities between Harry and James are only superficial."

"They look alike."  Dicentra offers.

Abigail snorts.  "If that's not superficial, I don't know what is.  
They are also both athletes - gifted Quidditch players, but I 
think that's deceptive.  Look at their roles on the team.  James 
was a Chaser [1], Harry is a Seeker.  I can't imagine two positions 
more unalike.  The Seeker is an integral part of the team, but at 
the same time separate from the rest of the players.  His 
interaction with other players is limited to avoiding Bludgers 
and watching his opposite number.  He may be crucial to 
winning the game, but he has only one purpose and one useful 
moment.  The Chaser, on the other hand, is constantly in the 
thick of things.  He scores points for the team, and is in 
constant interaction with the other players - he passes and 
receives the Quaffle from his fellow Chasers, is defended and 
targeted by Beaters, and has to get past the Keeper.  The 
Chaser's function exists only while the Seeker is inactive, 
searching for the Snitch, and once the Seeker performs his 
task, the Chaser has no further purpose."

"Besides,"  Abigail says, picking up another pipe.  "Harry and 
James' reactions to the sport of Quidditch and their roles as 
members of the Gryffindor team couldn't be more different.  
Harry is a preternaturally gifted Quidditch player, and he 
knows it.  I don't mean that he's arrogant, but rather that he 
doesn't doubt himself.  Not since his first match has Harry 
felt doubts about his ability as a flier.  He only feels nervous 
about a match in PoA when he worries that Dementors might 
affect him during play.  He never doubts himself while flying, 
and indeed Harry's reaction to flying has been described from 
day one as natural - he belongs on a broom."

"For all you know, James was just such a flyer."  Dicentra 
comments.  "Sirius even says that Harry flies as well as James."

"True, but I'm not talking about skill."  Abigail says.  "I'm 
talking about the terms in which Harry thinks about his abilities.  
Harry's skill on a broomstick doesn't translate to arrogance but 
rather the opposite.  Quidditch is such an ingrained part of 
Harry that he takes it for granted.  He neither questions his 
skill not takes pride in it.  Unlike James, who obviously had 
Quidditch on the brain at the age of fifteen."

"James had a lot less on his plate at the age of fifteen then 
Harry does."  Dicentra points out.  "But I think I see where 
you're going with this - it's rather obvious, after all.  JKR draws 
our attention to the resemblance herself."

"Indeed."  Abigail replies, and produces a brick-sized copy 
of OOP.  She opens it to chapter 31, OWLs, page 620 of the 
UK edition.  "Ron has just finished regaling Harry and 
Hermione with his victory over Ravenclaw."

-------------------------

'.... he concluded modestly, sweeping his hair back quite 
unnecessarily so that it looked interestingly windswept and 
glancing around to see whether the people nearest to them 
- a bunch of gossiping third-year Hufflepuffs - had heard 
him.  "And then, when Chambers came at me about five 
minutes later - What?" Ron asked, having stopped 
mid-sentence at the look on Harry's face.  "Why are you 
grinning?"

"I'm not," said Harry quickly, and looked down at this 
Transfiguration notes, attempting to straighten his face.  The 
truth was the Ron had just reminded Harry forcibly of another 
Gryffindor Quidditch player who had once sat rumpling his 
hair under this very tree.'

-------------------------

"Harry has once, and only once, regaled anyone with tales of 
his quick flying."  Abigail points out.  "And that was Sirius, 
who wanted to know and hadn't witnessed the First Task - 
at this point, Ron hasn't yet learned that Harry and Hermione 
weren't watching him, but he still feels the need to give them 
a play-by-play."  Abigail labels the new pipe 'Ron Weasley' 
and attaches it to the James pipe about halfway up.  "Unlike 
Harry, and much like James, Ron displays his excitement - 
and nerves - about his flying abilities.  Which, I suspect, is 
the reason JKR made him a player in the first place.  There's 
no longer any suspense when Harry plays Quidditch.  Besides, 
there's another way in which James and Ron parallel each 
other.  They are both the best friends of a pure-blood wizard 
whose home life is unbearable, and they both provide that 
friend with a surrogate home in the form of their own family."

"That would mean that Harry parallels Sirius."  Dicentra points 
out.  "But now we're getting ahead of ourselves.  There's yet 
another parallel to James that we haven't covered."  She 
summons a pipe and labels it 'Fred & George Weasley'.  

"You really believe that?"  Abigail says, frowning.  "I'm not 
crazy about OOP Fred & George, but I don't think they've ever 
reached the depths to which we saw James and Sirius sink in 
the Pensieve scene.  In fact, I might say that just as that scene 
shows Harry that his father was quite a bit like Snape 
described him, it also offers us a sharp contrast to F&G's 
behavior.  I don't think it's any accident that it is in 'Snape's 
Worst Memory' that we discover that the Twins have decided to 
escalate their pranks.  I think we're meant to be thinking about 
them, and to see the difference between them and real bullies."

"Sirius and James may have been bullies."  Dicentra says.  "But 
they were also pranksters.  We have that from McGonagal, 
Hagrid and Madam Rosemerta.  We also know that Fred and 
George inherited the Marauder's Map.  If there's a better 
indication of generational parallels, I'd like to know what it is."

Abigail nods, and takes the pipe from Dicentra.  She bends it 
into a U shape and welds one side of it to the James pipe and 
the other side to a pipe labeled 'Sirius Black'.

"There,"  she says.  "Now we don't have to decide which twin 
equals who.  Honestly, could JKR make the twins any more 
interchangeable?  Their own mother can't conceive of them 
dying apart from each other!"

"Is that it for James?"  Dicentra asks.

"Hardly."  Abigail smirks.  She picks up a new pipe and, with a 
flourish of her wand, labels it 'Draco Malfoy'.

"Both bullies."  She says thoughtfully.  "Both use as an excuse 
for their bullying an ideological disagreement - hatred of 
Muggle-borns and their friends in Draco's case, hatred of the 
Dark Arts in James' case.  Both prefer to gang up on their 
victims - note Draco's attempt on Harry at the end of OOP.  
Both enjoy the adoration of sycophantic friends."  

"You're asking for trouble with that one."  Dicentra points out.  
"What does equating James with Draco tell us about Draco's 
future?  What does it say about James?  Doesn't the fact that 
James' bullying was motivated by a hatred of the Dark Arts 
make him better then Draco?"

"That last one is a definite no."  Abigail says sternly.  "Harry 
hates the Dark Arts, and so does Ron.  Neither of them would 
even consider the kind of display that James and Sirius make of 
Snape.  As for the future... we know that James cleaned up his 
act.  He went from a boy Lily despised to the man she married, 
from treating Peter like dirt to trusting him with his life and 
that of his family.  I don't know what that tells us about Draco, 
because I think that when it comes to Draco's future, he 
parallels another character, one that we've heard of only in 
passing."

Abigail finds a rather short pipe and welds it to the Draco 
pipe.  She labels it 'Regulus Black'.  

"A while back [2], I offered the observation that,

>> My own personal view of Draco has for a long time been 
that he's the Potterverse equivalent of A.J. Soprano - the 
privileged son of a corrupt father who is simply too soft to 
successfully take over the family business. I believe, as many 
people do, that Draco will find himself unequal to the task of 
being a DE, although not necessarily for any moral reasons - 
he simply won't be able to hack it. And I also agree that in 
such a case, there's a very good chance that either Lucius or 
LV will kill him. Frankly, I don't see any way that the series 
could end without Draco being either redeemed or dead.>> 

"I think the introduction of Sirius' brother strengthens that 
possibility.  To quote Elkins [3],

>> It's just plain sad, is what it is. Draco just doesn't have 
very much in the way of strengths, while his weaknesses are 
legion. He is a coward, both in terms of his visceral response 
to immediate peril (the Unicorn-blood-swilling Quirrell in 
Book One, Buckbeak in Book Three) and in terms of his lack 
of longer-term resilience. He does not bounce back well 
from traumatic events: after being ferret-bounced by Fake 
Moody, even the mere mention of the man's *name* is 
enough to make him blanch. He can't control his emotions 
very well. He loses his temper; he speaks when it is unwise 
for him to do so; he can dish out verbal abuse, but he can't 
take it. 

Furthermore, on the two occasions when we have seen his 
behavior when he's not putting on a front for Harry and his 
friends -- the Knockturn Alley scene and the Polyjuice scene, 
both in _CoS_ -- he is sulky, petulant and whiny.>>

"Which cements the parallel in my opinion.  Draco is in no 
way his father's son.  He is whiny, demanding and thinks the 
world should be handed to him on a platter.  If he joins the 
Death Eaters, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he follows in 
Regulus' footsteps."

"James sure gets around, doesn't he."  Dicentra says drily.  
"Not bad for a guy who's had only one appearance in canon."

"Two, if you count his shade at the graveyard in GoF."  Abigail 
points out.  "But it is still impressive.  I wonder if James is a 
sort of all-encompassing father.  He echoes in every male of 
Harry's age."

"What about Neville?"  Dicentra asks.

"Neville is a special case, and we'll get to him later."  Abigail 
replies.  She moves over to the pipe labeled 'Sirius Black'.  
"Now, we've already said that within the Harry/Ron relationship, 
Harry parallels Sirius, so let's just take care of that."  She bends 
the Harry pipe towards the Sirius pipe and welds them together.  
"Now, the general assumption is that Sirius is paralleled by 
Ron, and frankly that's not entirely off-base.  In terms of 
personality, Ron and Sirius are both hot-tempered and not a 
little reckless.  They tend to act first, think second, and leave 
more cerebral activities to their companions - Hermione in 
Ron's case, Lupin in Sirius' case."

"You've just made a lot of Sirius/Lupin slashers very happy."  
Dicentra says.

"Be that as it may,"  Abigail continues, "A lot of people seem 
to think that this similarity of temperament means that Ron 
will end up perpetrating this generation's Prank.  In light of the 
revelations in OOP, and the new parallels drawn between James 
and Draco, and between Harry and Snape (but more on that 
in a minute), the situation seems less clear-cut to me.  Let's 
not forget that unlike Sirius, Ron is a prefect, and that he has 
far more potent influences around him."

Abigail picks up two more short pipes and welds them to the 
Ron pipe.  She labels them 'Bill Weasley' and "Percy Weasley'.  

"The Weasley children seem to fall into two camps.  The 
Charlie camp, which seems to include Fred, George and Ginny, 
is more rambunctious, less concerned with rules, more 
physical and has interests that lean towards the dangerous 
and irreverent.  The Bill camp, which includes Percy and Ron, 
tends to be more responsible.  They have positions of 
authority both in and out of Hogwarts, and tend to be more 
concerned about propriety.  (The two groups are also 
apparently divided by body types - Bill and his group are 
taller and thinner, whereas Charlie and his group are shorter 
and stockier.)  Of course, the lines aren't clearly drawn - 
witness Ron's skill at Quidditch and Bill's long hair and 
earring - but I think it's safe to guess that Ron has in his 
two brothers two possible role models.  I think his future 
will be more affected by these two examples then by any 
possible similarity to Sirius."

"That brings us to Lupin."  Abigail says, as she walks to the 
next standing pipe, which is labeled 'Remus Lupin'.  "I didn't 
use to see a great deal of merit in the comparisons that were 
constantly being made between Lupin and Hermione, but 
OOP won me over.  They're both prefects, both studious - in 
between OWLs, Lupin is poring over a Transfiguration 
textbook just like Hermione.  More importantly, they've both 
taken to heart the plight of the disenfranchised in the 
wizarding world.  Lupin criticizes the treatment of goblins by 
the MoM, and is the only person, child or adult, willing to 
take SPEW seriously."  Abigail labels a pipe 'Hermione Granger' 
and welds it to the Lupin pipe.

"You're forgetting something here."  Dicentra says.  "When 
Lupin talks about prejudice in the wizarding world, he speaks 
from an insider's perspective - he is a member of a 
marginalized minority.  Hermione, in contrast, is nothing but 
a well-intentioned philanthropist."

"Yes and no." Abigail replies.  "Hermione is a member of a 
marginalized group, albeit one whose segregation is more 
subtle then that of werewolves or goblins.  Hermione is 
muggle-born, and it is becoming increasingly clear that in 
many circles, including the MoM, that makes her a 
second-class witch.  I suspect that Hermione came to 
Hogwarts in a golden age for muggle-borns - one 
championed by Dumbledore.  Had she been a student under 
another headmaster, her experiences might have been 
marked with a great deal of unpleasantness.  I think there is 
an exact parallel in this case between Lupin and Hermione.  
They're both talented wizards who can 'pass' in regular 
society, but are discriminated against because their blood 
is impure."

"Alright, but there's another difference between Lupin and 
Hermione."  Dicentra says.  "Hermione speaks out.  Lupin 
remains silent.  Whether it's about the rights of house-elves, 
or werewolves, or classmates, Lupin prefers to look the other 
way.  He only speaks out against discrimination when he is 
in a group of people he knows agree with him.  We might not 
approve of Hermione's prostelizing, but at least she's trying 
to make the world a better place.  Lupin prefers to be liked, 
whereas Hermione doesn't give a damn what people think 
about her.  In fact, we might even say that Ron parallels Lupin 
- his reluctance to upbraid Fred and George for testing their 
products on first-years is reminiscent of Lupin's reluctance 
to stop Sirius and James from tormenting Snape."

"Especially when you consider the F&G/S&J parallel."  Abigail 
smiles, and welds the Ron pipe to the Lupin pipe.  "I like that.  
And in contrast, the fact the Hermione challenges the twins, 
not to mention her outburst at Malfoy in PoA, dovetails nicely 
with Lily's defense of Snape."  She welds the 'Hermione' pipe 
to a standing one, labeled 'Lily Evans Potter'.  "Plus, they're 
both muggle-borns, and rather talented witches.  And that, 
I think, is all we can say about Lily.  We know so little about 
her."

"Some people compare her to Ginny."  Dicentra suggests.  
"But that's mainly because of the red hair."

"And because they're trying to Ship Ginny and Harry."  Abigail 
points out.  "But given that we see more persuasive parallels 
to James in Ron and Draco, to parallel Ginny to Lily would be 
to suggest either Ginny/Draco or Ginny/Ron."  She shudders.  
"Which one do you find more disturbing?"

Dicentra ignores this.  "Who's next?  Snape, right?"

"Right."  Abigail moves to the next standing pipe, which is 
labeled 'Severus Snape'.  "Now, I don't think we can avoid 
paralleling Snape and Draco, because they both hold (or held) 
anti-muggle beliefs and represent Slytherin."  She welds the 
Draco pipe to the Snape pipe.  "But there I think the parallel 
ends.  Draco is a bully, Snape was a victim of bullying.  Draco 
has a group that follows him around, Snape seems to have 
been, at least in his fifth year, a loner.  Draco's parents coddle 
and indulge him, Snape's home life was, in the brief glimpse 
we saw of it, unpleasant.  Draco is wealthy and entitled, Snape 
is..."  Abigail flushes bright red.  "Oops, that's not canon, is it?  
More on that at some other time."

"In light of OOP, the real parallel is obvious."  Dicentra says.  
"Snape and Harry both come from unhappy homes.  They were 
both bullied and ostracized."

"But for different reasons."  Abigail points out.  "Just as Draco 
and James have different reasons for being bullies, Snape and 
Harry are bullied for opposite reasons - siding with Voldemort 
and siding with Dumbledore."  She welds the Harry pipe firmly 
to the Snape pipe.  "Do you know, I really hated the discovery 
that Snape had an unhappy childhood and that he was bullied 
as a boy?  I anticipated it, of course, but I hoped that I would 
be proven wrong.  It seemed such a lazy thing for JKR to do - 
try to make us feel sorry for Snape because he had a rotten 
childhood.  Then I realized that of course she wasn't trying to 
do anything of the sort - quite the opposite in fact.  Harry and 
Snape come from similar backgrounds, but one chose evil and 
other has so far chosen good.  What's important is not what 
they have in common but what sets them apart - what 
prompted them to choose different paths."  

"It is our choices that tell us who we are."  Dicentra quotes.

"Of course, there are other similarities between Harry and Snape."  
Says Abigail.  "Will you listen to this?  It's from chapter 24 of OOP, 
Occlumency, page 473 of the UK hardcover, during Harry's first 
Occlumency lesson."  She opens her book and begins to read:

---------------------

'"Then you will find yourself easy prey for the Dark Lord!" said 
Snape savagely.  "Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their 
sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad 
memories and allow themselves to be provoked so easily - 
weak people, in other words - they stand no chance against his 
powers!  He will penetrate your mind with absurd ease, Potter!"'

---------------------

Abigail closes the book with a bemused expression.  "That gave 
me quite a chuckle when I first read it.  Snape might as well be 
describing himself.  I especially liked the bit about wallowing in 
sad memories."

"Not always."  Dicentra objects.  "Snape can be cool as a 
cucumber at time.  Look at him when faced with Quirrel or 
Lockhart.  Or Lupin, for that matter.  How cool would you be if you 
were face to face with a man who almost ate you?  The most 
Moody can get out of Snape is an involuntary shudder, and he 
willingly exposes himself to Fudge as a DE.  Apart from Sirius, the 
only person who consistently gets under Snape's skin is Harry."

"And vice versa."  Abigail says, nodding.  "Harry proves himself 
capable of self-control in OOP.  He stops himself from crying out 
or reacting in any way to Umbridge's punishment.  There's a 
similar dynamic at play - Harry is attempting to control his 
emotions out of spite.  He succeeds with Umbridge, but fails with 
Snape."

"Snape looks at Harry and sees James."  Dicentra says.  "No matter 
how unlike James Harry is.  Weren't you surprised when Sirius told 
Harry so?"

"Well, it was a rather mean-spirited thing to say."  Abigail admits.

"Apart from that."  Dicentra insists.  "Even before the OOP pensieve 
scene it was obvious that Harry and James are nothing alike.  
James was obviously an extrovert - we could see that just by the 
comparison to F&G in PoA and the existence of the Marauder's 
Map.  Harry keeps himself to himself.  He doesn't show his 
emotions, he isn't demonstrative.  He doesn't laugh often or draw 
attention to himself or show his feelings.  Neither Sirius nor Snape 
seem capable of seeing this."

"Well, now that you mention it."  Abigail says thoughtfully.  "There 
is another parallel I'd like to offer, although it isn't generational.  
Have you compared the behavior of OOP Sirius to GoF Sirius?  
Don't they seem remarkably out of sync?  In GoF, Sirius was rather 
mature.  It was in fact a welcome surprise after PoA, which he 
spent mostly in a deranged stupor.  He offered Harry support and 
advice.  He behaved like a parent.  In OOP he behaves, as 
Dumbledore says, like an older brother, and not in a good way.  I've 
been wondering if it wasn't at least partly due to his surroundings."

"Well, being cooped up didn't do him any good."  Dicentra concedes.

"It's more then that, I think."  Abigail says.  "Sirius was a sullen, 
unhappy teenager in his parents' house, and lo and behold, after 
a few months living there he reverts to that sullen, unhappy 
teenager.  He admits as much, when he tells Harry that he doesn't 
like being back.  It's one of the few moments in OOP where you 
can see the mature Sirius shining through."

"What does this have to do with Snape?"  Dicentra asks.

"Snape was a sullen, unhappy teenager at Hogwarts."  Abigail 
replies.  "And then Harry shows up, looking exactly like James, and 
you're right, no matter how different father and son are, Snape 
looks at Harry and sees James.  I wonder if Hogwarts isn't a really 
bad place for Snape to spend his life, if he wouldn't have an easier 
time letting go of his hatred if he weren't constantly reminded of the 
reasons for it."

"We're off track."  Dicentra says.  "And it's getting late.  We have one 
last person left.  Mark that last pipe 'Peter Pettigrew' and let's get on 
with it.  Who are you attaching to him, Neville?"

"No!"  Abigail exclaims.  "Why is this such a pervasive perception?  
Neville is compared to Peter once, by Harry, and at the time, not 
only is Harry not in possession of all the facts regarding Peter, he 
obviously doesn't know Neville very well.  Peter is a sycophant, 
Neville is nobody's dog.  He does not follow Harry around - he seeks 
out his company once, in PoA, and that's it.  Like Peter, Neville keeps 
his own feelings well hidden - but that's a trait that Harry also 
possesses.  When faced with a difficult decision, Neville chooses an 
unpopular and possibly dangerous path - not only when he stands 
up to the Trio in PS, but when he freely admits to losing his 
passwords in PoA, or when he chooses to accompany Harry to face 
Voldemort himself at the end of OOP.  Peter is not a coward, but he 
always acts in his own self-interest, whereas Neville almost always 
acts selflessly."  

"Then who parallels Peter?"  Dicentra asks.

"Nobody, as far as I can see."  Abigail replies.  "That is, nobody 
in the present generation.  It's a bit of a pickle, in fact, and what 
do we do when we're in a pickle?"

"Quote Elkins?"  

"Exactly!"  Abigail procures a dusty copy of message #45496 [4] 
and begins to read:

>>Now that I am handed this opportunity, allow me to 
reiterate my claim that Peter Pettigrew serves as a literary double 
to Severus Snape. 

Peter Pettigrew is a fallen Gryffindor. Severus Snape is a fallen 
Slytherin. 

The two characters are "mirror images" to each other: they exhibit 
both symmetry and reversal. The mirror reflects, but it also 
reverses. The mirror always reverses that which it reflects.>>

Abigail rolls up the scroll, tucks it into a convenient pocket and, 
with what seems to Dicentra like quite an effort, bends the entire 
Peter pipe so that it runs parallel to the Snape pipe.  She stands 
back to survey her work.  "There, I think we're done."

"Not so fast!"  Dicentra cries.  "What about Neville?"

Abigail rubs her chin.  "Neville."  She picks up one last pipe and 
labels it 'Neville Longbottom'.  She walks around the 
fearsome-looking sculpture several times, testing the new pipe 
out against all the ancestor pipes.  Finally, she smiles, and 
begins welding.

Dicentra jumps off the worktable and grabs Abigail's arm.  "What 
are you doing?  You're welding Neville to Harry!  You think Neville 
parallels James, or Sirius, or Snape?"

"No."  Abigail shakes her head.  "I think he parallels Harry.  Neville 
and Harry are mirror images of each other, just like Snape and 
Peter.  The fact that they were both possible candidates in 
Trelawney's prophecy only makes it more obvious.  Take a look at 
this post by Elkins [5]:"

>>In terms of their respective coming-of-age stories, Harry and 
Neville seem to me to represent mirrored archetypes. Harry's 
story is that of the orphan boy revealed to be the heir to the throne. 
His adoptive family had denied him the knowledge of the potency 
of his legacy: his magical power, his financial wealth, the social 
status that he holds by default within the wizarding world. His 
story then, the coming of age story that accompanies his own 
particular archetype, is one of acceptance, of "coming into ones 
own" by proving oneself worthy of the legacy that one has 
inherited, and by learning to accept that legacy's negative aspects 
along with its positive ones. 

Neville, on the other hand, I tend to read as a representation of 
the opposing archetype: the prince renunciate, the abdicator or 
the apostate. Neville has always known that he is (or that he is 
"supposed to be") a wizard. He has always known that his family 
is old and proud and well-respected, that they are "pureblood." 
He has always known that his father was a kind of a war hero, 
albeit a martyred one. And he has always been aware -- far too 
well aware, I'd say -- of the role that he is expected to play 
within his society.>>

"I don't know exactly what Neville's role is going to be,"  Abigail 
continues, "but I feel certain that he and Harry are walking the 
same path.  Shall I tell you a secret?  I think Neville walked into 
McGonagal's office and told her that he too wants to be an Auror.  
I see no other reason why Neville would choose to continue his 
Potions lessons, and I find it hard to believe that JKR would 
separate Neville and Snape, especially now that we know that 
Harry and Neville's lives are so closely linked (and I don't doubt 
that Harry will continue studying Potions).  And once again, Harry 
and Neville are equal and opposite, because while Harry chooses 
to pursue the career of an Auror, which I suspect might not be 
the path his family would want him to take, Neville has probably 
had it drilled into him from birth that he should follow in his 
parents' footsteps, whether he wants to or not."

"You're just asking for a Yellow Flag [6] there.  You know that, 
right?"  Dicentra yawns hugely.  "Alright, I'll accept Neville as 
Harry's parallel.  Stand back, let's take a look at this thing."

The sculpture looks like the unwanted love-child of the 
Pompidou Center and a London Underground map.  Pipes coil 
around each other, twisting in impossible knots, their jagged 
edges rearing towards the heavens.  Dicentra frowns.

"I don't get it."  She says.  "What does it mean?  What does this... 
thing tell us about generational parallels, and more importantly, 
about the future?"

"That it isn't set in stone."  Abigail replies.  "That none of these 
children have their paths decided for them, and that we can't 
look at the past for a clear road-map to the future.  That our 
choices are the most important things about us."  She blinks 
tears out of her eyes.  "Isn't it beautiful?  I think I'll call it 'The 
Next Generational Parallels'.  Oh, Dicentra, you'll help me get it 
into the permanent collection, won't you?"

Abigail

[1] From an online chat with JKR on October 16th, 2000:

Q: What position did James play on the Gryffindor Quidditch 
team? Was it seeker like Harry, or something different? 

A: James was Chaser. 

The entire chat can be found at

http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/author/transcript2.htm

[2] Posted in message

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/51593

[3] Once again, the full post can be found at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/39083

Read the whole thing.  Trust me on this.  For that matter, just do a 
Yahoomort search on Elkins.  You won't regret it.

[4] In the interest of conserving space (ha!) I snipped most of Elkins' 
definitive list of the ways in which Snape and Peter are equal and 
opposite.  If you're interested, read the whole post.

[5] The entire post can be found at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/38398

I know I'm repeating myself, but for God's sake read the whole thing.

[6] A Yellow Flag is a TBAY term which represents a warning to the 
poster.  It is given when a theory assumes facts not in evidence - 
such as my assumption that Neville or his family want him to be an 
Auror - although in this case I don't think either is a far-fetched 
assumption.  Yellow Flags are also given when a theory requires the 
existence of a previously unheard-of spell or person.