Thoughts on Neville and Gran

[Derek Hiemforth]

No: HPFGUIDX 86550

Given the recent discussion about Neville's memory, I've been wondering
about something.  When I read the DADA scene in GoF where MoodyCrouch
uses the CC, Neville's reaction struck me as the reaction of someone
who has *experienced* it.  My first thought was that he was abused...
that someone (perhaps an ESE!Gran) had used it on him at home.

After we find out about Neville's parents, I came to think I'd been
mistaken, that Neville's reaction was solely due to knowing that it had
been used on his parents, and that Gran's rather grim image (Vulture
hat and all) had been just a red herring meant to make us attribute
Neville's reticence to her domineering rather than something more
serious.  The scene with the boggart in PoA would seem to reinforce
the idea that the concept of an ESE!Gran is a red herring.  After all,
as much as Neville fears Snape, surely it would have been his Gran
emerging from the wardrobe if she had used the CC on him.

However, after reading speculation here about Memory Charms being used
on him, I'm unsure again.  ;-)  Could someone be using Memory Charms
on him to make him forget something other than witnessing his parents'
attack?  Something like the CC being used on him?  Even if he doesn't
consciously remember it, he might recall it on some level, and therefore
react so intensely to seeing it used.  The Memory Charm concept opens
the door again for the possibility of an ESE!Gran, and I have to say
I've had a bad feeling about her ever since SS/PS.

If he didn't remember Gran using the CC on him or being a hidden DE or
whatever (because of the Memory Charms) then of course the boggart
wouldn't assume her form.  And intriguingly, in some sense, she *does*
emerge from the wardrobe, as Neville's use of Ridikkulus puts Snape in
Gran's garb...  (Snape!Gran??)

In fairness to Gran, though, another possibility may be that baby
Neville *did* see his parents Crucioed, and has traumatic memories
of it.  Rather than DEs using a Memory Charm on him to prevent him
from being a witness (since he would be of little value as a witness
anyway given his age at the time), someone else (such as a Loving!Gran)
may have used it on him to try and stop the nightmares...

On a different Neville point, I'm wondering if there's more going on
than meets the eye when Neville's mother gives him the Drooble's
Blowing Gum wrapper.  Its obvious purpose is to be a poignant moment,
but I can't help but speculate that maybe there's more to it.  Gran
makes a point of saying "she must have given you enough of them to
paper your bedroom by now."  (OotP, U.S. edition, page 515)  It could
just be the odd behavior of a tragically insane woman, but it seems
like it could be purposeful.  After all, she keeps giving him the *same*
thing over and over again.  She's given him enough of those particular
things to paper his bedroom... she's not just giving him random items
because she dimly remembers that he's her son and she should give him
something for Christmas.  It's almost as if she's trying to reach
through her madness and either give Neville something important or
tell him something important by way of these wrappers.

And Neville may sense this, on some level.  He keeps the wrapper, and
we clearly seem meant to assume he's kept all the others as well.  Gran
thinks they're rubbish, but Neville keeps them.  Of course, it may just
be sentimental: a tenuous connection to a mother he barely has.  But
I wouldn't be surprised to see those wrappers play a role in the story
before it's over.  Perhaps they represent some kind of bond of love
between mother and son that will offer Neville some protection at some
point.

Derek