Neville's talent now revealed in the next book?, Neville stuff in general

[greatlit2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 87401

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "crisagi1" <cristina at p...> 
wrote:
> Is it just me or did anyone else catch the fact that Neville has 
> been using his dad's wand for the past five years?  We all read 
what 
> happend with Harry when he went to Olivander's to choose his 
wand.  
> We know that wizards/witched can use each other's wands in 
> emergencies, but what about all the time?  Maybe the reason why 
> Neville has been doing so poorly thus far is because he never had 
> a "wand choose him".  His ego of course by now is pretty much 
shot, 
> but what if now when he get's his own wand, his powers channel 
more 
> effectively.  Would it be enough to get his self esteem up?  More 
on 
> equal footing with the others? What do you think of the theory?  
> 
> Crissy

Crissy, I think you've made a good point. Neville's family is so 
caught up in the past, that they are often at a loss with him. 
Neville's grandmother doesn't understand him, I'm afraid. But not in 
the same way that the Dursleys don't understand Harry. The Dursleys 
think Harry is weird, while Mrs. Longbottom thinks that something is 
wrong with Neville because he is not like his father Frank. I think 
that JKR did a good thing for the quality of the books by portraying 
a family like the Longbottoms, who are neither as "perfect" as the 
Weasleys nor as bad as the Blacks. Instead, they are good, loving 
people who just don't understand what a child needs. This is a 
difficult situation for Neville, for he cannot simply escape like 
Sirius did and the way Harry does at the end of every summer. 
Neville cannot simply sever ties with people he loves. And I have no 
doubt that Neville's grandmother loves him (JKR has carefully shown 
this at all times) but she cannot relate to him. This includes the 
little things, like Neville's great-uncle buying him a toad (and 
Hagrid had told Harry that toads were not cool). By giving him 
Frank's wand, I think that the grandmother wanted him to carry on 
the family tradition. But, in the final books, I think Neville will 
assert himself, and prove that he is more than Frank's son. I think 
his grandmother will recognize his gifts and change her attitude.

Harry has never had to live in his parents' shadow, (we know next to 
nothing about Lily, and we all know that Harry is better than James 
anyday ;) ) so his self-confidence hasn't been shattered by 
unrealistic expectations. Neville has had to live with stories of 
his parents, I'm guessing. His image of them must be glorified in 
the same way that Harry's image of James was prior to "Snape's Worst 
Memory". As Neville moves away from the past,  I think he will be a 
much better wizard. 

greatlit2003
can't wait to learn more about Trevor the toad