Neville in Herbology (was sig. of Neville)

[Star Opal]

No: HPFGUIDX 50457

Kathy wrote:
>I say this because in
>SS/PS (chapter 13) Neville questions his worthiness to be a
>Gryffindor (similar to Harry questioning the Sorting Hat in CoS).
>However, I had been wondering the same thing.  Gryffindors are
>characterized by bravery and courage, hence the Lion.  Neville is
>neither courageous nor brave.  Sure, he stood up to HRH and later
>helped Ron by taking on both Crabbe and Goyle, but he still seemed
>to me to be cowardly at heart.  Upon further reflection, however, I
>think there is more to Neville than meets the eye.
...
>This is just speculation (or hope), on my part, but I have a
>feeling that Neville is going to turn out to be more than a bumbling
>idiot in the end.

Actually, if you really think of it Neville, in his own way, is VERY 
courageous and brave. Let's start off with his background. Whether or not he 
remembers what happened to his parents (as seems to be a bit of debate here) 
he visits his parents at St. Mungo's during holidays (GoF ch 30). He is 
raised by his grandmother, who is, no doubt, very protective of him, so he's 
probably over sheltered. He may have even been treated differently growing 
up, because of his parents. All of these things, and probably more as we 
read the following books, make him the way he is. That's  a lot of emotional 
baggage for a 11-14 year old.

Standing up to HRH is pretty big actually. He's not just standing up to 
fellow Gryffindors, he's standing up to people who've been nice to him and 
helped him out (P/SS ch 13). Not just that, but he's standing up to Harry, 
thee Harry Potter. While he may not treat Harry like Colin Creevy does, he's 
still heard all about 'The Boy Who Lived'. McGonagall says, " - every child 
in our world will know his name!" (P/SS ch 1)

And when he fights at the Quidditch match. Yes, Neville hesitated, but once 
he's in it, he's fighting BOTH Crabbe and Goyle:

"- she didn't even notice Malfoy and Ron rolling around under her seat, or 
the scuffles or yelps coming from the whirl of fists that was Neville, 
Crabbe, and Goyle."
"'...and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle! He's still out cold but 
Madame Pomfrey says he'll be all right - talk about showing Slytherin!'"- 
P/SS ch 13

The second one also implicates that Neville held his own pretty well "talk 
about showing Slytherin!" Ron shouts. If Neville would have just got knocked 
out and didn't do any damage to Crabbe and Goyle, I don't think Ron would 
have been so enthusiastic through the whole thing. He would have said 
something more like, "I gave Malfoy a black eye, but Neville tried to take 
on Crabbe and Goyle, he got stomped of course - but at least Malfoy got 
his!"

So Neville got over his hesitation, helped Ron, and did well enough against 
Draco's gorillas to earn a, "talk about showing Slytherin!" after his part 
in the fight is mentioned.

Also in P/SS Neville leaves Gryffindor after hours to warn Harry and 
Hermione about Malfoy. This is after the first time he went out with the 
trio where he had to run from Filch, Mrs. Norris, Peeves, and, of course, 
Fluffy. Not to mention he knew that he could have been caught. Can you 
imagine what it took for Neville to do that? Only to end up thinking he did 
it for nothing, and getting detention, and get another 50 points taken from 
Gryffindor, AND consequently be shunned.

Speaking of his detention, while Neville "panics" when Malfoy scares him, at 
least he had the presence of mind to remember to send up sparks. When Harry 
and Draco run into Quirrellmort, Draco screams and runs off and Harry is 
petrified with fear. Mind you its understandable and I'm not trashing Draco 
or Harry, but still Neville remembered (Hey, he remembered something!) to 
send up the signal.

This is just the first book and already we see Neville growing. He goes from 
complete push over, to deciding to help out in a fight, to standing up to 
three people (going back to my first mention) and earning 10 points for his 
house.

By the time we get to GoF he's grown enough to have the courage to ask 
Hermione to go to the Yule Ball with him. Then after he's turned down he 
still asks Ginny. He wasn't a champion and he was a forth year, he could go 
without a date, if he was too afraid of rejection he didn't have to try 
again, but he did. (ch 22)

Also in GoF in DADA _he's_ the one that brings up Cruciatus Curses. At least 
_I_ think that show mental bravery. After class he's disturbed, BUT he 
doesn't cry.(ch 14) In P/SS Neville cries or looks like he is going to.

I think these events show that he is growing, its just not very noticeable 
because he's in the background most of the time.

Think on this: For four years Harry and Neville have been going to school 
together, and only by looking into the Pensieve does Harry find out about 
the Longbottoms. Neville must be very strong to keep all this stuff about 
his parents inside. He also never seeks pity or excuses his short comings 
with his situation.

You know I've always wondered if this is one of the reasons Neville is 
friendly towards Harry. Really they aren't that different, parent wise, both 
lost their parents to DEs (one physically, one mentally). Neville, unlike 
Harry, knows both stories. Perhaps that could be another reason he gets so 
upset at Draco during the Quidditch match in P/SS:

"'It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no 
parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money - you should be on 
the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains.'
Neville went bright red but turned in his seat to face Malfoy.
'I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy,' he stammered." - P/SS ch 13

Its hard to say for sure since Draco says it all together, but I think its 
worth considering.

So that's why I'm particularly amazed by Neville when Harry ditches him to 
go to Hogsmeade (PoA ch 14). He never brings it up to Harry. Never says 
anything to Harry, we don't even see him again till ch 16 IIRC. Could be 
he's just not confrontational, but he could have been angry at Harry and 
blown up with something like, 'Well at least you don't have to see your 
parents in a sanitarium!' It would be terribly un-Neville, I admit.

As far as magical ability goes, Herbology we know he's good at (as has been 
said by others), and while I never thought of it before I came here, there 
is that mysterious thing about melting cauldrons. Hmm.

Yes Neville doesn't really excel in his subjects, except for Herbology. Yes 
he's clumsy, accident prone, and quiet. But he's stronger and braver then 
most give him credit for IMHO.

I didn't mean this as some sort of attack, but I guess I felt he needed 
defending. I too hope he gets a bigger part, but I have this ugly feeling 
he's going to die at the end of 5 or during 6.

Star Opal
who refers to the US paperback and isn't so sure Trevor the toad is all he 
seems