OOP: Neville's Gran

[Cohen, Meg]

No: HPFGUIDX 64944

Plain, ordinary, non-spoiler containing first line....







Lot's of people have been posting about Neville's Grandmother being
deliberately mean to him, and hypothesizing that as a reason why he's not
been particularly successful at magic up till this point.

I think y'all are being a little hard on the poor woman.  Look at it from
her perspective.  We know she's quite old.  I'm at work, so I can't cite
exactly, but in OOP we find out that one of the Ministry Witches proctoring
the OWLS is a friend of Neville's Gran, and then later find out that she was
at Dumbledore's Transfiguration OWL.  That's not conclusive by any means,
because one can certainly be friends with someone from an older generation,
but it leads me to believe that she's significantly older than the other
students' parents.

Her son is an Auror at a time when the Dark Lord is at his most powerful,
and also belongs to an organization dedicated to fighting Lord Thingy.
Certainly stressful for his mother.  Then, after Voldemort is killed and the
wizarding community thinks they're safe (I forget what book this is in, I
think GoF, but it says that the Longbottoms were tortured because the DEs
thought they knew of LVs whereabouts after the failed AK on Harry), her son
and daughter-in-law are tortured to the point of madness by DEs, and she's
left with Neville to raise.  Additionally, and this is conjecture on my
part, but I think it's educated conjecture, Frank Longbottom was either her
only child, or all the others have died or been killed by then also (Neville
frequently refers to Great-Aunts and Great-Uncles, but never any Aunts or
Uncles (or cousins, for that matter) which certainly implies that there are
no family members from his parents' generation around.

So, we have an older woman who's raised her family, dealt with the stress of
the rise to power of LV, had a son tortured to the point of madness, has no
other living children (for whatever reason), and suddenly has to become a
parent to a toddler again.

Not nice.  Not pleasant, as Crouch/Moody would say.

So, she raises Neville the best way she knows, but keep in mind she's still
grieving for her son, and it's not even like a death that is final.  Her son
still lives; he's as lost to her as if he were dead, but he's not and she
has to continue to care for him, as well.  Dumbledore says that Neville
visits his parents with his Grandmother during the holidays, but my guess is
that she visits during the school year, as well; regardless, at the minimum
there has to be SOME action on her part regarding her son and
daughter-in-law, even if it's just paying the hospital bills.

Yes, she does talk about how Neville isn't as powerful a wizard as his
father, and she as him use his father's old wand rather than buying him a
new one.  I think, though, those are not done maliciously, but out of a real
grief for the son that she's lost. (though I do like the theory that she
knew of the prophecy and decided to make Neville seem more bumbling than  he
actually is to protect him).  Just as Sirius was trying to see James in
Harry, Neville's Gran is trying to see Frank in Neville.

Also, I don't think she realizes what affect her actions may be having on
Neville.  We have several instances where she's portrayed as being very
proud of her family (the scene in St. Mungoes where she tells Neville not to
be ashamed of his family, a scene in GoF where Neville says she'd want him
to enter the tournament to hold up the family honor).  I think she may view
giving Neville his father's wand as a positive action -- a wand is a wizards
most powerful, and personal, tool.  We know his father was a powerful wizard
(GoF), we can, I think, infer from her actions that she loved him dearly.
Isn't it possible that she views it as a great honor for Neville to use his
father's wand?  And, let's be honest - if Olivander had offered Harry the
choice of using James's wand or picking his own, what do you think Harry
would've done?

Are Neville's circumstances sad?  Yes.  Does Neville deserve better?  Of
course he does.  But I think his Gran's life is equally sad, and that her
actions, while detrimental, aren't deliberately malicious.  I think she's
just a woman who's had an awful lot to deal with in her life.

Incidentally, I grow more and more impressed with Neville.  Two scenes from
GoF stick in my mind.  The first is in the beginning of the book, when
Seamus is saying that his mother didn't want him to come back, and Neville,
very quietly and simply, but also very firmly, states that his family
believes Dumbledore (and Harry).  He doesn't make a big deal about it, but
it's also obvious that this is a firm belief that nothing will change.  The
second is, of course, the scene in St Mungos.  To have 4 of your friends
suddenly discover the secret you've been hiding for 4 years is terrible, but
he handles it with dignity.  And then at the end when his mother gives him
the gum wrapper, and his grandmother is, despite her words, if not ashamed
of this then at least not particularly sympathetic of it, but Neville simply
takes it, says, "Thanks, Mum" and puts it in his pocket.  The boy has a
dignity about him that is extraordinary.

Meg Cohen