Neville/Memory Charms

[naamagatus]

No: HPFGUIDX 57153

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, elfundeb <elfundeb at c...> wrote:

<tons of snippage> 

> Can Neville recover?  I don't think so.  The example of Bertha 
Jorkins suggests that Neville has little prospect of recovery.  
Breaking a Memory Charm seems to involve even more brain damage than 
casting the charm does.  
> 
> Moreover, notwithstanding that the elder Longbottoms are still 
alive, I'm not expecting them to somehow recover their memories, 
because I see Frank & Mrs. Longbottom's condition -- dead to Neville 
and yet not dead -- as a companion image to Neville's condition.  
Both represent a past that has been irretrievably lost.  
> 

I'm jumping in here, right in the middle, without having read the 
preceding posts, so it's quite possible that I've missed relevant 
points. Still ... 

I don't see why you're so sure that Neville can't recover from a 
memory charm (assuming he is under one). The Bertha Jorkins story 
shows us that as far as recovering the memory itself, the memory does 
still exist and therefore can be accessed. As to whether recovering 
the memory necessarily entails the breakdown of the personality, I 
really don't think that we have enough information on that. We don't 
know whether Bertha lost her mind (that's how I understand Voldemort 
refering to her as being of no further use) because of the torture as 
such or because of the breaking of the memory charm. In any case, I 
don't see why it should be impossible for a memory charm to be 
removed benignently. (Especially by the wizard who cast it in the 
first place.)  

Also, wouldn't it be a bit lame to have a memory charmed Neville who 
*doesn't* recover his memory? Surely such a heavily built up lost 
memory has to play an important part in the plot. Or do you expect 
Neville to reveal it and then go insane as well? <shudder> That would 
be much too gruesome, right? But to leave a Neville who is incomplete 
psychologcially I think is almost as bad. After all, one of the main 
themes of the books is growth and maturation. So, for me, it's highly 
unlikely that Neville (if indeed he is memory charmed) will not 
recover - both his lost memory and himself. I think that the parllel 
is Harry/parents:Neville/parents. By the end of the series, Harry 
will live on/[parents dead] and Neville will have healed mentally/
[parents insane].


Unless she kills him, of course. <g>


Naama, who actually thinks that the next dead will be one of the 
twins ... most likely George