Neville - the boy who knew too much.

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 85816

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "laikokae" <laikokae at h...> 
wrote:
<snipping>
> Neville knows more than a) he lets on most of the time and b) he 
> himself knows. 
> 
> He's clearly had a memort charm worked on him. This is fairly 
widely 
> accepted, yeah? JKR certainly isn't being too subtle on this 
point. 
> But even so, I just re-read OotP and got the distinct feeling that 
> Neville knew more about what was going on than the others. 
> 
> When Harry goes to take the prophecy, Neville doesn't hesitate or 
> say he thinks it's a bad idea like Hermione does. Instead he snaps 
> suddenly, "No, dont!", while looking tense and stressed out. 
> Conclusion: Neville knows something about the prophecy. 


Jen R.: I just re-read this scene last night and was also struck by 
how quickly and firmly Neville tells Harry not to lift the Prophecy--
it's out of character for him, although less so in OOTP with his 
added confidence. Still, I wondered why he protested in the scene, 
and attributed it intuition rather than logic. Like you said, he 
could be responding to a partially repressed memory with no concious 
reason why. 

Laik: 
> Neville also knows that its the LeStranges who tortured his 
parents 
> without being told. Which makes me wonder how much more he knows 
> about the Death Eaters and their trials...particularly Snape.  

Jen R.: The knowledge about the Lestranges (and perhaps DE's in 
general) comes from Gran, I think. As we saw in St. Mungos she is 
very open about what happened to Neville's parents: "Well it's 
nothing to be ashamed of...You should be *proud*, Neville, *proud*" 
and then: "My son and his wife...were tortured into insanity by You-
Know-Who's followers." (US, chap. 23, p. 514). Gran doesn't say who 
tortured them there, but if she is this outgoing and verbal, Neville 
has probably heard the story of his parents in great detail. Gran 
doesn't strike me as someone who would tiptoe around important 
issues. 

That's a good theory re: the Prophecy though--Neville seems to 
innately know it's important and must be saved at all costs. Maybe 
Neville and his parents will provide some of the answers we're 
hoping for in Book 6!

Jen Reese, who very much hopes the Longbottoms recover before the 
end of the series and reunite with Neville (sniff).