Neville's Role in Books Six/Seven

[celebrimborcormacolindor]

No: HPFGUIDX 82542

I have something to say about Neville Longbottom and his role in the 
Harry Potter series. I never paid any special attention to Neville 
until recently. In fact, my interest in Neville started when I read 
Chapter 37 of OoP, when Dumbledore is talking to Harry about the 
prophecy and says:

"Sybill's prophecy could have applied to two wizard boys, both born 
at the end of July that year, both of whom had parents in the Order 
of the Phoenix, both sets of parents having narrowly escaped 
Voldemort three times. One, of course, was you. The other was Neville 
Longbottom."
 
I think this text is *surprising*, as it suggests a similitude 
between Harry and Neville. Remember, the Sorting Hat took a good time 
before make Neville a Gryffindor (SS/PS 07) and he fell from the 
broom the first time he tried to fly (SS/SP 09); he tried to stop 
Harry, Hermione and Ron when they went after the Philosopher's Stone 
and, as result, he was jinxed by Hermione (SS/SP 16); Minerva 
McGonagall called him "abysmally foolish" because he wrote down all 
the passwords for the week and then lost the paper, allowing Sirius 
Black to enter Gryffindor Tower (PoA 13); and so on. Neville combines 
good intentions with laughable and sometimes shameful mistakes. In 
his clumsiness he is the typical antihero, as much as the brave and 
resourceful Harry is the typical hero. So, it is certainly surprising 
to suggest that Neville (and not Harry) could be the hero.
 
But this is not only surprising; it is also *gratuitous*. The author 
had no need whatsoever to invent this similitude between Harry and 
Neville, which is neither necessary, nor useful to resolve any  
mystery or to explain any piece of the story until now. If Voldemort 
had attacked Neville in one of the early books, then would make sense 
to write the passage cited above (Chapter 37 of OoP) to justify the 
mistake of the villain in recognizing the hero. But as far as I know 
there is nothing like this in the first books, nothing that suggests 
the need to assimilate Harry and Neville.
 
Once I read the passage cited above, I started to think about 
Neville, who Dumbledore says can be a true hero. What is the role of 
Neville in the story till now? What were his actions? What difference 
has he made to the events that have occurred in the Harry Potter 
series? And the more I thought, the more I realized that *until now 
Neville had no role in the conflict*. The important facts happen with 
(or come from) Harry, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, Snape, Hagrid, 
Sirius; but not with (or from) Neville. In fact, it's entirely 
possible to tell the tale of Harry Potter without mention Neville or 
his actions. From this point of view he is much like any other 
classmate of Harry, let's say, Seamus Finnigan or Dean Thomas: not a 
star, not even a supporting role, just an extra. He may be a 
sympathetic extra, but no more than this.
 
But once I realized that Neville was an extra, I immediately realized 
that he is a strange extra, because *JKR spent a lot of her time on 
him.* She introduced Neville very early in the series (SS/PS 06); in 
fact, he appeared before Hermione. From that point on, JKR never 
missed a chance to tell us about him: he often loses his toad (SS/PS 
06), he lives with his grandmother (SS/SP 07), he is short (SS/SP 
07), he made a mistake in his first Potions class (SS/SP 08), he 
forgets the password to the Gryffindor Tower (SS/SP 09) and so on. 
Neville is a conspicuous extra who frequently appears in the 
narrative despite his unimportant role.
 
Well, if JKR put so much time in Neville, making efforts to tell us 
about his personality and his background, it must be because *Neville 
will have an important role in the story*, a role that JKR has been 
planning since SS/SP. From *this* point of view we can understand our 
conspicuous extra: since the beginning his character has been 
prepared for great things, things that haven't happened yet (that's 
why he appears to be an extra), things that will happen in book six 
and/or book seven. And that is my fundamental thesis: Neville will be 
an important character in book six and/or book seven, much more 
important than he is until now.
 
Now, the precise role of Neville in the future books remains open to 
speculation. But I must say that *I don't think Neville is the hero*. 
First, because he is the typical antihero, as I stated above, and, 
second, because Dumbledore said the prophecy is about Harry (OoP 37), 
and Dumbledore is the alter ego of JK Rowling, acting and appearing 
as someone who knows all, who possesses full knowledge about any 
fact, about the past, the present and the future. It would be foul 
play to put lies in his lips to deceive the reader.

Having said that, I must add that *I bet the future role of Neville 
is connected to the prophecy*, with the canon cited above, which 
states that the prophecy could be applied to him. In fact, I think 
the similitude between Harry and Neville looks gratuitous precisely 
because it is the first part of a story that hasn't been told yet, a 
story that will appear in books six/seven. In book five the 
similitude is detached and looks gratuitous because it is waiting for 
the future books, when it will have full sense. Maybe someone 
(Voldemort? Death Eaters? Fudge? Snape?) will think Neville is the 
true hero; maybe Neville has some magical link to Harry, a link that 
explains the similitude between them; maybe Neville had been attacked 
in the past; maybe there is a link that connects the similitude 
between Harry and Neville and Voldemort's attack on Neville's 
parents. But, in any case, I think the applicability of the prophecy 
to both Harry and Neville will play an important part in the story.
 
Fernando Henning (with Manya Elf's help)