Subject: Re: At what time is a witch/wizard categorized as one?

[Rhyannon]

No: HPFGUIDX 88938

---snipping for space...
Tanya:
> Yes, that scenario would match well with what Neville said about
> the responses from his family after he was dropped and bounced.  
> That attitude might have been a bit more widespread also.  I mean 
> if the DE's were trying to breed their numbers up and one, had gasp, 
> horror, a squib baby.  Pureblood pride and all that.

Berit:
>>The Longbottoms were members of the Order. How likely is it that 
they harboured thoughts about the purity of blood and were inclined to
kill off their squib son so he couldn't defile their good name? Of
course, even if Neville's parents were in the Order, their relatives
like uncle Algie might still have the mind of a DE. But I can't see
Alice and Frank letting uncle Algie throw their son out of a window
if the intention was to harm him in any way. By the way; I don't have
the book here with me, but doesn't the text say that uncle Algie
didn't mean to throw Neville out of the window, just hang him out of
it to "encourage" him to fight back with magic, but then he lost his
grip and Neville fell? >>>>


Rhyannon here....

Unfortunately, I don't have the books here with me so I can't exactly quote
the passage involved, but I seem to remember that Uncle Algie was dangling
Neville out of a window (which as a mother I find HORRIBLE) and was offered
some sort of pastry, at which point he turned, and accepted the pastry,
dropping Neville out the window.  So while he was totally careless, it
doesn't appear to be specifically intentional on his part.

That said, I have a tough time reading the passages about Neville's
relationship with his Grandmother and the rest of his family.  He makes it
clear that they were very worried about the possibility of him being a squib
and that that would have been very shameful for the family if it had been
true.

 I empathize with his Mrs. Longbottom's  grief over her son's incapacity,
especially as it is clear that Frank Longbottom was a very talented wizard.
However, it bothers me that she doesn't seem to value Neville for who he is,
but rather  seems to want to hold his father up  goal for him, expressing
disappointment when he is not able to attain this clearly unreachable goal.
Just recently, I was listening to OoP on audiobook, and felt my heart sink
at hearing Neville relate a dream of "a pair of scissors chasing me wearing
my Grandmother's hat."  In my mind, that would symbolize his Grandmother
constantly "cutting" him down and him feeling as if he can't live up to his
father's image.  

I was also frustrated at learning that after all these
years Neville has been using his father's wand.  While the Weasley family
has a financial reason for not being able to provide a brand new wand for
each child, it seems that the Longbottom family, who know that a wizard will
never get as good as results from another wizard's wand, could easily have
provided Neville with his own wand.  Instead, he was given his father's
old wand, I believe in an another attempt to have him live up to his
father's image, something that clearly he cannot do.  (I don't believe that
Neville isn't as good as his father, only that Gran Longbottom has created a
sainted and perfected image of her son that NO ONE could ever live up to.)

I will admit to being prejudiced on Neville's behalf, he gets my protective
mothering instincts going, and I find myself wanting to battle both his
Snape and his grandmother on his behalf...

Rhyannon