There's not much to go on

[mooseming]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Barry Arrowsmith" 
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:

<snip> 

> Oh, yes. A suspicious poster could have some fun and games putting
> our Nev under the microscope.
> 
> Kneasy


And JKR seems determined we should not look too closely, take the 
answer to that FAQ Neville question, JKR says:

"let me start by saying how glad I am that this was the question 
that received the most votes, because this was the one that I most 
wanted to answer"

Hum, did she indeed, but why? She doesn't tell us anything really 
new and unnecessarily debunks rumours about Neville and the 
prophecy. In fact JKR goes out of her way to ensure we accept 
Neville at face value, she says:

"it does not give him either hidden powers or a mysterious destiny. 
He remains a 'normal' wizarding boy, albeit one with a past, in its 
way, as tragic as Harry's. "

What she does do is give lots of hints about Neville's status once 
the prophecy is known:

"Neville, the boy who was so nearly King"

"In showing Neville as the also-ran"

"Neville remains the tantalising 'might-have-been'."

So are we being led to expect some sour grapes from Neville? JKR 
says:

"It remains to be seen how he will feel if he ever finds out how 
close he came to being the Chosen One."

To me this is the foundation of a potential `disaffected' Neville, 
one the reader could believe might betray Harry and his pals.

Why would JKR want us to believe that? Because Neville will be a 
traitor and both we and Harry need to think we know why. However, 
this won't be the real reason, Neville is acting under duress. 

JKR says Voldy chose Harry, specifically she says:

"In effect, the prophecy gave Voldemort the choice of two candidates 
for his possible nemesis. In choosing which boy to murder, he was 
also (without realising it) choosing which boy to anoint as the 
Chosen One "

He chose one to `murder' but this doesn't mean he didn't chose 
something else for Neville! Kill one, control the other, why not?

This would mean that Barty Jnr and co were acting on Voldy's prior 
orders when they attacked the Longbottom's (which makes more sense 
than turning up there looking for Voldy). We know Bella's speciality 
is the cruciatus curse, Barty Snr mastered imperio maybe Junior 
picked up a thing or two and applied it to infant Neville.

As JKR says:
"Of course, none of this should be taken to mean that Neville does 
not have a significant part to play in the last two novels, or the 
fight against Voldemort. " Mind you she doesn't say on which side!

With Barty Jnr gone however, who could be pulling Neville's strings 
now?

Regards
Jo