On the night that Sirius died, after the battle at the Ministry of Magic at the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore showed Harry, with the aid of his pensieve, the complete Lost Prophecy:
“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…”
OotP pg 841/741
As Harry comes to the realization that the prophecy is about himself, Dumbledore tells him, and us:
“The odd thing is, Harry,” he said softly, “that it may not have meant you at all. Sibyll’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.”
OotP pg 842/742
When Harry asks Dumbledore, then could it have meant Neville instead of him, Dumbledore says it could only refer to him, and reminds him of the second half of the prophecy, that Voldemort would mark the boy as his equal.
We’ve seen before that when J.K. brings up some bit of information but then abruptly changes the subject, that bit of information later turns out to be very important. In this case, why does Dumbledore even bother to mention to Harry that the prophecy COULD have referred to Neville, when he immediately turned around and tells Harry that there’s no doubt that it doesn’t?
Later, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry wonders to himself about this again:
Had Voldemort chosen Neville, it would be Neville sitting opposite Harry bearing the lightning-shaped scar and the weight of the prophecy. . . . Or would it? Would Neville’s mother have died to save him, as Lily had died for Harry? Surely she would. . . . But what if she had been unable to stand between her son and Voldemort? Would there then have been no “Chosen One” at all? An empty seat where Neville now sat and a scarless Harry who would have been kissed good-bye by his own mother, not Ron’s?
HBP pg 139/133
We know, of course, that this isn’t the first time a shadow of doubt is cast over Neville Longbottom. We’ve known there was something “different” about him, ever since we saw him for the very first time in the first book:
When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, “GRYFFINDOR,” Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter…
PS/SS pg. 120/90
What made Neville such a tough case for the sorting hat? Did he have qualities that made him suited for more than one house? Or was something else different about Neville, something that prevented the sorting hat from looking into his mind?
A few pages later, while the kids are introducing themselves and what kind of households they came from, Neville tells us:
“Well, my Gran brought me up and she’s a witch,” said Neville, “but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me — he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned — but nothing happened until I was eight, Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Aunt Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced — all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy.”
PS/SS pg 125/93
Interesting situation isn’t it? Neville’s Grandmother seemed content with her grandson’s lack of magical ability. It was his Grand Uncle (his Gran’s brother or perhaps brother-in-law) which did not seem to accept Neville’s apparent lack of magical ability, trying to coax it out whenever possible.
We know there are squibs in the Wizarding community, but we have to assume that is because of intermarriage with Muggles, the results of which can be offspring with varying degrees of magical ability. But this cannot account for Neville, because, as we learn for sure in Chamber of Secrets, Neville is pure-blood. In the scene in which Ron is coughing up slugs, he’s explaining the meaning of mudblood and pure-blood:
“I mean, the rest of us know it doesn’t make any difference at all. Look at Neville Longbottom — he’s a pure-blood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up.”
CoS pg 116/89
What if Neville’s lack of magical ability was being artificially inhibited? Is it possible Neville is under some kind of long-term spell, perhaps to keep him from remembering something? But was the spell put on him by his Gran to protect him, or by others to assure his silence about something? When Great Uncle Algie finally proves Neville has magical ability, Neville says his Gran cried. He assumes it was from happiness. But what if revealing Neville’s magical powers ruined some plan of his Gran’s to prevent that?
Later in the first book, we see Neville receive his package from home:
“It’s a Remembrall!” he explained. “Gran knows I forget things — this tells you if there’s something you’ve forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red — Oh …” His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, “…you’ve forgotten something…”
PS/SS pg 145/108
Interesting, isn’t it, that we never find out exactly what Neville forgot. What if there wasn’t anything specific? What if the Remembrall turned red immediately when he held it because there was something big he had forgotten, because of a spell put on him to forget it?
There are, of course, lots of other examples of J.K. Rowling pointing out that Neville had trouble remembering things:
“Coming through, coming through!” Percy called from behind the crowd. “The new password’s ‘Fortuna Major’!” “Oh, no,” said Neville Longbottom sadly. He always had trouble remembering the passwords.
PoA pg 95/74
Of course, if he’s under a spell to forget something, it’s undoubtedly related to what happened to his parents. When (the fake) Mad-Eye Moody confronts Neville in his class with the Cruciatus curse, it very clearly affects him. But it doesn’t make him sad or upset, as we would suspect if he’s remembering his poor parents. It just appears to scramble his brain a bit. Later, after the class, Harry asks Neville if he’s alright, and Neville replies:
“Oh yes, I’m fine,” Neville gabbled in the same unnaturally high voice. “Very interesting dinner — I mean lesson — what’s for eating?”
GoF pg 218/193
If he were simply repressing the bad memory of his parents, we’d expect him to be morose, or depressed. But instead, his reactions are just strange. These could be side-effects of the spell put on him to make him forget. He doesn’t react like a normal person, because his memories have been tampered with. Neville’s other obvious personality traits, his clumsiness and forgetfulness, are likely also side-effects of this spell.
And, like other people we’ve seen under a long-term spell, Neville seems to be coming out his forgetfulness and awkwardness, a little at a time. The first glimpse of this is in Order of the Phoenix, when they are all waiting outside of Snape’s classroom, and Draco is running his mouth:
“And as for Potter…My father says it’s a matter of time before the Ministry has him carted off to St. Mungo’s…apparently they’ve got a special ward for people whose brains have been addled by magic…” Malfoy made a grotesque face, his mouth sagging open and his eyes rolling. Crabbe and Goyle gave their usual grunts of laughter, Pansy Parkinson shrieked with glee. Something collided hard with Harry’s shoulder, knocking him sideways. A split second later he realised that Neville had just charged past him, heading straight for Malfoy. “Neville, no!” Neville struggled frantically, his fists flailing, trying desperately to get at Malfoy who looked, for a moment, extremely shocked. … Neville’s face was scarlet; the pressure Harry was exerting on his throat rendered him quite incomprehensible, but odd words spluttered from his mouth. “Not…funny…don’t…Mungo’s…show…him…”
OotP pg 361/321
Of course, through the course of Order of the Phoenix, we see Neville grow up a lot, joining Dumbledore’s Army, finally finding the confidence to do magic, and showing great bravery by joining Harry in trying to save Sirius at the Ministry of Magic.
How much does Neville know about the day his parents were attacked by the Death Eaters? He couldn’t have been that much older than a year old when it happened, Dumbledore tells us in Goblet of Fire:
“The Longbottoms were very popular,” said Dumbledore. “The attacks on them came after Voldemort’s fall from power, just when everyone thought they were safe.”
GoF pg 603/524
We do know he knows the circumstances of his parent’s fate, however. Later in Order of the Phoenix, he acknowledges he knows who was responsible for putting his parents in St. Mungo’s:
“Longbottom?” repeated Bellatrix, and a truly evil smile lit her gaunt face. “Why, I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy…” “I DOE YOU HAB!” roared Neville…
OotP pg 800/706
So, if he was under a spell to forget, perhaps a spell to spare him from remembering such painful details of his parents being tortured, he seems to be slowly coming out of it in the course of the last few books. But what if that’s not what the spell is preventing him from remembering? What if something else happened during the time that Neville witnessed those awful events that somebody doesn’t want anyone to know?
Which brings us back to the prophecy, and why Dumbledore brings him up in relation to it, and then totally dismisses it in the next breath. Does Neville still have a great role to play in the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy?
It’s ironic, isn’t it, that Neville, himself, is the one who is responsible for the Ministry copy of the prophecy being destroyed:
He gave another stupendous heave and Neville’s robes tore all along the left seam — the small spun-glass ball dropped from his pocket and before either of them could catch it, one of Neville’s floundering feet kicked it. It flew some ten feet to their right and smashed on the step beneath them.
OotP pg 804/709
If the Ministry copy of the prophecy had not been destroyed, is it possible that Neville could have found out that he could have been the other Chosen One? Who could it be possibly be that wouldn’t want Neville to know that? Who wouldn’t want the rest of the Wizarding world to know that?
There’s one more very ominous clue in the books that concerns Neville. In Prisoner of Azkaban, after Harry had learned what the Wizards thought was the truth about Sirius having had betrayed the Potters, Harry is laying in bed trying to sleep, and this image comes to him:
He watched, as though somebody was playing him a piece of film, Sirius Black blasting Peter Pettigrew (who resembled Neville Longbotton) into a thousand pieces.
PoA pg 213/158
Harry had to make up an image of Pettigrew from the description he overheard from McGonagall, as he hadn’t yet met Peter. But, isn’t it ominous that in Harry’s father day, there was James, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew, a steadfast trio and sort of a hanger-on:
“Pettigrew… that fat little boy who was always tagging around after them at Hogwarts?” said Madam Rosmerta. “Hero-worshipped Black and Potter,” said Professor McGonagall. “Never quite in their league, talent-wise.”
PoA pg 207/154
And now, we have the steadfast trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione, with the addition of the not-so-talented Neville. I know it seems unthinkable, but does this mean perhaps that, given the proper circumstances, Neville could betray our heroes, as Wormtail betrayed the Marauders?
One thing is for sure, Neville is as connected with the prophecy as Harry is. How that affects him and Harry still remains to be seen.
Is Neville, not Harry, the one with power the Dark Lord knows not? Is Neville, not Harry, the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord? If he is, who doesn’t want us, or him, to know that?
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I would have to say that Neville is not the one based solely on the fact that more than once Dumbledore tells Harry Neville is not the chosen one Harry is because Voldemort made it so…yes Neville could have been, but he’s not because of Voldemort. However….Neville is going to be relevant and you may be right in that someone doesn’t want him to remember something. I’ve always thought that Neville’s mother is trying to tell him something when they’re in St. Mungo’s and she gives him the bubblegum wrappers. It’s said by his grandmother that everytime Neville visits his mother gives him bubblegum wrappers and Neville has kept every one of them. There’s going to be something there, some kind of message to Neville, his mother hasn’t lost her marbles completely. She’s giving him some kind of message.
Nice theory. I could have never thought that you could suspect Neville of being the chosen one after Dumbledore dismissed it. It does add up as neville’s forgetfulness is quite strange. All your articles are superb.
I’ve often thought about the possibility that it might be Neville. The prophecy doesn’t say when the chosen one would be marked only when he would be born. (that is; if Dumbledore correctly interpreted born and not borne.)
I odn’t think Neville will betray them, that would be a bit well….Ironic no?
Great article. While I seem to agree with most of the article, the one point where I have a disagreement is you comparing Neville to peter pettigrew. In the past, Neville has challenged Harry and his friends when they were wandering late in the night. But there is no evidence of Peter ever challenging James or Sirius. Therefore, I think there is a difference between Peter and Neville. Neville does stand up for things that he considers is incorrect.
Dave, you put down some very interesting thoughts and facts about Neville.
To me, there are three main questions:
(1) Could Neville possibly be the Chosen One?
(2) Why did Jo bring up Neville as another possible chosen one?
(3) Can we explain in a logical way what happens to Neville?
(1) Of course, Neville could be the real chosen one. Harry was allowed to retrieve the prophecy because the Ministry named it by his name and we know that the Ministry is often wrong. We’re all focused on Harry and it would be a tremendous turnover if the hero was in fact Neville. But it would also be a disappointment and probably decrease the interest over the whole series. What Agatha Christie could do with one novel seems very difficult here. For this reason, and this reason only, I find it very unlikely that Neville be the chosen one.
(2) That’s a big mistery and probably a clue for book seven. Dumbledore tells Harry that both could be the chosen one, but Voldemort made his choice. What is interesting here is that Voldemort apparently did nothing to kill or even harm Neville, as if he knew from the beginning that Harry was – or would be – the one. That could be a clue to the fact that Voldemort’s behaviour about Harry isn’t defensive (killing the chosen one before he can vainquish the Dark Lord) but of another kind.
(3) Everybody in the Order of the Phoenix could have known the beginning of the prophecy, and of course the Longbottoms, who were very close to Dumbledore, were certainly aware of the hazard. Remember that when Snape heard the beginning of the prophecy, he was still a Death Eater. Then, his parents (and thereafter his grandmother) may have thought that Neville’s safety was more important than his magical powers, and tried to make him become a squib. Dumbledore tells us that a wizard, under certain circumstances, could become a squib.
At the end of OotP, Dumbledore goes on (at great length – pages and pages even) about how the prophecy is not all important. Yes, it relates to Harry, because Voldemort marked him as his equal, but it doesn’t change Harry’s desire to fight the Dark Arts and his resistance to being corrupted by them. It’s JKR saying that we have free will. The parallel is that Neville, like Harry, also had a life-changing experience that makes him incorruptible as far as the Dark Arts are concerned.
That said, I think that the prophecy and the connection to Neville has been so heavily set up that there can’t fail to be a resolution. I suspect that Neville will destroy one of the horcruxes, and in that way help to vanquish the Dark Lord.
i would say that the part about neville betraying harry and the others is not quite convincing. neville has been on harry’s side for a long time. eventually, i think that he would play a great part in the final book. but remember that his own parents were also suffering because of voldemort and his followers. so i don’t think he will harm harry in any way.
also, i think the part about his mother trying to tell something to him is a good theory!
I agree with what sm says. Dumbledore explains all this in one of the books. He says that Lord voldemort had the choice between the two boys, Neville and Harry, but he would only mark one as his equal, thereby fulfilling the prophecy and making Harry the ‘Chosen One’, discounting Neville as the lesser threat.
Despite the fact that Lord Voldemort may have been wrong, and actually Neville may be the bigger threat, it would no longer matter once Voldemort chose Harry, as it is now Harry the prophecy concerns, and therefore it is Harry who must destroy Voldemort.
I think that we haven’t seen all from Neville, but i am pretty sre that he is not THE chosen one. He will help Harry in the Hallows, thats for sure…
well, if there it was a message of some sort, wouldn’t he have discovered it by now?
his gran asks him to throw it so clearly she dosen’t see any message on it. if Neville’s mother was indeed a bit sane, she would have made sure that her mother [Neville’s gran] would be able to discover it.
Hmm… very interesting article. yeah, i’ve always thought that neville wasnt just another character (although, we still don’t know much of him) in the story, i think he WILL play a very important role in the final book. either helping harry to get rid of voldemort or maybe (i hope not though) turning against the trio.
maybe his gran is only protective over him, however i always thought that that his gran wanted him to be something big as neville mentions to harry, “my gran would do anything to have a grandson like you”.
Also neville said that his gran was so proud of him (neville) and that he was finally living upto to be like his parents.
hmmm… i dont think that his gran wouldnt want him to forget what happened to his parents, moreover i think that by remembering what has happened to them will strengthen him and help him find courage (for revenge perhaps or to get rid of voldemort and his forces?).
it IS interesting the fact that dumbledore mentions neville and then straight away disregards him. if he’s not important (according to the prophecy) then why mention him. maybe he wants harry to be aware of this fact?
‘sm’: has a got a point about the bubblegum wrappers, but what msg can you send thru that? i think the only reason neville keeps them is because he has never received anything from his parents ever.
As usual, J K Rowling is setting us up for a curveball. As far as Neville being the chosen one, I am of firm belief he is NOT. Simply from the fact Voldemort chose Harry and Dumbledore tells Harry is IS the one. But something is up her sleeve with Neville.
The three main characters are Harry, Ron and Hermoine. Other major characters such as Voldemort, Hagrid, Dumbledore and the Weasley family have all been developed. Of all the so called “minor” characters such as Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, the Patils, Lavender Brown, other than Draco Malfoy, are all window dressing, not developed whatsoever. Not the case with Neville. Rowling has gone to great lengths to give a background to Neville; his parents, his grandmother, the rememberall, falling off the broom and breaking his wrist, Petrificus Totalus, even getting caught with Harry with the encounter with Fluffy, getting detention in the Forest, almost all in the first book with the exception of his parents at St. Mungo’s in The Order of the Phoenix. Almost nothing in the second, third and fourth book, other than dancing at the Yule ball with Ginny. Rowling gets him involved in the first book, then almost nothing for a while and boom, back in the picture again in TOOTP. Hardly at all in The Half-Blood Prince.
Why does she give so much background for Neville, but nothing for the other minor characters? And why does it seem he is all over some books, but practically nothing in others? Got to be a reason. I am sure we will find out in last book.
MIke McGrath from Columbus,
Nice catch, I had not noticed this important observation, we do know more about Neville’s background than of Albus, Draco or even Hermione’s, although Hermione’s known background tells us that there is nothing important or hidden in it, her parents are JUST dentists, all muggle, but you make a very good point with Neville.
I have always liked his character, the aparently not so bright, not so brave, not so popular, not so talented, but he has been tested under fire (sorry, under spells) and has always come out of it with a better than expected, more confident, more determined, more reliable. In a few words, Neville has grown parallel to Harry, maybe not to his level, but much more than any other character in the series.
Yes, Neville will give us a few surprises on DH, and I really do want him to end up with Loony, they make such an odd couple, but they look good together.
Wow, never thought of that- yes Voldemort may have killed Neville’s grandfather (the death Neville witnessed, and the reason he can see theastrals) and done a horcrux then, and “put” it in Neville. Still, what we know of Voldemort (and his “trophy” mania) leads to think that he would look for something old and historical to put his chunk of soul in, rather than a little boy – who can be out of control. By the way, if Voldemort had done that, would not he have organized some kind of Death Eaters watch over Neville as he would grow up, to make sure his horcrux was safe? The capture and torture of Neville’s parents had nothing to do with horcruxes, it happened after Voldemort’s disappearance, by Beatrix & Co. looking for information.
what if neville isnt really neville? what if all these memory problems and no real family around him are hiding his true identity? remember the knight bus when harry is asked his name? neville longbottom came the reply. so in book 7 harry doesnt die because harry hasnt been harry all along. so who is harry? my theory says “you have your mothers eyes” work it out with a good sprinkling of polyjuice potion.
Neil from cannock — I am not sure if I am following you. Are you suggesting that Neville is Harry and Harry is Neville? I don’t know if that could be possible. I think I would be very disappointed in JKR if that is how it all ended.
I’m not sure I buy the possibility that Harry is actually Lily due to polyjuice potion. For several reasons that I can think of now that I am typing, but the first one I thought of…was that it would mean that Lily had a crush on, and kissed, Cho and Ginny. Also, when Hermione is making the potion in Chamber of Secrets, he does not seem to have ever taken it before.
I am certainly on board that Neville will, in the 7th book, have a lot revealed about him.
On a side note, I saw while reading Prisoner of Azkaban, that Professor Trelawney makes a statement about the “veiled mysteries of the future” and then says “It is a gift granted to few” We know that JK doesn’t use words lightly, could this be a clue to the Veil in the department of mysteries?
Names:: Wand�s length:: No. of alphabets in the owner�s name
Harry Potter:: 11:: 11
James Potter:: 11:: 11
Lily Potter:: 10 �:: 10
Viktor Krum:: 10 �:: 10
Lord Voldemort:: 13 �:: 13
Interesting isn’t it? [wand’s length = number of alphabets in the owner’s name]
This is one of the simple rules adopted by JKR to reduce the complexity of forming the magical world. Apart from these types of simple patterns there are also recurring numbers. Number 7 signifies importance.
Number of letters in “Granger” = 7
Number of letters in “Weasley” = 7
Number of letters in “Neville” = 7
This is a clear indication that Neville too will play a great deal in the downfall of the Dark Lord along with the trio.
If Voldemort ever gets a chance to duel Harry Potter, I think he will not repeat the same mistake of using the same wand, which caused the prior incantation. He would probable prefer some other wand to make sure that everything proceeds in the perfect way. My guess is that he will take Cedric’s wand (which containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn � must have been �seventeen� hands)
Neville�s wand too contains unicorn hair as its core material. There could be a possibility that Neville�s and Voldemort�s wand form the prior incarnation giving Harry a chance to vanquish the Dark Lord.
vivek – It’s a nice observation about wand length, but it doesn’t always work. First, Lily’s wand would have been gotten when her name was Evans, and Tom’s when his name was Tom Riddle.
Lily Evans = 9, wand 10 �
Tom Riddle = 9, wand 13 �
But in addition to that:
Rubeus Hagrid = 12, wand 16
Ronald Weasley = 13, wand (when he gets his own) 14
and
Delores Umbridge = 15, wand “unusually short”
The bit about the number of letters in people�s names is pretty clever, though. I give you props for that.
No. of letters in �Philosopher�s Stone� = �Prisoner of Azkaban� = �Order of the Phoenix� = �Harry Potter and the� (the common preffix for the seven books) = �The Mirror of Erised� (JKR’s favorite chapter) = No. of years Rowling took to complete the Harry Potter saga = No. of chapters in the first book = 17
The final book releases on 21-07-07 [2+1+0+7+0+7]
7 stamps of Harry Potter is being released on 17-07-07
1700 fans gets a chance to meet Rowling on the 21-07-07
Philosopher�s Stone � Bloomsbury Edition � The Boy Who Lived [Chapter: 1] Page 7:: Line 17
The word �the Potters� was used for the very first time in the Harry Potter saga.
Before entering into the next level…
�Neville Longbottom� – the only student having 17 letters in his name.
Number of letters in �Neville� = 7
Number of letters in �Neville Longbottom�= 17
Philosopher�s Stone � Bloomsbury Edition � The Mirror of Erised [Chapter: 12]
There was an inscription carved around the top of the Mirror Of Erised:
Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.
Deciphering the italics (reading from right to left) we get:
I show not your face but your heart�s desire.
Reading from right to left is one of a code employed in the HP saga. The encoded form of 17 is 71.
The Journey From Platform Nine And Three-Quarters [Chapter: 6]
Page 71:: Line 17
�A round-faced boy� – Neville Longbottom, was mentioned for the first time in the HP saga.
Unfortunately, I believe that JKR has already debunked the speculation that Neville is related to the prophesy. She has said however that he will continue to play a prominent role in the series conclusion.
Neville could have been the chosen one. But he is not. Voldemort definitely choose Harry, and marked him as his equal. While Neville will probably be very relevant to the story, he is not the Chosen One. Rowling might have put him as another possibility to the Prophecy to help us better understand prophecies. That they have to be fullfilled and that not all of them are. When Voldemort fullfilled his part of the Prophecy, he chose Harry. Not Neville. As for someone making sure Neville will not remember something..maybe. The theory is good.
Mike McGrath.
I agree with you, and just to add to the weight of Neville being important, he is always right there in the movies. His part is built up all the time, which suggests the film makers have been told to keep Neville in as he has a bigger part than the books suggest at times.
Or… he’s just in the movies a lot because he’s good comic relief…
ive always thought and still do think that neville is the chosen one. that way jk will be able to kill off harry and neville will defeat voldemort.
Well, I’m going to have to say Neville had a memory charm put on him. Let’s not forget that in book 6 Professor McGonagall says that Nevilles Grandmother failed her Charms O.W.L. So, she could have tried a memory charm on Neville and messed it up. This could be why he has a bad memory. I don’t think there’s much more to it, I think she was just trying to protect him from horrible memories or bad dreams.
Cecil from Tacoma mentioned on page 10 of these comments that maybe Voldemort killed Neville’s grand father, and Neville saw this. Originally I kind of believed this, but in order for Voldemort to have killed him then it would have been before attacking the Potters, which would have made Neville too young to understand it, so he would not have been able to see the threstals, just as Harry wasn�t able. We know that Neville can see the threstals, and he is a day younger than Harry, so there is not much chance of Voldemort attacking his grandfather.
Neville did see his grandfather die, but it could have been a natural death.
The memory charm is still a nice idea, but probably to make him forget the torturing of his parents (if he had been present).
Now, in JKR�s web page in the seventh question of the second page of the about the books part of the F.A.Q. (clips) section it is mentioned:
�Well, It does not give him (Neville) 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. As you saw in �Order of the Phoenix,� however, Neville is not without his own latent strengths. It remains to be seen how he will feel if he ever finds out how close he came to being the Chosen One.�
This settles it, Neville is definitely NOT the Chosen One.
I do suggest that you visit this section of JKRowling.com and read the rest of the answer, as it has more interesting things in it.
What if the scar on Harry’s forehead isn’t a lightning bolt at all? What if it’s actually the letter “N”?
Emilio from Mexico City, you are quite right! Voldemort got out of the picture when Harry and Neville were one year old, so no way could he kill Neville’s grandfather and make an horcrux, and Neville being able to remember this event so he could see thestrals.
I haven’t checked myself, buy someone should check if there was a description of anyone else at the bar when Dumbledore heard the prophesy. I’m wondering if Neville’s grandma was there, or someone else that might have overheard and passed the information on to the Longbottoms to make them put the spell on Neville.
Does it really matter if Neville is the chosen one though? Voldemort marked Harry as his equal, so could Neville destroy him (Voldemort)? I don’t think so, because that would be strangely confusing and hard to work out in the last book. I have no doubt that Neville will help them though.
WOW! Thats all i can really say and i think you have me convinced. One thing though,
The part at the end, it appeared that pettigrew wasn’t very powerful or skilled, however he and the other marauders are refered to being the youngest animagi in history and he managed to stay in his animagi form for atleast 15 years. We see something simmilar with neville. He is clumsy and foolish and can’t do very good magic, however he is good enough to pass to the next year and in the DA after getting comfortable he is very skilled and is the first one to correctly do a very difficult spell (I beleive it was patronus) and assited in the first battle of the second war at the department of mysteries. Interesting, they both apear to be weak untalented hangers on of a more powerful group but then do some amazing things. Interesting also that they both look simmilar and harry substitutes a neville like person for peter before meeting him. Are the longbottoms and the pettigrews (or possibly just neville and peter) somehow conected and is the curse on nevil mentioned in the article also/was affecting peter?
JK said that the shape of his scar wasn’t important.
True Dave Haber, Neville could just be used in the movies a lot as he makes good comic relief. But he is not used greatly to comic effect in GoF – he is used to show how indepth his Herbology knowledge is. Although granted his ‘I’ve killed Harry Potter’ moment was worth a smile.
In PS/SS it is Seamus who is constantly getting blown up, so he too could have retained the comic mode.
Good theory, Blake from West Chester!
It’s interesting that the scar might be the letter N…
But the prophecy said that Voldemort would mark the Chosen One as his equal… And Voldemort name is Tom Riddle. There isn’t any letter N there.
Hey, this sounds totally whack and all, but MAYBE Augusta is evil. I mean, we know Neville’s never liked his grandmother, and if the Drooble’s wrappers are a message, and Augusta doesn’t want Neville to read it, well, maybe she’s evil.
Also, Alice doesn’t seem to relate to Augusta. At St Mungo’s, it was only Neville she paid any recognition to.
“What’s that you’ve got, Alice dear?”
Alice Longbottom definitely ignores Augusta for the most part…
Is it possible that Neville’s Grandma is on Voldemort’s side? It would explain why neville says “my gran would do anything to have a son like you” to Harry, she would want to give Harry to Voldemort. Also it would explain why she didn’t like Neville’s mum giving him the sweet wrappers, if there was a message in them. What do you think?
there is NO ‘other chosen one’. because to be the ‘chosen one’ Voldemort would have to chose Neville. He didn’t. He picked Harry. He turned Harry into his enemy. Picked him, marked him, linked them. That Neville was another choice is moot now.
Why Neville was so slow, forgets stuff, who knows. maybe he’s just a nerdy little boy like Peter. doesn’t have to mean anything. even the Muggle world has boys that are forgetful, chubby, not as athletic etc. that could be all there is to it. that Neville is the Hogwarts version of a loser, just like Draco was the Hogwarts rich bully.
Well, a nicely considered and written article there, but I think you’re seeing red herrings where frankly they are not swimming. The pure and simple reason that Albus mentions that it could have been one of two boys that the prophecy referred to, is that there were two boys who fitted the vague description it gave. Apart, and this is the crucial bit, that the Dark Lord would ‘mark him as his equal’. It WAS Mr Potter whom the Dark Lord marked ‘as his equal’ by defying certain death at the end of an Avada Kedavra… and as is pointed out most strenuously, there is NO DOUBT that the prophecy referred to Harry because it was Harry that Voldemort had decided was the dangerous one even BEFORE the ‘marking’. And the prophecy, as the Headmaster so rightly concluded, was only important because Voldemort believed in it and carried out measures to destroy the one he feared. If it had been Neville that he had gone for, then things would certainly have been different, but it wasn’t. The prophecy was ONLY important because Voldemort decided to act upon it, or at least on what Severus had heard of it.
As for Severus, I think one of the most important things JK has ever said in an interview was, in answer to a question which asked about the ‘redemptive qualities’ that Snape possesses, “You have stunned me by asking that; I am amazed, and you’ll find out why when you read the final book.” And that interview was between books 4 and 5.
In an interview, J.K. Rowling said,
“Neville gives his mother what she wants, and she wants to give something back to him…she’s not trying to pass him secret messages.”
What she gives doesn’t have anyworth but in emotional terms, because of the actions and the thought behind it.
jaye from la – Yes, people who are clumsy, forgetful, etc. do exist in the Muggle World, but (to sound too much like Umbridge for my taste) this is not the real world we are talking about. This is a story, and a story about a world of magic to boot. From a literary standpoint, it adds a bit of a twist for Neville’s forgetfulness to have a deeper cause.
Great article,but I think the only chosen one is Harry if Neville was “The Chosen One” then Harry couldn’t have taken the prophecy without getting insane. Moreover Lilly wouldn’t be able to save Harry the night the Potters died.
I do not think Augusta is evil because Neville says that, concerning Harry saying Voldemort was back, his Gran says that “If Dumbledore says it is true, then it is true”.
Wow, nice theory. I must say its quite plausible that Augusta is on Voldemort’s side.
Neville’s parents were highly skilled aurors. Remember the Prewett brothers? Gideon and Fabian? They were killed. Madam Bones? Killed. Emmeline Vance? Killed. Death Eaters KILL.
Why is it that only Neville’s parents were tortured into insanity and not killed?
Maybe it was necessary for them to remain alive but forget something crucial. Memory charms wouldn’t work because they can ‘be broken by a very powerful wizard’ as proven by Voldemort. If indeed Neville’s memory has been tampered with, the same logic would follow.
Amy from Kentucky,
Nice one. I wonder if that isn’t JKR trying to tell us something about Dumbledore…
Aditi Dani – That is a good point, but also remember that 1) Bellatrix and her friends were trying to get info out of Frank and Alice, so killing them before they got the info would have defeated the purpose, and 2) they were caught doing it, perhaps they didn’t have the time to kill them. Same goes for why they didn’t do anything as severe to Neville. Perhaps they planned to, or even started to, but were caught in the middle. Of course, I could be way off and you might be right. And, I agree with Amy that Augusta has shown too much loyalty to Albus to be a Death Eater.
Augusta can’t be a Death Eater. If she were, Harry would have seen her in the cemetary, when Voldemort came back. And also in the Ministry of Magic, in the fifth book. Why would she be happy and proud because her grandson fought with Harry against the Death Eaters that night? Neville said that she was very proud of him, and also gave him a brand new wand.
When it comes to the reason why Neville’s parents were not killed, I’m not sure. It can’t be because someone in the family is an important Death Eater, since Sirius’ brother, Regulus, was killed. There are many Death Eaters in their family.
Monkeeshrines, Frank and Alice were tortured for information about Voldemort’s whereabouts. If the Death Eaters didn’t know where he was, why would Frank and Alice know? I bet there was a reason behind why they were left alive. Same goes for Neville.