Neville Longbottom

Neville Longbottom
Harry Potter character
Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)
Last appearance	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)
Created by	J. K. Rowling
Portrayed by	Matthew Lewis
In-universe information
Occupation	Professor of Herbology at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Family	Frank Longbottom (father) Alice Longbottom (mother) Augusta Longbottom (grandmother)
Spouse	Hannah Abbott
Nationality	British
House	Gryffindor
Born	30 July 1980

Neville Longbottom is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling. He is described as a round-faced Gryffindor student in the central character Harry Potter's year. Throughout the series, Neville is often portrayed as a bumbling and disorganised character, and a rather mediocre student, though he is highly gifted at Herbology. However, the character's personality appears to undergo a transition after he joins Dumbledore's Army in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The encouragement he receives gives him confidence in his magical abilities, turning him into a more competent wizard. Eventually, Neville becomes the leader of Dumbledore's Army during Harry, Ron and Hermione's absence searching for Horcruxes. Neville is instrumental in the downfall of Lord Voldemort and eventually destroys the final Horcrux, which allows Harry to defeat The Dark Lord once and for all. Neville is portrayed by Matthew Lewis in the Harry Potter films.

Character development

Although a secondary character in the first four books, Neville appears often in the role of comic relief. He is one of Harry's strongest supporters over the course of the series, and becomes close friends with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna as well. Neville plays a significant part in the two final books and the fight against Lord Voldemort, destroying the final Horcrux, Nagini, with the Sword of Gryffindor. The Sword appearing for Neville in his time of need is Neville's confirmation that he is a true Gryffindor, as he had always doubted his placement in the house since the beginning, wondering why he was not sorted into Hufflepuff.

Rowling revealed in an interview that "there's a lot of Neville in me—this feeling of just never being quite good enough... I felt that a lot when I was younger". For that reason, she wanted Neville to do something brave in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in which Neville "finds true moral courage in standing up to his closest friends—the people who are on his side" towards the climax of the novel. She also said in that interview that this was "...a very important moment for me too in the first book".

Appearances

Novels

Neville first appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. He befriends Harry, Ron and Hermione on the Hogwarts Express, and joins them as a member of Gryffindor House at Hogwarts. After Neville confronts his friends about their willingness to break school rules, the headmster Albus Dumbledore awards him ten house points for his bravery. These points allow Gryffindor to win the House Cup.

In Chamber of Secrets, Neville fears that Slytherin's monster will attack him because of his poor magical abilities. In Prisoner of Azkaban, Remus Lupin helps Neville defeat a Boggart. In Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore reveals to Harry that Neville was raised by his grandmother because his parents were tortured into insanity by Death Eaters.

Neville's magical abilities improve under the tutelage of Harry in Order of the Phoenix. During the battle at the Department of Mysteries, Neville accidentally breaks the prophecy made about Harry and Voldemort. The following year, in Half-Blood Prince, Neville is invited to a meeting of the Slug Club by Horace Slughorn. In academics, Neville achieves high marks in Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms. When a group of Death Eaters enter Hogwarts, Neville fights them alongside his friends.

In Deathly Hallows, Neville revives the student defence group Dumbledore's Army (D.A.) and leads the resistance against Voldemort's takeover of Hogwarts. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Neville and Ron defeat Fenrir Greyback. Neville also kills Voldemort's Horcrux-snake Nagini, which makes Voldermort mortal and leads to his death. In the epilogue of Deathly Hallows, which is set nineteen years later, Ginny mentions that Neville is now the Herbology professor at Hogwarts.

Films

Neville is portrayed by Matthew Lewis in the Harry Potter films. For Prisoner of Azkaban, Lewis wore overly large shoes and crooked yellow false teeth. He also had pieces of plastic placed behind his ears so they would stick out. Prior to the release of the fifth film, Lewis commented on Neville's character development that he thinks "it's amazing that the character of Neville has really shaken off his klutz image (to an extent.) It very good to see him finally being a help as opposed to making things worse, I'm looking forward to the 5th film, it will be interesting to almost play a different character." When asked if he feels related to Neville, Lewis replied that he is "clumsy and terribly forgetful" just like his character is, but that he does not have "the same nervous disposition as Neville", and that it is interesting to play somebody that, despite being picked on at school, still does the right thing.

Characterisation

The novels describe Neville as round-faced. At one point, Rowling described him as short, plump and blond. Early in the series, Neville is shown to be shy and lacking self-confidence. He is portrayed as an incompetent wizard and a generally poor student (except in Herbology, where he excels). Neville admits in Chamber of Secrets that his family feared he was a Squib during his childhood. Prisoner of Azkaban reveals that Neville is terrified of Professor Snape. When Neville joins Dumbledore's Army in Order of the Phoenix, his magical abilities improve. In Deathly Hallows, he becomes a leader in the organization.

Rowling revealed more information about Neville when she stated that he married Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff classmate, who became the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron. The couple live over the pub, a fact that Rowling thought people would find "particularly cool".

Family

Neville is a pure-blood wizard born to Frank and Alice Longbottom, who were prominent Aurors and also members of the Order of the Phoenix during the first war against Lord Voldemort. It is stated by Dumbledore that both of them had "thrice defied" Voldemort by 1981. Their success, however, was cut short, as Frank and Alice were tortured to the point of insanity with the Cruciatus Curse by a group of Death Eaters consisting of Barty Crouch, Jr., Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband Rodolphus, and his brother Rabastan. The torture of the Longbottoms is remembered by the Order as one of the most horrific crimes committed by Voldemort's followers. Since then, Frank and Alice reside in a closed ward of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Neville visits Frank and Alice over the holidays, but neither of them recognise him as their son.

Augusta Longbottom, Neville's paternal grandmother, raised him from a young age. Early on, it is established that Neville is terrified of his grandmother, who is a very strict disciplinarian, a perfectionist, and a no-nonsense witch, especially towards Neville, and sometimes complains of his lack of talent. She appears to want Neville to follow his father's example, regardless of his desires or suitability. Deathly Hallows is a definite turning point for the relation between Augusta and her grandson. Towards the climax of the book, it is revealed that the Death Eaters targeted Augusta when Neville was acting as leader of the reformed Dumbledore's Army. The Ministry official Dawlish is sent to arrest her but does not succeed and winds up in hospital when she apparently fights back before going on the run. Augusta also arrives to the Battle of Hogwarts to assist her grandson. When Harry tells her that Neville is fighting Death Eaters, she replies, "Naturally." Bolstered by Neville's leadership of the D.A. during his seventh year at Hogwarts, Augusta ultimately becomes extremely proud of him.

Reception

Due in large part to the character's impressive character arc throughout the series, Neville is often regarded as one of the greatest characters in the Harry Potter mythos. IGN ranked Neville as the 6th greatest character from the franchise stating, "Neville Longbottom is the quintessential dimwit-turned-hero. When we first meet him at Hogwarts, Neville is a shy introvert who is simply not that good at magic. In fact, those close to Neville quietly wondered if he might nearly be a Squib, someone born into a wizarding family without magic powers. He's lovable, sure, but his early misadventures don't explicitly foreshadow the valiant defender of Hogwarts that he would ultimately become." Even Christopher Hitchens, who was often critical of Rowling’s writing, called his “gallantry” in the final book “well evoked” and labelled the question of whether Neville would “rise above himself” one of the problems in the books that was resolved well.

Neville was always considered to be a fan favourite character in the first four books where he provided a mainly secondary role, before The Order of the Phoenix where he became one of the main characters and eventual leader of Dumbledore's Army. Fans of the series admire Neville's bravery and desire to avenge his parents and assist Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Neville's role in the prophecy in Order of the Phoenix is frequently referred to in a hypothetical scenario where Neville was the Chosen One rather than Harry. It is often suggested that Voldemort chose Harry over Neville because of Harry's half-blood status. In the end, both were essential to Voldemort's downfall, fulfilling the possibility that both Harry and Neville were, in fact, the Chosen One. While Harry delivered the final blow to destroy Voldemort, Neville destroyed the final Horcrux which allowed Harry to end Voldemort. When asked about whether or not Neville was the chosen one, Neville's portrayer Matthew Lewis stated, "I get asked about the prophecy an awful lot, and Neville's potential as 'The Chosen One'. The contrast between the two people is that Harry was the reluctant hero who never wanted that on his shoulders and whatnot, but he just felt like he had to do it. Whereas Neville was kind of the hero that no one expected to be a hero, but still came out the other side being exactly that. Could Neville have been the Chosen One? Could he have achieved what Harry did? I think yeah, absolutely. But the thing is: nobody in this series did anything on their own. Even Voldemort didn't get to his level of power on his own. Harry saved the day because he had friends and people who loved him. I think, had it been Neville he would have had a similar experience. Both the characters are incredibly and fiercely loyal and that breeds loyalty in other people. So I think Neville would've had plenty of people getting his back, Harry would've been there in Neville's role getting his back. So I think, yeah, he'd have pulled through in the end."

Further reading

• "J.K. Rowling Web Chat Transcript". The Leaky Cauldron. 30 July 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2007.