Blog Post #2: The Traumatic Experiences of Neville Longbottom

              

                  Neville Longbottom is a character in the Harry Potter series that has had some unexpected character developments. His surprising character developments have affected my interpretation of the series through the theme of traumatic experience. When we first see Neville in the series he is an incompetent young wizard and a danger to himself and others through his mediocre spell casting and potion making skills. We first meet Neville in The Sorcerer’s Stone. He is introduced to us on the train platform when he says, “Gran I’ve lost my toad again” (pg.94). We later find out that Neville’s family thought he might be a squib and his uncle went so far as to hang him out of a window to test his magical abilities.

               As the years progress we find out that Neville’s grandmother does not believe that Neville can live up to his parent’s accomplishments as Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix.  When I found out in The Goblet of Fire that Neville’s parents were tortured and remain in St. Mungos Hospital because they were tortured into insanity, I start to see Neville in a new light. I felt as though the reason that he had trouble preforming magic was because his grandmother put so much pressure on him to be like his parents.

                In The Order of the Phoenix when Bellatrix Lestrange escapes Azkaban I saw a new development to Neville’s character. He was determined to do well in the DA meetings. This was the first moment that I really believed Neville had potential as a great wizard. The escape of his parent’s torturer seemed to light a fire in Neville.  He learns to perform the spells with the DA and becomes very proficient in Defense against the Dark Art.  When Neville goes with Harry to the Ministry of Magic to save Sirius he battles Death Eaters alongside Harry and the other DA members. He defends himself and his friends on a selfless rescue mission for his friend’s godfather.

                In The Order of the Phoenix when I found out what the prophecy was it altered my interpretation of the series as well as Neville’s character development. Hearing that Neville could have been in Harry’s situation was very shocking. If Voldemort had chosen to go after Neville instead of Harry it would be Neville’s parents that were dead and possibly Neville with a lightening shaped scar. The traumatic events in the boy’s lives shaped the wizards that they would become.