Neville Longbottom might be one of the most underrated characters in the Harry Potter series. At the beginning of the series, we see Neville as an awkward, insecure eleven year old. He isn’t even to Hogwarts before he loses his toad, and spends most of his early years trying to keep up with his peers. To be honest, I never gave Neville much thought or paid attention to him when I first read the series. It seems like all of a sudden, he comes into his own and is confident. It was something I noticed more reading the series again, and even more this time around for class. Neville also took the DA lessons in The Order of the Phoenix seriously as well. As time went on, he seemed to greatly improve, and gained a little but more confidence each time. However, this stood out most in The Half-Blood Prince, when Neville is sorting out his class schedule with Professor McGonagall. Neville feels that he will disappoint his grandmother if he does not continue Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall points out that his grandmother did poorly in a subject as well, and that just because she did does not mean it is bad for Neville to take.
Neville has his coming of age moments in Deathly Hallows above all. When Harry, Hermione, and Ron are coming from Aberforth’s pub, Neville explains the what is happening at Hogwarts. He is standing up for what he believes in, and standing against Voldemort and Snape’s regime. It becomes clear in this book why Neville was placed in Gryffindor in the beginning of the books. He emerges a brave, strong young man, and even his grandmother, who was so harsh on him before, takes notice and openly expresses her pride. This is why I think Neville might be one of the most developed, and underrated, characters in the series.
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