Neville Longbottom
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Neville Longbottom |
| Occupation: | wizard, student, (eventual) Herbology Professor |
| Relationships: | Hannah Abbott (married)[1] Luna Lovegood (possibly dated)[2] |
| Fandom: | Harry Potter |
| Other: | born 30 July 1980[3] |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Neville Longbottom is a character in the Harry Potter series. He is one of Harry's dorm-mates and, though he initially seems to serve only as comic relief, ultimately plays an important role in the defeat of Lord Voldemort
Canon Background
Neville was brought up by his grandmother after his parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom, were tortured to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange. Throughout the first several book, he suffered from self-esteem issues, likely because of his grandmother and other relatives' apparent disappointment that he didn't measure up to his famous Auror father. He was also forgetful and clumsy and pretty inept in all his classes until finding his niche with Herbology and otherwise gaining confidence. Some fans also attribute his improved skill to his acquisition of a new wand after Order of the Phoenix. He was constantly bullied by Professor Snape while in his class, and Snape was the thing he "feared most" in his third year.
In Deathly Hallows, Neville led the Hogwarts resistance against the Death Eaters with help from Ginny and Luna. He was also vocally defiant of Lord Voldemort, even after Harry's apparent death, and beheaded Nagini, Voldemort's snake and the last Horcrux.
In canon, he is described as round-faced and plump (at least in early books--fanon says he grew out of it). His hair colour was never given in the books, but J. K. Rowling has described him as blonde; however, fanon usually gives him brown hair (possibly because of Matthew Lewis, who portrays him in the films)
See also: Neville Longbottom at the Harry Potter Lexicon
Fan Response & Speculation
Before canon was closed, there were several theories about Neville's role in the books...
- Neville is the Boy Who Lived
- Neville as Peter Pettigrew parallel
- Neville's parents sending him messages through gum wrappers
- Neville's memory problems stem from a charm cast on him in infancy (proposed in Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter)
Meta
- Here's to the Quiet Ones by eyesdelight on idol_reflection
- Weekly Headcanon: Neville Longbottom
- Fortitude by Peg Kerr
- The Importance of Neville Longbottom by Douglas Moran
- Where Are the Longbottoms From? by S. Hall
- Neville Longbottom and the Overdone Storyline, Archived version by Michael Maupin
- Chekhov's Gun, Dark Horse, and Macbeth, Archived version by Saint_Helga and Dan Estes
- Neville Longbottom: The Other Chosen One, Archived version by David Haber
Shipping
Het
- Neville/Ginny Weasley (nevilleginny) - popular pre-OotP (went to Yule Ball together in GoF) and post-OotP by H/Hr & R/L shippers
- Neville/Hannah Abbott (nevillexhannah) - canonically marries according to JKR's post-DH interviews
- Neville/Lavender Brown (nevender)
- Neville/Luna Lovegood - semi-canonical, canonical in the films
- Neville/Pansy Parkinson (neville_pansy)
Slash
- Neville/Draco Malfoy
- Neville/Harry Potter (prophecy_boys)
- Neville/James Potter II (jamesxneville) - most popular cross-gen next-gen ship?
- Neville/Severus Snape
Notable Neville-centric Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanfiction
- Lust Over Pendle by A.J. Hall Neville/Draco
- Night-blooming Heartsease by Julad -- Neville/Snape
- A Thousand Wishes by hannelore
- Bibbed Egg Owls, Lot Mourns by kaalee. Neville tries to find meaning behind his mother's notes.
- Children Of War by Hijja. The first time he tried to wake, his body still felt as if immersed in a sea of fire; before he could groan, pain flung him back into unconsciousness.
- Becoming Neville by Jedi Rita. Gen coming-of-age novel in which Neville spends a summer at Grimmauld Place and investigates his mother's sweet wrapper gifts
- Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness by Thanfiction
Neville-Boy Who Lived
Other
- Neville Longbottom and The Black Witch, a fan film by Muggle Flix productions
External Links
- Lacuna, a defunct Neville slash archive
- The Other Future, a Neville fansite and fanlisting
- Gardener's Delight Slash, a mailing list for Neville slash and gen
- Special Edition: Neville Longbottom at the Daily Snitch
FanFiction.net Communities
- Broken Teacups & Lost Toads: An Ode to Neville Longbottom
- Neville Longbottom Literature
- Simply Neville (The Community!)
Journal Communities
- Neville Big Bang (LJ)
- longbottom_wkly (LJ), a Neville newsletter community
- nevillosity (LJ), for Neville-centric fanfiction, fanart, and discussion
- neville100 (LJ & IJ), a drabble community
- xnevillelovingx (LJ & IJ), a general Neville community
Tumblrs
References
- ^ According to J. K. Rowling on the post-Deathly Hallows Open Book Tour: Carnegie Hall. 19 October 2007.
- ^ JKR has flip-flopped about potential Neville/Luna; see the Canonicity section at the Neville/Luna article.
- ^ Harry Potter Lexicon. Neville Longbottom. (Accessed 09 October 2011.)