Re: Longbottom's magical problems
- From: "Melissa Houle" <melissa.houle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 05:38:19 GMT
Christopher M. <nospamcm_anon76@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Au8Re.9842$j41.358@xxxxxxxxxxx
> I've been thinking about how Merope lost her ability to do magic. She was
> depressed after Tom Riddle Sr. left her.
> Maybe Neville's knowledge of what happened to his parents inhibited his
> ability to do magic for a while.
>
>
> W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)
>
Hmmmm, more like his whole life to date. But you have a definite point. I
don't imagine that Neville's a terribly happy boy, and he's quite cowed by
his grandmother. He's more fortunate than Harry in his living situation as
he has a grandmother who loves and has taken him in, but she can't be an
easy person to please or to live with, even if she's not the bully Uncle
Vernon is. Nor does Neville have to hide that he's a wizard all the time as
Harry does. But his grandmother's impatient with Neville's shortcomings,
and his whole family was worried he might not be magic enough to make it
into Hogwarts. She criticized him quite tactlessly in front of a large group
of his peers at the hospital in OOTP as the untalented child of talented
parents. That, for a teenager is enough to induce a deathwish, or at least a
wish to melt into the floor and disappear. I have a feeling Neville's the
kind of kid who has to sit at the table at the grownups while they discuss
him as if he weren't even there, a lot.
At school, Neville struggles with his class work, and teachers like Snape
don't help. McGonagall seems to have a soft spot for him, but she just keeps
telling him he needs more confidence, without really doing anything to
actively help him develop it. Neville's not one of the cool kids, and while
people in Gryffindor don't actually pick on him, nobody seems to think he's
much of a credit to his House, either. He's one of those boys who will
always be picked last for his team, and while he gets along with the other
boys in his year, he doesn't seem to have a particular friend of his own.
But he has to watch Harry and Ron be best friends and Dean and Seamus be
best friends while he's the fifth wheel. The one real release Neville has
is his talent for Herbology. In one way, Harry's luckier than Neville in
that he doesn't have his family's magical expectations and the fear of not
meeting them riding on the back of his neck, all the time.
So none of Neville's upbringing is the kind of life that leads to either
happiness or self-confidence. All of those factors could have a negative
effect on his ability to do magic, creating a vicious circle. No wonder he
missed the DA so, it was one of the few times in Neville's life when he felt
really capable and anyone tried to really build his confidence instead of
just telling him he needed more of it.
Melissa
.
- References:
- Longbottom's magical problems
- From: Christopher M.
- Longbottom's magical problems
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