But bossman did show me this link http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/11/neville-longbottom-is-the-most-important-person-in-harry-potter and I decided that a good return to the blogosphere would be to tear apart this shitty document.
So here’s the thing: out of all your wizarding students and house elves and headmasters and Death Eaters and muggles and centaurs, there is really only one person who determines the course of the Harry Potter series.
It’s Neville Longbottom.
Neville Longbottom has quite a following in the Harry Potter fandom, and for good reason—he is humble and noble, brave and kind, he’s a wonderful friend and a fierce supporter. Neville is what most Gryffindors would be like in the real world, a person capable of heroic feats under dire circumstances, but not inclined to them every waking moment. Neville understands that it’s not about being loud and brash every day, it’s about picking your battles and knowing what’s dear and worth fighting for.
Fairly confident that if there is "one person who determines the course of the Harry Potter series" ITS HARRY FUCKING POTTER. ITS KIND OF NAMED AFTER HIM, DUH. IF HARRY DIES, THE SERIES ENDS. IF NEVILLE DIES...WELL WE CAN REPLACE HIM. WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY. So seriously, this is already flawed. Nothing wrong with Neville, he's an outstanding bro, and has some nice characteristics, but jesus lets not fellate the dude just because everyone thinks from ages 11-16 he was mentally retarded and it turns out we were wrong about it.Neville also might have been the chosen one, according to Trelawney’s prophecy. If Voldemort had simply decided he was the real threat, then Harry could have avoided his mark and lived life out… well, a little more normally.
So wait...Neville was ALMOST the most important. Okay...thanks for clarifying how he was ALMOST important, Just like I was ALMOST valedictorian in high school. Close doesn't count for shit. Except in bomb blasts. And horseshoes, apparently.
But it’s not quite so simple as all that. See, Rowling largely operates Harry’s generation in a clear system of parallels to the previous generation, Marauders and all. Harry is his father—Quidditch star, a little pig-headed sometimes, an excellent leader. Ron is Sirius Black—snarky and fun, loyal to a fault, mired in self-doubts. Hermione is Remus Lupin—book smart and meticulous, always level-headed, unfailingly perceptive. Ginny is Lily Evans—a firecracker, clever and kind, unwilling to take excuses. Draco Malfoy is Severus Snape—a natural foil to Harry, pretentious, possessed of the frailest ego and also deeper sense of right and wrong when it counts. And guess what?
Neville Longbottom is Peter Pettigrew.
Think about it—the tag along friend who looks up to the trio, but is looked down on by everyone else for not being remarkably talented or suave. Someone who is trusted with a lot of Harry's most important secrets, in a perfect position to give everyone away. “Foolish boy,” as McGonagall said of little Pettigrew. Another pureblood who has no respect from the higher-up notable wizarding families. Gullible, the easy mark, someone who other children make fun of when Harry, Hermione, and Ron aren’t on hand to defend him. Neville is Peter’s brand new analog in the story.Ohhh, you're an English major! That's the only possible explanation for this paragraph. Who cares what the analogy is? It provides no actual explanation to why Neville is important, other than to provide this talking point. Which is in and of itself, useless. And I think Grindelwald is Hitler. But you don't see my writing about how I think Grindelwald is the worst wizard of the 20th Century. Queen Elizabeth is a surprisingly close second, with Pol Pot, Idi Amin and Osama rounding out the AP Top 5. College Gameday is heading out next week to London, England, for the top 15 match up of the Kony State Fighiting Ugandans against the University of Britain Lions.
Sorry, got distracted. But surely we can see how useless relating Ron to Sirius is in an argument about how Neville is the most important character. And comparing him to Pettigrew is just mean. Pretty sure Pettigrew has AIDS. At the very least, diabetes. He lost an arm, or something. I assume it was diabetes related. Rats don't really have good diets. Probs had to amputate that shit.
Or, at least, he could have been. Neville is a perfect example of how one single ingredient in the recipe can either ruin your casserole (or stew, or treacle tart, whatever you like), or utterly perfect your whole dish. Neville is the tide-turner, the shiny hinge. And all because he happens to be in the same position as Wormtail… but makes all the hard choices that Pettigrew refused the first time around. Other characters are in similar positions, but none of them go so far as Neville. None of them prove that the shaping of destiny is all on the individual the way he does.
Um...every human is a wild card. This isn't a Neville-only thing. Every f'n character (except Moldy Voldy, because he's just a nutjob) is like that. Sometimes they're the shit, sometimes they are menstruating (Ron is especially prone to losing to the Crimson Tide), and sometimes they are dead #sorrygeorge.
So he's better than wormtail. This is good, and factual. I think we need to discuss what "most important" means. Doesn't mean "better than wormtail." I feel like Harry shows the "shaping of destiny" waaaay more than Neville. Again, this probably has to do with all that poppycock "main character" bullshit. Who even pays attention to important plot elements, anyway.
Of course, Neville does embody many characteristics that are worth emulating all on his own, but the more important part of that equation is how his strengths fill a gap in group dynamics that the Marauders were missing. Harry and company need Neville in the exact way that James and Lily and the Order of the Phoenix needed Peter. The difference is that Neville is more than up to the task.
While Harry was in Hogwarts, explain to me how they needed Neville. Book 1, they ignore him when he stands up to them. Book 2...not even sure what Neville does that whole year. Probably loses a frog and pisses off Snape. Book 3...thanks to his retardness, he lets Sirius into the dormitory. Book 4...
It’s a lesson in self-worth under stronger personalities that most human beings could do with at some point or another. Because society at large insists that the only people of value are leaders and their closest confederates, people like Neville are dismissed at first blush much in the same manner that he is dismissed by his classmates in his first years at Hogwarts. But that lack of confidence from his peers doesn’t lead him to throw in the towel; his self-deprecation eventually turns into a dogged insistence on growing his skill set, on offering his help whether or not it’s been called for, on figuring out how he can best be of use in the coming fight.
Ummmm...okay, so Neville was shunned, and then he turned useful. Yet again, I wonder if you understand the words "most important"
Peter Pettigrew was in that very same place, but let his weaknesses carry through life; he hero-worshipped James and Sirius, then simply transferred that sensibility to Voldemort. He is the ultimate follower, he moves to what he perceives as the strongest single voice in the room. Which is the reason why Peter doesn’t seem to lose much sleep over his decisions—while he’s aware that what he has done is wrong, his basic excuse for everything is “But You Know Who had so much power! There was no other choice that makes sense!” Sirius says that he would have died rather than betray Lily and James the way Peter did, but the real point to take away is that dying was never the only option. If Peter had worked a little harder, relied less on the protection of others, believed in the power of his friendships and family, he need never have made those choices in the first place.
BLAH BLAH BLAH RED HERRING BULLSHIT BLAH BLAH BLAH
This is why Neville’s very first act of heroism is a perfect juxtaposition to Peter’s failings when he stands up to Harry, Ron, and Hermione in thePhilosopher’s Stone. Dumbledore recognizes it as such, and rewards him for his body bind with the final points needed to win Gryffindor the House Cup. He makes it Neville’s personal victory by announcing him last. (You have to surmise that Dumbledore sees how history might repeat itself and is relieved to see Neville going down a different road.) Where Peter spent his life in the shadow of his friends, remembered even by professors as little more than a sycophant—recall that Professor McGonagall thinks of him primarily as that boy who trailed after James and Sirius—Neville steps away from that position immediately and shows everyone that while he may be meek, he’s no one to mess around with.
Let's use Dumbledore as a scoreboard. Ron's chess game: 50 pts. Hermione's logic shit: 50 pts. Harry's badassery 1 v 2 match: 60 points. Neville standing up to the aformentioned 3: 10 pts. Woo, yeah, that's some top quality shit. Basic math indicates that Harry is at least 6x more excellent than Neville. Also, Dumbledore announces it last because ITS WAY MORE AWESOME THAT WAY. GOD DAMN WHAT ARE YOU READING INTO THIS SHIT. HE READS IT LAST BECAUSE THAT WAY SLYTHERIN AND GRYFFINDOR ARE TIED GOING INTO NEVILLE'S THING, NOT BECAUSE THERE IS ANY HIDDEN LOGIC TO IT. HOLY GOD WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.
Um, "he is no one to mess around with" yeah you're absolutely right. He got petrified, he gets tortured by Malfoy on a seemingly daily basis, and he gets his remembrall shit stolen. Who solved that problem, again? some bloke named Harry. What does Neville do about the whole situation? Nothing? Yeah that's someone to not mess with.
More important than Neville’s defense of what’s right is his role as a keeper of hope. Neville comes to Harry’s aid when no one believes what he says,
SO DOES LUNA.
fights alongside him when most flee at the prospect of real danger
So does the rest of Dumbledore's Army.
then keeps his platoon going from inside Hogwarts during Harry’s absence.
That he runs with the help of Ginny and Luna, in addition, he states that he does the shit because he saw how Harry commanded that role to great effect. So in reality, he's trying to be Harry, since HP isn't there anymore. Wait. He's trying to be Harry. He's trying to be Harry. Hmmm. Pretty sure that just makes my point for me.
He has the hardest job of anyone, and it’s a responsibility he takes on without being asked or expected to do so. He houses refuges in the Room of Requirement, lets everyone know that Dumbledore’s Army is alive and well. Epic tales always demand that someone never give up the cause no matter how bleak things seem, and that’s Neville through and through. His friends are kidnapped, tortured and gone, but he stays at Hogwarts while two Death Eaters are teaching classes and keeps the candle burning for Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s return.
So he's waiting for the main trio to come back and save the day. So he's just a caretaker. He's like the teenage neighbor you pay to water your plants and feed your animals while you're on vacation. Or better yet, not while you're on vacation, but while you're out SAVING THE GODDAMN WORLD.
If he hadn’t, who knows if the Battle of Hogwarts could have even taken place.
Are you shitting me? In fact, if he hadn't, less people would have died. Harry would have still broken in the castle to find the diadem, but less people would have been interested in his return. So there wouldn't have been as much fuss about harry running around the castle. So there wouldn't have been that mass uprising against the Snape regime, so Voldy wouldn't have heard about it as accurately/rapidly. So the Order of the Phoenix (AP: 17 Coach's: 13 BCS: 14) wouldn't have come to the rescue, so less people for Voldy to kill, because Voldy's direct orders were to kill everyone BUT harry. So really, you couldn't be more wrong. You could try, but you would fail.
Still, Harry didn’t come up with Neville’s role in a brilliant moment of strategic awareness—they simply got lucky that Neville decided he wanted the job.
So your entire premise is based on sheer luck. Yeah, that seems like a strong foundation for your "argument"
You could argue that his parentage has a lot to do with his journey. Frank and Alice Longbottom were tortured to insanity by the Lestranges, and so he has a deeply personal reason to stand against Voldemort. But by all accounts, Peter also had a good family who would have been horrified by the choices he made. This ties into Pettigrew’s decision to fake his own death—his mother could believe that he died a hero. Neville’s situation is exactly opposite and once again shows Peter up in every sense; he fights for a family that is no longer present, wants to make his parents proud though they will never consciously know what he is doing in their memory.
"deeply personal reason to stand against Voldemort" YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE JEWISH TO HATE HITLER, OR CAMBODIAN TO HATE POL POT OR WHITE TO HATE JUSTIN BEIBER. IN FACT, DOING GOOD INDEPENDENT OF SOME PERSONAL MISSION SPEAKS MORE THAN JUST HAVING SOME VENDETTA.
I'm wondering if this article is really about how Neville > Peter. Because that's all you've proven, and honestly, it doesn't take much to be better than Pettigrew. So congrats, I suppose. That would be like me proving that Tim Duncan is a better driver than Helen Keller. It's pretty self-explanatory. Even if all you know is that Tim Duncan has a right foot, at least one working arm and at least one working eye (and is male! #boom #sexism)
In the final hour, Neville is given a chance to make the same cowardly choice that Peter did, to join Voldemort’s forces and go the easy route.
Wow talk about reading into a specific instance just to make a point.
And instead he pulls Godric Gryffindor’s sword out of a burning Sorting Hat anddestroys the final horcrux by slicing off Nagini’s head. It couldn’t be more clear than it is in that moment; Harry needs Neville in order to end this war
Yeah, good thing Harry did all the legwork to lead up to this point. It would be like scoring 14 points and having 1 assist in the national championship game, but having some other guy come in and make the game winning shot. Let's just ignore the senior who did all the work allowing that opportunity to even exist for some rando. #NeverGiveUp #RIP #LoveYouZo
just as much as he needs Ron and Hermione, the same way that his parents needed Peter. And it is true that Harry is a much better friend to Neville than his father might have been to Peter, but at the end of the day, that’s still down to Neville—down to a boy who demanded respect from his friends right from the start, no matter how small or unremarkable he felt.
If you have to demand respect from your friends...maybe you shouldn't be friends with them. Just a thought.
Who had the gumption to do what he knew was right, not when it was hard but because it was hard.
Wat. What does this even mean. Pretty sure he did what he did because he knew it was the RIGHT THING TO DO. take that peptalky bullshit out of here. No one does anything because its really hard to do, they do it because its the right thing to do. He didn't choose the timing or difficulty of the assignment. He chose the assignment itself. Good god its almost as if you wrote this because it sounds super fancy, but doesn't mean jack shit. Don't quit your day job, Emily.
That distinction makes Neville Longbottom the truest of Gryffindors and a surprising balancing point of the entire Harry Potter narrative. Who Peter Pettigrew might have been had he understood that courage wasn’t about blind action, but about doing what was needed even if no one ever asked. In a world of leaders and followers, there are some who don’t attempt to fit either mold, and it is those distinct few who really determine the future of us all. That is what Neville Longbottom can teach us.
Yup we close on some nonsensical text wrapping up an article that had no premise (or a terrible one, at least) and didn't defend it at all. But it looks and sounds really nice! And that's what a B.S. in English is all about.
