Neville Longbottom, a disastrously clumsy and forgetful boy,
with a knack for herbology and a friend of Harry Potter’s, has the most obstacles
to face as he comes of age in the series. Similar to Harry Potter, Neville does
not have any parents. His parents have been tortured into insanity by the
cruciatus curse performed by Bellatrix Lestrange. Even though they are alive,
they have no concept of who they are, where they are, or who their son is. Neville
has to overcome the trauma of what happened to them. He also has to accept that
he will never have the parents that he desires. The torture left them as empty
shells, devoid of any of the substance of their previous lives and of their
personalities. The only relationship that he has with them is visiting them at St.
Mungo’s on the long term stay floor. He also has to overcome the embarrassment
of what happened to his parents. He has a fear of the ridicule he may be
subjected to if anyone at school were to find out. So, he does not tell anyone
and just allows them to make assumptions. However, working with Harry and the
DA helped him to realize the importance of learning to protect oneself
defensively which matured him psychologically. He realized how brave his
parents were and that he has no reason to be ashamed for people to know.
He also develops psychologically due to the constant
bullying and taunts from his classmates and his family. His family believed
that he was a squib having no magical powers. His uncle resulted to pushing him
off of a roof. However, after they learn
that he is a wizard, his grandmother holds him up to unrealistic expectations.
She expects him to walk in his father’s shoes when he has never even known his
father.
Neville’s character development has affected how the series
is interpreted because character growth is essential for the other major themes
to come into existence. There is no quest without character development and unless
the character grows and learns how can he/she overcome evil? It also gives the
reader and the other characters hope that through trial and tribulation a
greater (stronger and wiser) version of the self will emerge.
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