The Boy Who Might Have Been

Neville Longbottom.

Show of hands: who's surprised? No one? Yeah, that's what I thought.

See, I wrote a 20 page paper on Neville for Dr. Diehl. I could just copy and paste that here, but I'll summarize for y'all. :)

I adore Neville.

I adore Neville because of his quiet strength and his core of iron and the fact that he broke the cycle. This is a kid who, at eleven, stood up to the most popular kids in his grade because he believed that their actions were wrong. He stood up for his morals and values even at a time when he had trouble standing up for something as basic as himself. Throughout the series, nothing gets in his way of pursuing what he feels to be morally right. His morals are more important to him than his own image.

I adore Neville because he is a quiet hero, an almost unwilling hero, and he never seeks glory, largely because he constantly feels he doesn’t deserve it. He lives everyday with the belief that he will never be good enough (because his grandmother is a horrible, awful human being who I despise more than any other character in the series), but he goes out and does what needs to be done anyway. He’s Harry’s foil, and he’s the character who keeps Harry honest, because he could easily have been the boy in Harry’s place. He grows into his legacy and his abilities in Deathly Hallows and becomes a full fledged BAMF, the underestimated hero, and the one who, if left up to him, would remain unsung. Because Neville has never seen himself as heroic. He was only ever doing what someone more heroic than him wasn’t around to do, only ever doing what needed to be done.

I adore Neville because the kid argued with the Sorting Hat about where he belonged; when the Hat wanted to put him in Gryffindor, Neville shook his head and said he wasn't brave enough and he should be in Hufflepuff instead. And the Hat sure as hell didn't listen. He put Neville where he belonged and forced Neville to grow into his Gryffindor-ness, and holy cow does he.

I adore Neville because he became a leader and he instilled hope and he spun a story so everyone could get through those awful, awful days, but the moment it was time to hand over the reigns, he did so. I adore Neville because when Harry passed the torch, Neville alone out of anyone had some inkling of what Harry was going to do, and he let him know that the fight would continue and that no one was giving up, no matter what. I adore Neville because he killed a freakin' snake and said "I'll join you when Hell freezes over" and just became an all-around, damn-straight BAMF.

And I adore him because for all of that, he's still one of the most humble people in the series, and after everything was over, he became a Herbology professor, not an Auror, not a fighter, a teacher and a gardener, and he led a simple life, and it was enough for him.

Basically, I adore Neville because he wonderful and amazing and perfect and I would leave Chase for him in a heartbeat, if he were real, which Chase knows and has accepted.

Neville is my hero and absolutely my favorite character.