A Hogwarts student has a past that rivals the boy wizard's in terms of drama
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| Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures |
Everyone knows the story of the sad childhood of Harry Potter, the protagonist of the fantasy saga created by J.K. Rowling. Orphaned by both parents and raised among the bullying and mistreatment of his uncles and cousin Dudley, the boy wizard certainly did not live a happy existence, at least until he entered Hogwarts School of Witchcraft. However, there is at least one of his friends who can compete with him in terms of tragic backstory: Neville Longbottom. Being a secondary character, his difficult childhood went unnoticed compared to Harry's, but the truth is that he is one of the saddest and darkest stories in the entire saga.
Played by Matthew Lewis in the films, Neville initially appears as a shy, awkward, and clumsy boy, not particularly gifted in magic (especially Potions). In short, the perfect target for the bullies is Draco Malfoy. Only in the fifth chapter, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, does the protagonist learn about the tragic past of the Longbottom family. In fact, Neville, like Harry, had become a potential target of Voldemort at birth, as his parents Frank and Alice had faced him three times, just as Sybill Cooman's prophecy stated. After Voldemort's fall, his parents were tortured to the point of madness with the Cruciatus curse by some Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange.
Neville was then raised by his strict paternal grandmother Augusta, and even for him the happy moments were very few. For example, let's remember the episode in which his uncle makes him fall from the balcony, or when his grandmother constantly reminds him of his inadequacy, not to mention the awareness of what happened to his parents and their inability to recognize him or take care of him, as they were hospitalized at St. Mungo's Hospital after the torture they suffered. There is also a popular theory that attributes one of Neville's most recognizable characteristics, namely his poor memory, which often gets him into trouble, to the traumas of his past.
According to some fans on Reddit, in fact, Neville would have been tortured together with his parents, and then a memory spell would have been imposed on him, to erase or modify his memories. This could explain his inconsistent memories in the first books. Fortunately, just like Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom also has a way of redeeming himself at the end of the story. After gradually gaining confidence in himself, he not only manages to face his parents' torturer Bellatrix Lestrange, but in the last chapter he refuses to submit to Voldemort, finally proving himself a true Gryffindor and killing Nagini, the last Horcrux left to the Dark Lord.
And do you remember the tragic backstory of this character?
Source: FandomWire
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