Neville Longbottom

Neville Longbottom first appears in Philosopher's Stone before the initial journey in the Hogwarts Express, in which he is seen being accompanied by his grandmother looking for his toad pet Trevor. He befriends Harry, Ron and Hermione, and takes part in some of the trio's first adventures. Neville makes one significant contribution in his first year at Hogwarts: by attempting to stand up to the trio when he sees them about to break the rules and possibly do more harm to Gryffindor house, he earns the respect of Albus Dumbledore. For this act, Dumbledore mentions him at the end of year dinner, pointing out the bravery required to stand up to one's friends, and awards him the final 10 points necessary for Gryffindor house to beat Slytherin.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, despite being a Pure-blood wizard, Neville fears that Slytherin's monster will attack him because he is "almost a Squib", as he is a poorly skilled student. However, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Remus Lupin is one of the first to help Neville develop his true power by asking him to confront and defeat a Boggart, which Neville successfully does. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore reveals to Harry that Neville was raised by his grandmother because his parents were tortured to the point of insanity by Barty Crouch, Jr., Rodolphus, Rabastan, and Bellatrix Lestrange with the Cruciatus Curse for information on Voldemort's whereabouts following his downfall. During one of Crouch Jr.'s Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons while impersonating Alastor Moody, Neville is terrified upon seeing Crouch Jr. demonstrate the effects of the curse on a spider. Neville invites Hermione to the Yule Ball but is declined, so he asks Ginny to the Ball and she accompanies him.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Neville's magical abilities improve dramatically under the tutelage of Harry during meetings of Dumbledore's Army, and he then devotes himself to Harry's training regimen. He also receives far greater characterisation than he has in the past, with Harry, and thus the reader, coming to understand him on a deeper level, beginning when Harry's friends see the state of Neville's parents at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

In the climax of the book, Neville participates in the battle in the Department of Mysteries, in which he accidentally breaks the prophecy made about Harry and Voldemort.[4] Dumbledore, to whom the prophecy was originally made, explains that it concerns "the Chosen One", a wizard that would have the power to vanquish Voldemort. This "Chosen One" would be born "as the seventh month dies", and thus the prophecy could refer to either Neville, born on 30 July 1980, or Harry, born on 31 July.[5] According to Rowling, this "does not give Neville either hidden powers or a mysterious destiny ... Neville remains the tantalising 'might-have-been.' "[1]

Neville receives a new wand in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as the old one, which was actually his father's, was broken during the struggle with Death Eaters in the previous book. During the train ride to Hogwarts, Neville is invited by Horace Slughorn to join the Slug Club, but apparently does not pass Slughorn's first test as he is not invited again. It is revealed that Neville achieved an "Outstanding" in Herbology, and he did well in Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms, earning an "Exceeds Expectations." Neville wants the D.A. meetings to continue, as he feels they have helped him and the others to improve their skills, however they stop as Harry says there is no need as they now have a "proper teacher". When a group of Death Eaters guided by Draco Malfoy attack the castle, Neville answers the call for help, and he fights against the Death Eaters once again, though he suffers minor injuries. During Dumbledore's funeral Neville is accompanied and assisted by Luna, and Harry feels a "great rush of affection" for them because they were the only two D.A. members to help Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in the struggle with the Death Eaters.

With Harry's absence and the control of Hogwarts in the hands of Severus Snape and Death Eaters Alecto and Amycus Carrow in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Neville spends much of his seventh year at Hogwarts as the resistance leader against Voldemort's takeover. Together with Ginny and Luna, Neville reactivates Dumbledore's Army, stepping into the leadership position in Harry's absence and helping students who were tormented under the new regime. Neville reveals that the Carrows beat him and that the Death Eaters targeted his grandmother when Neville was acting up at school. Neville goes into hiding in the Room of Requirement, which he shows an incredible ability to control. Upon Harry's return to Hogwarts, Neville sends messages to the D.A., which in turn gathers the Order of the Phoenix.

During the Battle of Hogwarts, Neville is spotted twice by Harry using his knowledge of Herbology to help ward off the attackers. He later helps Oliver Wood carry the body of Colin Creevey. When Voldemort returns with Harry's apparently lifeless body, Neville defies him, and decapitates Nagini with the Sword of Godric Gryffindor (which he draws from the Sorting Hat), thus destroying the final Horcrux and making Voldemort mortal once again. When the battle goes to the Great Hall, he assists Ron in taking down Fenrir Greyback. After the battle is won, Neville is surrounded by a group of admirers.

In the epilogue of Deathly Hallows, Ginny mentions that Neville has gone on to be the Herbology professor at Hogwarts. In an interview, Rowling also mentioned that he shows off his D.A. coin to many admiring students and tells them about his adventures.[6] Rowling revealed more information about Neville when she stated that he married Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff classmate, who became the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron. The couple live over the pub, a fact that Rowling thought people would find "particularly cool".[7][8]

The narrative describes Neville as round-faced. In Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry draws some physical comparison between Neville and Peter Pettigrew. In a 2000 interview, Rowling recalled a conversation with a reader, to whom she described Neville as "short and plump and blond".[11]

For most of the first part of the series, Neville is described as lacking self-confidence and being shy. In the third book, his boggart is revealed to be Professor Snape, whom Neville is terrified of because of the treatment the potions teacher gives to the boy. Rowling said that the "worst, shabbiest thing you can do" as a teacher is to bully students.[12] Along with Luna, Neville is isolated within Hogwarts for most of the series. Although Professor Lupin is one of the first to encourage Neville, the character develops more self-confidence since the fifth book. In the final book, the situation pushes Neville's personality to unseen limits as he becomes the resistance leader within Hogwarts and is greatly admired by his fellows. However, since the first book Neville has displayed great courage, a feature that is recognised by Dumbledore for standing up to his own friends, and valued by Rowling above all other virtues.

During the first books of the series, Neville is portrayed as an incompetent wizard and as poorly skilled at school (with the only exception of Herbology). The character himself reveals in the second book that it was even feared by his family, especially his grandmother, that he was a Squib during his childhood. Neville's family is relieved, therefore, when he receives his letter inviting him to Hogwarts. Neville's magical abilities greatly improve in the fifth instalment,[13] due to the character joining Dumbledore's Army, a group dedicated to practice Defence Against the Dark Arts. In Half-Blood Prince, Neville receives a new wand made of cherry wood and unicorn hair, as his previous wand (which was actually his father's) was destroyed while fighting Death Eaters in Order of the Phoenix. The wand appears to have added further improvement to Neville's school performance.