I had a thought: Neville’s greatest fear was Snape. And for ten months of every year for seven years, he went back and faced that fear over and over and over again. It would be like tossing Ron into a nest of spiders every day. Or pitching Harry against a Dementor every day. Neville went back for Potions every time, never skipped out, never ran away. Kid was braver than anyone ever noticed from the very beginning, even before he started standing up for himself.
(Thanks you talking-bird-jessie for suggesting this scene from Order of the Phoenix!)
Reblogging because this is beautiful and totally should’ve been in the movie
Why are moments like this not in the movies? :’(
I have this headcanon that after Neville proposed to Hannah Abbott, he went to his parents at St. Mungo’s and sat with them. Even though he was sure she wouldn’t understand or remember, he held his mother’s hands and told her, “I’m getting married, Mum. She’s great. You’ll really like her.” Alice just hummed and stared off into the distance. No reaction. Neville still stayed, telling his parents all about Hannah and their plans, and how she wanted so badly to come meet them and he would bring her next time.
Then, as he put his hand on the door handle to leave, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Alice. She held out her hand as she had done so many times before. Expecting a candy wrapper, Neville held out his hand but felt something heavier drop into it.
When he looked down, there were two rings. And when he glanced to his mother’s hand, there was an indent where her wedding ring had once rested but was no longer there.
Neville as eventual headmaster is very important to me though.
Neville, who thanks to his enduring friendship with Luna sees the vital importance of fostering interhouse relationships, downplays the rivalries between the houses without lessening the importance of intrahouse unity by pushing the Quidditch Cup and House Cup as more friendly competition than all-consuming-must-be-won-enimity and introducing other means of emphasising house pride for those students who are not athletically or academically talented to the point where they feel as though they’re making an important contribution to their house.
Neville, who has so much goodness and kindness in him, having a zero tolerance policy for bullying, by staff or students, and serious punishments set down in official school policy for anyone caught bullying or intimidating a student for any reason.
Neville, who saw first hand just how vital it is, throwing the Ministry-approved DADA curriculum out the window and working with the DADA teacher to build a useful curriculum based on his two most useful years of DADA classes, those being third, under Lupin, and fifth, under Harry.
Neville, who understands how hard it is not to be One Of Those Kids, ruthlessly digging out any elitest groups like the Slug Club and disbanding them.
Neville, who understands that sometimes the teachers don’t choose as wisely as they ought, introducing a democratic system for prefect and Head Boy/Girl selection.
Neville, who knows what it is to be the bottom of the class, making a point of introducing a voluntary tutoring system for students who are in the same position he once found himself in – and making certain that it’s well known that had such a system been in place when he was at Hogwarts, he would certainly have availed of it.
Neville, who is a hero and a marvel and wonderful, brave man, fostering that same bravery and goodness in every one of his students, fighting to help them become the absolute best people they can be regardless of academic talent or world-saving ability.
Neville, who is everything that Albus Dumbledore was not, setting to rights so much of the wrong Dumbledore allowed and sometimes encouraged in Hogwarts.
