Neville Longbottom
Neville Longbottom is a round-faced, perpetually anxious Gryffindor third-year whose chronic forgetfulness and deep-seated fears make him an easy target for bullies and a source of exasperation for teachers. Yet in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Neville undergoes a quiet but significant transformation, culminating in a moment of bravery during a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that earns him rare public praise and signals a shift in his own sense of capability.
Identity and Background
Neville is introduced as a boy defined by his nervousness and poor memory. He lives with his formidable grandmother, who sends his Hogsmeade permission form directly to Professor McGonagall because she deems it safer than trusting Neville with it. He is regularly in trouble for losing passwords, forgetting his booklist, and breaking teacups in Divination class, where Professor Trelawney predicts he will break his first cup and then, after he does, instructs him to use a blue one instead. His grandmother later sends him a Howler after he loses the list of Gryffindor Tower passwords, which Sirius Black uses to break into the dormitory, shrieking about the shame he has brought on the family. Neville's vulnerability is compounded by his status as a target: Draco Malfoy mocks him, and Professor Snape singles him out for humiliation in Potions, once threatening to poison his toad, Trevor, if Neville's potion is wrong.
Arc Through the Plot
Neville's role in the story is largely defined by his struggles and his inadvertent role in a security breach. On the Hogwarts Express, he stumbles into Harry's compartment in the dark, sits on Crookshanks, and is present when the Dementor searches the train. He later loses the week's passwords, which he had written down, and Sirius Black uses them to enter Gryffindor Tower, an event that leaves Neville in total disgrace. Professor McGonagall bans him from future Hogsmeade visits, gives him detention, and forbids anyone to share the password with him, forcing him to wait outside the common room nightly. Yet Neville also participates in the ordinary life of the school: he is present at the Christmas dinner where Professor Trelawney warns that thirteen diners means the first to rise will die first, and he is among the students who watch the Quidditch final.
Key Actions and Objectives
Neville's most significant action occurs in Professor Lupin's Boggart lesson. When asked what he fears most, Neville whispers "Professor Snape," and Lupin guides him to imagine Snape dressed in his grandmother's clothes: a tall hat with a stuffed vulture, a green dress, and a large red handbag. Neville successfully casts "Riddikulus!" and transforms the Boggart-Snape into that comical figure, earning laughter from the class. Later, after the Boggart cycles through other students' fears, Neville faces it again when it reverts to Snape, and this time he charges forward, shouts the spell, and destroys the Boggart entirely. Professor Lupin awards him ten points to Gryffindor for tackling the Boggart twice, the highest individual reward of the lesson.
Relationships and Conflict
Neville's relationships are marked by a power imbalance. He is bullied by Snape, who tells Lupin not to entrust Neville with anything difficult, and by Malfoy, who sneers at him. His grandmother's expectations weigh heavily on him, and he is visibly terrified of disappointing her. He has a cordial but distant relationship with Harry, Ron, and Hermione; they are not close friends, but he seeks them out for company when left behind during Hogsmeade visits. His forgetfulness and anxiety isolate him, yet the Boggart lesson briefly places him at the center of positive attention.
Change and Ending
By the end of the book, Neville has not shed his nervousness entirely, but he has demonstrated a capacity for courage that his peers witness. The Boggart lesson provides a concrete instance where he overcomes his fear and succeeds in front of the entire class, a stark contrast to his usual failures. He remains forgetful and anxious, but the episode establishes that he can act bravely when guided properly, foreshadowing his later growth. He is last seen in the narrative as one of the students who, along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, knows the truth about Sirius Black's escape, though he is not involved in the climactic events.
Narrative Role and Evaluation
Neville functions as a foil to Harry: both are Gryffindors with difficult family situations, but where Harry is famous and confident, Neville is overlooked and fearful. His arc in this book is one of incremental self-discovery, not dramatic heroism. The Boggart lesson is the emotional high point of his year, showing that even the most timid student can find a way to laugh at what terrifies him. Neville's presence also drives a key plot point—his lost passwords enable Black's break-in—making him a catalyst for danger despite his good intentions. His character remains flat in the sense that he is built around a single trait (anxiety), but the Boggart scene hints at roundness by revealing a capacity for bravery that surprises even himself.
