This Harry Potter Theory Solves A Big Neville Longbottom Mystery (But Makes His Story More Tragic)

The Harry Potter saga left a couple of unexplained events that the books can’t solve either, making way for various theories, and one of them solves a big Neville Longbottom mystery but adds more tragedy to his story. The Harry Potter saga is one of the most popular and profitable franchises in the fantasy genre, and despite all the time that has passed since the final movie came out, there are still a couple of mysteries waiting to be solved. The Harry Potter books and movies chronicled the title (young) wizard on his mission to defeat Lord Voldemort, the darkest wizard to ever live.

Throughout seven books and eight movies, the Harry Potter saga introduced its audience to many more characters, both Muggles and wizards, and some of them were key in Harry’s battle against Voldemort and his people. One of the most important characters in the Harry Potter saga was Neville Longbottom (played in the movies by Matthew Lewis), a friend of Harry and a fellow Gryffindor student at Hogwarts. Neville was as important as Harry in this universe, and his life was also marked by tragedy – and one theory makes his story even sadder while solving a big mystery about his past.

Neville Longbottom made his debut in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, as he arrived at Hogwarts the same year as Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Neville was shy, clumsy, and introverted, and was known for easily getting into trouble due to his clumsiness. Neville was even considered unsuitable for Gryffindor, but as years went by, he proved to be a worthy member and showed his loyalty, bravery, and courage. Neville was raised by his paternal grandmother, Augusta Longbottom, which was part of the reason why he was so insecure, shy, and scared all the time.

Neville was the son of Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom, who were also members of the Order of the Phoenix and defied Voldemort a couple of times. Neville was one of two children referred to in Sybill Trelawney’s prophecy of who would defeat Lord Voldemort, though Harry ended up being the one who was marked as Voldemort’s equal. Shortly after the murder of Lily and James Potter, Voldemort’s most loyal Death Eaters attacked the Longbottoms, and Frank and Alice were tortured with the Cruciatus Curse by Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter).

Frank and Alice were tortured into insanity and sent to St. Mungo’s Hospital, where they stayed for the rest of their lives. The Longbottoms weren’t even able to recognize Neville, who was given to Augusta, who raised him. A big question about the night when the Longbottoms were tortured is if Neville was there, and a theory solves this mystery by claiming baby Neville witnessed the torture of his parents, but this traumatic experience was obliviated.

Obliviate is a charm that can erase specific memories from a person’s mind, so it could have been used on a young Neville to erase the memory of his parents being tortured, though he was still told what happened to them. This could also explain why he had such bad memory growing up and could solve another mystery from the first movie.

Among the magical objects introduced in the Harry Potter saga is the Remembrall. This is a magical large marble-seized glass ball that, when held by someone who had forgotten something, contained smoke that turned red. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Neville got a Remembrall from his grandmother, which turned red as soon as he held it, indicating he had forgotten something. However, neither the movie nor the book revealed what Neville was forgetting, with the most accepted answer being that he was forgetting his robe.

If the theory of Neville having his childhood trauma obliviated is real, the Remembrall could have caught this as something he was forgetting, thus why he turned red so quickly. While the mystery of Neville and the Remembrall is not a big one, this theory could give it a sad spin.

Neville Longbottom’s story was already sad as he, like Harry, didn’t get to know his parents, and though he was raised by his grandmother, knowing his parents wouldn’t recognize him was surely very hard to process. The theory makes Neville’s story even more tragic as he would have witnessed a truly traumatic event at a very young age from which he couldn’t have escaped unscathed: if he wasn’t obliviated, he would have carried that trauma, and if he was, he was left with consequences like bad memory.

The theory also raises the question of, if baby Neville was in the room when his parents were tortured, why Bellatrix let him live. Bellatrix was one of Voldemort’s most loyal followers, and she was absolutely evil. Some Harry Potter fans have theorized that Bellatrix probably used baby Neville to further torture his parents, which also makes their story even worse. With or without the theory, Neville Longbottom continues to be one of the most important characters in the Harry Potter saga, but also one with a truly tragic backstory.