Comments | bluestocking20: Why was Neville not harmed?

bluestocking20

Why was Neville not harmed?

Jan 01, 2007 02:48

The Lestranges, according to JKR, were sent after the Longbottoms, believing they had information on Lord Voldemort's whereabouts. They tortured Frank and Alice into insanity. But why didn't a sadist like Bella use Neville as leverage? (as horrible as that is) Their own child, I imagine as much loved as Harry Potter. We never hear anything at the ( Read more... )

Comments 17

author_by_night January 3 2007, 01:51:17 UTC

Well, either they hid Neville, or they weren't home. Or Bella and co had done what they wanted to do. :(

bluestocking20 January 4 2007, 03:18:21 UTC

It's certainly possible they were out working. It might be the right explanation.

mary_j_59 January 3 2007, 03:25:42 UTC

Um - I thought it was canon that Dumbledore arranged for the safety of both threatened children? I think Neville and his family had been protected by the Fidelius, but broke it after Voldemort's disappearance. Then - some time after the Dark Lord had gone - the Lestranges and Barty Crouch Jr. attacked hoping to find where he had gone. As to why they didn't kill or injure Neville *during* the attack, I think there are a few possibilites ( ... )

bluestocking20 January 4 2007, 03:29:10 UTC

The books only talk about the protection for Harry at the Dursleys, though Jodel's theory is that the Order of the Phoenix was formed specifically to protect both boys. Of course when Harry was chosen at Godric's Hollow, he became the main priority.

The invisibility cloak is an excellent idea. Neville is also too young to have any memory of the incident...I wonder if he has a problem around dementors too.

Interesting how Snape verbally abuses both boys. (Jealous, much?)

mary_j_59 January 4 2007, 04:34:27 UTC

Well, but I wasn't talking about the ancient blood magic that existed at the Dursleys due to Lily's sacrifice. I was talking about the Fidelius charm, which is a different thing entirely. The books may not say so explicitly, but I'd be amazed if the Potters went under Fidelius and the Longbottoms didn't ( ... )

lavinialavender January 3 2007, 04:19:47 UTC

I'm thinking Neville wasn't in the house - they might not have been warned, but he could have been with his grandmother for some other reason.

Yeah, I'm sure you're right about how Bellatrix would have used him otherwise. I remember how she went for Ginny in the Department of Mysteries encounter. "All right - take the small one, we'll torture her."

bluestocking20 January 4 2007, 03:32:39 UTC

Certainly...they might have been captured in the middle of their duties, and Neville with Gran.

Yes, Bellatrix gives me the shivers. Thank heaven she does not have sons....

lavinialavender January 4 2007, 04:15:46 UTC

Or daughters? She'd probably prostitute them to the Dark Lord.

bluestocking20 January 4 2007, 04:17:32 UTC

There's nothing I'd put past her, really.

Thread 5

RE: Here through DS or HT, can't remember which... wolfsbaine January 3 2007, 16:49:44 UTC

The only person who knew Neville was going to be an also ran, was Voldemort. The prophecy says...'will mark him as his equal'...Voldemort would never have chosen Neville, because he chose the child most like himself, rightly believing that child would have the same core desire to stop LV that he (LV) had to take over the WW and that would not be a pureblood in his eyes, given that he (LV) has made most purebloods subservient to him ( ... )

Re: Here through DS or HT, can't remember which... bluestocking20 January 4 2007, 03:43:57 UTC

True, but I can't help but thinking of Bella going for Ginny first, and there was nothing to stop her from going on even if she got what she wanted...and I wonder if the Longbottoms even had any information on Voldemort's whereabouts to begin with. Maybe they were just easy targets to point the finger at.

Re: Here through DS or HT, can't remember which... mary_j_59 January 4 2007, 04:38:23 UTC

Just a brief addition here - hope you don't mind. Doesn't it say, explicitly, that Bellatrix was looking for the Dark Lord and hoping to find where he had gone? There are hints at the beginning of HBP that she may have known something about the horcruxes. I don't think she did believe he was dead.

(The people who, IMHO, didn't believe Voldemort was gone forever: Dumbledore, quite clearly. Snape. Bellatrix. Hagrid - who tells Harry that Voldemort did not die, and that there was a remnant left. Even 11-year-old Ron seems to know as much as Hagrid.)

seraphonica January 4 2007, 02:48:15 UTC

Perhaps he was harmed somehow, but doesn't like to talk about it. Who knows? After all, if you, as the reader, know everything about the characters before the book starts, it makes it hard to surprise you for better or for worse. And since JKR has a history of not even asking the important questions until it's too late, and hasn't addressed his circumstances during the attack, perhaps that should tell us something.

bluestocking20 January 4 2007, 03:44:59 UTC

Yes, and I hope there's a lot of answers in Book 7.

(I hope, I hope)