I agree. I always wondered ever since I found out that Neville was using his father's wand if that had anything to do with his ineptness up to this point, because to each wizard his own wand, or, really, to each wand its own wizard/witch. I keep remembering hearing Ollivander saying "You'll never get as good of results with another wizard's wand." But, on the other hand, have we really seen much improvement from Ron with is own wand?

Todd

yeah
ive said this countless times before but i wonder why neville is using his dad's wand in the first place? its not like his gran cant afford a wand for her grandson? unlikes the weasley's nev is probably the only child she has to support and surely she must know its best to have ur wand
knowing all this, how can she say he's not as good as his dad
nev isnt being given an oppurtunity to prove himself
what i really think is happening is that
after the night where harry was marked and when frank n alice were cursed by lestrange, dd would have told mrs longbottom abt the prophecy......what little she was connected with through nev anyways
afraid to lose her last remaining family, she is hiding him
down playing his talent so as to not rouse anybody's interest in him
she's being overly protective of him is wat i meant
cuz he's in gryffindor and honestly it may seem like classifying but i put stock in the sorting hat
if the hat thought nev's greatest quality is bravery, courage like a gryffindor. than there is something to him
we see it in ootp
but why is his gran so insistent that he's not good?
hmmmmmm..........

Neville is already starting to come into his own. I mean come on when we first met him in book 1, no offense but he was kind of a pathetic klutz, now he's gradually gaining confidence,and friendship. We saw this in ootp, when he joined the DA, I've got a feeling we're gonna be seeing a lot more of Neville striking back at Voldie+ his deatheater cronies.

Neville's character is really going to develop. He's achieved so much in the 5th year...I'm sure we can expect some great things out of him.

Yeah thats an awesome point, but I dont think we should expect too much because then we might become dissapointed if he doesnt develope as much as we thought.

Indeed. I can't wait to see his changes....

what i think is that it will not be up to harry, but harry and neville to defeat voldemort... the prophecy said either of them could do it. maybe both of them will

Good point that could most likely happen

I agree with what has been said. His main problem has been lack of confidence and his grandmum hasn't been much help--telling him he isn't as good as his parents. In this book, one thing that has motivated Neville to do better, giving him more confidence is the return of Voldmort and his followers. It looks like it has given him a purpose in life and he wants to go after the people who hurt his parents. I expect more good things from Neville in the last two books. I wouldn't be surprised if he joins our trio in more adventures.

There is a big possibility that Neville might help Harry defeat the Dark Lord. But I have theory where Neville would kill Bellatrix Lestrange. To avenge what she did to her parents and prove to everyone that he's no longer the cowardly student, Neville.

Yeah thats a very good theory and maybe instead of killing off Voldemort with harry maybe he will just kill off Bellatrix Lestrange. I dont know, but I really wanna find out what happens in the next book.

Oh yeah and I really kinda doubt that he will join the trio, but hey you never know!

He could.. but it wouldn't sound nice. The foursome.. or whatever..

I think throughout the series so far.. Neville has actually been placed by JK to be a fourth member of the non-existing foursome. He's usually the one that tells them important stuff and he loves them to death and respects them. It's just that he's not ALWAYS witht them.. so he's not exactly part of the trio.

He was a bit like the wormtail of the trio...

I was thinking of that too...

Hermione would probably signify Lupin, Harry might be James and Ron is Sirius but they were definitely much nicer than James and Sirius. I do think the Marauders' are mean sometime.

In the series.. everything relates to everything. So if we were to point out every single thing that comes to mind, I think the result would be the 6th and 7th book. Where everything and I mean everything gets explained.

Kinda, but on the train when they're introducing themselves, he says 'nobody'. Eventhough he has developed a bit, he still lacks any confidence, but I really think that will change now...

yeah i wondered abt that
and i just figured that neville was too scared of luna- like the others made fun of her but neville was scared
understandable really with neville. they're poles apart

Really? I don't think Neville was scared of Luna at all, it was more of...Luna was a bit dotty and Neville would just prefer not to be noticed by her, and was trying to get out of conversing with her. Ginny scolds him afterwords, at least I think, because she can see that hes trying to get out of talking to her. And I totally think that a new wand will be an issue for Neville, though he was getting really good in Defence against the Dark art lessons without one, His Gram was making him use his fathers wand because it was his....fathers, and his Grandma seems to have an obsession with Neville being like his father.

perhaps scared was too strong a word. wat i meant was uncomfortable........highly uncomfortable
more so than the others. and ginny did scold him, she scolded him cuz he siad he was a nobody and she didnt want him to continue belittling himself- at least thats my spin on things
neville losing his wand in ootp was planned(of course everything jk doesi s planned) wat i mean is- it was specifically planned that he lose his wand and be forced to go out and get a wand that choses him(assuming of course that this time his gran doesnt make him use his mum's wand )
the thing is- that boy had a prophesy on him- it maybe cuz of his folks escaping riddle thrice and him being born on the day he was but still all that stood him b/w him and the boy who lived status was voldemort's underlying sense of insecurity(the fact that he is a halfblood plays on his mind even though he's become such a powerful wizard) so there has to be something more to nev- and the DA confirms it- sometimes i think that the DA was intended mainly for that purpose- a friendly supportive environment where nev isnt heckled- where he is at peace to learn at his pace.
the question is- does this mean jk is pulling up neville to be on par with the other fighters or alleviating him further? to be more clear- has she imporved him to give him the importance....say of a lupin? or more... to harryesque proportions?
i could see that maybe in the end, harry will take on voldemort and neville might go after bellatrix(actually go after her)

"Highly Uncomfortable" is definately the phrase I was looking for! I have no idea whats going to happen with Neville, most like JKR will pull something that nobody could even guess, but I'm completely convinced that he's going to be a major player in the next few books.

Yup I agree...and maybe another reason for the lack of confidence is how he suck up at doing magic...Possibly in the next book we will see a more confident Neville with a brand new wand...after all he survived in the DoM...

^ I agree with you her Grandma seems to have an obsession to his son(Neville's Dad) well I think because he's an auror and that means he's great.

I think Neville will kill Bellatrix. She deserves it and this would kinda be a fitting thing here, him avenging his parents. But I also think that he's gonna help Harry defeat Voldemort. After all, JK has emphazised teamwork in the past. Harry could not have gotton this far without Rona nd Hermione. Maybe now Neville is going to step up and really show his true colors, becoming the person he always could have been. Now he's got self confidence, he knows that even though he stinks in Potions class, he's always got his friends to fall back on. I think the DA will really unify the friendship between Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Neville, and that through the DA Voldemort will meet his match.

As someone said, I think Neville going to become a 4th in the group. He always has been of importance in the past, and it's obvious how much he respects the group, in that his Gran knows who Harry Ron and Hermione are when she sees them at St.Mungo's. With the DA meetings there seemed to be a growing respect for Neville From Harry, and after the whole confrontation at the end of OotP I think the whole Trio is going to Neville in a differnt way.

I think he's becoming one of the most fascinating characters, because he's always been there but we're just starting to uncover some of his secrets.

I agree. In OotP Neville jumped from my 'Loser' list to my 'Favourites' list. Metaphorically speaking. I don't make character lists. Yet. We'll see how bored I get.
Anyway, I agree that Neville will kill Bella. I wrote a (dire) fanfic about the three duels that'll take place during the Final Battle in Book 7:
Imperio (servitude/control/loyalty) - Lupin vs. Wormtail
Crucio (pain/cruelty/revenge) - Neville vs. Bellatrix
Avada Kedavra (death/sorrow/anger) - Harryvs. Voldemort

But anyway, I have this other theory. Wand chooses wizard, right? And there's a connection between a wizard and his wand. So if Frank was insane, and Neville had his wand, then wouldn't Frank's condition have had a bearing on his wand and its effectiveness? Maybe it wasn't Neville's lack of talent, but his wand that was clumsy?

yeah the wand choses the wiz but i dont think the connection goes further than that. the wand choses you because the core of ur personality is expressed through the core ofthe wand
but apart from that- your on ur own- i dont think frank going insane has a bearing on his wand
ive always believed that nev is so severely put down by his granny and made to use his dad's wand so that he doesnt attract the attentions of the DE. see, i think nev was born and the prophecy made, dd would have informed the potters and the longbottoms abt it(they were in the Order so dd could have spoken to them easily) so the potters hide out in godric's hollow and i dunno wat precautions the longbottoms took or if they did but yeah
bellatrix got the longbottoms and nev came under his gran's care- im sure dd would have told her abt the prophecy- what little she is concerned with anyway...........or perhaps even warned her to be extra careful without actually revealing the prophecy
so she is afraid that after what riddle and his supporters believed to be the prophecy didnt work out so hot- that they'd come after the two boys again and see what they can do(im talking abt the DE's skulking around after riddle's downfall)
and she makes sure that by disadvantaging nev as much as she possibly can, by making him look like a dunce- that he'll stay off the DE radar
i also think that perhaps neville watched his parents being tortured- i dont know why. but ever since i read abt it in gof( the pensieve's courtroom scene- i figured the longbottoms were indeed nev's parents and that he had watched them being killed/tortured by bella- at that point we dont know the whole story, we only do so after dd explains it to harry) i imagined nev hiding but watching his parents get tortured rather than reveal where their son is

but have u wondered..........why they werent killed? why did bella(who is quite avada kadavra happy) only torture them and not kill them?
i cant believe that her first intention wasnt to kill them
was she interrupted before she could finish what she had come for?