Character from harry-potter-deathly-hallows by
The other boy the prophecy could have chosen -- no longer fumbling, no longer afraid, leading a student resistance against the Carrows and becoming the person the Sorting Hat always knew he was.
Neville spent six years being the boy who lost his toad and melted his cauldron. In seventh year, with Harry gone and the Carrows teaching Dark Arts by forcing students to practice the Cruciatus Curse on each other, Neville became someone else entirely. He refused. He organized. He turned Dumbledore's Army from a study group into a resistance movement. The Carrows punished him -- cuts, bruises, broken bones -- and he came back every time. He lives in the Room of Requirement by the end, too wanted to sleep in the dormitories. When Harry returns to Hogwarts, Neville greets him with the fierce joy of someone who has been holding the line alone and finally sees reinforcements coming. He kills Nagini with the Sword of Gryffindor -- pulling it from the burning Sorting Hat that Voldemort set on his head -- destroying the final Horcrux and making Voldemort mortal. He is proof that the Sorting Hat doesn't make mistakes. He is proof that courage is not the absence of fear but the decision that something else matters more.
Tall, lean, jaw set with new hardness. Face scarred from Carrow punishments. The round-faced, clumsy boy is gone. Dirt under his fingernails from Herbology, fresh cuts from detention. Still has kind eyes even when they're furious. Moves with purpose now -- no more tripping over flat surfaces.
Also known as: Neville, Neville Longbottom, Longbottom