What Jo says about...
Neville Longbottom

Please note: unless you see quotemarks, these are summaries, and not JKR's words themselves. Please see the linked article for the actual text.

• Neville is comical, but "actually quite a tragic figure to me as well because there's a lot of Neville in me - this feeling of just never being quite good enough." [Read the exact quote from WBUR interview, 1999]
• As a teacher, the "worst, shabbiest thing you can do" is to bully children (draws parallel to Snape). Conversations with JK Rowling, p.21
• Neville’s toad is "still lurking." [Read the exact quote from the BBC Red Nose Day chat, 2001]
• Book 5 was a "turning point" for Neville; he is getting more confidant. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Neville Longbottom is not Peter Pettigrew's son. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Dean Thomas is actually a half-blood whose father was a wizard who got himself killed by death eaters after refusing to join them. His story was sacrificed for Neville's — which is more central to the plot. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• JK sees Neville and Luna as very different people. She says that, although they share a certain isolation within the walls of Hogwarts, this isn’t enough to foster true love. They may be friends but "Neville would always find Luna’s wilder flights of fancy alarming." [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• The Lestranges were not after Neville, they were definitely after his parents. JK cannot say too much more about this because it touches closely on the prophecy, and on how many people knew about it. The Lestranges were not in on the secret. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• The last part of the prophecy does not mean that Neville and Harry must kill each other. [Read the exact quote form Jo's website]
• In choosing which child to kill (Neville or Harry) Voldemort was "choosing which boy to anoint as the Chosen One." [FAQ Poll answer 16 May 2005]
• Neville is a "normal" wizarding boy with a tragic past and his own "latent strengths." [FAQ Poll answer 16 May 2005]
• Refers to Neville as "the boy who was so nearly King" but does not tell us if he will ever find this out. Also refers to Neville as an "also-ran" and a "might-have-been." [FAQ Poll answer 16 May 2005]
• Neville does have a "significant part to play in the last two novels and the fight against Voldemort." [FAQ Poll answer 16 May 2005]
• The prophecy did not mystically intertwine Neville's fate with Harry's. [FAQ Poll answer 16 May 2005]
• Alice Longbottom’s gum wrappers are merely a way of showing how extremely insane she is. She is not trying to pass secret messages. [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• Jo values courage above all other virtues and was trying to make that point when Neville stood up to the trio at the end of PS. Neville doesn't have the "Macho, showy type of courage that Harry shows playing quidditch." [Read the whole quote from ITV, 2005]