Friday, April 20, 2007
"'Ow Come You Di'n't Tell Us 'oo You Are, Eh, Neville?"
Re-reading The Knight Bus (chapter three of Prisoner of Azkaban), I found it interesting that the pseudonym Harry adopts for his unexpected journey is Neville Longbottom. It was "the first name that popped into his head" (34), which surprised me, unless he was afraid using Ron's name might get his dad into trouble, something he's probably extra wary about after the fiasco with the car a year before. At any rate, this seems to support the notion of Neville being a shadow member of Harry's little group, since he thought of him so quickly. As far as Stan knows for the duration of the trip, Harry is Neville. In Order of the Phoenix, we learn that Neville could have been "the Chosen one", occupying Harry's role in Voldemort's mind. Was Harry's adoption of the name a little hint of things to come?
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3 comments:
Love it! We must be keeping a similar pace in our reading right now. I just read the Knight Bus scene a couple of days ago (and haven't really had any time to read today at all).
I'm completely caught up in PoA again. I have always loved this book.
And what a great observation about Harry/Neville. You're right, it's interesting he chose Neville's name and not someone else's, and the point is driven home repeatedly via Stan Shunpike!
Hehehe, good ol' Stan... I wonder how Neville would feel if he knew Harry had pretended to be him?
Hmmm...pleased perhaps, but a bit embarrassed? The younger Neville might feel a little defensive about it, but as Neville gets older, he's definitely gaining in confidence.
Y'know, it strikes me that it makes sense to have Neville form part of the "quartet" -- four kids in this generation, just like there were four marauders in the last generation. Only unlike Pettigrew, the "weakest" wizard in this generation, meaning Neville, is loyal and faithful to the core.
Do we know that Pettigrew was in Gryffindor? Just curious.
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