Neville Longbottom Was Wronged (And So Were We)

We all know the scene. After rescuing the Sorcerer’s Stone Dumbledore awards Harry, Ron, and Hermione enough points to tie Slytherin for the House Cup. Then when a tie seems inevitable Dumbledore hits the school with p.s. 10 points for Neville and the Cup to Gryffindor. Celebrations abound and everyone’s happy right? Wrong! This guy isn’t happy. This conclusion is flawed as hell I’m going to tell you why.

You’re probably wondering at this point why I’m unhappy. Do I hate Neville? Am I pro Slytherin? The answer is no and no. I am displeased because by the number of points awarded to each student teaches an incorrect lesson. That’s right, I’m coming for you Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

Ron and Hermione are awarded 50 points each for their contributions. Seems fair, they faced tough challenges and were able to overcome them by keeping their cool and playing to their strengths. Harry is awarded 60 points, we’ll call that the Voldemort bump. That also seems reasonable, he showed courage should always be rewarded right. Neville receives 10 points. You may be thinking that makes sense, I mean they saved the Stone, and all Neville did was try to stop them. Perhaps you even believe that Neville did something wrong. And I would respond to that by questioning your morality.

Neville gets his 10 points because as correctly pointed out by Dumbledore it takes more courage to stand up to your friends than anyone else. So if Neville showed the most courage, why did he get the fewest points? Shouldn’t Neville, who we know Dumbledore thinks showed the most courage, have gotten the most points? I mean, where’s the lesson in this? What are you trying to teach the kids Albus? Perhaps we should be looking into all of the favoritism Albus has towards Harry. This cannot be allowed to stand!

This is something that’s bothered me for years and more and more as I pay attention to the world. This flaw has become more dangerously obvious over time. True courage isn’t doing the right thing when it’s easy, it’s doing it when it’s hard. Neville didn’t make a decision for glory, no he simply did what was right. He was not going to repeat his mistakes from earlier when he allowed the trio to sneak around against his better judgement. Yes, what our main trio did was brave. I’m not arguing with their points. No, what I’m saying is that by eliding what Neville did, the story misses a moment to truly celebrate a moment of bravery. Perhaps we should have been asking questions of Dumbledore all along.