*defends Neville against her will*

Needless to be said, I'm all about the Draco-love and have virtually zero love or interest in Neville. I wouldn't even be talking about him if not for Maya's post.... heh. So yes, I don't really like Neville, but the argument that he's clearly sucky because the Gryffindors who live with him and observe him don't seem to like him either (vs. Draco, who -is- liked by his peers) just bugs me. Lots of people are unliked who deserve to be and liked even though they don't deserve to be. Popularity is a tricksy thing. I mean... certain traits will always be popular (outrageousness, prettiness, wealth, leadership, rebelliousness, sheer attitude) and certain other traits will always be not-so-popular (quietness, timidness, awkwardness, unattractiveness, weirdness, ineptness).

I've never found that people judge others (even others whom they know and live with) with any sort of kindness or accuracy or perhaps any attempt at balance. I admit JKR isn't doing very well at making anyone find Neville likeable (including me), but I don't know about trusting his `friends' on their opinion of him. More than anything, he's just... not very socially versed. Draco is. Even Harry is, though uh... his Boy Who Lived status has more to do with that than his sparkling social-butterfly personality. I wouldn't trust anyone's opinion of -Harry- in canon, either... maybe Hermione, but. Eh. His friends are very biased and limited, in their different ways.

JKR seems to keep writing characters who're very defined by a specific set of biases. Like, their Houses don't even need to define them 'cause they're already so specialized in terms of personality.

No real person is really as Neville-like as Neville is, just as I don't think there's anyone as "Draco-like" as Draco's supposed to be. But then I tend to go easy on people.

Also I'm waaayy more of a mix of Neville and Luna than anything :/ Heh. With flashes of Hermione. Might grow up to be Remus-like. hee.

( Even so, I don't think I'd ever imagined I'd find myself trying to make a statement about Neville Longbottom. But here it is. )

~~

EDIT - Unrelatedly, nostrademons's thoughts about the Prophecy have been the first thing to have made sense to me about it in all this time. Yes, I do think it's quite fitting to think of it as a self-fulfilling prophecy, a red herring that Dumbledore is using because Voldemort believes it and it's better for Harry this way. Inventing the future. The magic of belief itself. Yes.