Neville, a Remembrall, bublle gum wrappers, Snape, and Bella: a theory

[goldenmoonrose]

We are in the final hour for last minute crack pot theories to take shape.

Occulm's Razor has no place in literature in general and Harry Potter in particular. End of story.

JKR not only loves crack pot theories, she is a creator of them. And I don't mean just because she peppers her books with misbehaving sneakascopes and flying motorcycles. I'm

Comments

[rogueravenclaw]

Interesting theory. I very much think that Neville will play some important role in the downfall of Voldemort. It would be very interesting if he turned out to know where i horcrux is. I personally think that Rosmerta knows where one is (long stor, but putting her under an imperius curse so she wouldn't run and tell DD is a rather good idea, don't ya think?), and is along the same idea that you're talking about now.

There are a few questions that I have at this point. First of all, why did Bella and pals think that the Longbottoms knew about Voldemort’s location? Why would the Longbottoms know that and not the Death Eaters?

That is a VERY good point. One thing that came to my mind when I read that was Regulus. In HBP, DD offers Draco protection, to hide him so completely from the world and Voldemort that he is dead. I always thought that Regulus might have been offered similar protection. The thing is, Bella knows Regulus isn't dead somehow, and knows that he is hiding a horcrux. Could Frank and Alice be a secret keeper? Just ponderings. Even if it doesn't involve Regulus, the idea that Frank and Alice were secret keepers to the location of a horcrux is appealing to me. Perhaps Neville knew the secret, as a safe guard. Perhaps that was what the memory charm was for: him forgetting he ever knew the secret.

I'm really getting ahead of myself, and mostly just rambling. But you raise alot of good points, and alot of interesting thoughts.

And I do hope you're right about HP fandom surviving. I love it muchly.

[godrevypoint]

One thing though, how would Neville remember any of this if he were only a year old when it all took place? Even without a memory charm, a one-year-old isn't likely to retain such information.

[slythwolf]

Oh, I don't know. I have pretty vivid but mostly sensory memories from when I was about eighteen months.

[lunar_music]

He may have some subconscious memory of it that a sufficiently talented legilimens could uncover and extract for viewing in a pensieve.

[goldenmoonrose]

exactly. That is why a memory charm had to be placed on him. If it wasn't for the greater good, it may even have been for Neville's own good. He may have ended up like his parents if he had to grow up with the memory of their torture.

[zanesfriend]

The memory thread might have been placed in his brain. Perhaps Snape extracted it from his parents before they went completely 'round the bend, but not having a bottle or a Pensieve handy, put it in the next best place--the kid. An unusual thing to do, and would probably have some very odd effects.

If this was what happened, and if Harry's scar turns out to be a Horcrux, it would add another bit of symmetry between Harry and Neville.

[rogueravenclaw]

In POA Harry can remember the night his parents died. Agree with other comments that JKR seems to demonstrating view that even young children can remember things, although perhaps difficult to get to. Note, Harry can only remember his parents death when his mind is devoid of most of his other memories (happy memories sucked away by dementors).

[orpheus_samhain]

First of all, why did Bella and pals think that the Longbottoms knew about Voldemort’s location?

Wild guesses. Lestranges would would torture and/or killed every member of the Order to get their answers.

The thing is, Bella knows Regulus isn't dead somehow, and knows that he is hiding a horcrux.

Could you point the book and page where you found this information?

Could Frank and Alice be a secret keeper?

Who would make them keepers? Voldemort?

Perhaps Neville knew the secret, as a safe guard

Yes, one year olds are generally told secrets. It's very safe, mostly they even can't talk at this point so no danger of spilling the secret.

[rogueravenclaw]

Could you point the book and page where you found this information?
Should have made it more clear that I got a little over-zealous in my speculation. :D

Who would make them keepers? Voldemort?
I realize I was more than a bit unclear above. What i meant is that the Order would have found the horcrux, and hidden it using a secret keeper, and that is the secret they are keeping. It is a secret FROM Voldemort, not Voldemort's secret.

Yes, one year olds are generally told secrets. It's very safe, mostly they even can't talk at this point so no danger of spilling the secret.
It isn't so much that Neville wouldn't be able to spill the secret. Only the secret keeper can spill the secret, so to speak. Neville's parents were the secret keepers (following this theory). Neville would merely be able to find the horcrux. He wouldn't be able to share the secret. He could find the horcrux FOR the death eaters, but he is only a year old, incapable of such a mission. Neville was a safe guard because, if something happened to his parents (as something did), the secret would die for a time, until Neville was old enough to find the horcrux and destroy it (the question here is, why didn't Neville's parents destroy it instead of keeping it a secret? The answer is simple. They quite possible did not understand what it was, just that it was important to Voldemort. Or, even if they knew it was a horcrux, that doesn't mean they knew how to destroy it).

[goldenmoonrose]

Thank you very much!

You gave me something to think of regarding Regulus, as I've always thought him to be Stubby Boardman, and him mirroring Draco would then make a lot of sense.

I think you're right. I didn't speculate too much on what exactly Neville knows or why he knows it, but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say that Neville may have been a Secret Keeper or some other such magical thing in order to protect the Horcrux.

[rogueravenclaw]

He doesn't even necessarily need to be the keeper of the secret, I realize. He simply needs to KNOW the secret in order to find the horcrux, which his parents very well could have whispered to him while the Death Eaters approached.