What You Never Noticed About Neville And His Wand In Harry Potter

Neville Longbottom had a lot of strikes against him right out of the gate. For starters, up until Benedict Cumberbatch entered mainstream Hollywood in the late 2000s, Neville was regarded by many fans as the kid with Earth's most British name, a playful little number evoking equal parts Fawlty Towers side character and an entire pub menu populated by boiled root vegetables. In a school full of 11-year-olds actively learning how to turn sticks full of dragon tendons into functioning murder weapons, Neville liked working in the garden. On the surface he was, bluntly, a dork.

Then, as the story progressed, fans of the franchise found more and more things to like about Neville Longbottom. Between his tragic backstory, his life with an overbearing grandmother, and his regular displays of never-not-surprising bravery, the Gryffindor became a favorite of readers and viewers alike. As with nearly every other aspect of the Harry Potter universe, enthusiasts have spent the years following the series' ending slowly excavating new details about Neville that they love.

And no avenue of fan dogma is more traffic-laden than Reddit's /r/harrypotter forum, where Potterheads have pointed out yet another admirable Longbottom attribute. It all goes back to his very first year at Hogwarts, and the wand he'd carry with him until the Battle of the Department of Mysteries during the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Think back and you might recall that Neville Longbottom struggled with magic in his early years. He melted cauldrons, fell off his broom, and got genuinely bullied by pixies. While some of Neville's struggles stemmed from a lack of confidence, there was another factor at play: His use of a wand that didn't "listen" to him. The young man's wand wasn't picked up at Olivander's, and didn't bond with Neville. Rather, it was inherited from his ill-fated father. Neville would continue using his dad's wand for five years, up until Voldemort enthusiast Antonin Dolohov destroyed it during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.

Yes, Neville Longbottom spent half a decade using a wand that wasn't his, and he still managed to pass all of his classes. "It only proves how stubborn Longbottom is and his refusal to just give up," one Reddit user wrote. "He was not great in any way, he was an above-average wizard with a talent in Botany that feared a greasy-haired professor in school."

In the end, everything works out for Neville. He becomes a Hogwarts professor after briefly working as an Auror, marries a Hufflepuff prefect, and moves into a rad magic condo above a happenin' bar. It all illustrates the transformative power of persistence. Meanwhile, Neville Longbottom actor Matthew Lewis' transfiguration into a verified snack illustrates the transformative power of regular exercise and a good haircut.