Longbottom family

"*My son and his wife were tortured into insanity by You-Know-Who's followers. They were Aurors, you know, and very well respected within the wizarding community. Highly gifted, the pair of them.*"
— Augusta Longbottom on Frank and Alice Longbottom

The **Longbottom family** are a prominent pure-blood family.

## History

### Early known history

An earlier known member of the family was Harfang Longbottom who married Callidora Black. They had a son and a daughter. Around the mid-20th century, Augusta Longbottom married a member of the Longbottom family, and she and her husband had a son, Frank Longbottom. Her husband, Mr Longbottom, could have had a brother named Algie who married Enid.

### First Wizarding War

Frank married Alice Longbottom. They were both Aurors in the Order of the Phoenix, through which they took part in many key events in the First Wizarding War. They had their only child, Neville Longbottom on 30 July 1980. Neville never showed any magical talent throughout childhood, but unknown to Frank and Alice, he did magically tighten the blanket he was wrapped in on the day he was born, and the nurse simply thought that Frank had tucked him in.

At some point, Voldemort had found out that someone born at the end of July to a family who had defied him three times would have the power to kill him one day. He had two options - Neville and Harry Potter. He decided it was Harry because he had a lot in common with Harry, particularly thrir half-blood statuses. Frank, Alice and Neville avoided the fate of James, Lily and Harry Potter.

Voldemort succeeded in killing James and Lily, but he went missing when he attempted to kill Harry. It was thought Voldemort was dead but a few people suspected he survived. Four very loyal Death Eaters refused to accept he was dead and sought out Aurors because they thought they knew what really happened. Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange and Barty Crouch Jnr. hunted Frank and Alice down and attempted to get any information they had by using the Cruciatus Curse. Frank and Alice were driven to insanity and were sent to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries where they lived for the rest of their lives. The Death Eaters were sentenced to life in Azkaban.

### Peaceful years

Neville was raised by Augusta Longbottom but Algie and Enid had a prominent part in Neville's childhood. He didn't show any magical talent for many years and they began to think he had none. They tried many times to shock him into using magic. Eventually, Algie hung him out of a window and dropped him but Neville bounced down the road. They celebrated by purchasing a pet toad named Trevor for him.

Neville began attending school on 1 September 1991 and was placed in Gryffindor along with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They became friends and they looked out for Neville, who was teased by other students for lacking in magical talent. Neville didn't approve of the rules broke to find the Philosopher's Stone. However, at times he was part of the schemes of Harry, Ron and Hermione and even supported them or helped them out.

In the 1995-1996 school year, he signed up for Dumbledore's Army and supported Harry's claims that Voldemort was back along with Augusta. He never spoke of what happened to Frank and Alice, but when he went with Augusta to spend time with them on the same day Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were visiting a wounded Arthur, they found out the truth. Augusta spoke of how proud she was of Frank and Alice. Neville later fought in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, in which he was confronted by Bellatrix Lestrange, the woman who put Frank and Alice in hospital for life after she escaped Azkaban.

### Second Wizarding War

Neville continued to work with Harry, Ron and Hermione and in the 1997-1998 school year, revived Dumbledore's Army for which he was the leader, defying the Death Eaters who took over Hogwarts. He fought at the Battle of Hogwarts along with Augusta. At one point he confronted Voldemort, telling him he would never join him. He later killed Nagini with the Sword of Gryffindor and watched Voldemort get killed, ending the Second Wizarding War.

### Later years

Neville was an Auror until leaving to be the new Herbology Professor at Hogwarts. He married Hannah Abbott. They lived above a pub for a time which his students he taught thought was very cool. It's unknown whether they ever had any children together.

## Trivia

* The compound name Longbottom means "long valley" and "power".

## Notes and sources

1. ↑ Black family tree
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 7
3. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, Chapter 9
4. ↑ The Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance by J.K. Rowling
5. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, Chapter 37
6. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 16
7. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, Chapter 23
8. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, Chapter 35
9. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*, Chapter 29
10. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, Chapter 31
11. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, Chapter 36
12. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*, Nineteen Years Later
13. ↑ J.K. Rowling at Carnegie Hall