I firmly believe that HBO's Harry Potter reboot should focus more on Neville because of this fact that only true fans would know

Author’s Disclaimer: Harry Potter fans, this is an exploratory opinion piece and a creative feature that looks at one of the franchise’s most interesting ‘what-ifs?’.

All views stated here are personal and meant to commemorate the Harry Potter universe.

Harry Potter has long charmed Potterheads with a story of a boy struck by fate, but now that HBO is making its way to a reboot, it’s time to reassess who really ought to have the limelight.

Yes, Harry did save Hogwarts and the entire wizarding world. But what if… the emphasis or the attention shifted, ever so slightly, to another character…Neville Longbottom—the boy who could have been The Chosen One?

HBO has a golden opportunity here to look deeper into the lore and look at truths that have sunk and are hidden deep below in the Harry Potter franchise…something only true Potterhead’s know.

The ‘could have been the chosen one’: Neville Longbottom and the power of a different destiny

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Professor Dumbledore reveals a fact that sent currents across the Potterhead fandom: ‘the prophecy’ did not singularly refer to just Harry. It also very well could have been Neville. The exact words quoted from the book are:

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.”

Neville was born just a day prior to Harry—on July 30th. Like Harry’s folks, Neville’s folks were also members of the Order of the Phoenix who had “thrice defied” Lord Voldemort.

In fact, Frank and Alice Longbottom were well-known Aurors, skilled in both defensive and offensive magic. When tormented into utter madness by the Death Eaters just like Bellatrix Lestrange, they never once fell apart.

This resilience that they had could’ve effortlessly moulded Neville into a hardboiled, proficient force.

But Voldemort picked Harry. Why? Feasibly because Harry was a half-blood, just like himself. Maybe Lily’s muggle-born position prompted his fascination with blood purity.

But that was Voldemort’s decision—it was in no way the prophecy.

As Dumbledore clarified, Voldemort wrapped down his fate by acting on incomplete and inequitable comprehension, hearing only the starting part of the prophecy and agreeing on Harry being the bigger threat. It is this paranoia of the Dark Lord that made Harry out to be the Chosen One.

HBO’s Harry Potter reboot could ultimately look at this mystery of the prophesy in more specificity, showing not just the outcomes of said prophecy, but the crucial power of choice.

And in doing so, give Neville the narrative he was always worthy of from the very beginning.

Neville the nearly marked: A hero in the shadows, a different Harry Potter what-if?

In the Harry Potter series, Neville often comes off as being gawky and irresolute —but that picture that was painted for him gradually disintegrates as the series moves forward. From his guidance in Dumbledore’s Army to putting an end to the final Horcrux (Nagini), Neville upholds the stance that he's more than just a normal wizard in the background.

As Harry himself ponders upon, in The Half-Blood Prince, what if Voldemort had in fact picked Neville? Would he have outlived the same way as Harry did?

That question haunts a lot of Potterheads…at least the ones who are aware about this prophesy in its true essence.

Brought up by a strict grandmother, Augusta, after his parents were put into St. Mungo's Hospital, Neville had no parental bond like Harry had with Lily.

Dumbledore softly states that if Voldemort had struck Neville instead, and no one had died shielding him, Neville may have died out-and-out. But what if he hadn’t?

Even if he had, it doesn’t make Neville puny —it makes him an outcome of different situations. The prophecy only became Harry's for the reason that it was Voldemort who made the choice.

Despite not being “chosen,” Neville shows abilities just as honourable and polite as Harry’s: courageousness, faithfulness, deep character development.

HBO now has a chance to develop on Neville’s past, his traumas, his quiet vigour, and his “what-if” story arc.

A gloomier, character-concentrated retelling could show how fate isn’t about far-reaching declarations, but the decisions we make and the liabilities we carry. A Neville-driven plot or sub-plot could turn the whole Harry Potter franchise with Potterheads spinning on their heads—which is only for the better.

Harry Potter’s story is no doubt extremely iconic, but HBO has the chance to dig further, giving us fans a much more layered and emotionally significant reboot.

Neville Longbottom was never just a sidelined wizard, the comic relief to the serious story—he was a representation of suppressed potential.

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By focusing on Neville’s near-destiny and innermost strength, HBO could at last give fans the finer, more intricate Harry Potter saga we deserve. Sometimes, the hero we oversee is the one we looked for all along.

Would you watch a Harry Potter reboot that delves into Neville's untold legacy?

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