#anti neville longbottom

[lilithofpenandbook]

You know what, fuck Neville Longbottom.

He was NEVER supposed to be a sympathetic character! He's very clearly a character written to be made fun of for being ridiculous! Him being so scared of everything isn't an endearing character trait designed to evoke sympathy and understanding, it's a FLAW that's meant to make you wanna shake him and yell at him to get a fucking grip!

I grew up reading boarding school books, specifically the Enid Blyton ones, which I believe almost every single British child has read. The school stories are mostly traditionally girls' books, and they all have very similar character tropes and themes, some of which are shared with Harry Potter, which is a boarding school story. There's always at least one jokester, such as Alicia in Malory Towers. She's brilliant, intelligent, but she's rather unkind and thoughtless, and always pulls pranks, or rather tricks, on people, especially the one french teacher. She's exactly like Fred and George, practical jokers who are popular and well liked but not always very kind and don't always consider the outcome of their pranks. There's always an incredibly strict teacher the girls don't dare play funny with. In the third book there's this one teacher I cannot recall the name for, but she, I believe, is considered mean and strict and awful up until the end where it turns out she's actually got a good heart. She's not the level of pantomime meanness as Snape is, (perhaps because she's not a male teacher and also not teaching the kids something that could kill them all), but she's a similar trope.

Actually, Snape reminds of the teachers from the old Beano comic, overly strict and mean, but when you consider the shit those kids put them through you can kinda understand why. But ultimately, Snape is a classic children's trope: the mean strict teacher who actually deep inside would take care of the students.

Neville? He's ALSO a trope! The ridiculous coward!

Going back to Malory Towers, there's Mary-Lou. She's a very cowardly, nervous girl (and a sweetheart, but a scaredy cat nonetheless). And that's a FLAW. NOBODY SYMPATHISES WITH HER BECAUSE WHAT SHE'S AFRAID OF IS NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF! They at best pity her because it's a miserable way to live, but they don't support her for it. There are multiple full plots where the aim is her having to do something scary to get her to shake off this cowardliness, at least one outright organised by another character in an attempt to show her she can be brave.

Scaredy Cat characters in British children's media, especially in these school stories, are never scaredy cats to be sympathised with. They're there as a sort of comedic relief or to make things interesting, and are often considered a nuisance, the way Neville is! In the first book there's a very classic "you need to learn to stand up for yourself" piece involving Neville. Which he does!

People seem to be projecting all sorts of trauma onto Neville. Especially regarding Snape. There seems to be, in this current time, an attitude that him being a coward is something other people need to be accommodating for, and that he's a victim, especially regarding Snape. Neville is not a victim. He's not supposed to be accommodated for, especially in the climate he's living in. He exists as a comic character, and clearly to be a bit ironic as he's a coward in the house of courage. But regardless, his cowardice is not the result of trauma no matter how much people project it onto him and blame Snape for it.

Neville's cowardice is a flaw. It makes him ridiculous. He's afraid of absolutely nothing important at all. He's afraid of a teacher? That's absolutely stupid! Everyone laughs at him. Even he's aware that this is something stupid to be afraid of. He's more afraid of his grandmother, to the point that he didn't mention her because he was that afraid of her being his boggart. It just happened Lupin used the grandma, unaware of the situation, as an idea of how to make the boggart look ridiculous. So it makes me mad that people use the boggart scene as proof that Snape traumatised Neville. Neville is not traumatised. He's just an idiot.

Yes, I've gone there and I'm staying there. He is an idiot. He's frightened of stupid things. He keeps fucking up basic potions, basic spells, everything, to the point that McGonagall forbade him from doing anything in front of the visiting schools because he's that bad at everything. Can he help it?

Yes. He can help it. Instead of being a coward and crying about it, he can just as easily be confident, own up to it, and be more bold in trying to be better. His cowardly nature is what makes people lose respect for him. Something that makes sense considering the setting of the story!

Neville's arc is him growing up and getting confidence by going through difficulties and rising to meet them, not by other people gently helping him through his nonsense (and it is nonsense). That's not how things work in the setting of Hogwarts at all. In the setting and culture of Hogwarts, there's no gentle helping, it's "pull yourself together!". That's exactly the attitude everyone gives Neville, from the students to the teachers.

Neville's cowardice is ridiculous. It's as much of a flaw as Draco's arrogance, Snape's unpleasantness, McGonagall's competitiveness, and so on. He is not meant to be babied for it, or called "traumatised", he's meant to be scolded and shaken until he gets some sense knocked into him.

Snape's approach to Neville is exactly what you'd expect in this context. Maybe another teacher would have less of an unpleasant attitude about it, but in the end they WILL lose patience with him because all he's doing is not learning and trying to make him learn the same thing everyone else learnt last week is going to waste everyone's time. It makes zero sense to spend time trying to get one child to understand a basic concept that everyone else understood ages ago instead of moving with the curriculum. Snape is naturally mad at Neville for messing up the clear instructions that are right there on the board. He's rightfully mad about it. He's rightfully mad that Neville won't learn. He's rightfully mad that Neville's putting them in danger. Yes, he's got an unpleasant attitude, but he's right to be mad. He's also right to use Trevor to make Neville learn. People make it seem like he wanted to poison Neville to upset him. No. He was raising the stakes for Neville so that the love Neville had for his toad would force Neville to get his act together! Which is exactly what I'd expect from a teacher in this context dealing with a student like Neville! Fuck that, that's exactly what I would have done if I'd have had to deal with this idiot for multiple years and he still fucks up the simplest and clearest instructions. If Snape wanted Trevor hurt, he simply wouldn't have restored Trevor to his original state and killed him.

And lastly, not every unpleasant experience is a traumatic experience. One single unpleasant teacher is not going to traumatise Neville or anyone else! It's just a part of life. What, do you want everyone to be nice and coddle these kids so when they leave the safety of Hogwarts they aren't equipped to deal with people who are unpleasant? People love to project and find trauma in every unpleasant situation (for fucks sake they say DUMBLEDORE traumatised Tom when in reality Tom's a sulky baby who's mad that Dumbledore did not fawn over him like everyone else and actually called out his shit) but not every unpleasant situation is a traumatic situation!

And you know what, fuck it but some people have to go through a traumatic event to learn a fucking lesson. Dudley abused his cousin. Being "traumatised", or rather punished for his actions by being turned into a pig is what he deserved/needed, and even then did that stop him tormenting Harry? No! Draco being turned into a ferret? Yes, traumatising, but he's also a bully who needed to be taken down a peg! Neville being "traumatised" by Snape? Good! It may kick the cowardice out of him and make him a bit more cautious about dangerous potions!

Trauma is Snape being bullied by the Marauders for no reason, being abused by his father. Trauma is Harry being abused by the Dursleys. Trauma is what Ginny went through in her first year. Trauma is Neville having to see his parents there but not there when visiting them.

Trauma is NOT dealing with an unpleasant teacher.

Especially when you look at the context of when Harry Potter was written and where Hogwarts is set.

And Neville's cowardice isn't cute or endearing or something to baby, it's a fucking flaw that needs to be dealt with sternly.

[half-blood-prince-throne]

I think Snape is right about Neville and Lupin know it too. He literally tell step by step instruction to Neville.

To other students he just said "to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical. "

To Neville he literally told him what to make his boggart look comical. He didn't even ask "how can you make professor Snape look comical" He literally spoonfeed him

[potions-of-dark-devotion]

To be honest, I can’t believe I have to say this but Severus Snape being angry at Neville for regularly making the equivalent of a pipe bomb in class is not in the realm of SA, stalking and attempted murder. Let’s put the arguement of “well snape bullied his students so he deserved it as a kid” to rest. Cause I’m tired. Really tired of pretending it’s somehow the same. Yes, he was rude, yes he was mean and snarky at times. Doesn’t mean it’s the same on any level as what he suffered as child and teen. Be fucking for real. Not even in the same realm.

[soraya-snape]

The fact that people (Marauders Stans) only care about Neville's trauma to bash Snape. It's always Snape was his boggart never McGonagall risked him dying twice and humiliated him in front of everyone. Or his grandma treated him like shit and his great uncle nearly killed him several times. They literally don't care about Neville. It's Snape fans who actually care more about him (even if they don't care about him) because they don't treat him/his trauma like a tool (which is a very low bar). I feel really sorry for him. After everything he went through, his trauma is not talked about enough.

[lines-in-limbo]

I recently saw a post on tiktok about Neville as a potentially great chosen one if he had been picked, and I wanted to share my thoughts and rant a little because I don’t have much else to talk about, lol.

I believe ppl are missing a crucial point here. If Voldemort had targeted Neville instead of Harry, things would have played out very differently. Neville most likely wouldn’t have survived at all and wouldn’t have become "the Boy Who Lived."

Firstly, let’s discuss Snape. His role in Harry’s survival is massive. Snape’s love for Lily led him to ask Voldemort to spare her, and he then went to Dumbledore to beg for her protection. The Potters went into hiding, and Dumbledore cast the fidelius charm. Unfortunately, they were eventually betrayed by Peter. Since Snape wouldn’t have done this for the Longbottoms, they wouldn’t have gone into hiding (unless Dumbledore had been tipped off by someone else). This would have made it easier for Voldemort to find them.

Secondly, the protection Harry received from his mother’s sacrifice was unique. Lily’s choice to sacrifice herself for Harry created a magical protection that caused Voldemort’s curse to rebound, leading to his temporary downfall. This was possible because Voldemort gave her the choice to step aside. Alice and Frank, though loving and brave, wouldn’t have had the same opportunity to step aside for Neville. Snape wouldn’t have asked Voldemort to spare them, so Voldemort wouldn’t have given them a chance to step aside. As a result, Neville wouldn’t have received the same sacrificial protection, and Voldemort would have succeeded in killing him.

In short, if Voldemort had targeted Neville, the lack of Snape’s intervention and the absence of the Fidelius Charm and sacrificial protection would likely have led to the Longbottoms' deaths. Neville wouldn’t have become the boy who lived, and the wizarding world’s history would have been completely different.

I personally speculate that if Voldemort had succeeded in killing Neville, he might have then turned his attention to Harry to prevent the prophecy from coming true. Given Voldemort’s nature, he would likely have sought to eliminate any remaining threat. Snape would've intervened (assuming he was aware), potentially resulting in a scenario similar to the one we know. This would mean Harry could still become the chosen one and “the Boy Who Lived,” despite the different circumstances. It’s an intriguing thought—how fate might realign even when the paths change.

This has probably been discussed before, but I just needed to yap a little. It’s been a while since I posted!

[shifting4mels]

NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM!!!!!!!!!! need i say more

[darklinaforever]

Sorry, but for me J.K didn't write good romances. We don't know Astoria, Rolf and Hannah. Lupin and Tonks appeared out of nowhere. Jily is undrinkable. Hinny has little or no development over 7 books even though they have really known each other since volume 2. Romione is really not great from my point of view. Don't even get me started on Dumbledor and Grindelwald...

Bill & Fleur are the only ones, among the young characters, that I find cute and even then it's a very secondary couple. Honestly, Molly and Arthur are the only real Harry Potter goal couple in my eyes. And yet, they also haven't seen them much !

[igibbydotcom]

hear me out: severus snape never actually had a redemption arc.

so something i deeply admire about severus snape’s character is how complex he is and how morally grey he is. like I think the only other character who displays grey morality better than snape is dumbledore (much to rowlings despair). this will be important in a second.

i dont believe snape even had a redemption arc because he never redeemed himself for the awful things he did that made him so disliked. Yes we find out his motives, that hes a double agent and is one of the most brilliant characters in the series for fooling voldemort. I applaud his intellect and complexity. But thats not redemption.

Severus Snape never changes as a person or a character. Because you know what he never does? Apologize. Take accountability. He just.. dies.

When Rowling introduced Severus’s character, he was already a double agent. When we find this out, it was a huuuge plot twist. “Aaa it explains so much , he’s in love with Lily he did it for Lily, hes such a hero !!” That’s all she wants you to think . Because if Severus’s character was always good, if he was always as well-meaning as was possible for his character.. then he never changed, and he never had a moment in the books where he self-reflected and grew as a character. Rowling tricked her audience into thinking this big reveal was his redemption but he does not go through an actual redemption arc He DIES with his apologies and laments on his tongue.

This is a man who verbally and emotionally abused children for years, for which there is NEVER justification. He is emotionally immature for a majority of the books, going so far as putting Remus’s life in danger by telling the student body of his condition (that is actively discriminated against). Severus’s meanness and pettiness are arguably his most defining traits and nothing about his “double agent that’s doing this for Lily’s son” justifies those behaviors.

All this to say I think Severus Snape is such a great character. He was just another pawn that Dumbledore used for personal gains. But Severus still did some fucked up shit out of his own free will and never really held himself accountable for those things, nor does he owe anyone that. Do i think he deserved a solid redemption arc? Absolutely. Partly what makes his death so tragic is that he didnt get one. And i think rowling promoting his redemption arc does him a great disservice.

EDIT: had post-post clarity and found the words i was looking for. Severus’s grey morality is an integral part of his unique character, and having a “redemption arc” risks narrowly defining him as “only bad before” or “only good after”. And i just think that goes against his character. Especially since he was doing bad and good things the entire time and, again, never actually changed as a character (in the series) cuz that wasn’t the goal of his character.

[readwithlivvy]

here's a reminder that there was no reason for severus snape to bully children who he had power over ☺️

[blorger]

The Great Longbottom Bully Chronicles: Gran Edition

After examining Neville's relationship with Draco (or, more accurately, the lack thereof) here, I found myself thinking about the actual bullies he's shown to have in canon, one of which is undoubtedly his grandma.

Mrs. Longbottom is shown to have a continued negative impact on her grandson but are we meant to see her behaviour as abusive? I'm going to go out on a limb and say no, JKR did not intend for the character to be read as abusive, even though what we see when she is mentioned in the books is nothing but a military parade of red flags.

The descriptor JKR uses most often when talking about Augusta is "formidable" so I'm assuming she meant for her to come off as strict but ultimately well-meaning. After all, she is one of the Good Guys and we are always meant to excuse a Good Guy's actions, no matter how mean spirited or violent (see: Harry crucio-ing that one dude).

JKR has the unsettling habit of framing abusive parenting as excusable when the person doing said parenting is coming at it with good intentions or from a place of love (see: 70% of Molly Weasley's actions towards her children). I understand she started writing the books in the early nineties when there wasn't much of an open discussion on this topic but some of the behaviours she has her mom characters do feel like abuse evergreens. Take for example the howlers:

A howler's intended use IS public humiliation, there's no two ways about it. If the intent was merely to scold the recipient one could decide when to open them but howlers are designed to open as soon as they've been received. And when are Howlers received, especially when you send them to your school-aged children? In the great hall, a room full of you child's peers and teachers. Both Augusta and Molly know all this and still make the decision to send Howlers. This, in the books, is treated as embarrassing for the receiver but is not ultimately portrayed in a negative light (that is to say, as a malicious act).

So, JKR has a skewed perspective on what constitutes good parenting but what do we, as a modern, presumably non abusive audience, actually see when we look at Augusta Longbottom's actions as a guardian? Let's take a look:

(PS, Neville on how his family discovered he was a wizard)

Neville here is describing his family's terrible attitude towards him and Augusta is not only shown to not have a problem with any of the horrible things being done to her nephew but she is also implied to have shared her relatives' concerns. Would her treatment of Neville have been even worse than what is shown in the books if he was a squib (something which, by the way, he'd have no control over)? Most definitely.

Also, I hate how Augusta's love is portrayed as conditional; don't worry, we'll see more of that in a while (lest you think this was a one-time instance).

(PoA, while preparing to defeat a boggart, Neville describes his greatest fear - Snape - and also casually mentions how he fears his own grandmother)

I'm sorry, did Neville just put Augusta on the same level as Snape, his most fervent bully? This says so much about their relationship (and Augusta's approach to parenting).

(GoF, Neville knows his gran would love for him to enter a potentially deadly competition just to show the world how Brave he is)

Why is it up to a 14 y.o. boy who has so far shown very little aptitude for magic to uphold the family honor? Neville is literally still a child but he's already being measured against his war hero parents, not only that, he's being told regularly through this comparison that he's lacking, and that cannot possibly be good for a child's development.

(OotP, straight from the horse's mouth)

What a perfectly horrible thing to say. Not only is Augusta saying this to Neville's face but she is also telling this to Neville's schoolmates (Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny). Why does she feel the need to dress him down in front of people whose opinion he cares about?

(OotP, Neville casually reveals he is constantly made to feel inadequate, even in front of others)

Once again we are being told that mrs Longbottom is endlessly reminding Neville of all the ways in which he fails to be like his father.

(OotP, Neville is injured and in danger in the Department of Mysteries but he knows his gran's priority is first and foremost his father's wand)

I would like to take this moment to address just how fucked up it is that not only Neville is being constantly compared to his father but that he's also being forced to imitate him via the use of his wand. We know from observing both Ron and future Neville that a wrong wand can seriously hinder one's magic output; this cannot be news to someone of Augusta's age yet it's more important to her that Neville try to live up to his father's image than he be his own person.

and

(HBP, Augusta is finally proud of Neville)

Here we see an aspect of Augusta's behaviour towards Neville that is particularly gross: Neville finally has his grandma's approval (because he's behaving like his father) but it's not his heroics by themselves that she appreciates, it's their public nature. Mrs. Longbottom, who has not talked to the press before (nor will she in the future), is happy to do so because she has an excuse to brag, as if her grandson's achievements are also hers by association.

(HBP, sure Neville is a hero but he's a not Harry Potter-level hero...)

And here we come to yet another evergreen in the abusive parent handbook: the shifting of goalposts. Augusta has been wanting for Neville to behave more like his father (i.e. heroically) all this time but once he starts doing that suddenly it's not enough anymore. Whereas before Neville was lacking because he wasn't behaving bravely, now he's lacking because he's not behaving saviour of the wizarding world-level bravely (an impossible goal to reach).

(HBP, McGonagall says what we're all thinking)

I find this passage interesting because jkr finally has a character acknowledge that mrs. Longbottom is not behaving like a good parent and yet nothing comes from it. In an ideal world, McGonagall would follow this with a letter to Augusta where she talks about the effect her expectations are having on Neville but she doesn't do that. This is especially galling since McGonagall is shown to not have a problem with writing to Augusta if she sees she's acting against her grandson's best interests, after all she does write mrs. Longbottom a letter to help Neville enroll in 6th year Charms (the study of which Augusta discourages because it's a subject SHE had difficulty in).

and also

(DH, Augusta is finally proud of Neville but only because he's behaving like she wants him to)

I can't help but feel like there's better ways to show Neville's growth as a character (and the improvement of his relationship with Augusta) than what we are shown in the books. In the end, mrs. Longbottom is rewarded for her awful parenting by getting exactly the grandson she's wanted all along; it's not her who's adjusted her expectations and seen them as unreasonable, it's Neville who's had to change - and even then it's not because he wanted to but because of external reasons (he's in the middle of a war). Neville rose to her impossible expectation by pure happenstance and I don't say that to discount his resilience and general goodness, only to note that the circumstances were beyond his control.

In conclusion, Augusta Longbottom is a terrible guardian and her actions fucked up Neville's development just as much as Snape's bullying did and yet in the books only one of them is unequivocally shown to be in the wrong for it.

[shutupcrime]

Please, please, please do not remake Harry Potter

I am not saying this as a die hard fan

I am not saying this because there is absolutely no way they could replicate the level of detail or quality of the casting of the films

I am not saying this because it will likely be an over cgi-ed mess

I am saying this because J K Rowling has proven time and time again that she is a person who is not deserving of a public platform.

Given the chance to do absolutely anything with her wealth and fame she has used it to spew vitriol and hatred as well as blatantly spread misinformation.

Not to mention the entire reboot project is the direct result of most of the original films cast disavowing her views.

Over the years a woman who was once a champion of the underprivileged and abused has become radicalised in front of our eyes and this new show will shed even more light on her and introduce her to a new younger audience vulnerable to her viewpoint.

There are many reasons not to remake the films but we need to acknowledge this for what it is: Rowling’s attempt to recapture the limelight through targeting a younger less informed fan base.

Please, please DO NOT watch this show.

[half-blood-prince-throne]

I think Snape is right about Neville and Lupin know it too. He literally tell step by step instruction to Neville.

To other students he just said "to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical. "

To Neville he literally told him what to make his boggart look comical. He didn't even ask "how can you make professor Snape look comical" He literally spoonfeed him

[dalekofchaos]

Context for choice 2.

Dumbledore learns of Peter's true allegiance and talks him into becoming a double agent. Thanks to Peter's new found courage, Dumbleodre lures a trap. Voldemort comes to Godric Hollow. But the Order of The Phoenix and the Aurors are waiting. Voldemort is overwhelmed and is captured. Voldemort is put on trial and sent to the bowels of Azkaban where he can never escape while Dumbledore and the Order can hunt down the Horcruxes.

Choice 4. James uses his head and transforms into Prongs. Voldemort is taken a back and before he can do anything, James gores him. James and Lily raises Harry while Harry is still famous for being the son of the man who gored the Dark Lord while everyone prepares for Voldemort's inevitable return

The series and characters we once loved aren't written by the worst possible person. Characters can be people of color and queer. James can be Palestinian and Harry can be mixed. Hermione can be black. Lavender Brown can be black from the beginning and actually kiss Ron. Dumbledore can be openly gay. Drarry can happen. Linny can happen. Lavender and Pavarti can happen. Wolfstar can happen. Tonks can be Trans and Tonks/Tulip can happen and more. Queer love is celebrated and Harry Potter isn't remembered for the writer's bigoted views or problematic writing you notice ages after you read the books.

[starfruit976]

I honestly think I could’ve done better on this one but I’m proud I finished it considering how long it took.Also I guess this me announcing myself as Anti-Dumbledore.

[hp-confessions]

please, neville exasperated even mcgonagall and she even had him sleeping outside of the gryffindor dorms while a supposed criminal was roaming the school, lol. i have never denied that snape was harsh as a teacher and rowling DID define him as a bully, but there's also the fact nobody was stopping him and stern behaviour was normalized bcs during those years nobody gaf about kids' rights! and i don't know which marauders stans people have been reading, every single marauder stan questions rowling's writings and make it clear they think it's okay that they were bullying vulnerable people. because you may not like snape, but he was still a vulnerable teenager and sirius and james relished on that.

~

[headcanonandburn]

HP headcanons i found on reddit part 2

Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint end up on the same Quidditch team, get into a fight in the locker room when they find out they're on the same team, and then kiss because they actually have a shit ton of sexual tension.

The curse on the Defense position was anchored to Ravenclaw's Diadem.

Harry is Master of Death (when it fits).

Parselmouths have an affinity toward healing magic and that's why Voldemort is never seen using Parseltonue spells because he has no inclination toward healing.

Harry is still a Parselmouth after he dies.

Astronomy is mandatory for all students until fifth year because it is intermingled in almost all other pursuits of magic. Certain potions need to be brewed during this time of the year or this phase of the moon, certain ingredients (for both potions and herbology) are supposed to be gathered during a full moon or new moon, arithmancy takes into account star positions or whatever which helps with runes and spell creation, and all of this other shit that I don't feel like typing out.

Harry has rights to both the Slytherin and Gryffindor name. Gryffindor shares a lot of characteristics with Lily (the red hair and green eyes) and Harry conquered the last heir of Slytherin, making him the new heir of Slytherin via magic.

Luna isn't actually "loony" and the Quibbler is supposed to be read upside down with those glasses she's always wearing. The Quibbler spouts nonsense most of the time to hide the fact that they're actually publishing stories that contradict the government. Not necessarily my headcanon, but something I picked up after reading a fanfiction and full-heartedly agree with.

The Potters are technically a Most Ancient and Noble House but aren't a part of the Sacred 28 because their last name is a common Muggle name. They're descended from the Peverells, who were very powerful in their own right.

The Potters and Longbottoms have been allies for years.

Neville's Mum was Alice Smith, the last heir of Hufflepuff from a straight line, making Neville the heir to Hufflepuff. Hermione is from a Squib line from Dagworth-Granger and she is the heir to Ravenclaw. Harry is the heir to Slytherin or Gryffindor (or both) via his mum or dad (or both). Or Ron is the heir to Gryffindor (because he's a true Gryffindor in personality) and his brothers aren't the heir because all of the heirs must be in the same Hogwarts year because why the hell not?

Snape's hair is super greasy because of potions fumes.

Dean and Seamus are totally fucking. Same with Sirius and Remus.

Voldemort is batshit insane because he split his would numerous times until there was only a little sliver left. Bellatrix is insane because she's done a shit ton of Dark Arts and they corrupted her.

Wizards used to celebrate the "Old Ways" or Pagan holidays, but Dumbledore voted on pro-Muggleborns and he thought that it was rude to have Muggleborns accept non-Christian holidays so he removed the celebrations from Hogwarts, instead incorporating Christian holidays to make the Muggleborns "feel welcome" and having all of the "dark" families celebrate the holidays in their own time. Dumbledore tried to get Muggleborns and Purebloods to accept each other, but since he's not a politician, he went about it the wrong way. Instead of having them all accept one another, he said that purebloods must accept Muggleborns (by incorporating Muggle Studies and removing wizarding holidays) instead of teaching Muggleborns about the wizarding world. The result is that the Ministry now believes the Old Ways are dark but the rest of Europe celebrates pagan holidays and that's why there's the traditional Yule ball (that was celebrated before Dumbledore voted to remove pagan holidays after Grindlewald or Voldemort's first reign) instead of a Christmas ball.

Harry is not completely "light" because he is very good at Dark spells. Sectumsempra is a dark spell that he mastered on the first try.

Harry joins the Auror corp for a few years to find the rest of the Death Eaters before retiring to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts.