15 underappreciated ladies of Harry Potter

Alice Longbottom

Alice Longbottom is Neville Longbottom’s mother. She was a Gryffindor in her years at Hogwarts and she was a core member of the original Order of the Phoenix. After she left school, she worked for the Ministry as an Auror alongside her husband Frank. She appears very briefly in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when Harry encounters Neville and his grandmother in the ward for irrevocable spell damage at St. Mungo’s Hospital.

Neville’s parents are on a permanent stay in the hospital because Death Eaters tortured them into insanity after Lord Voldemort’s first defeat in 1981. Like the Potters, Alice and Frank defied Voldemort three times and thus made themselves and their son the potential subjects of Sybill Trelawney’s prophecy. Voldemort target Harry rather than Neville. However, when Harry somehow survived the Killing Curse, some of Voldemort’s most loyal followers went after the Longbottoms for revenge.

Alice doesn’t recognize her son, even when he visits. Neville’s grandmother (who raised him) takes him to the hospital to see his parents out of obligation, though she seems irritated about it. Alice presents Neville with chewing gum wrappers whenever he visits (which he keeps). She does this because she is fond of him, even if she doesn’t know he’s her child. It’s heartbreaking.

Alice and Frank Longbottom’s story is incredibly sad, but it demonstrates extreme bravery. Alice’s behavior, in particular, says a lot about how gentle Neville is, and how determined he is to make his family proud. Although she barely appears in the book series and doesn’t appear in the movies at all, Alice Longbottom definitely deserves more appreciation. Possibly all of it.