The Sorting Hat

Neville Longbottom and Peter Pettigrew, two completely different men with opposite values or two sides of the same coin? While both took very different paths, they both started out facing the same daunting choices given by war. Their stories ended very differently, but they began in the same place. Neville is everything Peter could have been and his character comes to redeem him a generation later. Despite their very different tales, their pasts are strikingly similar. When McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on both of their heads at the tender age of eleven, it decided on Gryffindor both times. This shows how both placed immense value on bravery, daring, nerve, and chivalry. They were both the underdog. They were also both described as clumsy, …show more content…
Here McGonagall calls Peter, “a stupid and foolish boy” (Prisoner). Due to this, they were both insecure in themselves. Also, both were willing to sacrifice, hence the choice of Gryffindor. However, Neville sacrificed himself while Peter sacrificed his friends. Their upbringing may have started it all as Neville grew up in a tortured home, literally. His parents were both tortured to the point of insanity by Voldemort. His parents were unable to recognize him. Neville’s grandmother raised him and while good intentioned, her rigid love instilled a kind of nervousness in him. Peter was raised in a very cookie-cutter home. His parents were together, pure blooded, and they had money. Peter had stability Neville never had. These differences changed their motives. Neville approached the “Golden Trio” for their friendship. He was unwavering in his values as shown in the first book when he stands up to the trio for breaking the rules, “‘I won't let you do it,' he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. 'I'll – I'll fight you!’” (Sorcerer’s Stone). Peter never spoke up. He