Neville Longbottom was a pure-blood wizard, the only child and son of Frank and Alice Longbottom. He began school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1991 and was sorted into Gryffindor House. His parents were well-respected Aurors and members of the original Order of the Phoenix. About sixteen months after Neville's birth, his parents were tortured into insanity by four Death Eaters with the Cruciatus Curse. They were placed in the Janus Thickey Ward at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, leaving Neville to be raised by his grandmother, Augusta Longbottom.

Throughout his school years, Neville was mostly a shy, clumsy, introverted boy who was constantly being told by his grandmother that he was not good enough or living up to his parents' accomplishments. However, in his later years, he showed that he possessed great courage and perseverance: he became an important member of Dumbledore's Army, an organisation taught and led by Harry Potter. He would later fight in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries , the Battle of the Astronomy Tower , and the Battle of Hogwarts.