Harry Potter Has One Last Chance To Fix Its Biggest Chosen One Problem

Published Nov 14, 2026, 1:00 PM EST

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Harry Potter being the Chosen One is central to J.K. Rowling’s novels and the Harry Potter movies. Once Sybill Trelawney’s prophecy enters the story in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the narrative feels much bigger than a boy attending magic school while his parents’ murderer makes another annual attempt to kill him. “The Boy Who Lived” is more than a nickname the Wizarding press gave a famous baby. Unfortunately, neither the books nor the movies makes Harry’s place as the Chosen One feel earned.

Obviously, Harry fits the prophecy’s criteria, but from a reader/viewer perspective he simply doesn’t feel like he deserves his Chosen One status. The problems become obvious when comparing him with Neville Longbottom. The movies barely acknowledge it, but Neville’s tragic backstory in the Harry Potter novels comes with a revelation: he could have been the child destined to defeat Voldemort. It makes Neville considerably more interesting in the books than in the movies, but both versions still leave too much of his potential unexplored. However, HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter TV show has an opportunity to give Neville the attention his story always deserved.

Arriving in December, HBO’s Harry Potter already seems interested in giving Neville more substance. He joins Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger when they encounter Fluffy, restoring a moment the Philosopher’s Stone movie cut. Behind-the-scenes reveals from the production team have confirmed that Neville will be using his father’s wand, another detail the films overlooked. These are encouraging signs, because taking Neville seriously could help the series fix more than his own character. It could finally make Harry Potter feel worthy of being the Wizarding World’s Chosen One.

Harry Almost Wasn’t The Boy Who Lived

Had Voldemort made a slightly different decision, Neville Longbottom would have been the Chosen One of the Wizarding World, not Harry Potter. Trelawney’s prophecy initially fits both Harry and Neville: both were born at the end of July, and both had parents who had defied Voldemort three times. Voldemort chose to attack Harry, and that decision helped turn the child into the enemy he feared. Had he targeted Neville instead, Harry would have grown up with his parents in Godric’s Hollow with neither his scar nor his grand destiny to defeat He Who Must Not Be Named.

Neville almost being the Chosen One is certainly an interesting bit of character background, and it’s a shame the Harry Potter movies glossed over it. However, it has greater significance than providing a Wizarding World “what if” scenario. The fact that Neville almost became The Boy Who Lived completely reframes how his story should be interpreted. It adds extra layers of both tragedy and triumph, elevating him to one of Harry Potter’s deepest characters.

The nervous boy who loses his belongings and struggles through lessons across his Hogwarts was at one point just as plausible a threat to Voldemort as Harry. Just like Harry, Neville’s life was also devastated by the first war against the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. However, unlike Harry, Neville grew up without anyone treating his survival as something extraordinary. He’s simply expected to get on with it, which he does without ever complaint. All in all, Neville has the background of a main character compared to many other hidden world fantasy protagonists, which makes it a shame that the story treats him like an afterthought.

The Harry Potter movies never properly explore Neville’s connection to the prophecy. The books do more, but still leave much of his later growth happening away from Harry. Neville goes from being a shy and timid student barely able to keep up with his peers to a resistance leader at Hogwarts and destroys Voldemort’s final Horcrux, yet readers miss much of the journey that gets him there. Those achievements deserve more space than either version gives them. HBO can finally make Neville feel as important to the story as he should be, rather than waiting until the ending to reveal just how brave he has become.

Neville Would Have Made A Much Better Chosen One

Obviously HBO isn’t going to replace Harry and change the story so drastically that it’s Neville who becomes the Boy Who Lived. However, comparing the two does make it pretty clear that Neville would have been a much more satisfying central character. Harry enters the Wizarding World and immediately discovers that he is famous, wealthy, and exceptionally good on a broomstick. He’s not quite a Mary Sue, but it feels close. Neville, on the other hand, spends his first year looking as though he can barely survive a school day. Even his wand may be working against him: he uses his father’s, rather than one that chose him.

Sure, Harry has difficulties at point, and Neville’s talent for Herbology proves he was never completely hopeless. However, Neville’s achievements feel much more earned. He has to overcome his fear, his lack of confidence, and the assumption that he will disappoint everyone. By the end of the Harry Potter saga, he is among the bravest witches and wizards defending Hogwarts. The courage he showed during his final year didn’t come naturally. He built his incredible resolve one painful step at a time. Following that journey as the central storyline would make the eventual confrontation with Voldemort hit considerably harder.

The fate of his parents means the story would have been even more heartbreaking, and the defeat of Voldemort all the sweeter too. Alice and Frank Longbottom survived being tortured but were left permanently insane. Neville grew up with constant living reminders of just how much pain the Dark Lord can inflict on those who dare to resist him. Harry’s loss of his parents is devastating, but it’s not something he actually remembers.

Neville, on the other hand, must repeatedly face what was taken from him. His emotional wounds will never heal, because echoes of the parents Voldemort took from him are still living and breathing on a ward in St. Mungos. The sweet wrapper he keeps from his mother says more than pages of explanation could. A Neville Longbottom series could have made that lingering damage central to its hero’s journey, giving the fight against Voldemort much more emotional weight.

Harry Potter Needs To Earn His Chosen One Status

It goes without saying that HBO’s Harry Potter will keep Harry at the center, but thinking about how the story would have changed with Neville in his does reveal a few subtle improvements the TV show can make. It’s the opinion of many fans and critics alike that Harry Potter is the worst character in the Harry Potter series. Harry may be the Chosen One, but too often it feels like that's all he is. His character doesn't give readers or viewers much to get attached to beyond the fact he's the hero who'll conquer the Dark Lord.

Even his endearing personality traits feel mishandled both in the Harry Potter movies and J.K. Rowling's novels. For example, Harry shows courage, but it is always a bit disproportionate to the level of threat he’s facing. At no point does he seem legitimately terrified. It’s almost as if he knows that he’s a character in a book series that’s named after him and so his survival is all-but-guaranteed. Throw in the fact that, outside of a few areas like potions or occlumency, he has a natural talent for pretty much everything, and his repeated victories can feel almost annoying.

His social advantages don’t help either. After an admittedly appalling childhood, Harry discovers an inherited fortune, instant celebrity, and talents that earn him special treatment no other Hogwarts students receive. His arrogance makes those privileges all the more frustrating. He certainly suffers, and he doesn’t have an easy ride during his time at Hogwarts, but his foundational brilliance means his successes feel less earned than Neville overcoming challenges everyone assumed he couldn't face.

The answer isn’t to swap Harry and Neville’s place, but to make Harry a little more like Neville. Making Harry’s Chosen One status something it’s not easy for him to live up to would hugely improve his character. He needs to earn the audience’s belief in him as consistently as Neville does. HBO has room to make that happen through small moments of failure, effort, and humility. Learning from what makes Neville so endearing could improve the entire Harry Potter narrative, and the HBO show is perhaps the last chance the franchise has to do it.