Who Killed Voldemort: Harry Potter or Neville Longbottom?

As a fellow gamer and Potterhead, I‘m sure you‘ve pondered the climatic question from the franchise we know and love – when it came down to that final face-off in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, who truly killed He Who Must Not Be Named? Was it the Chosen One himself, Harry Potter? Or was Neville Longbottom equally instrumental in Vanquishing You-Know-Who for good?

Grab your wand, don your house robes, and join me as we analyze the complex wandlore, pivotal character choices, and RPG battle mechanics behind Voldemort‘s ultimate defeat. Lumos!

Neville Longbottom: The One With The Power To Vanquish The Dark Lord

While Harry grew up knowing his fate as the boy who lived, destined to one day duel the darkest wizard of all time, Neville Longbottom spent his childhood blissfully unaware that he could have easily stepped into Harry‘s shoes.

As seasoned Potter fans know, Sybill Trelawney‘s prophecy stated that a boy born at the end of July to parents who had thrice defied Voldemort would be gifted with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord. That description applied both to Harry and Neville, as Neville was born mere hours before Harry on July 30th.

So why did Voldemort set his sights on Harry instead of Neville that fateful Halloween night? As Pottermore explains, Voldemort saw himself in the half-blood Harry, rather than pureblood Neville. He chose the boy he believed would grow to be his greatest threat.

Little did he know that BOTH boys would play instrumental roles in his downfall over a decade later during the Battle of Hogwarts…

The Prophecy‘s True Hero? Looking at Neville‘s Character Arc

As you can see from Neville‘s hero journey throughout the saga above, his bravery and contributions to Voldemort‘s downfall grew exponentially year after year. From a meek first year to leading Hogwarts rebellion with Ginny and Luna in Deathly Hallows, Neville proved himself a true Gryffindor.

Both Harry and Neville played their foretold roles – uniting Dumbledore‘s army and vanquishing dark forces. But was Neville actually the ‘chosen one‘ – the subject of Trelawney‘s prophecy all along?

"As for Harry being the ‘chosen one‘, the prophecy might have applied to two wizard boys, but Voldemort chose to believe that Harry was the more dangerous opponent, and as Dumbledore says: prophecy can be fulfilled in strange ways. Voldemort‘s choice to believe that Harry was his greatest danger resulted in his own ultimate doom." – Pottermore on The Chosen One

So in an unexpected twist of fate…Voldemort himself made Harry into his mortal enemy and equal by attacking him. Leaving Neville to show his heroism in other pivotal ways when the time came.

Neville Stabs Snakes and Destroys Soul Vessels

Image from Harry Potter Wiki: Neville destroying final Horcrux Nagini

Speaking of pivotal ways – let‘s discuss how Neville has the distinct honor of striking the final sword-to-snake blow that allowed Voldemort to be killed.

With all 6 of his other carefully protected Horcruxes destroyed by Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Voldemort‘s last surviving soul vessel was his serpentine sidekick Nagini. As long as she remained alive, tethering the Dark Lord‘s soul to the living world, Neville and Harry knew Voldemort could not be killed.

During a break in the Battle of Hogwarts action, Neville broke from the pack clutching the Sword of Gryffindor – which Harry had pulled from the Sorting Hat to destroy lockets and cups with basilisk venom back in Deathly Hallows Part 1.

Viewers watched with bated breath as Neville sliced off Nagini‘s head in a single stroke, blueish blood spraying explosively as her head spun through the air. Cue epic musical score! Just like that, Voldemort‘s last lifeline was severed (along with Nagini‘s actual head).

"[Neville] is the boy who deliberately stepped up to do what was right for its own sake, not for a prophecy, but because the time had come to show his colors," mused Heroes, a Wizarding World fansite.

With all Horcruxes eliminated, Voldemort was finally mortal once more. The stage was set for Harry to face him in a duel to end all duels. But what role did wandlore play in the Dark Lord‘s ultimate defeat? Read on for insight from the greatest wizarding gamer blogger this side of Ravenclaw Tower!

Harry Disarms Draco to Claim Ownership of the Elder Wand

We Potter gamers know deep wand mechanics lore is what separates the casual spellcasters from the true masters. When I say wand ownership and mastery impacts dueling outcomes – I don‘t just mean Ollivander scribbling down what wood and core you purchased when you were 11.

I‘m talking intricate bonds of magical loyalty and conquest that remain after a wand is won. How else can we explain Priori Incantatem (reverse spell effect) causing Harry and Voldemort‘s wands to connect, or Harry‘s holly and phoenix feather wand acting of its own accord?

See this passage from Deathly Hallows when Harry duels Draco Malfoy at Malfoy Manor and forcibly snatches his hawthorn and unicorn hair wand using Expelliarmus:

"It was the hawthorn wand that spun high into the air, still trailing the sparks from the Stunning Spell, and Harry, catching it neatly and tightly said reverently, ‘I win.‘"

Unbeknownst to a disarmed Draco shivering on the manor floor, Harry had just become master of the Elder Wand too, since Draco disarmed its previous owner – Albus Dumbledore – on the Astronomy Tower the year prior.

"The Elder Wand knows no loyalty except to strength. So it‘s completely unsentimental. It will only go where the power is," explains Ollivander in Deathly Hallows Part 2.

So while Voldemort thinks by desecrating Dumbledore‘s tomb and stealing the Elder Wand from the corpse he has claimed ultimate power, in reality, Harry earned the wand‘s loyalty that fateful night at Malfoy Manor months earlier.

The Tables Turn: Analyzing the Final Duel

After learning he had been an unintentional seventh Horcrux all along, Harry lets Voldemort strike him with the killing curse in the Forbidden Forest, destroying the soul fragment within. This explain why Harry survives yet again!

Revitalized, Harry reveals himself in the Great Hall during Voldemort‘s supposed victory celebration. Harry even tries to explain why Voldemort‘s borrowed wand won‘t obey him fully in that spine-tingling scene:

"You still don’t get it, Riddle, do you? Possessing the wand isn’t enough! Holding it, using it, doesn‘t make it really yours. Didn’t you listen to Ollivander? The wand chooses the wizard… The Elder Wand recognized a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realizing exactly what he had done, or that the world’s most dangerous wand had given him its allegiance…"

Can you IMAGINE how impactful that dialogue sequence would have been in the Harry Potter RPG video game of our dreams?

With meteoric tension building, Harry and Voldemort face off, yelling their signature spells simultaneously with the cinematic strings rising to a shattering crescendo in the background:

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

Jets of green and red light explode from their wand tips, connecting midair just like Harry predicted due to the twin phoenix feather cores. But this time, the Elder Wand flies high out of Voldermort‘s grasp towards its true master – sealing the Dark Lord‘s fate forevermore. His own rebounding death curse finishes him off in a burst of light and ash.

Good game, You-No-Poo. You lose! 🧙‍♂️

The Magic Was Within Us All Along 🏰

While Harry Potter uttered the literal death blow spell and fulfilled his foretold Chosen One destiny, Neville Longbottom also showed himself a hero by eliminating Voldemort‘s last anchor to immortality and leading Hogwarts rebellion.

Truly, it took the combined strength and willpower of Dumbledore‘s Army, The Order of the Pheonix, and every last student and teacher rallying to Hogwarts‘ defense to vanquish the Dark forces that night. Much like a multiplayer RPG, it was epic TEAMWORK that won the game in the end! 🎮

The magic wasn‘t just in the wands chosen by Harry and Neville – it was inside HOGWARTS, binding every witch and wizard together who dared defy Voldemort til the bitter end. And sidequests that took loved ones like Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, Fred, and so many others along the way. 😢

While the saga is long over, the wizarding world will live on eternally in our gamer hearts! Do you agree Longbottom deserves more credit? Which was your favorite part of Voldemort and Harry‘s final duel? Let me know in the comments below! May your mana never run dry and your health potions be ever-flowing, fellow magical gamers. 🧝‍♀️