There are many ways to show bravery. Yet Neville Longbottom seemed to most everyone to be the very last person to show any sort, despite his being sorted into the House of Gryffindor. Many merely assumed the Sorting Hat had faced some sort of glitch, as it was ancient even then.
Neville Longbottom was your average teenage wizard from a Pureblood family; he lived with his grandmother and uncle when not attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. Although raised on the knowledge of magic, Neville sadly performed rather inadequately in most of his classes, the only exception having been Herbology. He was much too credulous, introverted, and impressionable; often too afraid to speak up for himself when he needed help. This made him the perfect target for bullies like the Slytherins of his same year.
While he had a few friends, he was not particularly close with any of them. Those he called his "friends" often cast looks of pity his way, but little more. Everyone assumed him a pitiable fool, and anticipated only a small amount further from him. He was one of those wizards from whom nothing exceptional was ever expected; no great epiphanies, no unharnessed strength; no hidden powers. He was just a bumbling, though adorable, idiot in the eyes of many.
But one night, the lucky Mr. Longbottom got his chance to show everyone just how powerful the underdog could be; he was graced with the chance to prove everyone who had underestimated him wrong.
Late in Neville's seventh year, and without warning, Voldemort and his minions stormed the castle of Hogwarts, his goal having been to wreak havoc and destruction upon all of its inhabitants. Most of the Slytherins were spared, as most of the legion made its way immediately for the Gryffindor Tower, having choosen to dispose of Harry Potter first. However, the time taken for him to appear in the Common Room behind the terrorized Fat Lady was just enough for Harry and his two best friends to go into safe hiding. They were nowhere to be seen, causing Voldemort to let out a loud howl of anger before storming into the boys' dormitories.
There he found a quaking, yet obstinate, Neville Longbottom facing him from the foot of his four-poster bed, wand outstretched bravely. Clueless, yet determined to protect his fellow classmates, Neville yelled the first spell to cross his mind, "Obliviate!" It was one fairly uncomplicated charm, used merely to erase a person's memory, but as the dynamic curse hit the laughing Voldemort square in the chest, the unimaginable had happened.
The Dark Lord's laughter ceased as he stared down at his chest where the spell had made contact with his body; Neville stared, mouth agape, as the most evil, most powerful wizard of all time started to deteriorate and vanish from right before his very eyes. Apparently, the twisted Tom Riddle, Jr. had only been kept in the living realm due to his memory of himself; the only one clever, or unwitting, enough to stumble upon such a revelation was the awkward, timid boy in whom few held any confidence.
Who would have thought that the simplest spell, cast by the simplest wizard, could have saved our world?
Disclaimer: I, obviously, don't own the Harry Potter characters, plot, or world. The wonder J.K. Rowling does and is kind enough to allow me to borrow them for my own entertainment, and maybe yours, too. No copyright infringement is intended.