You could have gotten almost the same result if you had killed Neville without the gender issues.
Only if he had already been writing a yaoi fic… If he killed off Neville, no one would care and he’d open up a can of plot worms (“why Neville? Why not Hermione?”).
On the contrary, I think Neville could be far more poignant. Hermione wanted to be a heroine independent of Harry, because she has those sorts of cultural goals. Neville only started acting remotely brave because of Harry’s influence.
Only if he had already been writing a yaoi fic… If he killed off Neville, no one would care and he’d open up a can of plot worms (“why Neville? Why not Hermione?”).
On the contrary, I think Neville could be far more poignant. Hermione wanted to be a heroine independent of Harry, because she has those sorts of cultural goals. Neville only started acting remotely brave because of Harry’s influence.