[HPforGrownups] Lily Didn't Have to Die/Trelawney's First Prediction

[Barb P]

No: HPFGUIDX 43996


 "Nicole L." wrote:

I think a lot of people are assuming that Trelawny's
prediction was that Harry would bring about the fall
of Voldemort, but I don't really support this theory. 
True, Dumbledore does not tell Harry what that first
prediction is but I don't think that proves that the
prediction was that Harry would defeat Voldemort. 

 Me:
I don't know whether Trelawney predicted that Harry would be Voldemort's downfall (it may simply be that she predicted who was going to win the World Cup or something).  We have to wait for JKR to say.  I do, however, believe that Voldemort tried to kill Harry because he thought Harry would be a threat to him someday.  Normally, the reasons for trying to get someone out of the way are that: a) they have done something to you in the past; b) they have done something to people LIKE you and so might reasonably be expected to try to do something to YOU (Aurors, for instance, go after dark wizards, so if you're a dark wizard you would expect Aurors to come after you); c) you have done something to them or to people close to them and they wish to get revenge.  
 
While Lily and James might have been Aurors (we don't know), if Voldemort was operating from reason "b," he could have killed them and left Harry an orphan.  He wound up doing just that, but it didn't seem to be his original plan; he DID try to kill Harry, and as a result, he lost his power.  If Harry wasn't his main target, why would he try to kill him?  To salt the earth, as far as Potters are concerned, and prevent Harry from coming after him because of reason "c?" (Revenge for killing his parents.)  It doesn't wash.  Reason "a" doesn't either, not when we have the statement about Lily not needing to die.
 
I think it's meant to be misleading that Voldemort says this about Lily; he doesn't say James "had" to die either, only that he put up a fight.  I have assumed that he put up a fight because a maniac wanted to kill his son.  Seems like a good enough reason for me, thank you very much.  Perhaps Voldemort is a bit of a chauvinist and thought nothing of killing a man, but thought he'd spare a woman, and that's why he said Lily didn't have to die.  (Frankly, Tom Riddle's attitude toward Ginny in CoS is rather chauvinistic; he is very condescending to her, and it seems in part to be because she's a girl.)  There's really nothing to indicate James held any particular fascination for him.  Both James and Lily were called "meddling" by Lucius Malfoy, but it seems possible that they were "meddling" by refusing to give up their son to be killed.  Who would blame them?
 
Harry was a baby.  There was no reason for Voldemort to come after him unless he thought he would be a threat to him at some time in the future, and he decided to nip the problem in the bud.  It's possible that he thought other babies of about the same age were also threats, and that he tried to kill them too, but we don't hear about this.  All we know is that he was after the Potters, and that he told Lily to step aside so he could kill Harry.  He might have killed James for one of the reasons I mentioned above, but those reasons just don't work for killing a baby.  Harry was targeted because of his potential, IMO.  Whether it's an accurate prediction that led Voldemort there that day is another story.  We know that Tom Riddle put great store in prophecies.  He tells Harry about the Chamber of Secrets only being opened when Slytherin's own true heir came to the school.  He seems to revel in fulfilling a prophecy and evidently believes in Divination.  
 
Trelawney seems an unlikely person to give such a prophecy, given her track record, were it not for the fact that Dumbledore mentions her having been correct before.  There must be a reason for his mentioning this.  While there is humor in his saying he should give her a raise, now that she's given two accurate predictions, I believe the humor is there to mask the important fact that she's not ALWAYS full of it.
 
--Barb
 


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Psychic_Serpent
http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb


---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! News - Today's headlines

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]