Let's pick at that prophecy a little more, shall we?

[slgazit]

No: HPFGUIDX 77985

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "princesspeaette" 
<princesspeaette at y...> wrote:
> Margaret again: 
> Of course I very much doubt that Neville is the key (it would just 
be 
> dirty pool a this point to say "Whoops, it was supposed to be 
Neville 
> all along")  but I argue it is still Possible.  Perhaps the fact 
that 
> 2 people can technically fulfill the prophecy will be Voldemort's 
> undoing.  Maybe friendship is "the power the Dark Lord knows not".

During the entire series JKR emphasizes over and over that the
deciding factor in one's fate is their choices - with the notable
exception of Harry, of course, whose fate appears mostly pre-ordained.
By marking Harry, Voldemort chose the one who
will oppose him. I think the point about having Neville mentioned
was to emphasize that it was Voldemort's choice that decided
who of the two boys will end up facing him. But that choice was
clearly *not* random. I don't believe that Voldemort considered
Neville a greater threat than he did Harry. I suspect that he went
after Harry because of something related to James, that made him
believe that Harry would be the one, not Neville.

Salit