Predestination (was Re: prophecy/Firenze)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 79166

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Rachna" <rachnastar at y...> 
wrote:
<big snip>
> The thing that really got me thinking was that a centaur 
(supposedly 
> one of the wisest beings) tried to teach Harry that "nothing was 
> foolproof" and that it was "foolish to put too much faith in 
> [divination/fortune telling/etc]" in the same book that Harry finds 
> out about the prophecy.
> 
> If the prophecy was first in the book and then I read Firenze's 
> warning, I would have questioned it.  Since, she has written it so 
> that it ends with the prophecy, you don't really question it.
> 
> Anyway, the point of my long-winded ramble was that maybe the 
> prophecy turns out to not be true and Rowling is just stringing us 
> along.

 
Jen:
This brings up a major question I have about the prophecy: If one of 
the major themes in the HP series is about choice, then it doesn't 
follow that the *prophecy* is Harry's one and only destiny.  If 
that's the case, then Harry's life is predestined and without choice, 
so what would be the point?!?

I read the prophecy as a "probable outcome" of many possible outcomes 
that confront Harry.  Dumbledore believes the prophecy has a strong 
probability of coming true, so he's been guiding Harry along this 
path for 15 years. But as DD discovers in OOTP, even a master plan 
can have flaws, and the fulfillment of the prophecy depends on Harry.

If, as Firenze states, even centaurs can be wrong (and they have a 
much better grasp of "the stars"), then I think the prophecy may 
tells us more about Harry's past, and the expectations others have 
placed on him, than about what Harry ultimately decides is his 
*destiny*.

Jen