Predestination (was Re: prophecy/Firenze)

[boyd_smythe]

No: HPFGUIDX 79195

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" <stevejjen at e...> 
wrote:
> 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*.

I say: It does feel funny, doesn't it? Harry has had this 
responsibility laid at his feet from birth. But I think the point is 
that there *are* still choices for Harry to make.

As we've all debated to infinity and beyond, "live" in the prophecy 
can mean many things. Harry could, for example, allow LV to "live" by 
forsaking his responsibility and simply running away forever--or at 
least until he is found and destroyed. He could give up and die. He 
could choose to walk into the battle already defeated in his own 
heart, and allow LV to finish him off with little fight. These are all 
dangers to which JKR has alluded constantly in books 1-5. Harry 
certainly fought hopelessness for much of book 5, and that looks to 
take center stage in book 6.

Then there is his other option. He could try his best to stop LV from 
destroying his newfound life, his friends, his classmates, and the WW 
as we know it. Yes, he will know that it may take the supreme 
sacrifice--his life--but he may still choose to do so for the good of 
everyone who has given him this second life. (Life at the Dursleys 
being the first.)

We are all born into the responsibility to try to make a positive 
contribution in this world; Harry's potential contribution simply has 
larger repercussions than most readers'. IMO that is the belief behind 
JKR's focus on choices.

"boyd_smythe"