[HPforGrownups] Re: The Prophecy, the End, & The Trinity

[T.M. Sommers]

No: HPFGUIDX 69699

Steve wrote:
 >
> The one part of the prophecy that has eaten away at me since I first
> read it, is this line-
> 
> " ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can 
> live while the other survives... "
> 
> Specifically, the use of the word 'either'. Why would an accomplished
> write like JKR use such awkward phrasing unless she was intentionally
>  hiding something in that phrasing.

'Either' can also mean 'each'.  Rowling has used the word in this 
sense when describing the quidditch field: the goal posts are at 
either end of the field.  So the prophecy might mean that both 
must die.