Scar, Prophecy, Dumbledore, Marked.

[pickle_jimmy]

No: HPFGUIDX 72219

> bboy_mn:
> 
> Others have speculated that Voldemort might just as easily have been
> working his way down a list of 100 kids he wanted to kill. Even if 
we
> forget about the 100's of kids who may have been targeted, and focus
> on Harry and Neville, it's just by random chance that Harry was
> first... or was he the first?
> 
> There are too many unknows to this theory; too much that has to be
> made up. Yes, maybe he had a list, but maybe LV killed 11 and Harry
> was the 12th; that would lend strength to Harry being the ONE, but 
we
> simply don't have enough backstory or cannon to make this 
assertion. 
> 
> What we do know is that Voldemort had been after the Potters,
> otherwise the Potters would not have had to go into hiding. The 
search
> for the Potters had to be above and beyond the normal attacks that
> were occurring in the wizard world. Certainly, no one was safe, and
> certainly no one in the Order was safe, but not everyone went into
> hiding to the extent that the Potters did. This implies that there 
was
> some unique significants to LV chasing the Potters. 
> 
> So basically, I'm not buying the random chance theory. I can see it 
as
> possible, but I can't see it as likely.
> 
> Having said all that, let me turn things around. 
> 
> One can logically conclude that in weighing the merits of Harry and
> Neville, Voldemort chose Harry as the one he feared, the one who 
would
> be his equal and have the power to 'vanquish' Voldemort. In choosing
> and trying to kill Harry, he failed and left a mark, a scar, that
> designated and would seem to confirm that indeed Harry is the ONE.
> 
> But let's look at time frames in the prophecy. The beginning and end
> text of the prophecy are clear in their time frame, in the next 
coming
> 7th month (July) as it ends, the ONE will be born. First, we only
> assume it is the next up-coming month of July; one could speculate
> that it is July five years later, but that just confuses the issue.
> For now, we accept it the next upcoming July.
> 
> The prophecy actually make 4 separate statements. The first,
> identifies the month and specific charateristics of the ONE. Now we
> move to a completely different aspect of the prophecy, and that is 
the
> Dark Lord will mark him as an equal. That statement is a new aspect
> and is not necessarily tied to the time frame of the first segement.
> We speculate but can't reasonably confirm that 'mark as an equal' 
also
> refers to the month of July.
> 
> The point? Harry has A mark, but we don't know for a fact the he has
> THE mark. Neville and Voldemort could both have snake shaped birth
> marks that if Voldemort had known about or if he finds out about,
> would have lead him to conclude that He and Neville were marked as
> equals. That's not a canon fact, but it shows other ways in which 
the
> true ONE might be marked, and marked in a different time frame.
> 
> This above idea also delves into the possibility that the mark is 
not
> a mark at all. In the Neville birthmark example, Voldemort marks him
> as an equal by stating a conclusion. Another definision of 'mark' is
> 'to make note of' or 'draw attention to' as in 'mark my words, this
> isn't as easy as it looks'.
> 
> Conclusions-
> We don't know when or if the mark has occurred. At some point in the
> future, the real 'marking' event could occur. It could be that 
after a
> furious battle with Neville, Voldemort will reMARK that it was 
Neville
> all along that he should have been worried about. Now Neville has 
been
> 'marked' by Voldemort's words. I'm not saying that will happen, I'm
> just saying the the prophecy doesn't rule it out, because, as I
> conclude, the July time frame is not tied to the marking, and 
marking
> is not necessarily tied to something visible.
> 
> We don't really know the nature of the mark. Harry's scar is 
extremely
> obvious, so obvious that we must wonder, who in their right mind 
could
> conclude anything else. But there in lies the rub, is it a little 
too
> obvious? Is it such a simple conclusion to reach, that we never 
bother
> to look deeper? It also very easy to assume that the mark is a 
visible
> mark rather than abstract.
> 
> 
> Final conclusion-
> 
> I don't have a clue. Nothing in this series of books has baffled or
> vexed me as much as this D#*% prophecy. There is something in 
there; a
> clue, a hidden meaning, an alternative interpretation, a subtle word
> play, but I haven't even come close to fantasizing any likely
> possibiliies. Sorry.
> 
> Just a thought.
> 
> bboy_mn

Me (Pickle Jimmy):

Just wanted to say (re the above post) that form canon it would 
appear that there were only 2 children that fitted the prophecy (not 
a list), as not only did they need to be born at the end of July, but 
their parents had to have escaped Voldemort 3 times. Not that that 
has any real bearing on the crux of the argument (which I totally 
agree with - it's a mystery)

So, I am adding my questions:

We only see things in the book through Harry's eyes. Dumbledore (if 
the MagicDishwasher's are still in force) could just as easily be 
protecting/watching over Neville. We don't see any of the Dumbledore 
Neville interaction (there would probably be a lot less than with 
Harry, as he is not quite as "spirited" as Harry is), but... does 
Dumbledore *really* believe that Harry *is* the child of the prophecy 
and that Neville can be ignored? Or could he have had a similar talk 
with Neville as he had with Harry (reversing the names) - keeping 
them both alert to their possible futures with the Big V.

Is Neville living with his grandma for the same reason Harry is with 
the Dursleys - blood relative protection? Are the gum wrappers he 
receives from his mum part of this protection?

Could Dumbledore be grooming Harry as the advanced guard for Neville, 
knowing that Voldemort thinks Harry is the "Chosen One" when it's 
been Neville all along? 

Pickle Jimmy