Anti Neville being "The One"

[mrnipha]

No: HPFGUIDX 73779

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "amoryblaine1980"
<amoryblaine1980 at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "ellejir" <eberte at v...> wrote:
> > --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Hickengruendler" wrote:
> > > 
> > > I must admit, I would be more convinced that Harry is "the one", if 
> > > the second part of the prophecy didn't exist. If there were the 
> > > obvious choice between Harry and Neville I would guess that Harry 
> > is 
> > > the "Prophecy boy", and that Neville was just mentioned as a red 
> > > herring. But now Neville was mentioned and then ruled out only 
> > > moments later. That makes me a bit suspicious. Why mention him at 
> > > all, if it isn't somehow important?
> > > 

It is very important that Neville is mentioned here.  This explains
*why* Neville's parents were tortured.

It has been discussed many times before on this list the signifigance
of Neville's parents being tortured in an attempt to find Voldemort. 
Why would they in particular have information on what happened to
Voldemort?  Here is the answer.  The question they were being asked
while tortured was, "What does the prophesy say about what happened to
The Dark Lord?".  As their son is a potential in the prophesy, the
Death Eaters would assume that Dumbledore would have told them the
whole prophesy.  Whether he did or not is immaterial because we know
that the prophesy does not talk about the subject the DE's were
desperate to find out about.

<snip>

> A major theme that JKR threads throughout the series is the importance
> of choice and the consequences of our choices. JKR is a very
> philosophically savvy. In the guise of children literature she weaves
> many postermodern ideas. How arbitrary is the choice of Harry?
> Voldemort choose his enemy based on himself. I believe it was Kurt
> Vonnegut who said (paraphrased), I am the result of a series of
> accident as are we all. Harry could have easily been in Slytherin, but
> he chose not to be.  Voldemort could have easily chosen Neville but he
> chose Harry. And does that add even more absurdity and angst, when you
> know that your entire life could have been different, happier, had it
> been one choice different? The bumbling Neville could have easily been
> cast in the lime-light, and would he then have done as well as Harry?
> Was the greatness in Harry a result of Voldemort's selection or is it
> something in Harry? Are we who were are because of our individual
> choices or because of our circumstances?
> 
> amoryblaine1980

I think that this shows that our circumstances are a result of the
choices of others, but who we are are the result of our own choices
dealing with circumstances that we have no control over.  Harry being
"The One" is not his choice, it is his circumstance.  What he does
with that knowledge and power is his choice.  Applying Dumbledore's
GOF speech to this, Harry can take the easy road and not oppose
Voldemort, not use his "Oneness" to kill the Dark Lord, or he can do
what is right and try.


One other reason I reject the possibility of Neville being "The One",
is the my reading of the prophesy places the entire first half in the
"fulfilled" category.  Voldemort was vanquished, but not killed, the
night that he attempted to kill Harry, defeated by the power of love
given to Harry through his mother's sacrifice.  Voldemort marked him
as his equal, not just with the scar but by the transference of power
to Harry most clearly manifested in Harry's parseltongue ability, but
also hinted at in OoTP, the possible power of Legitimancy -- his
frequent "knowing it was true" episodes.

MrNipha