OOP: Voldemort as Herod/student numbers

[Kirstini]

No: HPFGUIDX 63760

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Errol wrote: <Ah, you see, I think Voldemort intended to go after 
every child born 
 within that time range, making him the wizarding equivalent to 
Herod. Only perhaps he wanted to do it personally – afterall, it's a 
narrow field after the `thrice defied' parameter for the
parents.Maybe he already killed a girl (the entire Bones family was 
killed right? Susan Bones cousins included? One of those cousins 
could have been a wee baby.) In fact, I find it strange that he got 
to Harry more than a year after the prophecy – I'll lay my money on
him having tracked down and killed quite a few families with babies 
by then. And all those babies died. None of them were `the
one'.> 


Yes. This would explain rather neatly the pupil-numbering 
inconsistencies, wouldn't it? If there are supposed to be "about a 
thousand" students in Hogwarts, but Harry's Gryffindor year has only 
eight(/ten if you count the two missing Gryff girls). Eight out of 
45 (projected students in HRH's year) isn't much either, but if we 
assume that there's a larger proportion of Slytherins than any other 
house in this figure (less likely to go for Slyths?)then this  makes 
sense too. 
However, the prophecy itself still doesn't ring quite true to me. 
Why on earth did he have to kill James but not Lily? My mind is a 
mass of loose ends tonight.
Kirstini