OOP: Possibly a *really* silly question about the prophecy

[Grey Wolf]

No: HPFGUIDX 63764

shelaghcol wrote:
> Since this was such a pivotal part of the plot and ultimately, was a 
> direct contributor to Sirius' demise, I'd like to throw this out to 
> the group for discussion.
> 
> As I ruminated over the previous books and what I consider their 
> biggest flaws (PS/SS - why even bother retaining the stone?; CoS - 
> Harry's refusal to talk about the parseltongue; PoA - possibly Lupin 
> forgetting to take the Wolfsbane draught?; GoF - why all that bother 
> on Barty Jr.'s part waiting all through the school year just to get 
> Harry into the graveyard where they could have portkeyed him easily 
> enough from the beginning of the year), I looked at the big picture 
> and came to this question:
> 
> Why the heck, when it was clear enough to those who knew just about 
> everything but weren't imparting that knowledge to those who needed 
> to know, instead of placing a guard at the Department of Mysteries, 
> why didn't they just either move the bloody prophecy or destroy it 
> themselves?
> 
> There certainly were enough people who belonged to the Order that 
> worked at the MoM to have arranged somehow to do such a thing. And 
> they certainly didn't *need* to have that particular prophecy 
> recorded if Dumbledore had been a witness to it.
> 
> And, just like the stone, they *knew* Voldemort was after it. Yet, 
> they left it there anyway.
> 
> So? Let us discuss.
> 
> Shelagh
> encouraging a nice debate

Yep, and when Voldemort finally made a move to recover the prophecy, he 
was spoted by the entire Auror force of the MoM, forcing Fudge to 
accept that Voldemort had, indeed, returned. If Dumbledore had 
destroyed the prophecy, Voldemort would've continued to hide and Fudge 
would've continued his denial. Dolores would still be headmistress of 
Hogwarts and Harry probably would've been expelled.
 
All in all, leaving the prophecy where it was seems like a good idea to 
me.
 
Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf