OOP: Voldemort as Herod (Was: prophecy nagging flint?)

[errolowl]

No: HPFGUIDX 64544




I (Errol) said:
> 
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.
<snip>
 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. 
<snip>


Erin countered:
According to Dumbledore, the only 2 children born at the end of July 
to those who "thrice defied" Voldemort, were Harry & Neville. I'm 
more inclined to think that the reason it took Voldemort more 
than a year to find the Potters was because they had a secret keeper--
 therefore he couldn't find them even if he was standing right in 
front of their house 

Errol again:

Oh, I agree that the delay was probably caused due to all the 
security measures – Secret keeper included. But Voldemort
doesn't strike me as the sort of person to just wait around till 
Harry and Neville were found. He would have vented his anger on just 
about any baby he could think of, in the meantime. Remember, he 
couldn't have known it was a boy. Nor do we know what exactly 
defines `thrice defied'. 

Does `defied' here mean battled openly and escaped death at 
Voldemorts hands? Or simply refusing to follow his orders? Or is he 
defied everytime someone manages to say "Voldemort" instead
of "he-who-must-not-be-named"? Remember Voldemorts
interpretation could have been totally different from Dumbledores. 
And how is Dumbledore so sure that only Harry and Neville fit the 
criteria? Does he know every instance of anyone having defied 
Voldemort? Did he consider muggle kids? It's – faintly-
possible that 
a muggle could kill Voldemort, his parents having defied the orphaned 
Tom Riddle. (ok, ok, - it's a total stretch, and no one knows
that 
better than me!) <grin> 

But I'll bet you 2 knuts that Voldemort killed kids just to be on
the safe side. And Neville was certainly next on the list.

Errol.