Help me understand the importance of the prophecy, please

[Tim Regan]

No: HPFGUIDX 82067

Hi All,

I've just re-read the prophecy chapter and I'm still hopelessly 
confused. Help!

My main problem is that it appears really lame. It doesn't tell 
anybody much that they didn't already know.

Here it is again:

1) The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches . . . 
2) born to those who have thrice defied him, 
3) born as the seventh month dies . . . and 
4) the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but 
5) he will have power the Dark Lord knows not . . . and 
6) either must die at the hand of the other for 
7) neither can live while the other survives . . . 
8) the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as 
the seventh month dies . . .

There are four main stake-holders involved in the prophecy: the 
readers, Dumbledore, Harry, and Voldemort, so let's approach the 
prophecy from the perspective of each of these stake-holders in turn.

Firstly the reader, i.e. me. I know that Harry is powerful and is 
destined for great things, after all each book is titled "Harry 
Potter and the". So (1) isn't news. (2) is good news, it's nice to 
know how successful James and Lilly had already been, but it's not 
earth-shattering news. I can look (3) up on the Lexicon. I've known 
(4) since the beginning of Book 1. (5) is tantalizing, but 
Dumbledore has alluded to this repeatedly already, starting at the 
close of Book 1. Now there is new news in (6). Many of us were 
imagining that Dumbledore would die whilst defeating Voldemort, a la 
Gandalf and the balrog. But (6) tells us that's not true. (7) is 
laughable – who really expected the `Voldemort now lives in East 
Cheam, tending his garden and helping out at the local pre-school' 
ending? (8) is just a repeat. So the whole of an 870 page book 
culminates in (6)? Surely not.

Secondly Dumbledore. Now when Dumbledore first heard the prophecy it 
must have been an enormous shock. (1) gives him hope, and (2) and 
(3) give him big clues as to where to find his newest and greatest 
ally. So, presumably he set up the best web of charms he could to 
protect Harry and Neville. The Voldemort fulfilled (4) and thus made 
Dumbledore's job slightly easier, since he now only needed to 
concentrate on Harry. Dumbledore seems very familiar with the 
branches of magic that confuse Voldemort, so (5) may not have been 
such a shock. (6) must have been a terrible realization, but that's 
a separate thread (e.g. message 65909). (7) would have been real 
news to Dumbledore too, and increases the pressure on him to keep 
Harry alive, to teach him very fast, and to develop a huge network 
of competent witches and wizards of all ages who are supporting 
Harry.

Thirdly Harry. (1) must be good news for Harry – on each occasion 
that he has fought Voldemort he has expected the imbalance of power 
to lead to his own death. Now he knows it's not so imbalanced. (2) 
is good too, something to be proud of James for (which he needs at 
the moment). He knows his own birthday (3). Since Book 2 Harry has 
known some of the impact of the scar, but (4) confirms that. 
Dumbledore keeps telling him (5). Now, he must have spotted the fact 
that Voldemort is repeatedly trying to kill him, it's happened 4 
times before Book 5, so (6) and (7) don't tell him much.

Fourthly Voldemort. Remember that prior to the end of Book 5 
Voldemort only knew (1), (2), and (3); though he'll probably find 
out the remaining clauses next time he enters Harry's head during 
Harry's dreams and has a good look around. To illustrate the 
prophecy's impact, as revelation to Voldemort, I want you to imagine 
that you are planning to buy a new computer.   It's got a new 
Operating System called `OS Omega' and your not sure if you'll be 
able to understand it, so you first buy a book entitled "OS Omega 
for Dummies". Here's what the book tells you:
1) OS Omega can do all you need
2) It's developed from three existing Operating Systems that you 
never managed to understand 
3) OS Omega is in the shops at the end of July
4) you will buy OS Omega and try to make it do loads of cool things 
5) OS Omega will always have features that you don't know about 
6) Either you will understand OS Omega or it will remain a mystery 
7) You cannot continue to study OS Omega forever
8) OS Omega can do all you need and will be in the shops at the end 
of July
Wow – what an esoteric load of nonsense! Where's information about 
how to find a file? Why hasn't it told me how to store my electronic 
photos? What a rubbish book – I'm sure you'd take it back to the 
shop. Voldemort is in the same position. We are told (by Dumbledore) 
that "the knowledge of how to destroy" Harry is what "he has been 
seeking so assiduously since his return". I.e. Voldemort is hunting 
for a book called "Killing Harry Potter for Dummies". Instead he's 
told by the prophecy's additional clauses that he's failed to kill 
Harry already (4), that Harry has mysterious powers (5), and that he 
needs to get a move on and kill Harry (6) and (7). Wow – how lame is 
that? It's probably lucky Voldemort didn't get the orb for he'd have 
to take it back and demanded a refund!

I haven't had a chance to trawl back through all the interesting 
posts about the prophecy, so it may well be that these issues have 
already been covered in full. If that's the case please please 
please just point me to the relevant posts.

Cheers,

Dumbledad.