"Either must die at the hand of the other . . . ."

[Tammy Rizzo]

No: HPFGUIDX 82149

Okay, let's play a bit with the semantics here, shall we?  Just the little phrase, "either must die 
at the hand of the other".  I'm not gonna go into sentence deconstruction, since I haven't done 
that in over twenty years, though I found a great deal of enjoyment in <sorry, don't recall the 
name>'s deconstruction of the 'either -- neither' portion of the prophecy.  I may not be able to 
do the deconstruction myself, but I can still read it correctly!

Anyway, we hear a lot about how Harry must become a murderer or let Voldythingy take over 
the WW.  Okay, so that's how Harry sees it, if I remember my OOP right.  After all, the 
prophecy clearly states "either MUST DIE" -- and please note, it says 'either', not 'both', so I 
don't see any "one takes the other with him" scenarios here.  One or the other of them MUST 
kill the other one.  That's what it says.  No touchy-feely "Harry saves Tom's life at the last 
moment" scenario, either, though I can't completely rule out a brink-of-death redemption for 
what was once Tom Riddle.  However, even though we must take Harry's thoughts into 
consideration, and he thinks in the term, Murder, it still doesn't mean that Harry has to 
become a *murderer*.  There is a HUMONGOUS BIG difference between someone dying at 
your hand, and you becoming a murderer.  You can have killed a person and still not be a 
murderer.  Murder implies forethought and planning (first degree), or at least a fit of anger and 
malice (second degree).  Any laywers out there care to define the degrees of murder better?  
But there is a fine line between premeditated (carefully planned-out) murder, and killing 
someone in self-defense, who is GOING to kill you if you don't kill him first.  For Harry, I feel, it 
won't be anything like hunting Voldythingy down and slaughtering him in revenge for his 
parents, but will be a battle like we've seen so many times before.  Voldemort comes after 
Harry, and Harry simply does what he must.  I seriously doubt that Harry could EVER become 
a *murderer* -- he doesn't have it in him to *ENJOY* planning the death of anyone and carrying 
out that plan.  However, he does have the stout heart and courage to do what he must even 
though he is afraid, that is needed in a good soldier in battle, and this is war, remember.  
Soldiers who kill the enemy in battle are killers, yes, but they are no more *murderers* than 
are people who, under attack in their own home by burglers, grab the closest screwdriver and 
start slashing to defend themselves.

Harry is still in shock over the things that have been happening, and hearing that he MUST kill 
or be killed is just one more huge thing to digest.  I can only hope that Harry, somehow, 
comes to understand the difference between *murder* and self-defense.  It will help him cope 
with the terrible aftereffects, should he survive that final encounter.

***
Tammy
tammy at mauswerks.net