The Prophecy Again (Was:Re: Why were the sacrifices different?)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 95457

> Annemehr wrote:
<snip>
> As for what happened at Godric's Hollow when LV ended up marking
> Harry, JKR said in the chat that the reason neither of them died by
> the AK was the central question.  There is something of great
> importance that we don't know yet, so it's hard to argue
> interpretations.  However, if the "power the Dark Lord knows not" is
> love, then it makes sense that LV was partly vanquished that night
by the love Harry received through Lily's sacrifice.  Harry *was* born
> with Lily's love; it was merely made apparent in a particular way just
> then.  Harry was also born with his own capacity for love as well as
> all his other innate powers, whatever they turn out to be. <snip>

Carol responds:
But wasn't Neville also born with his mother's love? For all we know,
Tom Riddle's mother loved him. A mother's love for her newborn child,
male or female, is the norm. Molly Weasley loves all of her children.
So being born with his mother's love can't be what makes Harry
special. If we add in the birth date at the end of July and the
"thrice defied him," we still have Neville as a prospective candidate.

Also, if Harry was *born with* the power to defeat Voldemort, why was
his mother's self-sacrifice necessary and why din't Voldemort just
die? Harry himself didn't do anything. There was no "power" involved.
He was simply on the receiving end of a spell that bounced off him
(through the "ancient magic," which I still think is a charm). Somehow
that spell also opened up a channel between him and Voldemort that was
not there before Godric's Hollow and he received at least one power
(Parseltongue) and perhaps others (the ability to resist an Imperius
curse?) that he did not have before.

The scar literally "marked him as [Voldemort's] equal"--LV's own
doing. He chose his rival and (forgive the word) empowered him as
well--all by trying to thwart the Prophecy.

IMO, without the Prophecy and the events at Godric's Hollow, Harry
(assuming he and his parents had lived) would have been an ordinary,
scarless wizard kid, raised by his parents, familiar with the WW, good
at Quidditch like his father, but with no extraordinary talents and no
special destiny. It was Godric's Hollow, when he became the Boy Who
Lived, that set him apart and gave him the "power" predicted in the
Prophecy. Even now, that "power" is still latent. All he has now is
the "brother wand" that chose him and the ability (or good luck) to
survive several encounters with Voldemort, as well as the spells he
has been forced to learn to survive the Tri-Wizard Tournament and
other challenges. If he had been "born with" the power to destroy
Voldemort, whom he has already encountered "thrice" in various forms
(not counting Diary!Tom), surely he would already have done so?

Carol

Carol