You're in the Army, now. wasFalse Alarm? Was:Re: Adults "failing" Harry (in tP)

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No: HPFGUIDX 120069


> Del :
> How do we know that Sirius knew about the Prophecy and that he wanted
> to tell Harry about it? How do we know that anyone apart from DD knew
> about the Prophecy but that they were ordered by DD not to mention it?

Neri:
I've been interested for some time in this question precisely. It is
clear that the Order members knew that there is something in the DoM
that Voldy wants very badly, something "he didn't have last time" as
Sirius says in the beginning of the year. They were doing guard duty
outside that door for ten months and were seriously attacked twice
while doing so. The questions are: did they know that it was a
prophecy, and if so, did they know what it says?

The best indication that they knew it was a prophecy comes from the
battle in the DoM:

OotP, Ch. 35:
"Harry, take the prophecy, grab Neville and run!"' Sirius yelled,
dashing to meet Bellatrix.

All Sirius can see is a glass orb clutched in Harry's hand. How does
he know that it is a prophecy? How does he know that it's "THE
prophecy"? He hardly had had time to deduce it in the storming battle.
He couldn't have heard it from DD just before the battle because he
wasn't in contact with him. It is unlikely that he heard the DEs in
the DoM refering to it as the prophecy - when Macnair was telling
Harry to give him the prophecy, just before that, he "growled in
Harry's ear", and seconds after that when Dolohov shouted "Accio proph
– " he was cut by Sirius himself. How did Sirius know that he must
save not merely Harry but also the "proph – "? The logical explanation
is that he had known for some time that Voldy was after a prophecy.

Did the Order members also knew what the prophecy says? I couldn't
find any certain canon for that, but my guess is that DD told them the
first half of the prophecy. There was no reason to keep it a secret
from them since Voldemort already knew it. OTOH there was a very good
reason to tell them, since they may guard Harry better if they know
the whole WW depends on keeping him alive. Perhaps Mundungus didn't
know about it when he had gone to his business opportunity, but after
the shock of the dementor attack DD probably decided to tell the
Order, because three days later "a surprising number of Order members
volunteer" to guard Harry in his way to HQ. And they all (well, except
Snape) guard him adamantly during the following year, even those who
did not know him personally and aren't given to hero worship, such as
Moody, Kingsley and Tonks.

Also, when Harry tells Sirius and Lupin that Snape had stopped the
Occlumency lessons they are horrified, and Lupin says sternly "Harry,
there is nothing so important as you learning Occlumency! Do you
understand me? Nothing!" For Harry, Lupin comes across here as the
typical overprotective, slightly hysterical grownup. But knowing Lupin
as the master of understatement, for him to say anything so forcefully
he must mean it quite literally: "the most important thing for the war
and the future of the whole WW is for Harry to learn Occlumency". At
least to me this sounds as more than just worrying about Harry's
personal safety.

Neri