A different interpretation of the prophecy

[massiveroadtrauma]

No: HPFGUIDX 104063

Roo <miss_dumblydore at y...> wrote:

<snip>

> So I read the prophecy over and over (and over) until I wanted to 
> tear out page 841 in frustration...and the minute I gave up and 
> slammed the book, the thought struck me: what if it refers to 
> *both* Harry and Neville?
> 
> My reasoning is the strange wording of the prophecy: "either must 
> die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other 
> survives..." If her meaning was that Harry must kill Voldemort or 
> vice versa, wouldn't it have been better worded as "one must die 
> at the hand of the other for one can not live if the other survives"? 
> Sufficiently mysterious, but much clearer :)
> 
> Yet her "extremely carefully" worded prophecy uses "either" and 
> "neither." Could it then be read as "and EITHER (Harry or Neville) 
> must die at the hand of the OTHER (Voldemort) for NEITHER (Harry nor 
> Neville) can live while the OTHER (Voldemort) survives" ? 


I understand your reasoning, but I can't see such a wordsmith as JKR 
indulging in so grammatically incorrect a prophecy.

Were your interpretation correct, it could be paraphrased 
as "Voldemort must kill either Neville or Harry (one of them), 
because neither Harry nor Neville (the both) can live whilst 
Voldemort survives." 

...which doesn't ring true to me.

I think you may well be on the right track...It just sounds off; and 
nothing JKR has written has yet sounded off to me!

MRT.