Prophecy wording - why not Neville?

[greatelderone]

No: HPFGUIDX 128244

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, elfundeb <elfundeb at g...> wrote:
> CANON.  There must be something to support the theory if so many 
have
> raised it. <g>  And there is.  

GEO: A majority does not equal truth. There are also Harry is the 
Heir of Godric Gryffindor theories out there and so far despite 
going past the half way point for the saga and so many numerous 
clues that theory so far has turned out to be a dead end. 

> It *is* possible that LV marked Neville
> as well as Harry, and we don't know it.  

GEO: Yes it is, but certainly not as his equal. The Death Eaters 
also have been marked by Voldemort, but only Harry has been marked 
through the scar and the events of 10/31/81 as somewhat of an equal 
to Voldemort.

No I don't think Dumbledore
> deliberately lied about the meaning of the prophecy, but being 
human,
> he ought to make a mistake every once in awhile, and this would be 
a
> Really Big Mistake.

GEO: Thing is, Dumbledore along with Hermione is JKR's two main 
sources of giving us information. To have him turn out to be wrong 
in this case would equal the writer actually cheating her fans and 
readers at this point.

The closest thing to a bang was the
> revelation that Neville also matched the description.  Dumbledore's
> explanation was like a bucket of cold water -- why have a prophecy 
if
> there's no mystery attached to it?  

GEO: You mean like how will Voldemort be destroyed by the power that 
he knows not? Or how did the Potters and Longbottoms defy him three 
times and who was the one that brought the prophecy to the attention 
of the Dark Lord.

As a result, we want to cling to
> the tantalizing possibility that Neville *could* have been the 
subject
> of the prophecy.  After all, the prophecy would be really dull if
> there wasn't some wiggle room for alternative interpretations. 
> Besides, Fallible!Dumbledore is appealing from a number of angles.

GEO: I'm sure there is some alternative interpretation, but 
certainly not an alternative that would prove in the end that the 
information given by Dumbledore and thus the author of the story 
wrong. Dumbledore is only wrong in his choices and actions, but so 
far he is Rowling's mouth piece and still knows pretty much 
everything because the author knows everything there is to the story.

JKR even
> invites us to compare him with Peter Pettigrew ("[Harry] watched, 
as
> though somebody was playing a piece of film, Sirius Black blasting
> Peter Pettigrew (who resembled Neville Longbottom) into a thousand
> pieces." (POA ch. 11)).  

GEO: And so far we know he is nothing like Pettigrew. I believe 
those comparisons can be identified as nothing, but red herrings put 
into the story by Rowling.
 
> So, reason three is simply that positing Neville as The One feeds 
off
> reader sympathy and reader identification (how many of us see
> ourselves as talented as Harry, anyway?)  In other words, readers 
are
> rooting for Neville.

GEO: So basically you really have no textual evidence for this and 
support this only because of your desire to have Neville look good 
at the end?