Prophecy (WAS Re: Why not let Harry destroy the Prophecy from the beginning?)

[finwitch]

No: HPFGUIDX 132711


> Viv:
> 
> Yup, I just finished rereading OOTP today, and spotted this:
> 
> "This is the weapon he has been seeking so assiduously since his 
> return: the knowledge of how to destroy you."
> -Dumbledore, American version of OOTP, pg 840 (CH 37)
> 
> This comment makes me wonder, though. Dumbledore clearly states 
that 
> Voldemort only heard the beginning lines of the prophecy, ("The one 
> with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those 
> that have thirce defied him, born as the seventh month dies...). 
> However, just from hearing those words, and assuredly, frothing 
over 
> it as Voldemort has apparently done for the past 16 years, the 
> prophecy doesn't strike as the place to find out how to defeat 
> Harry. Quite the opposite; if I were Voldemort, I would assume it 
> held the information about my own demise. ---
> Futher, it seems to me that it would have been very easy for 
> Voldemort to sneak into the Ministry and remove the prophecy. After 
> all, no one was alerted that a handful of the most wanted Death 
> Eaters were in residence. In fact, no one was even alerted of 
> Voldemort's precense until two of the statues from the fountain 
> fetched Fudge and his aurors.--

Finwitch:

Well, as I see it, Voldemort, hearing about the birth of the one with 
the power to defeat him - he may well assume that was DONE already.  
I *do* believe there is *something* that did lead him to believe that 
the prophecy held such information. The prophecy was made by 
Trelawney, and Voldemort knows that. He also knows of Dumbledore's 
acts to keep Harry safe (possibly due to the fact that Dumbledore was 
the one who heard the prophecy in full) - now, I'd say that the rat 
could *also* tell him how Trelawney kept predicting Harry's death 
trough out Harry's third year... in other words, the only two persons 
who can be presumed to know the full prophecy appear to believe that 
Harry's in mortal danger... Particularly after Dumbledore takes steps 
to protect the prophecy from him... Yes, Voldemort would believe it 
did hold such information... (partly because of those reasons and 
partly because he desperately wants that sort of info).

As to why he had to lure Harry into the Ministry -- well, it may seem 
to you that it would be faster if Voldemort went and took the thing 
himself. However - as Voldemort wished to use it against Harry - 
well, he'd want Harry to be there so he can destroy Harry 
immediately...

Finwitch