The Incomplete Prophecy

[Diana]

No: HPFGUIDX 134040

RMM wrote:
> Can anyone give me an idea of why it is of such importance that 
> Voldemort only heard part of the prophecy?
> After all, if he heard all of it, would it have changed his mind 
about who to go after?
 
Diana replies:

It was important that he only heard part of it for a couple 
reasons.  The first is that, as you say, Voldemort would have 
hesitated in attacking Harry because he would know that to do so 
would mark Harry as his equal.  It is likely that, had he known the 
whole prophecy, Voldemort would have worried about even coming in 
contact with Harry since he'd wouldn't want to 'mark' his enemy as 
an equal, let alone give Harry special powers he himself doesn't 
have.  If Voldemort hadn't acted on the prophecy for fear of making 
himself an equal enemy, then the prophecy might never have come 
true.  Dumbledore did tell Harry that not every prophecy in the DoM 
comes true.
The second reason is that if Voldemort had still tried to attack 
Harry and gave Harry his scar and his powers despite knowing the 
risks of doing so, Voldemort would also know that Harry, according 
to the prophecy, is the only one with the power to kill him.  Harry 
would have had a harrowing 15 years of life (if he'd survived) 
because Voldemort would have concentrated all his energy on killing 
the only person who's capable of killing him.  Constant assasination 
attempts would have been Harry's daily life, and I guarantee you the 
Dursleys would not have been able to fight off DE attacks every 
other day during Harry's childhood.  Knowing that Harry is a real 
threat to him, Voldemort would have been willing to pass on the task 
of killing Harry to a DE just because it would be less dangerous for 
him to do so - seeing as he couldn't touch Harry at his aunt's house 
anyway.  Voldemort would have reasoned that it's better to let one 
of his DEs kill Harry than to let Harry grow up to learn magic, 
thereby making him more of threat. 

Besides, it is a truism that the less your enemy knows about you, 
the better off you are.  

Diana L.
dianasdolls