JKR's FAQ poll -- Neville's potential as prophecy boy (spoilers for FAQ)

[mad_maxime]

No: HPFGUIDX 129074

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "hickengruendler"
<hickengruendler at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" 
> <justcarol67 at y...> wrote:
>  
> > Carol noted:
>  
> > 
> > But the mechanism of the Ancient Magic is still, IMO, problematic. 
> > For one thing, just any self-sacrifice can't protect against an AK
> > or Harry would not be the only known survivor. 
> 
> Hickengruendler replied:
> 
> I think this is more plausible than it seems on first look. We 
> shouldn't forget that Voldemort normally doesn't target children. 
> Sure, he might kill them as well if they are there, like it could 
> have been with the Bones family. But his primarly targets are the 
> parents, who fight him. In Harry's (or if he had chosen Neville, in 
> Neville's) case it was the other way around. Here it was the child 
> who was the intented victim, and the parents were just killed
> because they were in the way to the child. The attack on the Potters
> was therefore a very special circumstance, since it was the only 
> time we know about, that Voldemort's real target was a child.  
> 
> Hickengruendler

Max responds:

I agree with Carol.

The 'spontaneous sacrificial rebound protection' has one huge flaw as
far as I'm concerned. It's been said before, but I'll say it again.
Lily can't possibly be the first witch or wizard to sacrifice
themselves in front of an AK curse for someone they love. Yet that is
what the 'spontaneous protection' asks us to believe. At the beginning
of PS/SS, we learn that Harry surviving the AK curse is *unheard of*.
That can't possibly be the case, imo, if this sort of ancient magic is
activated spontaneously and automatically.

To say that the rebound curse was unheard of because *Voldemort* never
targeted a child before seems incomplete to me. First of all, it's
never been implied that the ancient magic is only activated when
Voldemort is using the AK. I think we can safely assume that the
ancient magic is not limited to any one individual. It's ancient magic
after all, and has been around long before Voldemort.

Secondly, I don't think we can assume that the rebound effect only
occurs when one sacrifices themselves for a child. The love for a
child is certainly very deep and unique, but love for a spouse, parent
or other family member can be just as powerful.

I hold that there must be something more to it than simple spontaneous
activation. All her statement really disproves is that it was
something unique about Lily's sacrifice (had the Longbottom's been
equally "able" and "prepared", their sacrifice would have had the same
effect). What Rowling means by able and prepared is open to
interpretation, of course.

Max