VA/H=Mx13+RP? Snape's Culpability?

[lagattalucianese]

No: HPFGUIDX 147374

> 
> Miles:
> This child was not born then. So nobody could know that there are 
*only* two
> possibilities. You judge the situation by information that neither 
Snape,
> Voldemort nor anyone had or could have, unless they would know the 
number of
> children born in the future.
>
IIRC, the *most* Snape could have overheard is as follows:

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born 
to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month 
dies..."

This tells us maybe three things:

1. There is or will be somebody out there with the power to vanquish 
the Dark Lord. (Which Dark Lord is not specified, nor in what respect 
he is Dark.)
2. Said somebody was, is being, or will be born to some people who 
have thrice defied either the Dark Lord or the said somebody. (Don't 
you just love the precision of English pronouns?)
3. The said somebody was, is being, or will be born somewhere along 
toward the end of July, assuming the prophecy refers to the Gregorian 
Calendar and not, e.g., the lunar calendar.

I can see Snape picking himself up at the foot of the stairs, 
scratching his head, and thinking, "Well, *that* was certainly 
helpful... Maybe I'd better pass it along to the boss, just in case 
he knows something I don't, but personally, I think the old girl's 
been smoking Floo Powder."