My Theory On The Prophecy

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 153301

Clare wrote:
> One thing that always bothers me is the use of ellipses [in the
Prophecy].  Any writer  worth their salt knows that ellipsis (ellipsis
is three dots "...") means that something has been left out or the
sentence is incomplete, it is often used nowadays to tail something
off and leave the thought in the hands of the  reader.  
> It appears in every line.  To me this indicates that there is  much
missing from the prophecy.  Conjecture on a such a matter could go 
anywhere and probably will.

Carol responds:
Not necessarily. Ellipses (the plural of "ellipsis") can also be used,
and frequently are so used in the HP books, to express hesitation.
(CMS* 10:39: "Ellipsis points suggest faltering or fragmented speech
accompanied by confusion, insecurity, distress, or uncertainty" in
contrast to an em dash, which signals "interruptions, abrupt changes
in thought, or impatient fractures of grammar.") Since Trelawney is in
a trance on both occasions, we can stretch the definitions of
"confusion" and "distress" a bit to cover her situation. In either
instance, we're not dealing with ordinary conversational speech.

Trelawney's second prophecy, which Harry hears in its entirety, also
uses ellipses:

"The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers.
His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before
midnight . . . the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his
master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater
and more terrible than ever he was. Tonight . . . before midnight . .
. the servant . . . will set out . . . to rejoin . . . his master"
(PoA Am. ed. 324, ellipses in original).

Clearly, nothing has been omitted here. The last sentence makes
perfect sense despite five sets of ellipses, which appear to indicate
longish pauses. Interestingly, except for "greater and more terrible
than ever," which has not yet come to pass and could fail to come true
if Harry defeats LV in time, this prophecy is immediately fulfilled.
"Chained," of course, is figurative. It *seems* to refer to Sirius
Black but actually refers to Pettigrew being "chained" or imprisoned
in rat form. There's very little ambiguity in this particular
prophecy, but I agree that the first prophecy is another matter. (I
consider both Harry and Voldie to be "surviving" now; the winner of
the battle will "live" and the other will somehow die. Needless to
say, I think that Harry will be the victor.)

Speaking of conjecture relating to the first prophecy, I want to toss
out a time-related theory here. Since the PoA prophecy occurs alsmost
immediately (a few hours) before the events it refers to, I conjecture
that the first prophecy was made either just before or just after the
Prophecy boy(s) was(were) conceived--specifically, on October 31,
1979. Halloween, often if not always significant in the HP books,
would have been exactly nine months before his birth (on July 31,
1980). IOW, though JKR is most unlikely to mention the fact in her
books, Harry could well have been conceived on Halloween 1979, as
could Neville. (Now I know perfectly well that the human gestation
period is generally considered to be 38 weeks or 266 days, which is
slightly less than nine calendar months, but it's very close and
tradition regards it as nine months.) A Halloween date would also fit
with the cold, rainy night and with Trelawney's statement that she had
been teaching at Hogwarts *nearly* sixteen years at the beginning of
Harry's fifth year, which suggests that she was not hired like the
other teachers some time before September 1 (the first day of term)
but a few months later. (McGonagall was hired in December, so such
late hirings do occur at Hogwarts, probably on the death, or promotion
to headmaster in this case, of the previous teacher.)

Any takers on Halloween 1979 as the Prophecy date?
  
Clare:
> I don't believe that there is room in the story for LV to be Harry's  
> Horcrux.  It isn't worked for in the texts and JKR does work for her
 revelations, they are set up.  It is an idea which could be explored
in  fanfic if you could find a way to make it work, I can't see a way
myself.
>
Carol:
On this point I agree, not because there isn't room in the story for
yet another complication but because the creation of a Horcrux
requires an act of murder to split the soul before the soul bit can be
encased in an object. I have enough problems with the idea that Harry
is an accidental Horcrux containing a bit of Voldy's soul. The idea
that part of *his* soul could have been split off when he was fifteen
months old, an age at which even Tom Riddle was incapable of murder,
is simply not consistent with Horcruxes as we understand them. DD
points out that Harry's soul remains whole and pure, and must remain
so if he's to defeat Voldemort.

I doubt that Voldemort is anyone's Horcrux (though I do think that
Nagini is one of his). I don't believe in accidental Horcruxes, but
*if* one exists, it contains Voldies' soul bit, not Harry's.

Carol, who thinks that Harry acquired certain *powers* (Parseltongue,
communication via the scar, and possibly possession) but not a soul
bit at Godric's Hollow

*CMS ("The Chicago Manual of Style") is the copyeditor's bible.