A Night at the Prophesy and the Niggling Details

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 171021

> Mike:
> To see how easy it would have been to make the two stories 
> consistent, simply substitute "prevented from hearing any more" in 
> place of "thrown from the building". Less dramatic than "thrown", 
> sure, but would it really have detracted from the scene? I think 
not. 

zgirnius:
It seems to me that the wording served Dumbledore's purpose, 
suggesting (without saying it outright) that noone else saw the 
eavesdropper, a typical Dumbledorean way to mislead without telling 
an untruth. And it worked, too, that is what you thought, and likley 
Harry as well, is it not?

I think it could certainly be true based on what we have been told 
about the character of the barman. I can see the argument that 
Dumbledore would not order someone thrown out, but then he did not 
say Snape was thrown out on his orders. If the barman was inclined to 
throw Snape from the building, would Dumbledore necessarily 
interfere? It seems to me letting the barman handle it in the way he 
prefers is consistent with Dumbledore's character in the books.

Mike:
> Besides, didn't JKR's version have you picturing the eavesdropper 
> being hauled away before Dumbledore even opened the door? I 
certainly 
> felt justified in having this opinion. 

zgirnius:
So did I, causing me a delightful moment of admiration for that sly 
old fox Albus (not to mention one JKR) as I mulled over the new 
revelation. 
 
> Mike:
> Also, ask 
> yourself, would JKR have been lackidaisical in her writing of the 
> prophesy reveal chapter? Doesn't the whole plot of the series hinge 
> on the prophesy? 

zgirnius:
If Dumbledore's account is true, there was nothing lackadaisical oin 
the choice of words by Rowling or Dumbledore. There *was* a mystery, 
the wording helped to preserve it without yet another 'why does Harry 
never ask questions?' moment, and we got our answer in HBP.

> Mike:
> So Dumbledore lied to Harry, when he told him how the prophesy got 
> released. Dumbledore knew not only how Voldemort would react, he 
knew 
> that would cause the prophesy to become true. He, like Snape, 
didn't 
> know who the unfortunate family would be, but he knew he would get 
> the "chosen one" out of the deal. And this chosen one would 
have "the 
> power to vanquish the Dark Lord", exactly what Dumbledore needed.

zgirnius:
My gut feeling is that a man once described by his creatrix as 'the 
epitome of good' would not be behind such a plan. As a way Death 
Eater Snape might have thought about delivering the prophecy (minus 
any idea this was bad for LV, I mean merely that he did not care 
about the danger he was causing to some nameless people) this makes 
perfect sense, but it is positioned as the very awful bad thing he 
did in the story, that (at least I and Dumbledore believe) he now 
regrets.