GoF CH 27-29 Post DH look/ Snape and Harry redux

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 182258


> > > Alla:
> > snip
> > > And nothing convinces me that horcruxes cannot be destroyed by 
> > > somebody else. I say Several people would destroy horcruxes, no 
> > > matter how  many years it takes and then somebody finish off 
> > Voldemort - without  Harry battling him. 
> > 
> > 
> > Potioncat:
> > Oh! Oh! Your yahoo name fits you! You are Dumbledore! What is it
to  you if countless others suffer so long as Harry is happy and safe? 
> > <eg> 
> 
> Alla:
> 
> If the only way of those countless others not to suffer means WW 
> putting all their hopes in one boy and depending on him to save them 
> and , then you are actually absolutely right, I could care less
about  saving WW even if the price is the life of **only** one boy.

Pippin:
Oh! Oh! It's more like Snape <veg> -- It's nothing to her if countless
others die, as long as Dumbledore does all he can to  save the one she
loves.

Dumbledore said that was "disgusting"  <vveg>. 

But I think Alla is vastly overestimating the odds of the Potters'
survival.

Odds of surviving being identified as part of the prophecy
3:1

Odds of surviving being identified in Moody's photograph
1:7

Basically, being in the Order was like seven people playing Russian
Roulette, only with six bullets in the revolver. 


> Potioncat:
> > DD seems to have believed the prophecy himself, because many of
the  actions he took seemed to be to help it along. I think his
actions-- separate from Snape's or in addition to Snape's--nudged it
into  fruition.
> 
> Alla:
> 
> I cannot quite figure out if he believed the prophecy or not,  but 
> sure, I will agree that his actions in addition to Snape nudged the 
> prophecy into fruition.
> 
> He seemed quite clear to me when he was saying that Prophecy came 
> true because Voldemort believed it, but sure his actions hmmmm make 
> one wonder.
> 

Pippin:
I had a light bulb moment thinking about the inscriptions on the
tombstones. They're *prophecies* ! Something to think about,
especially since Dumbledore is the most likely person to have chosen
them. 

In Greek myths, prophecies always come true. But in  one of the most
famous  stories in the Bible, a prophecy *doesn't* come true. Jonah
predicts the fall of Ninevah within forty days. But the King of
Ninevah orders his people to repent, and the city is spared. 

Biblical prophecies are seen as calls to hope and redemption rather
than predictions of certain doom. That might shed some light on why
Dumbledore did not try to prevent the prophecy from reaching
Voldemort.  Voldemort could have repented like the King of Ninevah,
and turned himself and his people from their ways. Of course Voldemort
did not repent. But Snape did. 

It makes me wonder, suppose Harry had told Ron and Hermione about the
second prophecy. If Peter Pettigrew had been warned that his return
would bring Voldemort back to power, would he still have gone back?

> 
> Alla:
> 
> I guess I have to give up, because I just do not get how you do not 
> think that the dissappearance of one major event would not change 
> anything.

Pippin:
To me, it is like saying Anne Frank would have had a happy life if it
weren't for the people who arrested her.  She would still have been
betrayed, and most likely she still would have died in the camps, and
even if she had lived, she still would have suffered terrible losses
in the war. 


Pippin