Dumbledore and the psychic magic (was: Prophecy)

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 187587


> Mike:
„« Really, PC, you put in all the elements in your Scenario 3 (I think it was around scenario 16 when you count the whole list). So, yeah it could've worked that way, and yeah I like the way JKR did it better.

Potioncat:
I've worked out a way the prophecy could work with only DD hearing it. Neither Snape nor LV would need to know about it before Godrick's Hollow, although some steps would be the same. It would happen like this
----hey, where did everybody go?

 
> Mike
> 
„« My question: How much stock does Dumbledore put in this kind of magic? 

Potioncat:
I think he considered it a valid form of magic. I'm clipping this from an earlier post:
> 
> "Although it was against my inclination to allow the subject of Divination to continue at all. --   I was disappointed. It seemed to me that she had not a trace of the gift herself."< (OoP, I think)

So it seems he accepts the magic and those who have the gift, but doesn't think she has it. He was really avoiding her in HBP. I thought at first that he didn't want to risk hearing a valid prophecy that might influence his behavior. However, it's more likely he was busy and didn't want to put up with her doom-and-gloom forecasts.



> Mike:
„« . What I'm getting at is that though DD says that Sibyll has two (2) true prophetic utterances under her belt ( this one and the one about Peter), he acts as if the players in the prophecy aren't bound by it, aren't bound by the magic of it. 

Potioncat:
We just don't know the magic behind prophecies. While we can come up with "what ifs" we just don't know what the forces are. 

This is what I think DD thinks. A prophecy has powers, but the individual is not bound to behave in a certain way. Complicating it all, an individual can't really know which of his actions will support the prophecy's outcome.--or if the individual really understands the predicted outcome. 

Certainly, DD seemed to believe that once LV acted on the prophecy, that certain outcomes were determined. In the same sense that once you start taking a medicine certain out comes are expected--but not guaranteed. 

I (Potioncat) believe that there is magic in a prophecy that will improve the likelihood of its happening. Whether it is that the right people hear the prophecy, or that it influences a certain response from someone.