Naughty, Guilty! DD ( was Connecting the dots

[Eustace_Scrubb]

Neri:
>We know that Herself arranges everything, and she's writing a
>story in which prophecies play a crucial role.

Talisman: 
I do not think the prophecies play a crucial role. I
think the prophecies are fairly meaningless. Perhaps you would like
to tell me who Voldemort's most faithful servant is?

Not Wormtail, that's certain. Do you vote for Barty Jr.? Would that
mean that he was shrugging off the Imperius for the first time
sometime before midnight on that fateful day in PoA? That would
certainly weigh for a very figurative reading (setting out to rejoin
his Master = beginning to shrug off Imperius so Bertha can catch an
earful and head for Albania) and further opens the door to
interpretations. Anyway, why is Barty Jr. more faithful than
Bella? How about Nott, he seems to think it's him (GoF 651)--and
for all we know it is. How has that "prophecy" compelled the plot?


Eustace_Scrubb now (wishing for once he was still shielded within that
darned dragon skin):
Well, I'm sure I have no grand evidence to bolster or pierce the
notion that DD is naughty and/or guilty.  I'm happy to accept the
premise that there's much more to him than a first reading of the
books published thus far would indicate.

But on the matter of Professor Trelawney's first prophecy:  it says
nothing on the subject of who Voldemort's "most faithful servant"
might be, nor even who his "faithful servant(s)" might be.  The word
"servant" is used four times in the prophecy with no such adjectives:

"IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT. 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...."

This doesn't require the same kind of agonized word association
football as does the first prophecy, at least once we've read to the
end of POA.  We're supposed to think it refers to Sirius, who's been
literally chained these twelve years, rather than Peter, who's been in
hiding.  

The question of faithfulness only comes up in the graveyard in GOF,
where Voldemort himself brings up the matter of who had been faithful
in his absence.  As Talisman points out, the stooped Nott tries to
claim the mantle of "most faithful" only to be cut off by his master,
who almost immediately reveals that his "most faithful servant" is at
Hogwarts.  Then he makes the word "most" superfluous by referring to
Barty Jr. as his "my one faithful Death Eater," implying that none of
the others present were worthy of being called faithful.

It's immaterial whether Wormtail is "faithful," let alone "most
faithful."  He is Voldemort's servant, he does break free before
midnight and he does rejoin his master.  Voldemort does rise again
with Wormtail's aid, though frankly it's hard to believe he's "greater
and more terrible than ever he was," yet anyway.  That's all Trelwaney
said.   

Talisman again:
I'll tell you how: it lubed Harry up to take the first prophecy
(which he hears second) seriously... 

Eustace_Scrubb:
Agreed.  But it's because the second one was demonstrably true and
relatively uncomplicated that Harry and we poor deluded readers take
the first one seriously.  The second one may be a trap in that way, a
plot device meant to lead readers astray not merely for the remainder
of POA, but possibly until the end of Harry Potter and the End of All
Things.  

But as to the characters--well those who know about the prophecies
_do_ seem to consider them important, possibly "crucial."  And if the
characters take the prophecies seriously, even if (or especially if)
they "misinterpret" them and act accordingly, then the prophecies are
hardly meaningless.

Cheers,

Eustace_Scrubb