HP Timeline: Neville, Harry, Spoilery

[pippin_999]

Life,
Atom of that
Infinite Space
That stretcheth
Twixt the Here
and There
-Sir Richard Francis Burton
[1821-1890]


> > Pippin:
> > Yes, yes, but nothing in the prophecy says that it only applies to
> > English wizards. Indeed, it rather sounds as if it doesn't: 'and
> > he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not.' Only Voldemort
> > could decide who are the people who have defied him three times, 
> > and he has traveled far and wide, consorting with the worst of
> > magical kind.

Milz:
> True. However if that were the case, then Dumbledore and the OoP had
the responsibility to see that ALL magical babies born in late July
were monitored or at least hidden in a safe spot. As Kneasy pointed
out in his post, it doesn't matter if Dumbledore believed the
prophecy or not, what mattered was that Voldemort believed it
or there was a possibility that Voldemort would believe it. 

Pippin:
What matters, according to Dumbledore, is that prophecies come true
only so far as people choose to act on them.  If Dumbledore panics and
tries to hide every baby (magic or not;  Voldemort is terrified that
one among those whom he has oppressed will rise against him) then 
Voldemort is likely to think that _every_  baby born at the end of
July must be destroyed (shades of Herod and King Arthur.) 

Dumbledore will be responsible for a massacre. 

On the other hand, if Dumbledore sits tight and lets Voldemort stew
over which child is the One, then they'll all be safe, or as safe as
any child can be in such times, until Voldie makes up his mind.  Of 
course Voldemort could slaughter them all just to be on the safe
side, but not if he wanted  to use the death of the One to make a 
horseblanket. 

Milz
> According to PoA, the Fidelus Charm was performed on Pettigrew one
 week before Halloween, 1981. Moreover, canon doesn't state how long
it takes to perform the Fidelus Charm. 

The Fidelus Charm has more in  common with the Unbreakable Vow 
than the Animagus transfiguration because the Fidelus and the 
Unbreakable Vow work on the same basic principles of trust and
integrity. So, if the Unbreakable Vow took a matter of minutes to do, 
I don't think the Fidelus Charm would have taken years.

Pippin:
Interesting analogy, but it doesn't hold up, I'm afraid.

"An immensely complex spell" [Professor Flitwick] said
squeakily,"involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a
single living soul." PoA ch 10

"We've set up headquarters somewhere undetectable. It's taken a
while" --Lupin OOP ch 3

Milz: 
> Anyhow, it's still at least 1 year between the time of the prophecy
> and Halloween 1981. 

Pippin:
Which seems to be the outside limit of anybody hiding from Voldemort.
But Fidelius isn't the only way to do it. Karkaroff and Slughorn were
both on the run for about a year. I think James and Lily went into
hiding when the spy informed Dumbledore whom Voldemort had chosen. 
The choice was not obvious since Dumbledore found it credible that
Snape had no idea that Voldemort would conclude that the prophecy 
applied to Lily and James. 

It is still a big secret what L&J  did for the Order, so it's also
possible they were already in hiding because of that, and not because
of the prophecy per se.

Pippin