Re: The Prophecy From Voldemort’s POV (long)

[nkafkafi]

> > David:
> > I missed all that on HPFGU.  I think, however, there is undoubtedly 
> > a valid debate to be had here.
> > 
> > At the end of POA, JKR made it part of the ethics of the story that 
> > killing is not a valid way to achieve an end.  By Harry's own 
> words, 
> > he would make himself a murderer by killing Voldemort.  
> Dumbledore's 
> > reluctance to share the prophecy with Harry is based, as I 
> > understand it, on the idea that both *apparent* alternatives - kill 
> > or be killed - are equally awful.
> > 
> > The task JKR has set herself, then, is to come up with a way of 
> > permanently neutralising Voldemort, consistent with the prophecy, 
> > that does not leave Harry morally compromised.  Harry's use of 
> > Cruciatus in the MOM suggests she will push this one to the wire.


> Fran: the prophecy states "power to defeat" not power to kill. IMO 
> Harry will defeat LV but not kill him.  I defeated an someone in a 
> tennis match but I didn't kill him.

Neri:
But the prophecy also says "and either must die by the hand of the
other". This is a bit more difficult to wriggle out of, but still
possible.

One way can be if "the hand" is a person, Peter for example. I had
this theory, which might be termed The Shylock Effect: after the
graveyard, Voldy sharing blood with Harry makes them vulnerable to
each other (don't ask me why, but DD's famous gleam hints as much).
However, Voldy shares blood also with Peter, because a severed hand
contains more than several drops of blood. Voldy is thus also
vulnerable to Peter, although he doesn't realize it. After Harry will
vanquish Voldy in the more metaphorical sense, Peter can finish the
dirty work, while (naturally) saving Harry's life and paying his debt.
This can be made to work nicely in several levels.

And yes, I know it's too LOTR, but I can't help it, and it seems JKR
can't either. She might deny it, but DD's speech in the end of PoA 
about why it was OK to spare Wormtail is too similar to Gandalf's
speech about why Bilbo did the right thing when sparing Gollum. 

Neri