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Can somebody explain to me the main idea of the prophecy from Harry Potter?

I have read up to the sixth book but i actually skipped the 5th book to read the 6th in time for the movie opening last year. Since i skipped the 5th book, which i feel has the most to do with explaining the prophecy, i have never quite understood the whole main story of it and what it has to do with anything!
-Thanks!

Public Comments

1. The prophecy is kinda sketchy because no body heard the whole thing but this basically what you need to know:

The only person who can stop Voldemort is a boy born at the end of July.
That is either Neville or Harry.
Voldemort has to choose which one it is going to be (Voldemort doesn't know this part of the prophecy)
Voldemort chose Harry because Harry is a halfblood like him instead of the pureblood Neville.
Harry has been marked (the scar).
Neither can live while the other survives.

2. basically it said that a child would be born to parents who had escaped voldemort three times in july and that the child would be stronger than voldemort - and that voldermort would see him as an equal
this could have been either harry or neville but as voldemort chose harry (the half-blood) it shows that voldemort sees harry as an equal and thus seals harrys fate - so it could have been neville in harrys position if voldemort had chosen him

and it basically says that both of them cannot live if one of them is alive, so harry has to kill voldemort of he has to kill harry

its very importent to the plot because it explains why harry is in the position he is and why he has to kill voldemort


xxx

3. I might get some things wrong because it's been a while, but I think it goes like this:

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born as the seventh month dies...born to those who have thrice defied him...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he shall have power that the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hands of the other, for neither can live while the other survives...the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches..."

Voldemort only knows up to "born to those who have thrice defied him". He planted the idea into Harry's head that Sirius was being tortured in the Department of Mysteries. Harry goes to where he thinks Sirius is, the row in the hall of prophecies that this particular prophecy is on. It's a trap, Death Eaters attack the six teens, Sirius falls through the veil and dies, Voldemort is recognized as being back... You shouldn't have skipped that book. It was a lot of information.

Breakdown of the prophecy:
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. - Pretty straight forward.
Born as the seventh month dies- this savior will be born at the end of July (we know of Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom, but we do not know if there are any girls)
Born to those that have thrice defied him - this person with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord has parents who have escaped from Voldemort 3 times (we know of Alice and Frank Longbottom and Lily and James Potter)
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That is all Voldemort knows. The thing about prophecies is that they aren't necessarily true. If you believe in a prophecy, you can make it true, but if Voldemort had never heard this, he wouldn't have attacked the Potters to kill Harry.
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And the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal- Voldemort went after Harry, knowing that this was the prophecy child. He knew that Harry was supposed to have the power to vanquish him. He treated Harry as an equal, and in doing so, gave Harry that scar. Dumbledore presumes that he chose Harry because both are half-bloods, and Voldemort might have felt somewhat connected to Harry.
But he shall have power the Dark Lord knows not- Dumbledore presumes this power is love.
And either must die at the hands of the other, for neither can live while the other survives. - Harry and Voldemort will spend forever against each other. They can't truly live until only one of them is alive. More of it is discussed in the seventh book.

We can say that if Voldemort didn't know the prophecy or didn't take it seriously, Harry would not be nearly as strong of an opponent. Voldemort makes Harry stronger.
We can also say that prophecies can be false. If Voldemort had chosen to go after Neville, Neville probably would have died because Voldemort wouldn't have given anyone the chance to live. Didn't you ever wonder why Voldemort killed James (a pureblood) immediately but gave Lily (a muggleborn) a chance to live? More of this is discussed in the seventh book.

4. The prophecy itself was: "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... And the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal, for he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

It was made by Sybill Trelawney, who teaches Divination. When she gave the prophecy, she had been in an interview with Dumbledore for the position to teach divination in the Hogs Head. Dumbledore had thought her to be a fraud until she made the prophecy.

Severus Snape, who had been loyal to Voldemort at the time, heard only half the prophecy. He reported what he heard to Voldemort, only to regret it later when he found out he had put Lily in danger.

So that's why Sybill Trelawney has been teaching divination for so long. Dumbledore hired her for her protection.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches..." - Meaning someone with the power to defeat Voldemort will soon be born.

"Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies..." - The parents of the child who will have the power to defeat Voldemort have escaped Voldemort 3 times and lived. The seventh month is July, so the one in the prophecy will be born at the end of July.

"And the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal, for he will have power the Dark Lord knows not..." - Voldemort only heard half the prophecy and chose to follow it instead of ignoring it. There were two children that qualified for the prophecy, Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Neville was born on July 30th and Harry on July 31st. In the end Voldemort chose Harry, thus choosing him to be his equal, and eventually marked him as such when he attempted to kill him but couldn't due to his mother's protection.

Lily's protection is the power that "the Dark Lord knows not" because Voldemort both didn't know that Lily's sacrificing herself willingly for Harry would protect him and because Voldemort cannot understand love.

"And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives..." - Means that in the end, one has to kill the other.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..." - Stressing that it will be the end of July that Voldemort's equal will be born.

5. ok, so the prophecy goes like this: "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...." and it was said by sibyll trelawny to albus dumbledore when trelawny was applying for the post of divination. it basically says that the only person who could defeat the dark lord will soon be in the world (born) and that this person's parents would be people who defied voldemort 3 times before their child was born in the end of july (or when the seventh month dies). it then says how voldemort will be the one to decide who will be the child with the power that is equivalent to his own and will thus have the chance to defeat him and how that person he chooses would have a power that voldemort does not have (love). it then concludes that neither can live while the other is still alive, and thus one will wind up killing the other before one of them can live peacefully. although, who will be the one to kill the other is unknown.
the prophecy could have originally applied to either harry or neville because they both were born at the end of july to parents who defied voldemort 3 times. however, when voldemort decided to hunt down harry instead of neville after hearing the prophecy, he marked harry as his equal, making harry the only remaining possible person the prophecy could be talking about.
the prophecy was told in the hogs head, and a part of it was overheard by snape who was at that time a death eater. so, he told the part he heard to voldemort. however, snape did not know that the prophecy referred to his old school friend and love of his life, lily evans and her husband james and son harry. so, he confessed to dumbledore and told dumbledore he would do anything for dumbledore if he promised to protect lily. thus, the potters became protected by the fidelius charm and pettigrew became their secret keeper. he betrayed the potters to voldemort however, thus setting up voldemort to seek the potters and make the prophecy true.