...Don’t get me wrong—I do realize that my interpretation sounds stretched. Trelawney’s phrasing doesn’t seem natural for describing only the events that historically happened on October 31st, 1981 …
But if you think of the prophecy as being about several possible futures, only one of which was actually realized on Halloween, then the prophecy could already be complete.
The prophecy can be interpreted in two ways: “Harry fights Voldemort” and “Harry fights Death” (ignoring more exotic ones like “Harry is Dark Lord and Quirrel is the hero”).
At this point, both positions are justified. Yes, some lines look strange if we assume “Harry fights Death” point of view, but some lines look strange if we assume “Harry fights Voldemort” point of view: just look at chapter 76. The passage above suggests this is normal.
I find myself in a doubt about which interpretation is correct, and it looks like this is exactly as Eliezer wanted it.
Thing of note:
Harry in chapter 86:
The prophecy can be interpreted in two ways: “Harry fights Voldemort” and “Harry fights Death” (ignoring more exotic ones like “Harry is Dark Lord and Quirrel is the hero”).
At this point, both positions are justified. Yes, some lines look strange if we assume “Harry fights Death” point of view, but some lines look strange if we assume “Harry fights Voldemort” point of view: just look at chapter 76. The passage above suggests this is normal.
I find myself in a doubt about which interpretation is correct, and it looks like this is exactly as Eliezer wanted it.