re-reading chapter 76 made me realise the prophecy could not be about Voldemort at all :
Let’s look at this prophecy in detail :
“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches,”
Vanquish, as Snape said, is a strange word to describe a baby accidentally toasting Voldemort, especially since we have evidence that this might not be what really happened.
“Dark Lord” is used by EY quite loosely, and not as something specifically relating to Voldemort. Indeed, Dumbledore seems to worry that he could be this Dark Lord. Now, if we step outside of what we think we know about the prophecy...
Who is Harry trying to “vanquish” ? Who is it which Harry has “the power to Vanquish” ?
Dementors ? Death in general ? Dementors as an incarnation of Death ?
Could Death be considered as the Dark Lord ? I admit this is stretching the use of the word Dark Lord, but it does sounds interesting and more appropriate to Vanquish. Now, bear with me a moment and let’s look at the rest of the prophecy :
Born to those who have thrice defied him,
Now, while Lily and James have defied death 3 times, there’s a million person in the same case on the planet. But WHO has defied Death three times in the Universe ?
The Peverell Brother. Harry’s ancestors through the Potter Family.
Born as the seventh month dies,
And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal,
The Tale of the Three Brothers specifically says : ”...”And then he [the third brother Ignotus, owner of the Cloak] greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, as equals, they departed this life.”
Harry having the Cloak works, as such. Alternatively, Harry “killing” Dementors make Death and he litteraly equals, in that they can destroy each other.
But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not,
The only unique powers Harry has are Dementor 2.0 and partial transfiguration
Dementor 2.0 seems rather good.
And either must destroy all but a remnant of the other,
For those two different spirits cannot exist in the same world.
I find really interesting that nowhere it is said that the dark lord “lives”. “Destroy all but a remnant” could mean Dementing Harry, or Destroying all dementors except one, or giving Philosopher’s Stones to everyone but without the death rate falling to zero (because accidental Death would still happen buit would not be an inevitability.
Note that this theory (still improbable, if I had to bet on it I wouldn’t assign more than a 15 % chance for Death to be the “Dark Lord” of the prophecy) is still compatible with Dumbledore trying to trick Voldemort in a Dark ritual, or both of them interpreting the prophecy as in canon.
Harry left “a portion of his life” (not an exact quote) in Azkaban, and apparently it will remain there forever. That could be the remnant that Death would fail to destroy.
Anyway, Snape drew attention to the final line in the prophecy. It talked about two different spirits that couldn’t exist in the same world, or perhaps two ingredients that cannot exist in the same cauldron. That’s not Harry and Voldemort; that’s Harry and Death.
I mean, Harry has already sworn to put an end to death. It’s how he casts his patronus. He’s a lot less sure about killing Voldemort, and would prefer not to, if given the choice.
The Tale of the Three Brothers specifically says : ”...”And then he [the third brother Ignotus, owner of the Cloak] greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, as equals, they departed this life.” Harry having the Cloak works, as such. Alternatively, Harry “killing” Dementors make Death and he litteraly equals, in that they can destroy each other.
I only count one defiance there. Or did you mean the brothers plural accounted for three defiances? But the other two brothers just die horribly after making ill-chosen requests.
re-reading chapter 76 made me realise the prophecy could not be about Voldemort at all :
Let’s look at this prophecy in detail :
“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches,”
Vanquish, as Snape said, is a strange word to describe a baby accidentally toasting Voldemort, especially since we have evidence that this might not be what really happened. “Dark Lord” is used by EY quite loosely, and not as something specifically relating to Voldemort. Indeed, Dumbledore seems to worry that he could be this Dark Lord. Now, if we step outside of what we think we know about the prophecy...
Who is Harry trying to “vanquish” ? Who is it which Harry has “the power to Vanquish” ?
Dementors ? Death in general ? Dementors as an incarnation of Death ?
Could Death be considered as the Dark Lord ? I admit this is stretching the use of the word Dark Lord, but it does sounds interesting and more appropriate to Vanquish. Now, bear with me a moment and let’s look at the rest of the prophecy : Born to those who have thrice defied him,
Now, while Lily and James have defied death 3 times, there’s a million person in the same case on the planet. But WHO has defied Death three times in the Universe ?
The Peverell Brother. Harry’s ancestors through the Potter Family.
Born as the seventh month dies, And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal,
The Tale of the Three Brothers specifically says : ”...”And then he [the third brother Ignotus, owner of the Cloak] greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, as equals, they departed this life.” Harry having the Cloak works, as such. Alternatively, Harry “killing” Dementors make Death and he litteraly equals, in that they can destroy each other.
But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not,
The only unique powers Harry has are Dementor 2.0 and partial transfiguration Dementor 2.0 seems rather good.
And either must destroy all but a remnant of the other, For those two different spirits cannot exist in the same world.
I find really interesting that nowhere it is said that the dark lord “lives”. “Destroy all but a remnant” could mean Dementing Harry, or Destroying all dementors except one, or giving Philosopher’s Stones to everyone but without the death rate falling to zero (because accidental Death would still happen buit would not be an inevitability.
Note that this theory (still improbable, if I had to bet on it I wouldn’t assign more than a 15 % chance for Death to be the “Dark Lord” of the prophecy) is still compatible with Dumbledore trying to trick Voldemort in a Dark ritual, or both of them interpreting the prophecy as in canon.
Well, so much for that !
Harry left “a portion of his life” (not an exact quote) in Azkaban, and apparently it will remain there forever. That could be the remnant that Death would fail to destroy.
Anyway, Snape drew attention to the final line in the prophecy. It talked about two different spirits that couldn’t exist in the same world, or perhaps two ingredients that cannot exist in the same cauldron. That’s not Harry and Voldemort; that’s Harry and Death.
I mean, Harry has already sworn to put an end to death. It’s how he casts his patronus. He’s a lot less sure about killing Voldemort, and would prefer not to, if given the choice.
In light of chapters 96 I would update this chance to 45 %.
Putting my wager where my mouth is : http://predictionbook.com/predictions/20831
I only count one defiance there. Or did you mean the brothers plural accounted for three defiances? But the other two brothers just die horribly after making ill-chosen requests.
Well, each of them successively defied Death by asking a gift from it. Still far-fetched, I admit.