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Why do only Harry and Neville fit the prophecy out of all wizards?


Here is Sybill Trelawney's first prophecy:




"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 ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ..."



The requirements for the Chosen One are then:



  1. Parents defied Voldemort 3 times

  2. Born at the end of July


With all the witches and wizards who fought against Voldemort, how is it possible that only Harry and Neville fit these qualifications?


The First Wizarding War was extremely large, and so there were at least thousands, if not millions, of wizards and witches who defied Voldemort. July is also the top month for births.


It seems that there have to have been more possible Chosen Ones.




Answer



It's not explained how Voldemort knew that Harry or Neville were the "chosen one" mentioned in Trelawney's prophecy but we can make some educated guesses:



  • We know that both Harry and Neville's parents openly defied Voldemort's request to join him (Defiant act #1)

  • We know that both the Longbottoms and the Potters were involved in the founding of the Order of the Phoenix (Defiant act #2)

  • We know that both families had taken part in attacks against Voldemort's henchmen during the Wizarding War (Defiant act #3)



The prophecy implies that the chosen one will be a powerful (male) wizard with "power the Dark Lord knows not", suggesting that they will probably be born to a powerful wizarding family. That makes the number of potential candidates relatively small to begin with.


Taking all of that into account, the number of baby wizards born in the "dying days" of July (e.g. the 30th or 31st) to prominent anti-Voldemort activists would presumably be vanishingly small.



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