Skip to main content

Why couldn't Voldemort view the prophecy without Harry's help?


Voldemort filled Harry's mind with visions of Sirius dying in the Department of Mysteries, to lure Harry there.


This was because the prophecies were enchanted so that only the people referred to could lift them from the shelves. Albus Dumbledore:



‘Only the people to whom they refer can lift [prophecies] from the shelves without suffering madness ...’



But the prophecy also referred to Voldemort, at least as much as Harry! Why couldn't he just go and take the prophecy off the shelf?



An analysis of the prophecy




The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches That's a reference to Voldemort


Born to those who have thrice defied him The 'him' is Voldemort


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 Clearly referring to Voldemort


And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives and again. This line also means that the prophecy is also about Voldemort as well as Harry, rather than just referring to him.


The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies and yet again.



Voldemort was referred to on almost every line of the prophecy.


Why did he need Harry to take the prophecy off the shelf?



Answer




He could; Voldemort is also a subject of the Prophecy, if the name card underneath it is any indication:



[Harry] stepped forwards. Not as tall as Ron, he had to crane his neck to read the yellowish label affixed to the shelf right beneath the dusty glass ball. In spidery writing was written a date of some sixteen years previously, and below that:


S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D.


Dark Lord and (?)Harry Potter


Order of the Phoenix Chapter 34: "The Department of Mysteries



The problem was that Voldemort didn't want to go to the Ministry unless absolutely necessary; Dumbledore tells us this later:



Only the people to whom they refer can lift them from the shelves without suffering madness: in this case, either Voldemort himself would have to enter the Ministry of Magic, and risk revealing himself at last - or else you would have to take it for him.



Order of the Phoenix Chapter 37: "The Lost Prophecy"



He didn't want Harry to view it, he just wanted Harry to pick it up, and then have Lucius take it from him.


He exhausts every possibility before personally appearing at the Ministry:



  • He attempts to have a random Ministry employee (Podmore) steal it

  • When Podmore is apprehended, he has an Unspeakable (Bode) attempt to steal it

  • When Bode goes crazy, he knuckles down and lures Harry to the Department of Mysteries, expecting his curiosity to do the job

  • When it's become clear that this, too, is failing, finally he shows up in person



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more