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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



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