138
votes
Accepted
What if a MAN actually stabbed the Witch-king instead of Éowyn?
For one thing "Prophecies" in Tolkien's work aren't the "Nostradamus" kind of prophecies that we are used to, it's not a fortune teller saying "you'll meet a tall dark witch-king and end him". Neither ...
- 13.4k
82
votes
Did Voldemort mark Harry as his equal?
You are assuming the act of "marking Harry as his equal" has to be intentional, when in fact the point is that Voldemort did mark Harry as his equal, but unintentionally.
Consider this: when ...
- 7,188
43
votes
Accepted
Why does the Department of Mysteries keep prophecies?
Because they study mysterious stuff.
The Department of Mysteries is all about studying and unravelling the deepest and most inscrutable mysteries of magic and the universe. Prophecies count as ...
- 134k
43
votes
Accepted
Can a squib or a muggle be a seer?
No
Divination is a branch of magic. Therefore requires magical ability to use it.
Professor Trelawney delicately rearranged her shawl and continued, ‘So you have chosen to study Divination, the most ...
- 32.5k
39
votes
What if a MAN actually stabbed the Witch-king instead of Éowyn?
No, the thing is, the prophecy that the Witch-king would not be slayed by a man was just that: a prophecy. It was a prediction of the future. So, what happened was, Glorfindel probably looked into the ...
- 7,444
39
votes
Why didn't they mend Potter's prophecy with the Repairing Charm?
It wouldn’t help - the prophecy escaped when the ball broke.
It might have been possible to mend the glass sphere that encased the prophecy, but the reason the Dark Lord wanted it was for the prophecy ...
- 105k
38
votes
Accepted
Is Sybill Trelawney taken lightly more often than necessary?
Sybill is the great-great granddaughter of a genuine Seer, Cassandra Trelawney. Cassandra's gift has been much diluted over ensuing generations, although Sybill has inherited more than she knows. Half-...
- 38.2k
32
votes
Accepted
Why couldn't Voldemort view the prophecy without Harry's help?
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 ...
- 163k
25
votes
Why couldn't Voldemort view the prophecy without Harry's help?
Harry also asked so, and Bellatrix answered him: Voldemort expected to remain discreet:
"Why couldn’t he come and get it himself?”
“Get it himself?” shrieked Bellatrix on a cackle of mad laughter....
- 4,336
21
votes
Did Voldemort mark Harry as his equal?
I believe the premise of the question is incorrect. It could not have been necessary for Voldemort to intend to mark Harry as his equal, because Voldemort did not even know that part of the prophecy:
...
- 43.9k
17
votes
Did Voldemort mark Harry as his equal?
He unintentionally ‘marked’ Harry by going after him, not Neville.
The Dark Lord didn’t intentionally mark Harry as his equal. He did it by singling Harry out, although there were two boys who fit the ...
- 105k
16
votes
Why did the Order bother to guard the Prophecy?
I think you're dismissing
AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL
a little too quickly. Throughout the books, even after Voldemort is defeated by Harry as a baby, defeated by Harry while ...
- 5,194
16
votes
Accepted
How did Trelawney know Snape interrupted her interview with Dumbledore (and her prophecy)?
What it appears is that the "commotion" between Snape and the Bartender interrupted Snape from hearing the rest of the prophecy.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... ...
- 66k
16
votes
Why does the Department of Mysteries keep prophecies?
On top of Rand al'Thor's answer, think about why a library (in the real world) keeps a copy of every book ever printed, and often a copy of every local or national newspaper, rather than just relevant ...
- 661
15
votes
Accepted
Was this prophecy in Game Of Thrones false?
The prophecy came true but the valonqar (brother killing her) was never a part of the prophecy in the show. In the show Cersei is only meant to be cast down by someone younger and more beautiful... ...
- 143k
13
votes
Why does the Department of Mysteries keep prophecies?
This is actually bigger than, "They study Mysterious stuff", and while that is an acceptable answer, I don't think it is the whole answer.
Realize that these people are wizards, and while we are ...
- 1,856
13
votes
How many times in the Harry Potter books did 13 people dine together?
Thirteen people were together at the Burrow after the Battle of the Seven Potters over Little Whinging. Several of them participated in the Battle of Hogwarts, and four of them were killed in that ...
- 38.5k
12
votes
Accepted
Why was Trelawney's first prophecy taken so seriously by everyone?
Dumbledore takes it seriously because her ancestor was a famous Seer...
I had gone there to see an applicant for the post of Divination teacher, though it
was against my inclination to allow the ...
- 341k
11
votes
Is Sybill Trelawney taken lightly more often than necessary?
In an answer to "What is Divination, as practiced by Wizards, really like?", DVK points out to a 2005 interview with J. K. Rowling that also seems to answer this.
[…] at one point there was a ...
- 32.9k
11
votes
What if a MAN actually stabbed the Witch-king instead of Éowyn?
The case of Huan is similar, and instructive, because someone did try to cheat. Huan was a wolfhound, and there was a prophecy saying that he could only be killed by "the greatest wolf that would ...
- 1,883
11
votes
Why didn't Voldemort use Legilimency further to actually hear the prophecy in Harry's head?
I may be completely misunderstanding the question, but as far as I can tell, the scene you are describing happens before Harry himself knows what the prophecy says. He learns that from Dumbledore a ...
- 291
10
votes
Accepted
Has this character been referenced before the current series?
All the previous references to hybrids are listed in this Wikia page. There have been several over the course of the show, most notably River Song, Donna Noble, and possibly - according to the Eighth -...
- 134k
9
votes
Accepted
Can prophecies be studied?
The Keeper of the Hall of Prophecy can presumably raise and lower the defensive spells.
There is one person who's in charge of the Hall of Prophecy. (They may have a team of helpers but this isn't ...
- 61.7k
9
votes
Why didn't they mend Potter's prophecy with the Repairing Charm?
Bellatrix's answer is correct, but I also wanted to add a more technical aspect - if an object in need of repair is magical, damaged very badly (i.e. it looks "beyond repair") or is very complex (like ...
- 91
9
votes
Did Voldemort mark Harry as his equal?
'Mark' in this context does not mean the scar, it means:
to distinguish (someone or something) from other people or things
The same as 'set apart', 'separate', 'single out', 'differentiate', or '...
- 1,945
8
votes
Why did the Order bother to guard the Prophecy?
Bearing in mind that Dumbledore didn't tell the Order what the prophecy said, they clearly have taken his word for it that it was worth protecting. Whether it really was is debatable.
However, ...
- 2,428
8
votes
Accepted
How did the Unspeakables know to change the records in the Hall of Prophecy?
I suspect they simply listened to it
Dumbledore does indeed say that only the subjects of a prophecy can remove it from the shelf.
`And then you saw Rockwood, who worked in the Department of ...
- 115k
8
votes
Would Neville Longbottom Have Survived If Voldemort Had Marked Neville For Death Rather Than Harry?
I think you're all forgetting a very important thing. The only reason why Harry survived while all the others didn't is because Severus asked Voldemort for Lily to be spared. Voldemort asked Lily ...
7
votes
Did The Prophecy become true?
There are a number of ways in which the prophecy could be interpreted to have been completed.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied ...
- 7,803
7
votes
How did the wizarding world find out what the prophecy said?
They Didn't, At Least Not For Sure
Enough leaks sprung from the Ministry that the fight between the DA and Death Eaters centered on the Hall of Prophecy, and it was well known that both Harry and ...
- 1,296
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