There are only...

[heidi]

When Dumbledore and Harry were in the Weasley broomshed, Dumbledore said that the only two people in the world who knew the contents of the prophecy were the two of them.

Does that mean that the Longbottom parents don't know the contents of it? And if they don't, did James & Lily? Or have they just forgotten in their madness?

Or am I overanalyzing something she didn't give that much plotting to?

Comments

[aphoenix2007.livejournal.com]

Well, James and Lily are dead, so they might not count...

Yeah, I suppose the Longbottoms have forgotten. I mean, Alice doesn't recognize her own son anymore, so...

In all honesty, yeah, probably, we're all overanalyzing on stuff. Did you see Mugglenet's latest poll? Maybe it's just me, but the majority of the fandom seems to think that there was something behind Snape killing Dumbledore, but the poll says that the non-fandom fans don't. Hmm...

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

Why would AD have told either couple? They've kept quite the tight lid on the prophecy all these years; I'm sure they didn't want to start a reverse-Mosaic event with wizarding babies at that time....

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree with the above poster. Alice and Frank might have been told, but they certainly don't remember, by all appearances. (and it sounds like it will stay that way.) And Lily and James are dead, and so is Sirius (if James told Sirius....)

Interesting that it does mean the Order doesn't know the full content though, and were willing to guard it anyway!

[aphoenix2007.livejournal.com]

Interesting that it does mean the Order doesn't know the full content though, and were willing to guard it anyway!

I think that shows how much the Order trusts Dumbledore; I mean, like you said, they didn't know anything about the prophecy, yet they guarded it because Dumbledore said it was important.

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

how much the Order trusts Dumbledore

Yes. I think the Order knows other things... which we do not know... which lead to that trust.

In fact, I think that's the reason it's called the Order of the Phoenix.

[aphoenix2007.livejournal.com]

::sigh:: Sometimes the Harry-POV gets so frustrating...

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

True. On the other hand, when she abandons it for third omniscient, I immediately start to lose interest, such as chapter one of Goblet or the first two chapters of HBP.

One of the reasons the second and third books are my favorites is the unbroken third-person limited. It requires the author to work harder, to get the reader all the relevant information, but when it works, it works very well.

[aphoenix2007.livejournal.com]

It requires the author to work harder, to get the reader all the relevant information, but when it works, it works very well.

I have to agree with that. :) When you realize how much more effort it takes for the author to do that, you appreciate it more, and the writing seems (and is) much better.

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

the writing seems (and is) much better

It really is.

Another of my favorite English writers, Wodehouse, does first person better than anyone ever, in my opinion. He has these hideously complex plots and is absolutely painstaking and rigorous in the execution of information flow... despite the huge authorial limitations of first person.

One interesting exercise would be to rewrite a HP book entirely in first and still get in the whole plot, logically and cleanly. Or, even better, rewrite bits of HBP so those first two chapters are unncessary and the perspective is uninterrupted.

[aphoenix2007.livejournal.com]

He has these hideously complex plots and is absolutely painstaking and rigorous in the execution of information flow... despite the huge authorial limitations of first person.

Now that is an accomplishment. ::admires::

That would be a great challenge for someone who wants to improve their writing. Maybe I'll try it sometime...

[royalmidnight.livejournal.com]

I rewrote Goblet of Fire with Harry as a girl.

It was on the Hard Drive that died.

[aphoenix2007.livejournal.com]

It was on the Hard Drive that died.

That must have been rather frustrating... :(

[empressov.livejournal.com]

Okay, I know I decided this long ago just after OotP---there is no way Dumbledore would have told anyone, most especially the Potters and the Longbottoms the true and complete contents of the prophecy. He may have shared with them, and even the Order, the beginning portion which was what Snape overheard and what Voldemort would know and so, really wasn't a secret but he'd only tell them enough to convince them to go into hiding.

Why? Because as far as Dumbledore knew at that time, no infant was about to challenge Lord Volde and it was all together possible that these two families would be in hiding for many many years and raising their sons (and any other children) while in hiding and I think Dumbledore would see it as essential for these parents to not, fear more than they should, to not see their child as something more than they should, and to not know more than they had to avoid them creatinga prophecy paradox--like Voldemort did when he went after Harry. It's hard enough for parents to not think the world of their child--imagine how hard it'd have been if they knew the full prophecy?

[plaidphoenix.livejournal.com]

I think you're overanalyzing. That being said, I don't think Dumbledore told either couple. At least, he didn't tell either couple as much as what he told Harry at the end of OotP. I think he told them just enough to convince them to go into hiding.

[junesrose.livejournal.com]

Now, wait a minute--- didn't Trelawny spout out the prophecy, in one of her rare moments of clarity, or, am I hallucinating myself? *goes to find HBP* So, wouldn't that make her being one who knew aobut it too? And, didn't DD know about her knowing it??? Oh, I'm so confused...

[aphoenix2007.livejournal.com]

No, Trelawney wouldn't have remembered, because remember in PoA, when she made the second prophecy? She sort of just jerked awake, wondered why Harry was staring at her, and told him he must have imagined it...