Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom both fit the context for Sybill Trelawney’s prophecy that spoke of a boy to be born at the end of July with the power to vanquish Lord Voldemort. This means either Harry or Neville could have been the Chosen One.
In her prophecy, Sybill Trelawney stated that Voldemort would mark the boy with the power to bring him down as his equal. When the Dark Lord received a portion of the prophecy from Severus Snape, he went after Harry, who like himself, was a half-blood.
Contents
- When Did Sybill Trelawney Make Her First Prophecy?
- How Did Trelawney’s Prophecy Refer to Harry or Neville?
- How Did Lord Voldemort Mark Harry as His Equal?
- What Power Did Harry Have That Voldemort Didn’t Know About?
- Did Voldemort Ever Retrieve the Prophecy?
- When Did the Wizarding World Call Harry the Chosen One?
- Conclusion
When Did Sybill Trelawney Make Her First Prophecy?
Sybill Trelawney was a witch and a Seer whose career at Hogwarts began in 1980. Shortly before making the prophecy, Trelawney only intended to interview for the post of Divination professor, a rather controversial branch of magic given the amount of guesswork it required.
It was such a polarizing subject that headmaster Albus Dumbledore contemplated discontinuing it as a course offering at Hogwarts. However, he gave Trelawney an interview nonetheless, and throughout the meeting, he grew unhappy with her performance.
Dumbledore motioned to leave the interview when Trelawney fell into a trance-like state, making the prophecy that would potentially shape the lives of two yet to be born boys-Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom.
This occurred during the first half of 1980, shortly before Trelawney started teaching at Hogwarts.
How Did Trelawney’s Prophecy Refer to Harry or Neville?
There were several boys in Harry’s year who could have fit the billing, so how did Lord Voldemort (Tom Riddle) deduce that Trelawney’s prophecy spoke of Harry or Neville? For context, we need to break down the prophecy.
Voldemort got his first clue when Trelawney said, “Born to those who have thrice defied him.”
This led him to couples who opposed him on three different occasions, letting the Dark Lord narrow down the list of prospective couples the prophecy referred to.
Trelawney then stated, “born as the seventh month dies,” and that “the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal.”
Therefore, Voldemort put two and two together, as he would just need to wait until the end of July. The third statement quoted above told him that the prophecy referred to a boy.
Before July faded into August, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter were both born.
Neville’s parents, Frank and Alice, were respected Aurors, while Harry’s parents, Lily and James, were members of the Order of the Phoenix. This meant they both fought Voldemort and his forces on the front lines and would have organically defied him.
While Voldemort didn’t hear the entire prophecy since the Death Eater who overheard Trelawney and reported it to him, Severus Snape, was caught and removed from the premises, he heard enough to draw a conclusion following July 1980.
Neville Longbottom was born on July 30th, 1980, one day before Harry Potter. Since Trelawney stated, “born as the seventh month dies” in her prophecy, it could have meant either Harry or Neville.
Lord Voldemort was born on December 31st, 1926 to Merope Gaunt, a witch, and Tom Riddle Sr., a Muggle. This made Voldemort a half-blood, like Harry, and he felt he had more of a connection with the boy than Neville, a pureblood.
How Did Lord Voldemort Mark Harry as His Equal?
Voldemort didn’t hear the entire prophecy, so he believed that by killing Harry, he would vanquish the threat and never worry about another wizard possessing the power to vanquish him.
This led Voldemort to target the Potters, but Snape, despite relaying the prophecy, was in love with Harry’s mother, Lily. This prompted him to confide in Dumbledore of Voldemort’s intentions.
The headmaster’s swift action led him to recommend the Fidelius Charm to be placed on the Potters’ home, intending for Sirius Black to be the Secret Keeper. Black, however, wanted to fool Voldemort, so he delegated the job to Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail).
Unbeknownst to Black and even Dumbledore, Wormtail secretly switched sides. Once the Potters made him their Secret Keeper, he told Voldemort where to find them.
This led the Dark Lord to invade the Potters’ residence in Godric’s Hollow, where he killed James and Lily–though the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra, backfired on Voldemort and left him without his body.
This was the point when Voldemort’s curse gave Harry his scar, officially marking the boy as his equal.
What Power Did Harry Have That Voldemort Didn’t Know About?
In her prophecy, Trelawney also stated, “power the Dark Lord knows not.” Harry was not born with any special power or ability that Voldemort didn’t know about. Instead, Lily gave him the ability to overpower Voldemort when she shielded him from the Dark Lord.
This act of self-sacrifice was blood-bound, meaning not only would Lily protect Harry, but so would her sister, Petunia Dursley, since the latter was a blood relative.
If you’re wondering why Dumbledore, against Professor Minerva McGonagall’s protests, decided it was best for Harry to spend his childhood with the Dursleys, it’s because he knew Petunia could still protect the boy if he could call her residence ‘home.’
While Harry hated returning to the Dursleys, if he stepped foot in their home, Number 4, Privet Drive, once a year, the charm that Lily created when she sacrificed herself would live on through Petunia until Harry turned 17.
Did Voldemort Ever Retrieve the Prophecy?
Though it’s true that the Dark Lord was a clever wizard, his arrogance and self-righteousness made him mistake-prone. His assumption led to his downfall and subsequent exile between 1981 and 1994, minus the time he secretly returned to Hogwarts with Quirinus Quirrell.
Had Voldemort waited, just in case there was more to the prophecy than he concluded, he may have been more careful. He figured this out in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when it became clear that he was searching for a weapon that he didn’t have before.
That weapon was the prophecy. But since the entire Wizarding World was ignorant to Voldemort’s return, he wished to keep it that way.
Because only those the prophecy is made to can retrieve it, he planted a false image in Harry’s mind, feigning he captured Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black, in the Department of Mysteries.
This lured Harry and five of his friends–Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood–into a trap.
Once they entered the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries and Harry retrieved it, a band of Death Eaters attacked.
This led to the famous Battle of the Department of Mysteries, where after the Death Eaters gained the upper hand, the Order of the Phoenix arrived to reinforce Harry and his friends.
The Death Eaters failed to retrieve the prophecy since it was destroyed in the Death Chamber when Neville smashed it by accident.
Once Dumbledore arrived, he overpowered the remaining Death Eaters before he dueled and forced Voldemort to flee. Subsequently, the Ministry of Magic’s Aurors arrived, arrested the Death Eaters, and sent them to Azkaban.
When Did the Wizarding World Call Harry the Chosen One?
Harry Potter was not called the Chosen One initially. Instead, he was the Boy Who Lived. It wasn’t until the Daily Prophet used the phrase in the Summer of 1996 that the Wizarding World started calling Harry the Chosen One.
This moniker had its ups and downs. For one, with the Wizarding World in open warfare with Voldemort’s Death Eaters, Harry’s Chosen One status gave them a reason to rally around him.
However, it was also a major inconvenience at times. Rufus Scrimgeour, who succeeded Cornelius Fudge as Minister of Magic that same year, wanted Harry to align with his administration to raise its popularity.
Scrimgeour, who was killed a year later, was ineffective from the start, resorting to corrupt policy measures to try and show the Wizarding World he was doing something in the fight against Voldemort.
Conclusion
Sybill Trelawney’s first prophecy could have meant either Harry or Neville were the Chosen One, but it was up to Voldemort to decide. He chose Harry when he targeted the boy because of their shared status as half-bloods.
Voldemort marked Harry as his equal when he tried to kill the boy, but he left Harry with only a scar. He didn’t realize that Harry held the power of sacrificial protection thanks to Lily, and he also never heard the last part of the prophecy.
However, when Voldemort tried to use Harry to steal the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, it was destroyed during the ensuing battle.
Sion Fawkes has been covering Star Wars since January 2022, expanding his expertise in Star Wars Canon, Legends, and MCU. When not writing, you can find Sion in the gym or running trails. He also likes watching sports and listening to audiobooks.