Sybill Trelawney's first prophecy



"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, 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 ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ..."

- Prophecy made to Albus Dumbledore by Sybill Trelawney Sybill Trelawney's first prophecy, sometimes simply known as The Prophecy, refers to the prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney to Albus Dumbledore at the Hog's Head Pub in 1980. It referred to a boy born at the end of July, who has the power to defeat Lord Voldemort (which Voldemort took to mean Harry Potter) and Lord Voldemort himself.

Creation


The prophecy in question made to Albus Dumbledore by Sybill Trelawney and foretold the coming of a boy who would have the power to vanquish Lord Voldemort. The prophecy was made while Trelawney was giving an interview to Dumbledore for the post of Divination teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dumbledore, who was disappointed at the performance she gave during the interview, was about to leave when she went into a trance and made the prophecy. During the prophecy, Trelawney specified that the requirements for the boy of prophecy who was capable to (but not necessary would) defeat the Dark Lord were the following:


 * He was male.
 * He is born in the closing days of July of 1980, the year that the prophecy was made.
 * His parents had defied Voldemort three times and lived to tell about it.
 * He would have a power that Voldemort was unable or unwilling to comprehend.
 * If more than one person was born that met the requirements, Voldemort himself would choose to whom it would ultimately refer.

Severus Snape, who at the time was working for Voldemort, was caught eavesdropping on Trelawney and Dumbledore by the owner of the Hog's Head and was subsequently thrown out of the pub. Snape then returned to Voldemort to tell him what he had heard.

Voldemort's reaction
"Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a child because of a prophecy made shortly before your birth. He knew the prophecy had been made, though he did not know its full contents. He set out to kill you when you were still a baby, believing he was fulfilling the terms of the prophecy. He discovered, to his cost, that he was mistaken, when the curse intended to kill you backfired. And so, since his return to his body, and particularly since your extraordinary escape from him last year, he has been determined to hear that prophecy in its entirety. This is the weapon he has been seeking so assiduously since his return: the knowledge of how to destroy you"

- Albus Dumbledore to Harry Potter shortly after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries

As Snape was apprehended by Aberforth Dumbledore before the full prophecy could be made, only part of the prophecy was reported to Voldemort. Voldemort knew that there were two boys that met the requirements of the prophecy: Aside from Harry Potter, the other was Neville Longbottom, who was born on July 30th, 1980, to a pair of Aurors who, like James and Lily Potter, had directly defied Voldemort on three separate occasions.

"He chose the boy he thought most likely to be a danger to him. He chose, not the pure-blood (which according to his creed, is the only kind of wizard worth being or knowing), but the half-blood like himself. He saw himself in you before he had ever seen you, and in marking you with that scar, he did not kill you, as he intended, but gave you powers, and a future, which have fitted you to escape him not once, but four times so far -- something that neither your parents, nor Neville's parents, ever achieved."

- Albus Dumbledore on Voldemort's decision to "mark Harry as his equal"

However, Voldemort chose Harry as his target, who was, like himself, a half-blood, rather than the pure-blooded boy named Neville. Voldemort chose Harry as he believed Harry was the most danger to him and he saw himself in Harry before even seeing him. He marked him with a lighting-bolt scar and did not kill him, but gave Harry powers, and a future, which have allowed Harry to escape Voldemort four times, something neither Harry's parents or Neville's parents ever achieved.

Shocked by Voldemort's decision, Snape hastened to Dumbledore and explained that Voldemort had come to the conclusion that the Potters' child was his would-be vanquisher, and had vowed to kill him. Snape also confessed his longtime love for Harry's mother, Lily, and offered Dumbledore his loyalty in exchange for her protection. Snape was now loyal to two masters, who were enemies.

Death of the Potters
After months of searching, Voldemort finally discovered where James and Lily Potter were hiding and that they were using the Fidelius Charm to conceal themselves. With the help of Peter Pettigrew, James and Lily's long-time friend and Secret-Keeper, Voldemort was able to enter their Godric's Hollow home, where he murdered Lily and James and tried to kill Harry. In the process of trying to kill Harry, Voldemort's Killing Curse backfired on him and destroyed his body, leaving nothing but a soul (or its last remaining fragment) behind.

Harry was protected from Voldemort's killing curse because Lily had sacrificed herself to save Harry, imbuing him with a charm that prevented Voldemort from harming him due to Lily's love for her son. Dumbledore furthered this magic by sending Harry to live with his aunt and uncle, because while at 4 Privet Drive Harry's blood protection from Lily would be preserved, as the blood lives on in both him and Lily's sister, Petunia Dursley, Lily's only known biological relative. Despite Dumbledore explaining all this on a letter to Petunia, Petunia never treated Harry as her own son, and she and her husband abused Harry and made his life as miserable as possible. Despite this, as long as Harry returned to Privet Drive once a year, he would still be protected.

Destruction of the Prophecy Record
Voldemort greatly desired to hear the full prophecy, but the only people who could retrieve the prophecy record from the Hall of Prophecy in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries were either Harry or Voldemort himself (as they are the people about whom the prophecy was written).



Voldemort was hardly going to walk straight into the Ministry of Magic when they were so conveniently pretending he hadn't returned. Instead he planted a vision in Harry's mind of Voldemort torturing Sirius Black, counting on Harry to go and save his godfather. Sure enough, Harry, joined by Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna to the Ministry of Magic in order to save Sirius, but when they got there they discovered Sirius was nowhere to found. Ron, however, found the Prophecy with Harry's name on it. It read:


 * S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D
 * Dark Lord
 * and (?) Harry Potter

S.P.T are the initials of Sybill Patricia Trelawney, and A.P.W.B.D are the initials of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. A question mark (?) was placed on the prophecy because at that time, the identity of the boy who would defy Lord Voldemort was still not entirely certain. When, however, Voldemort's downfall was brought upon after his attack on Harry Potter, the record of the prophecy was changed by the employees of the Department of Mysteries (known as Unspeakables) so that Harry's name was shown.

However, the Death Eaters lay in wait until he had done so and then gave chase through the Department of Mysteries, attempting to take the Prophecy from him. It was eventually smashed during a skirmish during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries taking place in the Death Chamber when it fell from Neville's pocket and Neville accidentally kicked and smashed it.

Harry's reaction
Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore are the only two people who know the full contents of the prophecy. As the prophecy was made to Dumbledore, he had a memory of Trelawney telling it to him and thus could show it to Harry by means of his Pensieve. Harry soon realises that this prophecy is the catalyst for everything that ever happened to him, that the reason he had a scar, the reason he could speak to snakes, the reason he had no parents, and the reason he shares a connection with Voldemort's mind is because Voldemort was trying to circumvent this prophecy in order to destroy the only one who could defeat him.

Despite being the reason for his past, however, Harry also realised that the prophecy greatly affects his future: the part of it saying "Neither can live while the other survives" means that either he or Voldemort must kill the other in the end. Despite this, Dumbledore makes it clear to him that it is not entirely because of the prophecy that Harry would try to defeat Voldemort, it is because of the type of person Harry is that he would not rest until he had defeated the person who killed his parents, Cedric Diggory, and countless others. In fact, the prophecy does not mean he has to do anything, but Voldemort sets store by the prophecy by marking Harry as his equal when he tried to kill him, as tyrants such as Voldemort are always afraid of those they oppress. Though Harry told Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger what the prophecy meant, he never told them its contents word for word.

Impact
After Harry heard the full prophecy in Dumbledore's Office, he had to live with the knowledge that he would have to kill Voldemort in the end. Rumours also were let slip to the Daily Prophet about what the battle in the Ministry was centred on, leading to Harry being called "The Chosen One" in the newspapers. Indeed, Harry was the "The Chosen One" because Voldemort chose to believe that the prophecy was talking about Harry, the half-blood like himself and thus his equal. Harry survived the Killing Curse because his mother sacrificed her life for him and gave him a protection from Voldemort until he comes of age (at 17). The so-called Chosen One either had to destroy Voldemort, or be destroyed by Voldemort. Along with Dumbledore, Harry unraveled the secret of Voldemort's Horcruxes, objects in which pieces of Voldemort's soul were hidden so as to make him immortal, which were the keys to defeating him once and for all. Harry knew that the prophecy meant he was the only one who could stop Voldemort, only he had the ability to vanquish the Dark Lord and that it was up to him to finish the Horcrux hunt after Albus Dumbledore died and end Voldemort's reign of terror.



Dumbledore explained to Harry that by attempting to kill Harry, Voldemort himself singled out the only person who would be able to defeat him, and thus it was a grave error on his part to act as Trelawney said. Not all prophecies are fulfilled, and so it was because of Voldemort that the prophecy of someone being able to vanquish the Dark Lord came true. Furthermore, Voldemort handed Harry the necessary weapons for the job. Voldemort also discovered, after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, that it caused him excruciating agony to try to possess Harry because Harry is full of love. Voldemort didn't understand this, as in his haste to mutilate his soul to create Horcruxes he never paused to think about the power of an untarnished, whole, and loving soul.

Harry realised what Dumbledore said to him about the prophecy is that it his destiny was the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Harry knew that some would think there wasn't much difference between the two ways, but Harry knew with a rush of pride that both he and Dumbledore knew that it made all the difference in the world.

Behind the scenes

 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Prophecy reads:
 * "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...and the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal but he shall have power the Dark Lord knows not...For neither can live while the other survives...."


 * Incidentally, the prophecy makes no mention of the Dark Lord's vanquisher being born in July. However, in Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Dumbledore says that the prophecy refers to a boy born at the end of July, despite that part not being part of the record seen in the fifth film.
 * In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Dumbledore indirectly mentions this prophecy, as he said that the prophecy about Peter Pettigrew returning to his master was the second prophecy Trelawney had made.
 * Ironically, the Dark Lord's vanquisher was to be born in July, which is the seventh month, as it is said that seven is most magical number and most powerful number.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7