Dumbledore stood up, walked past Elwyn and Harry, and came to a black cabinet beside the phoenix perch.
He bent down, pulled down the latch, and took out a shallow stone basin, a meditation basin.
"From beginning to end, this prophecy has been crucial. It has determined that you are the Lord Voldemort's opponent. Not me, not Elwyn, not anyone else. It can only be you, Harry!" Dumbledore said, returning to his desk and placing the meditation basin on it. "On a cold, wet night sixteen years ago, in the Hog's Head Pub in Hogsmeade. I went there to meet an applicant who wanted to be a divination teacher, although this was not at all in line with my desire to continue the class. But the applicant was the great-great-granddaughter of a very famous and talented prophet, so I thought it would be customary to meet her. But I was disappointed. It seemed to me that she had not inherited any of that talent. I wish I had told her politely that she was not suitable for the position. Then I turned and walked away. But to my surprise, she may have been stimulated by this incident at the time, and she made a real prophecy, which is the beginning of everything. "
Dumbledore raised his wand to his temple, drew out strands of silvery, spiderweb-like tendrils of thought, and glued them to the wand. He dropped the strands into the stone basin, and watched as his thoughts swirled and floated in the meditative basin.
After a while, he sighed, and raised his wand again, lifting the silvery strands to the tip.
A figure emerged from inside. She was wearing a shawl, and her eyes looked especially big behind her glasses.
She spun slowly, her feet in the meditative tub, and Sybil Trelawney spoke, in that harsh, hoarse voice.
"The one who has the power to conquer the Dark Demon approaches. He is born in the seventh month of a family that has defeated the Dark Demon three times. The Dark Demon has marked him as a rival, but he has power that the Dark Demon does not understand. One must die at the hands of the other because not both of them can live. Only one of them can survive, and the one who has the power to conquer the Dark Demon will be born at the end of the seventh month … "
The slow-spinning Professor Trelawney disappeared into the mass of silver threads below, and the office was silent.
No one made the slightest sound, even the phoenix was quiet.
"This is the content of the prophecy? A real prophecy? "
"Yes, a real prophecy," said Dumbledore.
He was still staring at the Meditation Basin, as if he was lost in thought.
"But what did she mean?" Harry asked. "Why …"
"What she means is …" Dumbledore said, "The man who only had one chance to conquer Voldemort was born at the end of July nearly sixteen years ago. This boy's parents had defeated Lord Voldemort three times."
Harry felt as if something had been tied tightly to his body, and his breathing seemed to have become difficult again.
Dumbledore sized him up through his eyes for a while.
"In fact." He said softly, "Bill's prophecy can be applied to two wizard boys. They were both born at the end of July that year. Their parents were both in the Order of the Phoenix, and they had both escaped death from Lord Voldemort three times. One is of course you, Harry, and the other is Neville Longbottom. "
"But, why is my name in the prophecy, and not Neville's?"
"When you were a child, after Lord Voldemort attacked you, the official records were re-labeled." Dumbledore said, picking up the Prophecy Ball again. "In the eyes of the keeper of the Prophecy Hall, it was obvious that Lord Voldemort only wanted to kill you, because he knew you were the one Bill Bill was referring to."
"But, it could also not be me?" Harry said. "I don't understand, why must it be me?"
"I think, I'm afraid that person is undoubtedly you." Dumbledore said slowly.
"You just said, Neville was also born at the end of July, and his parents …"
"The key is the second half of the prophecy, the final distinguishing feature of the boy who can conquer Lord Voldemort, Lord Voldemort himself marked him as a formidable opponent. He did this, Harry. He chose you, not Neville, and he left this scar on your forehead, which has been proven to be both a blessing and a curse. "
"But he may have chosen the wrong person!" Harry immediately said. "Or he marked the wrong person!"
"The boy he chose is someone he thinks is most likely to be a threat to him." Dumbledore said. "And pay attention to one thing, he did not choose a pure-blood, but a mixed-blood, like himself. Before he saw you, he saw himself in you. When he left that scar on you as a mark, he could not kill you as he wished. Instead, he gave you the chance to grow and gain strength. It is this that allowed you to escape from him, not just once, but even face him alone. This, whether it is your parents, or Neville's parents, have not done. "
"Elwyn also did it, he also escaped from Lord Voldemort many times."
"Oh, I think, this is because Elwyn is involved in another part of the prophecy and the plan left by the four founders of Hogwarts," Dumbledore said seriously. "But his opponent is not Lord Voldemort, the only person who can defeat Lord Voldemort is you, the Lord Voldemort himself chose you."
"I do not understand, why did he do this?" 'Why did he try to kill me when I was only a baby? 'asked Harry, who felt cold and insensible all over.' Why did he try to kill me when I was only a baby? He should have waited until Neville and I were both grown up, to see who was more of a threat to him, and then tried to kill that person … "
"This may indeed have been a more effective way!" Dumbledore said. "But we cannot rule out the possibility that Lord Voldemort did not fully understand the prophecy. West Bill chose the Pig's Head because it was cheap. And the clientele that the Pig's Head attracted for a long time, if we can say so, was much more interesting than the clientele of the Three Broomsticks. The bar was by no means a safe place to hope that your conversation would not be overheard, and certainly, as I set out to meet Sybil Trelawney, I never dreamed that I would hear something of great value. It should be said that our luck was that the eavesdropper only heard a small part of the prophecy before he was discovered and thrown out of the bar. "
Elwyn sniffed. It was Snape who overheard the prophecy, an incomplete prophecy.
Dumbledore would probably never tell anyone about it, he had promised, so he did not let them into the meditation basin.
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
