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< The Common Room ~ Prophecies – trolling for theories |
| celisnebula |
 Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:12 pm |
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Joined: 31 Dec 2004
Posts: 312
Location: USA
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I’ve been doing some research for my next chapter and I’ve sort of run into a roadblock. I’ve gotten some conflicting ideas about prophecy orbs. I couldn’t find any information about how long the Ministry of Magic has been collecting prophecy orbs, nor could I find any information as to whether they are only stored there as orbs, or if, perhaps, they might be recorded elsewhere. Another sticky point I’ve run into is who can actually touch an orb. From OP I get that the only person who can actually get an orb from the Department of Mysteries is the person(s) the prophecy is about. Yet, once that person(s) has collected the orb, it can be handed off to someone else (though I am not sure if that person can actually touch and gain information about said orb)?
What I have gotten about the Hall of Prophecies suggests that orbs have been collected for a very long time. The question is other than the orbs in the Hall of Prophecy, is there a record of various prophecies? Moreover, just how long has the Ministry of Magic been collecting them? Could an older one have been missed?
What happens if a prophecy was recorded in like the 10th century, yet pertains to people in the 21st century? How would they know whom it referred to? Would it even be something that would register as pertinent?
Would even the normal Wizarding populace understand the fundamentals dealing with prophecies? Or, would this be a matter of “national security,” hence only the members of the Department of Mysteries would know the particulars?
Any thoughts? |
_________________
Celis~~~
And they say we're crazy
http://www.livejournal.com/users/celisnebula/
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| celisnebula |
| Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:37 pm |
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Joined: 31 Dec 2004
Posts: 312
Location: USA
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Prophecy orbs via The Order of the Phoenix:
"The prophecies held in the Ministry of Magic are heavily protected. Only the people to whom they refer can lift them from the shelves without suffering madness" (OP 829).
(The Prophecy Hall is as) "high as a church and full of nothing but towering shelves covered in small, dusty, glass orbs." (OP 777).
From the Harry Potter Lexicon:
The Hall of Prophecy, which is entered through the entered through the Time Room, is a vast cold chamber, high as a church, filled with row upon row of towering shelves. On these shelves are hundreds of small, dusty, glass orbs, each with a yellowed and dusty label affixed below. Candle-brackets set at intervals along the shelves hold blue-flame candles. The row of shelves directly in front of the door from the Time Room is number 53. Number 54 is to the right of that, then 55, and so on. The light is very dim in the Hall. The candles are located on either end of each row, which means that from one end, the far end of each row is lost in darkness. Some of the orbs glow with a faint inner light but others are cold and dark. The Prophecy about Harry was located a short distance down row 97.
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/ministry/ministry-mysteries.html
Fully my conjecture at this point:
Obviously, prophecies have been collected for a very long time, there are at least 99 rows of shelves, and they might indeed be more, but at this point, we only know of 99. Harry, when he doesn’t find Sirius in row 97, like his dream/vision suggested, goes on to search out the next two rows. How long the Ministry of Magic has been collecting these “orbs” is anyone’s guess, but considering that there is at least 99 rows of long dusty shelved, I would estimate that it has been at least as long as Hogwarts has been around (over a thousand years ago, give or take various in references). Considering that, at this point, not much is known about the Wizarding world during the earlier eras, prophecies might just have well been collected since the Roman era (which I am leaning towards personally).
We “know” that the records take form of a glass sphere, all glowing with a faint light. We also “know” that they are labeled with the initials of those who made them, who they seem to refer to (since it is my guess that prophecies do not signal out a person by name, only by vague reference) and what the prophecy seems to be about. The question remains though, is how the keeper of the Hall of Prophecy would know when a specific prophecy is being played out. By all appearances, the orbs are basically left alone on their respective shelves once they’ve been recorded (as indicated by their dusty appearance).
Which leads me to the following question of who has access to them? Obviously, the Order of the Phoenix suggests that only those people whom the orb refers to can lift the orb from the shelves without suffering madness. This leads me to believe it is a Ministry protective measure and not one that affects the orbs themselves, else why would Malfoy have demanded that Harry turn the orb over to him? What sort of “madness” would overcome the person who was stupid enough to try and grab an orb that did not refer to them? Would it put the person into a state somewhat like the Longbottoms (who were driven insane by repeated exposure to the Cruciatus Curse)? Or would they become some catatonic zombie miscreant?
Still there is a question of how can one be sure that a specific orb, especially if it is an older orb, refers to a particular person? Given what we “know” about Sybil’s prophecy to Dumbledore, there is no clear cut answer to whom the prophecies might refer; considering her prophecy could be either Harry or Neville, until Voldemort marked Harry.
I wanted to thank Sara for pointing out the text I missed in OP, where Dumbledore says: "It seemed plain to the keeper of the Hall of Prophecy that Voldemort could only have tried to kill you because he knew you to be the one to whom Sybill was referring." (OP 842)
So, does anyone else have any theories? |
_________________
Celis~~~
And they say we're crazy
http://www.livejournal.com/users/celisnebula/
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