prophecy date

[Black_Dust]

I can't seem to find on the lexicon when the prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort was prophesised (or find it in the books). So does anyone remember when it happened? (approximently)

The closest I can find is that it happened at least a year before Harry was born because Trelawney had been working for nearly 16 years in the 5th book. I'm kinda guessing, but i would say that it is about 2 years before the Potter were attacked.

Thanks for the help!

[Stubbornly_appeared]

I'm pretty sure it must have been in June of 1980. Or earlier. But June makes the most sense.

See, Dumbledore was interviewing Trelawney for a the Divination teaching post when she gave the prophecy. That means that it was after end of term, unless they replaced the teacher during the school year (which seems unlikely). And, it was before July. So it must have been June of 1980, a month before Harry (and Neville) was born.

(It probably wasn't that very July, because there had to be time for the whole Snape episode.)

Hope this helps.

-Stubby

[elleve]

A year before Harry's birth? That seems pretty unlikely to me. Black_Dust's theory makes the most sense, though. He would question her at the end of term. :)

[megan_lupin]

Dumbledore says in OotP, when explaining it to Harry, that Voldemort went after the Potters because of "a prophecy made shortly before your birth". As Harry was born in July of 1980, and the school terms tend to end around the end of June, I believe, then it seems reasonable to say that she would have made it at the end of June or early July of 1980, just a few weeks before Harry and Neville were born.

I also think that Dumbledore mentions it being "that same year" or something: the prophecy was given and Harry and Neville were born. It was something to the effect of "Sybil's prophecy could have applied to two boys born in July of that year, both of whom had parents in the Order of the Phoenix, and both sets of parents having narrowly escaped Voldemort three times." (Note: The quote is given from memory, so please forgive any mistakes.)

Also, just because Trelawney was interviewing for the job does not necessarily mean that it HAD to be after the end of term. If the current Divination teacher was to tell Dumbledore that he/she was leaving, then Dumbledore could have looked for the replacement while the last term was still going on.

On the whole, though, it seems common that most believe that the prophecy was given around June/July of 1980, around a few weeks before Harry was born.

~Megan

[Black_Dust]

alrighty then! Thanks a lot guys! :p *close thread*