(no subject)

[rynne]

Something I've been thinking about, off and on, since I read DH, and I wanted to put down in words.

The prophecy had to have been about Harry--it wouldn't have worked with Neville. Not because of anything inherent in Harry or in Neville, but because of Lily and Alice. It took me a bit to really understand why Lily's sacrifice was enough to protect Harry, because surely she wasn't the only mother willing to die for her child, or just one person willing to die to protect another. The difference was that Voldemort gave her a choice, and that she chose to die for Harry rather than live and watch her son be killed is what gave her sacrifice power. But Voldemort only gave her that choice because Snape asked him to spare her. Somehow I doubt that Alice had any inner-circle Death Eaters so in love with her that they'd beg their merciless Dark Lord to spare her life.

So if Voldemort had chosen to go after the Longbottoms first, I bet he would have just killed Frank and Alice on his way to Neville as a matter of course, and then Neville would have died. Then he probably would have just proceeded on to Harry, and thanks to Lily, Harry would have still been the Boy-Who-Lived.

Ever since OotP came out, there's been a bunch of Neville-as-Boy-Who-Lived AU written, and I guess I find it interesting that it's even more AU than originally thought. Neville fit the paramaters of the prophecy, but it wouldn't really have worked for him, not unless Voldemort would have been willing to spare either Frank or Alice, which I don't think likely.

I think I need to find some more HP icons. Hmmm...

Comments

[coffee-n-cocoa.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's still a possibility that Voldemort might have told Frank and/or Alice to step aside, for one simple reason. They were purebloods, and because of that purebloodedness he might have given them that small opportunity to survive. Somehow, I think they would have made the same choice Lily did. Lily only got that choice because Snape asked she be spared. Otherwise, she was just a Mudblood to be erased. Harry would have died, and Neville would have been the Boy Who Lived.

I love Neville-as-Boy-Who-Lived scenarios, I just haven't found any well-written ones. :(

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but Frank and Alice were both obviously against Voldemort, not to mention in the way of something he wanted. James was a pureblood, and Voldemort gave him no choice. Other purebloods died in the war--Gideon and Fabian Prewett, Cedric Diggory, and so on. I'm sure that both Frank and Alice would have died for Neville, but Voldemort's not had any trouble killing purebloods in the past. I think in DH he was just offering to spare purebloods because he thought he'd won and he could afford to appear magnanimous.

I have no objection to Neville-as-Boy-Who-Lived stories, I just think they're more AU than previously supposed. :p I've found a few, but most of them seem to think Neville would have made a worse Boy-Who-Lived than Harry. *sigh* Never mind that in the first few books, all he lacked was confidence, and once he had that, he was awesome.

[emiv.livejournal.com]

That is a very interesting argument—I never really though of the situation in that way before, and yet it makes a lot of sense.

I think it is interesting that Voldemort even bothered to give Lily the choice—I mean, was Snape so valuable an asset, or so close to V, that V considered honoring his wishes? He just doesn’t strike me as the kind of soulless dark wizard who would consider the feelings/whims of his subordinates.

Side note: If you are still looking for HP icons, I have a ton at my icon journal (sweet__tea). It is MO, but as you are on my Flist, I’d gladly add you. And, if you are not interested in joining, I have a few a public post here (http://community.livejournal.com/immobulus_elite/40291.html?style=mine#cutid1).

[raina-at.livejournal.com]

I wounder whether Frank and Alice weren't already in St. Mungo's at that point.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

No, they weren't. Bellatrix and the others only went after them because they thought Frank and Alice might know what happened to Voldemort.

[lotusflower85.livejournal.com]

Very good point! Throws a whole new light on the prophecy...hmmmm...

[lyore.livejournal.com]

I hadn't thought about it like that before, but I think you're right.