The Wizarding World needed a hero and
they got the Wizarding hero they
deserved or the Wizarding hero they
thought they needed they thought they
needed to deserve the one they thought
they wanted to deserve top screw it
they got Batman
the one with the power to vanquish the
Dark Lord approaches born to those who
have thrice to find and 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
hello Internet welcome to film theory
it's like game theory but with one small
difference I'll let you figure out what
it is now if that prophecy sounded
familiar that's because it's the big
reveal that comes at the end of Harry
Potter and the order of Phoenix the
fifth in the series of books movies and
videogames about the young whorfin who
gets whisked off to Hogwarts wizard
school with his friends Ron and Hermione
to find out that he's destined to save
the world honestly I never got the hype
the fifth book was always my least
favorite too much of all HP whining
about being special Oh suck it up anyone
would love to have magical powers
so you're different get over it but I
will say the fifth movie was my favorite
in the franchise ooh that final wizard
battle I could watch that for days and
yet whether I loved it or hated it I
never got the hoopla around this
prophecy thing yeah yeah Harry Potter's
the chosen one he's the one that's gonna
have to kill Voldemort beep suprise like
did we really learn anything here no you
just had a nice filler book to kill off
some of the big characters and then
transition to some of the darker
installments it always felt like such an
anticlimactic reveal well at least it
did until I started thinking about it
we've all assumed that it was Harry the
prophecy was talking about since you
know it's his name on the book covers
movie posters and tighty whities what if
it was all a cover-up a ruse a brilliant
PR campaign to take the attention off
the other Boy Who Lived the true hero of
the story and what if this prophecy
wasn't just a no duh moment but instead
a clue hidden out in the open for us
careful fans about the identity of the
true hero of Hogwarts sound crazy whoo
let's break down the prophecy we know
that the Dark Lord
first of all des morts the evil wizard
with the unfortunate nose job but the
rest of this thing is really unclear we
know that the one with the power to
vanquish the Dark Lord must have been
born to those who have thrice defied
oldknow slits over here okay well Harry
seems to fit the bill
his parents Lily and James Potter were
both members of the order of the Phoenix
a secret society founded by the Hogwarts
headmaster Albus Dumbledore to oppose
Voldemort so they probably did their
share fighting that said we've never
actually been given three specific
examples so you know that connection is
at best what is it with these darn
ancient prophecies why could they never
say in clear English what they mean hey
you scar boy HP you're the chosen one go
kill this guy anyway the hero also needs
to be born as the seventh month dies the
prophecy is so adamant about this that
it mentions it twice so it's gotta be
pretty important well after doing
extensive research on the subject I
learned that the seventh month is
actually July and Harry's birthday is
July 31st so that sounds pretty
cut-and-dry and finally there are those
parts about the Dark Lord marking him as
is equal and a power the Dark Lord knows
not with Harry these two sort of go hand
in hand
Voldemort marked areas is equal when he
showed up at the Potters to kill Harry
and avert the prophecy but instead of
killing him with the unforgivable Avada
Kedavra killing curse Lily Potter threw
herself between them sacrificing herself
in the process Voldemort was completely
blindsided as a mother's love something
he never knew or felt himself activated
an ancient magic that reflected the
curse back onto him and left Harry with
an extremely marketable lightning bolt
scar seriously it looks like a temporary
tattoo and don't worry it is but yeah
the books the movies make it pretty
clear that the power Voldemort knows not
is love and it's exactly that power of
love that allowed Harry to defeat him in
the Battle of Hogwarts and Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hallows part-2
oh really love is the power and we can
we get any more cliched here I couldn't
have been something cool like I don't
know laser beams okay so let's take a
second to step back here and look at the
terms of the prophecy objectively if
we're being completely honest if we were
able to find another kid who is born
at the end of July had do-gooder parents
and was loved at some point in his life
you actually have yourself a pretty darn
valid candidate for hero of the
Wizarding World well make that one very
specific hero candidates you have
yourself Neville Longbottom wait that's
him this guy oh yeah he actually turned
out to be quite handsome didn't he it is
strictly platonic
hey I'm able to appreciate his
handsomeness an abstract leaplet otic
way don't be getting ideas now I get the
confusion in the movies Neville was
worse than the third wheel he was a
fourth wheel to the Harry Ron Hermione
tricycle and yeah the idea that he's a
hero seems like one of those bits a
far-flung fanfiction that surfaced in
some dark corner of Reds
but if you go with me on this one for a
minute I think you'll be surprised by
what we find let's go back to the
prophecy born as the seventh month dies
that was the biggest and least vague
stipulation of the prophecy and one that
would be really difficult for me to
fudge funny thing is though I don't have
to Neville's birthday was on July 30th
one day earlier than Harry's and based
on the vague wording I'd say we have at
least a few days window here especially
if the prophecy is okay writing off love
as the power he who must have sleep
apnea knows not okay next born to those
who thrice to fight him so Lily and
James Potter may have done their share
of vole defying again there are really
no clear examples given to us but look
at Neville's parents Frank and Alice
Longbottom these two were ORS it's
basically like being a professional
Harry Potter but less pouty and with
better pay their backstory kind of gets
the shaft in most of the books and
definitely in the movie but they were a
serious power couple who would clearly
have been on the front lines of Dark
Lord defense they were so important in
fact that Voldemort's followers captured
and tortured Neville's parents using the
Cruciatus curse to leave them
permanently insane one of the attackers
Barty Crouch jr. even disguised himself
as a teacher and made Neville watch him
torture a spider with that same curse
anyway if we're gonna assume that the
Potters somehow defied Voldemort three
times I think we can give that same
consideration to the long bottoms so
that's two major check marks maybe
there's something to this thing after
all which leaves us with our last two
criteria for being the chosen one being
marched by Voldemort as is equal and
having a power that Voldemort doesn't I
said earlier that this missing power is
clearly meant to be the power of love
cue that Huey Lewis alright that's
enough we don't want to challenge
copyright police and the movies and
books drive the love point home but it's
unreasonable to rule out that this power
could also belong to Neville we've
already established that as parents
parallel the dedication of James and
Lily Potter maybe even more so as the
only way to disable them was to torture
them beyond recognition a prolonged
period of torment as opposed to Lily
snap decision to save her son so we have
just as much evidence to believe that
Neville has powerful love juice pumping
through his veins just like Harry or
then again maybe everyone's wrong and
the power Voldemort knows not as
herbology because let's face it that's
what Neville really excels at and Harry
green thumbs he has not but then what
about Voldemort marking Neville as is
equal the lightning bolt scar
trademarked and the spell that merged
Harry and Voldemort souls together are
pretty solid evidence for Harry being
the chosen one
Neville doesn't seem to have that sort
of a connection so have we hit a brick
wall here is it even possible to make a
case for Neville with this one piece of
evidence blocking our way well as it
turns out we've been asking the wrong
question it's not whether Harry or
Neville are the chosen one they're both
the chosen one at the same time all that
to make them the chosen two I guess I
don't know anyway without any of us
realizing it JK Rowling has been
teaching all of us potter heads a little
bit of quantum physics there's a well
known quantum physics principle called
the many-worlds interpretation which was
coined by Bryce DeWitt as we go through
time there are many possible futures for
us while we're waiting for the future to
happen every possible future is real
yeah that makes a lot of sense let me
put it this way I might have cereal for
breakfast tomorrow morning or who knows
I might have leftover cake both of those
futures are real events
the many worlds theory says that I
decide which one of those real futures I
participate in by making the choice to
eat that awesome slice of cake because
let's face it we all know that that's
the future I'm gonna choose because
chocolate icing rocks and yeah sure I'll
regret it for the rest of the day but
that alternate future the one where I'm
super lame and choose to eat cereal and
probably do some push-ups or whatever
sucks just thinking about it but yeah
that's still real - I just chose not to
participate in it so screw you health it
was the point where I made the choice to
obey my sweet tooth that determined the
path that I went down but history and
future still have all those other
choices within them think of the past
and future like a tree with a whole
bunch of branches all the way through we
choose which branch to follow but the
whole tree still exists and that brings
us back around to the problem of harry
and neville harry according to the
prophecy is the chosen one
neville according to the prophecy is
also the chosen one think about it we
just went through all the reasons either
can fulfill the prophecy if there's
nothing so remarkable about Harry that
makes him more likely of a hero of the
wizarding world than neville except for
one thing one choice in this case the
only person who had the ability to
choose between these two was Voldemort
himself oh the two equally real chosen
ones he could have decided to attack he
chose Harry Potter he could have just as
easily chosen Neville Longbottom
but in choosing Harry he gave him an
entire future an entire identity as the
boy who lived in a weird way Harry
should be thanking Voldemort
otherwise he would have just been well
Neville and if you think this theory
sounds a bit far-fetched well listen to
someone you do trust mister I knew the
answer the whole time and just chose not
to share it with you until the very end
Albus Dumbledore Dumbledore actually
explains this theory to Harry noting
that it could have gone either way
between who Voldemort chose to attack
Harry or Neville in fact from the very
beginning of the series we can see
Dumbledore's understanding of these
parallels in a way Dumbledore and
Hogwarts proper treat both of these kids
like they could be the chosen one
probably because Neville and
both represented equally likely branches
of history in the very first installment
Dumbledore recognizes Neville's
contributions and awards and points for
his bravery and standing up to his
friends these points not Harry's end up
being the deciding factor in
Gryffindor's win over Slytherin for
house cup what seem like Dumbledore
playing favorites was actually him
catering to the other chosen one
Neville's also only one of two
individuals we know for a fact to have
actually had a conversation with the
sorting hat about which house to go into
only he and Harry have the
self-determination to do this following
their first year Neville repeatedly
demonstrated he was both smart and
capable in a lot of cases more capable
than Harry himself he provided Harry
with gillyweed in year four saving him
from failure in the Triwizard Tournament
helping the quote/unquote chosen one
fulfill his destiny
well Harry was moping around in the
wilderness for most of movie 7 & 7 part
two Neville stayed in Hogwarts even as
it was being taken over by dark magic he
actively subverted his professors and
even endured torture and beatings to
continue helping Harry he literally
raised an army Dumbledore's Army and led
his peers to fight against Voldemort and
his Death Eaters Neville did all of this
Neville Longbottom their parallels only
get closer as the series ends in the
final battle with Voldemort it was
Neville who pulled the sword of Godric
Gryffindor out of the sorting hat and
then used it to kill Nagini Voldemort's
final Horcrux it was this and only this
specific act that made it possible for
Harry to actually finish off Voldemort's
the only other person ever to
demonstrate this ability pulling a sword
out of the Hat Harry Potter and in the
final moments of the battle in movie 8
part two of number seven when everyone
thinks Harry is dead we see one person
step in to take his place to stand for
him directly and fight Voldemort's
Neville Harry Potter isn't actually the
chosen one there is no one single chosen
one both Harry and Neville are the
chosen ones and each plays out their
timeline as this character even if we
only get to see once
the story in the movies maybe JK
Rowling's set up this parallel to
demonstrate something about fate or
about the choices we make impacting the
rest of the world or that no matter what
hand were dealt it's the small acts of
bravery that matter that prophecies for
all they're worth
don't make you any less special because
in the end what it truly shows is this
it's the choices that you make in your
life either way that's just a theory of
film theory and cuts and next time will
prove that Ron is actually Voldemort's
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