Prophecy

File:Prophecy Record-0.jpg  A **prophecy** was a prediction made by a ***Seer*** — someone with the ability to see into the future. They could take many different forms, but were often rendered in a cryptic language that did not allow easy or direct interpretation. The words of prophecies - as well as ***ghost***-like images of the Seers who made them - could be stored in spun-glass spheres referred to as ***Prophecy Records***.
Although prophecies often held great importance, they could also cause significant harm if interpreted incorrectly. For example, if a person believed that they were the subject of a prophecy, they could go to great lengths to ensure that it came true (if positive) or take great pains to avoid it (if negative). These efforts could have a ripple effect that could harm innocent bystanders simply for being close to the subject, or if the subject believed those bystanders were obstacles to be overcome in their pursuits. Yet in the end, it could turn out that such efforts were fruitless, since that person was not the true subject of the prophecy in the first place.

## Making a prophecy

Although prophecy was considered a form of ***divination***, there were key differences between true prophecy and more traditional "fortune-telling" methods such as tea leaf reading, ***palmistry***, or ***crystal-gazing***. Unlike those methods, prophecy had no technical procedures that could be followed, and the art was not even something that could be actively taught or practised. In most cases, a Seer began reciting a prophecy involuntarily, entering into a trance-like state and uttering the words in a distinctly different voice from their own. If ***Sybill Trelawney***'s experience was any indication, the Seer was left exhausted afterwards and may not even remember making the prophecy. On at least one occasion after reciting a prophecy, Trelawney assumed she had simply "dozed off".
While some witches and wizards - such as Minerva McGonagall and, to some extent, Albus Dumbledore - harboured a general distrust of divination, true prophecies were not lightly dismissed, even by sceptics. The truly wise knew that the words of prophecies always held importance, even if that importance was not easily or immediately apparent.

## Sybill Trelawney's prophecies

### First prophecy

> The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, 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...
>
> Sybill Trelawney's first prophecy, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Trelawney's first known prophecy was witnessed by Albus Dumbledore in ***1980***, foretelling the birth of a boy who would be capable — though not assured — of defeating Lord Voldemort, that Voldemort would "mark him as his equal", and that either the boy or Voldemort would ultimately kill the other. This boy was revealed to be Harry Potter.
Harry was completely unaware of the Prophecy until it was revealed to him by Dumbledore after the ***Battle of the Department of Mysteries***.