There is a reason why Harry Potter is a celebrity in the Wizarding world. Known also as “The Boy Who Lived” and “The Chosen One”, he was a prophesied messiah that many expected would save them from the Dark Lord’s tyranny.
However, as many expected the birth of their saviour, the Dark Lord, also known as Voldemort, expected the birth of his nemesis and would do all he could to prevent the prophecy from coming to pass.
Voldemort had become the most feared wizard of all. Apart from his magical prowess, his mastery leaned greatly towards the dark side of magic, leading to devastating consequences for the wizarding world.
The prophecy foretold his downfall, and he eventually came to know of it, even though those involved tried to conceal the prophecy
A wizard named Severus Snape had eavesdropped on the telling of the prophecy and although he didn’t hear the whole prophecy before he was caught, he promptly informed Voldemort of all he had heard.
Why did Snape tell Voldemort about it, even though it was a glimmer of hope for all wizards?
Here’s what you need to know.
Why did Snape tell Voldemort about the prophecy?
Before Severus Snape joined the Order of the Phoenix and became a double agent for Albus Dumbledore, he was a true Death Eater with loyalties to the Dark Lord. As an ambitious Death Eater trying to win his master’s favour, Snape revealed to Voldemort what he had heard about his impending defeat. This revelation would serve as a catalyst, setting several other events in motion.
Although most of his actions as a Death Eater are largely unknown, Snape rose in ranks and became a prominent figure in Voldemort’s inner circle. Being in this inner circle meant you had earned The Dark Lord’s trust and as such, Snape began spying for him. In his capacity as Voldemort’s informant, Snape visited Hogs Head, a popular tavern for wizards where he eavesdropped on the conversation between two other wizards.
You can find out more about why Snape wanted to become a Death Eater here.
At an interview with Headmaster Dumbledore for the Professor of Divination position at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Sybill Trelawney prophesied Voldemort’s destruction.
Unbeknownst to Trelawney and Dumbledore, Snape was listening to their meeting on the other side of the door. However, the intruder could only hear the first half of the prophecy before he was caught and thrown out of the tavern.
“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..”
Unfortunately for Snape, he was unaware that Lily Potter, the object of his long-time unrequited love, was pregnant at the time.
Due to the prophecy, the Dark Lord made her family his target!
Although the Longbottom family also fit the prophecy’s description, Voldemort focused on the Potters’ son because like himself, Harry Potter was a Half-Blood while Neville Longbottom was born Pure-Blood. Dumbledore proffers this theory to Harry by telling him:
“He chose the boy he thought most likely to be a danger to him… And notice this, Harry. He chose, not the pureblood (which, according to his creed, is the only kind of wizard worth being or knowing), but the half-blood, like himself. He saw himself in you before he had ever seen you”.
You can find out more about why Voldemort wanted to kill baby Harry here.
The other half of the prophecy was even more crucial than the first, that if Snape had heard, it could’ve deterred Voldemort from proceeding with the preventive measures he took. The other half of the prophecy states:
“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.”
It would’ve warned Voldemort against attacking the infant Harry because by doing so, he unknowingly set the prophecy in motion. Not just by physically marking him with the scar, but by having a part of his soul latching onto Harry and thereby making him as powerful as he.
The attack on Harry also proved somewhat fatal to Voldemort as he was ripped from his body and reduced to “a shell, less than the meanest ghost”, leaving him barely alive.
Additionally, the “power the Dark Lord knows not” may have been the love Lily Potter showed for her son by throwing herself in the way of the Killing Curse Voldemort cast at Harry. A teenage Harry would later affirm this when he fended off Voldemort’s attack in Order of the Phoenix. Harry confronted him with his lack of love by stating:
“you’re the weak one because you’ll never know love…and I feel sorry for you”.
Later, in Half-Blood Prince when Snape is about to die and he gives his memories to Harry in the form of tears, we see that he deeply regretted his actions. By telling the Dark Lord the prophecy, he unknowingly made Lily Potter a target for Voldemort which eventually led to her death.
Snape had loved Lily since they were both 9 years old and playing a part in her demise greatly troubled him.
When enlightening Harry about certain things, Dumbledore also explains that:
“Professor Snape made a terrible mistake. He was still in Lord Voldemort’s employ on the night he heard the first half of Professor Trelawney’s prophecy. Naturally, he hastened to tell his master what he had heard, for it concerned his master most deeply.But he did not know—he had no possible way of knowing—which boy Voldemort would hunt from then onwards, or that the parents he would destroy in his murderous quest were people that Professor Snape knew, that they were your mother and father…you have no idea of the remorse Professor Snape felt when he realised how Lord Voldemort had interpreted the prophecy, Harry.
I believe it to be the greatest regret of his life”.
– Half-Blood Prince; Page 512, Chapter 25: The Seer Overheard.
In some ways, this could be the reason why Snape seemed to have hated Harry so much!
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