Disclaimer: I don't own any characters blah blah blah owned by JK Rowling blah blah blah don't sue me.
Each chapter is a separate one-shot.
Summary: This isn't a traditional one-shot fanfic. There is no plot, no dialogue and no drama. Instead, this will be kinda like an essay about a topic related to the Harry Potter series.
The Prophecy Should've Been Interpreted
Introduction: Less than 2 years after Sybil Trelawney gave the prophecy, Albus Dumbledore managed to find the person it was talking about. It's a miracle! But how many "Chosen One's" were there to choose from? This will be a series of line-by-line mathematical deductions, using 4.511 billion as a figure for the total world population, of which magical people make up 0.01%, using 40 witches and wizards per year across the world as a figure, using 150 as the magical life expectancy and using 63 as the Muggle life expectancy. If there are decimal points, the numbers will be rounded up to the nearest whole number.
The prophecy, in total, reads thus:
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...
And these are the figures I will be starting out with:
Muggles Worldwide: 4,510,548,900
Magicals Worldwide:445,100
Magicals in the UK: 6,000.
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…
Well, first of all, there's no name mentioned. Or time limit. Or place. Meaning this prophecy could be about some Dark Lord that pops up in Japan three hundred years in the future. But, since the story is based in England, we'll suspend disbelief and assume the prophecy is talking about Voldemort.
The word "approaches" doesn't necessarily mean that the person has yet to be born. It could just mean they have to move to Britain. Or they have to get something. So, the numbers won't be changed to reflect only newborn babies.
Since I don't think it's likely Trelawney would have come up with a prophecy stating that the only way Voldemort can die is if he commits suicide…
Muggles Worldwide: 4,510,548,900
Magicals Worldwide: 445,100
Magicals in the UK: 5,999 (-1)
born to those who have thrice defied him,
Well, Death Eaters who defied him once were killed off, so they wouldn't have gotten the chance to defy him another two times (with one spying exception), so…
Muggles Worldwide: 4,510,548,900
Magicals Worldwide: 445,100
Magicals in the UK: 5,971 (-28, according to my abilities to count while rereading the books. I may have missed some, though)
born as the seventh month dies…
Search through enough religions, regions and time periods, and you can probably find sufficient calendars to make every month the seventh month. And just to make sure, I'm counting the last two days of every month, so…
Muggles Worldwide: 300,703,260 (15)
Magicals Worldwide: 29,674 (15)
Magicals in the UK: 399 (15)
and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal
Since there are two "him"s in that sentence, the prophecy is talking about a male. As for "mark him as his equal", Voldemort may have emotionally, physically, or psychologically marked everyone in the world, so I won't do anything for that part.
Muggles Worldwide: 150,351,630 (2)
Magicals Worldwide: 14,837 (2)
Magicals in the UK: 200 (2)
but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not
Since Voldemort went to Hogwarts, he realistically knows everything that the magicals in Britain who are 17 or younger know. So that removes 17 or younger British magicals. As for magicals elsewhere in the world, to average out the curriculum differences each country may have, those that are 14 or younger will be removed. As for the Muggles, while they would have access to nuclear technology and other weapons, 12-year-olds or younger wouldn't know anything about them or be able to access them (hopefully).
Muggles Worldwide: 121,713,225 (63 x51)
Magicals Worldwide: 13,453 (150 x136)
Magicals in the UK: 178 (150 x133)
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...
The second last line doesn't leave me with a way to whittle down the numbers, and the last line is a repeat of the start of the prophecy. So, to recap:
~ There were 121,713,225 Muggle males 13 years old or older born in the last two days of every month, which the prophecy could have applied to.
~ There were 14,837 magical males 15 years old or older born in the last two days of every month not born in Britain to whom the prophecy could have applied.
~ There were 178 magical males 18 years old or older born in the last two days of every month born in Britain who the prophecy could have applied to.
~ Giving a grand total of 121,728,270 possible candidates.
And Dumbledore managed to narrow it down to only two candidates? Either he's an absolute genius or using selective bias.
We may never know.
