As is the nature of prophecies in literature, it is necessary for the prophecy to be heard and recognized for those about whom they are written in order for them come true. When he tries to kill Harry, Lily stands in between, and he transfers some of his powers to Harry, therefore marking him as his equal. Having only been made aware of half of the prophecy, Voldemort attempts to prevent it from coming true, not realizing that in doing so, he only solidifies it. However, the prophecy also indicates that Voldemort will mark this boy as his equal, which he does by choosing Harry Potter, a half-blood like himself, over Neville, a pure-blood born the day before Harry. Throughout the novel, the goal of the Order is to stop Voldemort from attaining the record of the prophecy made by Professor Trelawney, which predicts that a boy born at the end of July will defeat Voldemort. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix draws many similarities with William Shakespeare's Macbeth.
