I never have figured out what Petunia is getting out of this whole arrangement. She despised her sister, so taking Harry in wasn't out of love or loyalty.
I keep thinking about one of the conversations DD had with Harry about the prophecy. DD seemed to be saying (and I was reading quickly, so forgive me half-formed thoughts)that the prophecy itself could be utter nonsense. Voldemort, by his own actions, created the circumstances which, supposedly, fulfilled the prophecy.
I almost got the impression that DD does not think Harry will, or needs to, kill Voldemort. DD was emphasizing Harry's goodness and capacity to love. If Malfoy, who is a putrid slug, couldn't kill DD for his Lord, can we expect that Harry (the good and pure) will be able to kill LV? The thought that Harry wouldn't kill LV is kinda ludicrous to me, but this conversation seemed significant to me.
Is there a way to make things right in the wizarding world without killing Voldemort?
The prophecy could apply to Harry or Neville. Voldemort "chose" Harry, the half-blood, ironically, but it is Neville who is a pure blood.
Plus there is the "Problem of the wands". Even though Voldemort has now taken some of Harry's blood, so that he, LV, has some of what Harry has in his blood that protects him (love, the love his Mother showed by dying for him, and that I also think is the reason Harry is "safe" for a year by staying for some period of time at the Dursley's because Aunt Petunia is connected to Harry by blood (or what we today would call "genes" or family ties), it is clear in "OOTP", Order of the Phoenix, that Harry's and LV' wands, having the same cores, do this gold-stream connection thing.
Big breath.
So, I don't think that Harry has enough hate to kill LV, and since there is this problem of the wands having the same core, and doing that latest curses regurgitation thingy, I think it's going to have to be Neville who kills LV.
Sorry I'm so late to the discussion. I read HBP the first weekend of it's release, and then started re-reading from #1. Just finished and am about to read HBP again. I just had too many questions after HBP and decided that I needed to read all of the books again.
TNT