[HPFGU-OTChatter] Something huge about Lily! (was: Re: info. on book 6)

[Vivamus]

> > Luckdragon:
> > Mugglenet has posted info. from a source saying book 6 will reveal 
> > "something huge about Lily", "Why Dumbledore trusts Snape", 
> "Harry has 
> > a romance".
> > We've all been hoping for this, so this is great news to find out
> we 
> > won't have to wait for book 7 for all our answers. 
> > 5 months to go!
> 
> Luckdragon again:
> 
> So any guesses on what it will be?
> A) significance of her green eyes.
> B) family background info.
> C) career.
> D) how she and James ended up together.
> E) why LV was initially going to spare her.
> F) what charm, if any, she cast to save Harry.
> G) what was her relationship to Lupin, Snape, LV.
> H) her relationship with Petunia.
> I) other
> 
> Me; I'm greedy. I want to know it all. 

Vivamus:

I'll have a shot at a couple of them.

> A) significance of her green eyes.

Harry's green eyes (which come from Lily, have been emphasized in all the
books, and JKR says are very significant) are the primary reason Snape hates
Harry.  I would have said because there was a blood relation between her and
Tom Riddle, Jr., but JKR denied that there is any significant blood relation
between Harry and LV, which would certainly be the case if Lily was related
to him. 

Anyway, my guess is that Snape used to love Lily (LOLLIPOPS), and Harry's
green eyes remind him of her rejected love every time Snape looks at Harry.


> E) why LV was initially going to spare her.

This is the big puzzle for me.  She was Head Girl, so think of her as a
Hermione Granger type -- highly skilled, competent, and motivated.  Hermione
can do a LOT, but imagine Hermione ten years from now.  Fully grown, and
very powerful.   

Now imagine LV murdering this grown-up Hermione's husband in front of her,
and coming after her baby to kill him.  Yikes!  Even a 13-year-old Hermione
would be a seriously formidable obstacle to that, let alone a 25- or 30-year
old Hermione.

Instead of AKing her, though, he evidently does an Expelliarmus or something
similar, so she now has no defense at all for her baby except to stand in
the way and die for him to complete the charm (or maybe she never tried to
defend herself, for exactly that reason, so LV never had to disarm her.)

Either way, the big puzzle for me is why LV would think that she WOULD stand
aside.   Why would he think, if she got out of his way so he could kill her
baby, that she wouldn't transfigure him into a tomato the instant his
attention was focused on Harry?  LV is no fool, and that seems exceedingly
foolish.  Yes, perhaps he was arrogant enough to think that a terrified
young woman would be no threat to him, but he already knows the baby IS a
threat to him, which is reason to proceed with caution in dealing with his
parents.  For someone like LV, it is both more convenient and much safer
simply to kill both parents before trying to kill their baby.

Even if he had disarmed her, so he knew she had no wand, the same logic
applies.  Forget magic.  You are standing in a room with your baby, and a
totally evil galactic overlord is about to murder your baby.  His attention
is on the baby, not on you.  You have several seconds to act, between the
time you stepped aside and your baby is dead.  What do you do?  (a) stand
still, watch in horror, and do nothing while your baby is killed, or (b)
grab the nearest hard, heavy object and bash in his skull with it ?    In
some situations, the most feeble of normal adults have the ability to kill
the strongest man alive.

It seems to me that LV would have taken a huge risk by leaving her alive,
had she been willing to step aside.  So, it seems equally likely that he had
a compelling reason to leave her alive.

Here, finally, is my theory to answer the question:  Lily had saved Riddle's
life at some point, and that is what gave her the ability to protect Harry
by letting LV kill her.  Because she had done so, he was most unwilling to
kill her, warning her to move twice, before finally killing her when she
wouldn't move. 

This also fits with the "something huge about Lily" question.

Vivamus