Halloween: 1981

[plinsenmayer]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C7068
From: plinsenmayer
Subject: Halloween: 1981
Date: 8/17/00 11:49 am  (ET)

Hi:

It'll be great when we have a FAQ that summarizes all the theories about
what happened that night when the Potters were attacked in Godric's
Hollow but until then --

We know the following:

1. Voldemort says that he killed James first & that James was brave &
put up a good fight. This squares with what Harry hears when the dementors
draw near him -- he can hear his father shouting "Lily, run! Take Harry &
go. I'll hold him off."

2. Voldemort says Lily needn't have died -- he only killed her because she
was trying to shield Harry. Harry hears/remembers his mother's pleading &
Voldemort's high cold laugh.

3. Yet, when Harry's & Voldemort's wands meet & the spells performed by
Voldemort's wands start coming out in reverse order: James emerges first,
suggesting strongly that he died *after* Lily (and/or that Voldemort's
spell to kill him was cast after the one to kill Lily).

I had theorized earlier something similar to what someone else said --

James yells at Lily to take Harry & run. Voldemort curses James, but James
doesn't die immediately. He's incapacitated though. Voldemort moves on
to Lily & Harry. Lily won't stop shielding Harry. Lily is cursed & dies
immediately. James dies in the other room. Voldemort tries to attack
Harry & the curse rebounds on him.

Of course, if the prior incantatem turns on which *spell* was cast most
recently, that suggests another twist on the above scenario: After Lily
has died, James has thrown off the curse & moves into the room where
Voldemort is poised over Harry. He tries to interrupt the process;
Voldemort turns & casts the spell that kills James.

Danemead wrote: <<<We aren't told whether
Sirius lent his motorcycle to Hagrid at Hogwarts or if Sirius was in
Wales near the Potter home when Hagrid got there.>>>

I think we were told that Sirius was worried about the Potters. He'd
checked in with Peter & when he couldn't find him, he became worried. He
told Harry that he (Sirius) set out immediately for the Potter home in
Godric's Hollow. He must have met up with Hagrid there. Hagrid remembers
comforting Sirius also.

Penny