What caused the damage was Re: Graveyards

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 41670

Amanda asked:

> It has also been the subject of discussion, albeit not recently (I 
don'tthink), why the bodies were damaged at all, or the house. 
The house and James' body damage might be due to James' 
putting up a fight--but Lily?
> According to Harry's mental soundtrack, she didn't resist in the 
sense of throwing any spells, and presumably Voldemort cast 
Avada Kedavra at her--but we know that AK does not inflict any 
injury. So why, one wonders, were James and Lily's bodies 
burned, the house destroyed, and Voldemort's own body
> destroyed....? What caused all the physical damage, when the 
only spell we know for certain was cast doesn't *do* that....?
> 

It doesn't do that when it works properly. A backfiring spell, on the 
other hand, can cause all sorts of damage. Lockhart's failed 
Obliviate in CoS not only obliterates his own memories, it 
collapses the corridor. The magical blast of the deflected AK 
would be directed away from Harry, who survived unharmed, just 
as Pettigrew later survived the blast he set off behind him.

 IMO, James and Lily's bodies were buried in  the rubble and 
Sirius, the real Sirius, arrived as they were being taken out. The 
person Hagrid met and borrowed the motorcycle from was 
actually polyjuiced Pettigrew--additional canon support for this 
theory is that McGonagall, although she's spoken with Hagrid, 
does not seem to be sure that James and Lily are dead when 
she arrives at Privet Drive. Easy to understand, if in fact Hagrid 
left with Harry before their bodies were discovered. He knows 
that Lily and James are dead by the time he gets to Privet Drive, 
but that's a lot later.

Pippin