[HPforGrownups] Lily Evans Potter relationship to Voldemort

[rayheuer3 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 58052

My thoughts on this topic:

1.  You can't read too much into what Lily said to Voldemort in the moments 
before her death.  Her husband had just been killed, possibly before her 
eyes, and the killer was advancing on her infant son.  Few people can think 
clearly in that situation.

2.  Voldemort was about to kill Harry, but (at least by his own words years 
later) did not intend to kill Lily.  To build a life-debt out of this pure 
speculation.  Life-debts have to be pretty rare to have the power we've 
assumed they have, and others will usually know about them.  Yet nothing is 
mentioned about it in canon.

3.  "Take me instead" line:  Most mothers will offer themselves in place of 
their child when the latter is in danger, but my take on this is that Lily 
was not offering her life, but rather her body.  Lily was, by all accounts, a 
very attractive woman, and the offer by a mother to "go" with the villain, or 
"be" with the villain, or even marry the villain (in return for the child's 
life) is fairly common in fiction.  But as in most cases, the offer is 
rejected.  Certainly offering something most men would be interested in would 
be more likely to succeed than asking a Dark Lord to "have mercy".

4.  Why would Voldemort have spared Lily?
  a.  He wouldn't.  He was going to kill Harry first (well, second after 
James) and make her watch.  THEN he was going to kill her.  He is, after all, 
evil.
  b.  Lily was an heir of Slytherin (see separate (and as yet unwritten) post 
about heirs) and Voldemort couldn't bring himself to kill a "sister."
  c.  Lily was an heir of Gryffindor (see separate (and as yet unwritten) 
post about heirs) and Voldemort knew he *couldn't* kill her without serious 
mystical consequences.
  d.  Life debt.  OK, it's *possible*, but Wormtail's canon life-debt to 
Harry didn't keep Peter Pettigrew from conspiring to murder Harry.  Evil, 
again, you see?

I think I have more to say on this, but I'm kinda out of steam, and I have a 
whole other post to write, so I'll let the rest of the list have at it.

  --  Ray
Student at the wizarding school represented by Harry at the Tri-Wizarding 
Tournament.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]