Lily and the deal with the devil

[Ali]

No: HPFGUIDX 58572

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "darrin_burnett" 
<bard7696 at a...> wrote:
 
> 
> > Back to the thread -
> > I like Evil!Lily - well, maybe not *evil* but at least Desperate!
Lily.  I 
> > think the plot twist would be good in a way, because it would 
show that 
>>> Again, HOW did she betray him? We know that he said, "Run Lily, 
I'll hold him off" which indicates there wasn't a "take him instead 
of me" spur-of-the- moment kind of deal.
 
 And if he already had Pettigrew, why would V-Mort need her?
 
 And in the vein of my "Just how stupid is Snape?" theory on the 
Shrieking Shack, I wonder "just how stupid is Lily?" for trusting V-
Mort to keep his word?>>>

Ali:

Desperate people do desperate things. I don't think that 
Lily's "deal" with Voldemort would have been made when Voldemort 
actually burst into the house. It is quite possible though that she 
had already been in contact with him. If she was the one who cast 
the Secret Keeper charm, perhaps she put a flaw in it?

As for why Voldemort would need Lily as well as Pettigrew, he 
didn't. But since when have governments, terrorists etc only had one 
spy? They tend to have several who work without knowledge of each 
other. Then, if one has been compromised, they can still carry on 
their work.
 
Darrin again:

<<< I don't really think it was pivotal (Lily's sacrifice).  I mean, 
it was important because Harry lived, but IMHO what Harry does with 
the life he was given is more important than how he got it.  What we 
choose to become and all that jazz.
 
 I think that without Lily's sacrifice there is no Harry. And if 
there is no Harry, there is no story. No matter what he chooses to 
make of his life, the fact that he has a choice is because of her.>>>

Ali replies:

I agree. Lily's sacrifice is fundamental both to Harry, and to the 
plot. I don't think that undermines the potential though for a 
possible pact with Voldemort. My theory (which I don't want to be 
true) has Lily acting only to save Harry. Once she has compromised 
her beliefs, sacrificed her husband she then sacrifices herself.

If this deal did happen, and Harry were to discover it, I think he 
would find it very hard to come to terms with. So far, he's almost 
been able to canonise his parents. He has not had to deal with a 
memory of flawed individuals. But, perhaps this idealised vision 
will come under attack in the later books.

Ali