Why were the sacrifices different? (was: A moral theory of Magic )

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 95349

Siriusly Snapey Susan wrote:
> > I know *DD* stresses that Lily died to save Harry and that *that*
> > kind of sacrifice leaves a mark.... But frankly I've never
> > understood why it wasn't his PARENTS' sacrifice which BOTH left 
> > that mark. Why wasn't James' sacrifice as "worthy" as Lily's?
> 
> Karen:
> > Voldemort says in PS/SS that he killed Harry's father but his 
> > mother need not have died. My thought has always been that the 
> > answer lies in Voldemort's intent. He intended to kill James all 
> > along so his death is not considered a sacrifice. Lily's death is 
> > considered a sacrifice because Voldemort gave her the chance to 
> > live.  To me the question is why would let Lily live?
> 
> 
> Siriusly Snapey Susan:
> Hmmmm.  Just because Voldy planned to kill James all along doesn't 
> negate James' death being a sacrifice, does it?  After all, you're 
> talking about *Voldy's* intention to kill James, not James' 
> intention to allow himself to be killed.  If James was just sitting 
> in a chair & Voldy walked in & murdered him before he even looked 
> up, I think I'd agree with you.  But in this case it's in James' 
> reaction to the confrontation where the sacrifice comes in.  It's 
> James' staying there to take on Voldy & to try to give Lily & Harry 
> time to run that makes his death sacrificial, imho.
> 
> Anyway, I *do* agree with you that why Voldy ever intended to let 
> Lily live is a big unanswered question!  Given what we've seen of 
> his nature, I can't imagine why he wouldn't automatically kill them 
> both.


Carol tries again:
It's not that James didn't die for his wife and child, rather like a
soldier dying for his country, "fighting manfully," as LV said. (A
compliment to a dead enemy.) It's that James's death merely bought a
little time for his wife to run away--as she chose not to do. She
chose to die, without fighting, because only *her* death, not James's,
could activate the protective charm that (IMO) she had placed on
Harry. If she had joined James in that fight, LV might have stunned
rather than killed her in order to get to Harry. She couldn't take
that chance. She knew she had to die *before* Harry was hit by the AK.
In terms of the "ancient magic," James's death didn't matter. In terms
of love and family and nobility, it mattered a lot.

As for why LV didn't just kill her, she wasn't threatening him. She
was just standing in his way. There was, in his view, no need to waste
time and energy fighting or killing a "silly girl." (Yes, there's some
sexism on Voldy's part; look at the era in which he grew up. But had
she been holding out a wand ready to fight, he would have taken a
different view.) Ironically for him, if he had just elbowed her out of
his way or stunned her, he would have accomplished his objective and
killed Harry. Instead, she made sure that he killed her--despite *his*
belief that her death wasn't necessary.

Carol