Lily's sacrifice

[Christy]

No: HPFGUIDX 95756


> Maddy wrote:
> "I don't think that Dumbledore or Lily knew about or thought of the 
> magic that saved Harry, nor do I think they planned what 
> happened. Rather, I think that merely the act of dying as she did, 
> trying to save her son, is supposed to be what protected Harry."
 
Arianna wrote: 
> Very much like the reverse wand effect, I think we are seeing 
> things in the reverse order that they happened.   I believe that if 
> we look at Harry's memories  (from PoA when encountering 
> dementors or boggarts) in reverse, we can see the order of the 
> events.
> 1) Some male (possibly James) tells Lily to take Harry and run.  
> (Amer paperback 240).
> 2) Lily says, "Not Harry! Please, I'll do anything"  (Amer 
> paperback 
> 239). 
> 3) Lily says, "Not Harry! Kill me instead!"  (Amer paperback 179).
> 
> I think somewhere between 2 and 3 above it occurred to her to try 
> what ever spell she used.

Christy(that's me!):
Actually, I think that whatever charm or spell Lily cast (and I do
believe that it very much had to do with love) was well thought out
ahead of time. I doubt that without her wand and with the little time
that she must have had (after all, they thought they were safe and
them Voldemort showed up at their door... they had, what, a few
minutes, at best?) whatever saved Harry was thought of ahead of time.

After all, the Potters knew Voldemort was after them. That's why they
had a secret keeper to begin with. I think we can assume they knew
about the prophesy. Dumbledore never says that they knew, but I'm
willing to bet that he went to both the Potters and the Longbottoms
after Harry and Neville were born so that they would know. I also
think it's reasonably safe to assume that the prophesy is the reason
why Voldemort is looking for the Potters.

So, knowing that Voldemort is after their child, and knowing that even
the most carefully laid plans can go awry (I doubt Dumbledore thought
a secret keeper was enough. In fact, I've wondered if he didn't have
an idea that Pettigrew was the snitch) they probably went to some
lengths to protect their son. And I think that it was done with some
forethought. Maybe only Lily and James knew about it. Lily was good
with charms and could have performed spells and James was no slouch
either. Maybe Dumbledore was in on it too. He almost seems to expect
the outcome he gets on that fateful night. But either way, I doubt
that what happened was a spur of the moment kind of thing.

Thoughts?
Christy