Did LV try to spare Lily? (was From Black to White (was Peter...)

[naamagatus]

No: HPFGUIDX 90314

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboy_mn at y...> wrote:
> > > bboy_mn:
> > >
> > <snip>
> > >
> > > When Voldemort entered the room in which Harry and Lily were, he
> > > had one major objective, one absolute TOP priority, and that was
> > > Harry. Lily was inconsequential, so he told her to move aside. 
> > > <snip>
> > > > 

and:  

> Lily was inconsequential and insignificant to Voldemort which is
> exactly why she didn't have to die. As long as Voldemort got what he
> wanted, which was Harry dead, he could care less if Lily lived or 
>died. 
> 
> So, he didn't kill her because she was part of his Grand Plot, she
> simply interferred with his objective, and Voldemort casually killed
> her rather than allow her to delay him from his goal.

But all this applies just as well to James. If, as you say (and I 
agree with you), that Voldemort had one overriding objective and that 
was to kill Harry, then James is just as inconsequential to him as 
Lily at that point. But still, he differentiates between them - it is 
*Lily* who needn't have died. Why only she and not James? 

I seem to detect an underlying assumption here, which is that 
Voldemort would have seen James as a threat and therefore James' 
death was necessary to him. Lily, on the other hand, he wouldn't see 
as a threat, and therefore didn't have to kill her. I think this 
reflects a kind of male chauvinism which doesn't seem to apply to the 
WW, or even to Voldemort himself. At least, we don't have any 
evidence for it. Witches are just as powerful as men in the WW, and 
this seems to be taken for granted in the Potterverse. 

Another point I'd like to make is that Voldemort and his followers 
take pleasure in killing and torturing for its own sake. I would have 
thought that for Voldemort the question wouldn't be "why kill" 
but "why not kill". So, if he didn't just automatically, 
unthinkingly, kill her, there must have been some reason for it. For 
some reason Lily was someone he preferred *not* to kill.
 
> 
> That's from Voldemort's perspective. But he is someone who really
> doesn't understand the world and people around him very well; he way
> to abosorbed in himself. 

All this is beside the main point, but I have to say that I don't 
agree with this assessment at all. He completely understands his DEs, 
for instance. He understands exactly what makes each and every one of 
them tick, as we see at the graveyard scene. He also understands what 
makes his enemies tick. It was his understanding of Harry's psyche 
that brought about Sirius' death. There is just one thing that is 
impenetrable to him (according to Dumbledore), and that is love. Not 
in the sense that he can't take advantage of it (he manipulated Harry 
through his love to Sirius), but in the sense that he underestimates 
it's power. Other than that, he is as insightful into the working of 
people's mind and soul as Dumbledore.

<snip>



Naama