What does a failed Death Curse look like?

[inkling108]

No: HPFGUIDX 103829

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "delwynmarch" 
<delwynmarch at y...> wrote:
> Jamie wrote:
> > Maybe it works something like this:  what shows up as an echo 
> > from the wand during Priori Incantatem is the shadow of the 
> > visible result of the spell in question:  for example, Wormtail's 
> > silver hand, shades of the victims of the AK curse (represented 
> > in the physical world by their corpses), Crouch Jr's Dark Mark at 
> > the beginnning of GF.
> > 
> > Logically, the visual result(s) of the curse that failed would be at 
> > least two -- Harry's lightening scar and what ever became of 
> > Voldy's body when he was ripped from it.  However it is possible 
> > that these visible signs were not caused by the spell itself but by 
> > the initial encounter between Harry and Voldemort?
> 
> Del replies :
> Jamie, I completely agree with you, except for your conclusion. I
> think the scar, the dead body and the destroyed house were simply the
> results of what happens when someone mixes an inherently evil curse
> like AK, with an infinitely good charm like the old magic Lily used.
> Those two should not be mixed, under any circumstances ;-) 

Hi Del,

Yes I suppose that is also possible.  Also a possibility is that 
whatever caused the spell to fail had a blowback effect  -- the 
spell was blown back to Voldemort, and in the process was 
erased from the wand.

However I still think that it was more than just Lily's protection 
that caused the chain reaction in Godric's Hollow.   After all JKR 
has said that if she were to reveal why both Harry and Voldemort 
survived, it would give away the great mystery of the series, so 
there must be something more than what has already been 
explained.  My sense is that no-one completely understands 
what happened, and all the explanations we've seen so far come 
from characters whose understanding is only partial (DD, LV).  
Voldy especially seems clueless about it all, in fact his 
desperation to understand the truth about himself and Harry 
drives him to try to steal the prophecy.

I still think it has something to do with a mirroring effect between 
Harry and Voldy.  My current guess is that there was a inborn link 
(maybe not genetic but spiritual) between the two of them that 
that was activated when they met, and that this link was the 
primary cause of all that followed.   Lily's protection was an 
important factor, yes.  But I think it's only part of the puzzle.

Jamie