JKR interview - Lily and why Harry ends up having to ...

[sofdog_2000]

No: HPFGUIDX 101830

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "boyd_smythe" <boyd.t.smythe at f...> 
wrote:
> My responses are sprinkled throughout. Sorry, I know this format is 
> always a pain!
> 
> > SOF wrote:
> > 1) Lily eventually married James because he changed. He got over 
> > himself and started behaving like a better person. Why hasn't been 
> > revealed, but hey, people mature. 
> 
> Boyd: Canon doesn't actually demonstrate James changing, does it? So 
> let's see which of our beliefs are HP-facts and which are 
> assumptions/hopes.

> > SOF wrote:
> > 2)James put up a courageous to save his family. Otherwise, why 
> bother 
> > telling Lily to run with Harry? He was trying to protect them. This 
> > is easily extrapolated from the shreds of information about that 
> > fateful day that are seeded throughout the series. 
> 
> Boyd: While I agree that it's more likely James was good, I'm merely 
> pointing out that it's still possible that he was, at least
> initially, involved with LV. Do I believe this? No. But in the 
> interest of weighing all the alternatives, there it is.
> 
> > SOF wrote:
> > 3) Harry is the one because Voldemort chose to attack him. There 
> were 
> > only two choices: Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. For his own 
> > reasons, which Dumbledore suggests was a subconcious identification 
> > to the half-blood child, Voldemort decided that Harry was the 
> > prophesied "one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord." The 
> > incidental result of his attack was the gifting of Harry with that 
> > power. If Voldemort had attacked Neville, that boy would the one. 
> 
> Yes, you have stated the commonly-held opinion, but it's not canon. 
> I'm again pointing out that we don't really *know* why Harry is the 
> one. Maybe it is because he's the one LV attacked and his mother 
> defended...or maybe it's something else. And if there's something 
> interesting left to learn about what happened that day at GH (and I 
> believe there is, although no canon yet), then here's one
> alternative. There have to be others. Anyone?
> 
> > SOF wrote:
> > Voldemort wasn't killed by the AK backfire because he had been 
> > performing experiments on himself for years in an attempt to make 
> > himself impervious to death. He doesn't know if he succeeded 
> > entirely, but he managed to survive the AK. 
> 
> Once again, we have no canon either way. Could be meat, could be
> cake. :) Your statement is what I initially assumed, but I feel there 
> must be more to the GH/scar/prophecy triumvirate than we know.
> 
> > SOF wrote:
> > I don't get this spell business. LV wasn't doing a spell with
> Harry. 
> > Their link comes from the AK backfire when Harry was a baby.
> 
> Yes, this "eternal life" spell is just a theory, but why did LV care 
> about some mere baby? Isn't he the all-powerful Lord Voldemort? So 
> what if some prophecy said something about the kid maybe being his 
> equal. Isn't he almost at immortality yet? Why not send a dozen DEs
> to do the deed? Why not tend to that after he takes over the whole
> WW? 
> No, I think there's a reason, and maybe it's that Harry was the key
> to his long quest for immortality.
> 
> Further, and as my best canonical defence, we still have no clue why
> a rebounding AK would forge a link between the two. I'm simply
> supposing there was already a link there as the beginning of some 
> eternal life spell or something.
> 
> Clearly, there's something we don't know yet. Something big.
> Something that has to do with why Harry's the one, and why Harry is 
> linked to LV, and what happened at GH. What is it? Hmmmm.
> 
> boyd

Now I'm really confused. You say " let's see which of our beliefs are HP-facts and 
which are assumptions/hopes" but your initial post was clearly (and almost entirely)  
speculation. And I don't see how my Point 2 response fails to be canon. This is what 
the book says. Even if the characters are hypothesizing it is still canon coming from 
the book. Voldemort himself "assumes" that his experiments with immortality are 
what saved him from the AK. 

I get that you're supposing there was a previous link between HP and LV. I'm 
supposing James got himself together enough to be worth marrying, special case of 
Snape notwithstanding. Jerks need love too. 

In the interests of weighing all the alternatives I submit that all roads lead back to the 
prophecy. Of course, the belief here is that all prophecies are nothing more than 
systems of control introduced by outside parties to influence events for the greater 
good. So somewhere beyond the veil is at least one entity capable of predicting 
certain outcomes of a specific set of events. And by issuing a 'suggestion' (or two) 
through Sybil Trelawney, said entity set into motion Lord Voldemort's downfall. 

Hopefully, said entity will not turn out to be... Muad'dib.