LV showing mercy to Lily?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 93444

> greatelderone: 
> why does a ruthless Dark Lord actually show an ounce
> of mercy to Lily 
> 
> Tyler:
> I don't think it was about mercy.  IMO,  LV gets off
> on the idea of having people cower before him;  he
> enjoys seeing fear in his victims.  He enjoys the
> feeling of dominance.  I think he warned Lily to stand
> aside because he expected her to comply out of fear. 
> When she didn't,  I think he decided to kill her as a
> way to try and maintain in his mind this belief that
> he can intimidate anyone.


Lily was screaming at him to kill her, not Harry. I think he realized
that he had to kill her because she wasn't going to move otherwise. Or
he chose to kill her out of annoyance rather than elbowing her aside.
(As I said before, she presented an obstacle, not a threat, and so he
didn't "have" to kill her as he did the presumably armed and fighting
James.) What he didn't realize was that her self-sacrifice activated
the "old magic" (or charm) that protected Harry--so, LV to the
contrary, she did indeed have to die. Or, put another way, she didn't
have to die--unless she wanted Harry to live. And, of course, she did.

Carol