Why didn't Lily have to die?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 93539

Kimberly wrote:
> It is quite uncharacteristic [ of LV] but, looking at it from a flip
side... in order for Harry to have the protective bond of Lily's
sacrifice, she had to die to protect him.   Now, naturally Lily didn't
know this and certainly Voldemort didn't but JKR did.  Perhaps she
wrote it like that simply to add the element of Lily's sacrifice and
the affect of it on Harry as well as the long term affect it could
have on the entire plot line.  IMO, that's why Lily had to die in the
book.    As to why Voldemort stated it later on, perhaps he was just
remarking that it wasn't necessary.     

Carol:
I think Lily *did* know that she had to die for the "ancient magic" to
work. (We've discussed the possibility in earlier threads that she
herself placed a protective charm on Harry that could only work if she
died to save him.) If I'm right, she could not step aside (even if she
wanted to, which few mothers would) and she couldn't allow herself to
be pushed aside, either: she had to be killed to activate the
protection. That's why (IMO) she kept screaming, "Don't kill Harry!
Kill me instead!" Whether or not she placed a charm on him herself,
these words indicate that she knew she had to die. (If you're
interested in the protective charm theory, it was discussed at length
earlier this year and ties in with Lily's skill at charms, as
suggested by the description of her first wand in SS/PS.)

Voldemort, we sometimes forget, is not omniscient, and I think in this
case his view of what happened isn't quite accurate, or at least it's
not complete. From *his* perspective, Lily didn't have to die. If she
had only been sensible and moved (right, LV!), she would have lived to
see him murder her son. (I still say he was dense, or ignorant of
human psychology, to expect her to move even given his lack of
comprehension of love, but I'm not going back into that one!) From
Lily's and JKR's perspective, Lily's death was essential. She *had* to
die *before* LV tried to kill Harry because the AK would have
succeeded if she were still alive to see it.

As to why Voldemort acted as he did, I've already argued that it
wasn't mercy. He just (IMO) didn't see the wandless Lily as a threat,
only an obstacle to the one murder he was sure he must perform to
prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled. Only when she screamed and
persistently refused to move out of his way did he see a need to kill
her. And even then he saw it as her "foolish sacrifice" (GoF), not as
the essential element it was in the survival of her son and,
ultimately, of the WW itself.

Carol, hoping that she's had her last word on this topic