[HPforGrownups] Wizards at Large

[manawydan]

No: HPFGUIDX 116639

> Carol asks:
> By "the protection on Harry," do you mean a Charm performed by Lily as
> part of the "ancient magic" that also required her self-sacrifice? I
> agree that there probably was some such Charm and that the
> self-sacrifice was not all that was involved in saving Harry and
> causing the AK to rebound. But if that protection short-circuited all
> other magic in the vicinity, how could James have duelled with
> Voldemort and how could Voldemort have killed Lily and James?

I'd say that until Voldemort attacked Harry directly, the Charm wasn't
triggered. There was certainly a lot of magic expended that night. I don't
think Voldemort would have come sneaking through the back door, it doesn't
seem like the Evil Overlord style: he'd have come straight up the front
path. I could conceive of James taking him on on the threshold (given the
traditional magical properties of thresholds in legends). Just possibly,
this exchange was enough to damage the Fidelius sufficiently that the house
was no longer hidden when Hagrid arrived (together with "X" or possibly "Y",
the person who witnessed Voldemort's downfall and passed the message on to
the media).

Then Voldemort killed Lily. And only then did he trigger the Charm when he
turned his attention to Harry. It was at that point that (I think) _all_
magics in the vicinity were nullified.

But JKR alone knows all

Cheers

Ffred

O Benryn wleth hyd Luch Reon
Cymru yn unfryd gerhyd Wrion
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