Lily's love (was Re: My predictions in April 2003)

[Grey Wolf]

No: HPFGUIDX 127178


Beto wrote:
> I always thought that the love answer was sort of a cop out on
> Dumbledore's part.  I doubt that Lily was the only mother who died
> before her child that loved her child.  If her love was the only
> variable then she was either more powerful than anyone else or 
> loved Harry more than any other mother/child.  That's why I assume 
> that Dumbledore was keeping secrets and assumed Harry wasn't mature 
> enough to handle all the information.  Because hearing your mom 
> loved you so much that it protected you from the worst curse in 
> existence is a nice thing if you are an unloved orphan.  And 
> playing the devil's advocate for the Slytherin Dumbledore, such a 
> statement is a nice way to give a vague answer while also diverting 
> Harry's mind from the question at hand.     
> 
> Beto

I agree - the situation of a mother dying for his child is not so
uncommon that Harry's Love Shield should be a product of only it. Mind
you, from what we see in the books AK might be a particularly rare
curse, but if the Love Shield only protects you from an AK, it would
be a rather useless thing. No, I have thought for a while that James
and Lily were investigating ancient magics to help DUmbledore in the
Voldemort War, and that Lily's focus in particular might have been in
the power of love, or maybe family, as a way to protect people. IIRC,
my theory went that a sacrifice was required, in particular a willing
sacrifice of someone who loved the recipient.

Essentially, that would turn Lily's Love Shield into a much harder to
reproduce situation -  acombination of love, knowledge of ancient
magics and the unlikely situation of a sacrifice.

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf