Sparing Lily (was: JKR's answer to "Was Snape ever loved?")

[mompowered]

No: HPFGUIDX 134759

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, IAmLordCassandra at a... wrote:
<snip>
A small supporting point ...  at the end of OotP LV talks about 
> Lily's death and is scornful about how  unnecessary and silly it 
> was ... it would be a gross overstatement to say  he regrets killing 
> her,  but he doesn't seem to relish her death or  to have been 
> pleased with it.  Why not?  Because her death had  
> consequences he didn't like.  One nasty consequence of her 
> death  is that  Harry is protected, but another is that he loses one 
> of his  most trusted servants, the one who in GoF he says "will 
> never  return."
<snip>

I thought the one who would never return was Karkaroff, who was 
killed, as LV said he would be.  I think it is clear now that Snape 
was the "faithful servant at Hogwarts" (though I am in the camp that 
thinks Snape is still on the good side, depite appearances).  I think 
LV was sneering about Lily's death both because her death had 
consequences he didn't like and because he simply doesn't understand 
love, especially the type of love that would cause one person to 
sacrifice their life for another. Being that he is so afraid of death, 
this is inconceivable and he thinks Lily is silly for willingly giving 
her life.  I do question why LV gave Lily the choice...it seems that 
LV gave Lily the chance to get out of the way.  This seems unlike LV. 
He doesn't seem to care who he kills (i.e. "kill the spare")and it 
seems he would have blasted Lily unless there was some reason not 
to....so perhaps he did make a promise to someone (Snape?) not to kill 
her.

Cheryl