It's About Motive

[greenminicat]

No: HPFGUIDX 135173

Pitaphr:
> 3 - James attacked LV.  Lily was standing in front of Harry 
> protecting him.  All LV wanted was Harry to "fulfill" the prophecy. 
> That is why he told her to step away.  He would have killed her 
> anyway.


During the Melissa and Emmerson interview JKR clearly says that Lilly had a choice to live or die, that LV would not have killed her anyway. It is all because she had a choice that Harry received the protection he did.

I copied this from Mugglenet, Part 1 of the interview:

ES: This is one of my burning questions since the third book - why did Voldemort offer Lily 
so many chances to live? Would he actually have let her live?

JKR: Mmhm.

ES: Why?

JKR: [silence] Can't tell you. But he did offer, you're absolutely right. Don't you want to ask 
me why James's death didn't protect Lily and Harry? There's your answer, you've just 
answered your own question, because she could have lived and chose to die. James was 
going to be killed anyway. Do you see what I mean? I'm not saying James wasn't ready to; 
he died trying to protect his family but he was going to be murdered anyway. He had no - 
he wasn't given a choice, so he rushed into it in a kind of animal way, I think there are 
distinctions in courage. James was immensely brave. But the caliber of Lily's bravery was, I 
think in this instance, higher because she could have saved herself. Now any mother, any 
normal mother would have done what Lily did. So in that sense her courage too was of an 
animal quality but she was given time to choose. James wasn't. It's like an intruder 
entering your house, isn't it? You would instinctively rush them. But if in cold blood you 
were told, "Get out of the way," you know, what would you do? I mean, I don't think any 
mother would stand aside from their child. But does that answer it? She did very 
consciously lay down her life. She had a clear choice -

ES: And James didn't.

JKR: Did he clearly die to try and protect Harry specifically given a clear choice? No. It's a 
subtle distinction and there's slightly more to it than that but that's most of the answer.

MA: Did she know anything about the possible effect of standing in front of Harry?

JKR: No - because as I've tried to make clear in the series, it never happened before. No 
one ever survived before. And no one, therefore, knew that could happen.


Hope that clears that point up.

G. M. Cat