Why didn't LV die?

[kittykataddict]

No: HPFGUIDX 128544

I agree the the main reason Voldemort didn't die was because the AK 
curse was only partially reflected and the rest transferred to Harry -
 so the reflected part wasn't strong enough to kill Voldemort (I also 
have a theory that Voldemort, not Snape, is the real vampire but 
that's another story).

As for how Lily brought this about - I always assumed (maybe wrongly) 
that the 'ancient magic' that, through Lily, protected Harry was 
nothing more (or less) complicated than pure, unconditional love for 
her son, demonstrated by her willingness to die for him and 
symbolised by the fact they have the same eyes (thus the same blood). 
PS17:The Man With Two Faces:"'But Why couldn't Quirrell touch 
me?' 'Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort 
cannot understand, it is love. ...to have been loved so deeply,..., 
will give us some protection for ever. It is in your very skin....It 
was agony to touch a person marked by something so good.'"

To me there seems to be a thread throughout the books that the real 
fight isn't between good and evil, but for Love to Conquer All - a 
struggle between those who have the capacity to feel pure, 
unconditional, selfless love and those who cannot or will not. When 
Dumbledore talks to Harry about the power Harry has that Voldemort 
has not (doesn't know or understand and therefore under-estimates) 
towards the end of OOP he seems to be referring to the same thing:

OOP37:The Lost Prophecy:"'There is a room in the Department of 
Mysteries'....'That is kept locked at all times. It contains a force 
that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than 
human intelligence, than the forces of nature. ....It is the power... 
that you posess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at 
all. That power took you to save Sirius tonight. That power also 
saved you from posession by Voldemort, because he could not bear to 
reside in a body so full of the force he detests. ...It was your 
heart that saved you.'"

Furthermore Dumbledore doesn't try to kill Voldemort in OOP36:The 
Only One He Ever Feared: "'There is nothing worse than death, 
Dumbledore!' snarled Voldemort. 'You are quite wrong,' said 
Dumbledore,....'Indeed, your failure to understand that there are 
things much worse than death has always been your greatest 
weakness'". I don't think that he doesn't try to kill Voldemort 
because he believes this to be Harry's job (in order to fulfill the 
prophecy). I think he tries to inflict something else that would 
cause Voldemort the worst sort of agony imaginable (far worse than 
death): the sudden ability to love, to feel quilt and remorse for the 
countless terrible things he's done.

If Harry simply ends up killing Voldemort (and I refuse to even 
contemplate the series ending with Voldemort triumphant, though 
there's probably a good chance Harry WILL die) he will become a 
murderer. No matter how evil the person that is slain, two wrongs 
still don't make a right. 

I think the secret to vanquishing (the Prophecy, after all, never 
says 'killing')the Dark Lord lies precisely in Harry's inability to 
kill and his great capacity for love (and inspiring love) - an 
ancient magic. Just a theory.

My cynical self is now trying to tell me that this all sounds a bit 
hippy-dippy but the hippy in me rejoices!

Therese