[HPforGrownups] Re: What saved Harry?

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 142794

 szehms:
In the interview quotes I provided, JKR says a choice like the one given to
Lily is the one and only time LV allowed a witch or wizard the opportunity
to choose to live when faced the possibity of death.
LV told Harry that "your mother (LIly) needn't have died..." (SS pp. 294)
and in POA HArry hears LV tell Lily to step aside I believe 3 times.

WHy not just kill her outright as he did James?
 Debbie:
The simplest answer to that question is that James and Lily had different
roles in defending Harry. James took the aggressive role of attempting to
stop the intruder, which I have always assumed involved going after
Voldemort with a wand. Thus, Voldemort had to assume that he would be killed
if he did not kill first.
 In Lily's role as protector of Harry, she acted as a shield; unlike James,
she probably did not herself threaten Voldemort in any way. Thus, Voldemort
did not need to kill her; all he needed was for her to be out of the way.
Though Voldemort's not the type to avoid unnecessary killings, so my
response above is only a partial answer.

szehms:
Had he killed her as he did James, Harry would not be "the boy who lived"
but by giving Lily the choice she was able to invoke ancient magic sealing
an invisible magical contract of "my life for Harry's".
 Debbie:
Voldemort says in the graveyard that he had forgotten about this form of
magic. Well, that's a typical Evil Overlord mistake. ::rolls eyes::

szehms:
WHy the choice?
 Debbie:
This has been extensively debated over the years, with much speculating on
the TEW EWW line of theories:
 http://www.hpfgu.org.uk/faq/hypotheticalley.html#eww
 These theories posit that Voldemort wanted Lily for himself or else that
she was to be a prize for Snape. I personally believe he did it because of
Snape, with or without the LOLLIPOPS* option (for those who don't like
LOLLIPOPS, there's always a Platonic Potions Chum alternative). That option
would relate best to the unsolved mystery of who Snape is/was/ever shall be
working for (and she's going to have to tie up a lot of loose ends in one
book):
 1. Snape must in fact have occupied a powerful position with Voldemort.
2. Snape was unhappy about the decision to target the Potters because of
Lily.
3. Voldemort knew this.
 If this is true, Voldemort may have been concerned about Snape's continued
loyalty before Godric's Hollow, and maybe Lily's death explains why
Voldemort believed that Snape had left him forever.
 This also ties into another question that JKR won't answer: who else, if
anyone, was at Godric's Hollow. I believe we will eventually see the entire
scene unfold, via the witness's memory. So who else was there? Wormtail?
Snape? Or both? My bets are on Pettigrew, or maybe both.
 Debbie
imagining Harry's reaction if he were to discover that Snape was there and
did nothing to prevent the deaths
 *LOLLIPOPS: Love of Lily Left Ire Polluting Our Poor Snape


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