What saved Harry?

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 142885

> >femmevitale: 
> >So the parallel then is between Merope and Lily. Merope is a
> >mother who chose (in LV's eyes) to be selfish and die instead of
> >live for her son. Lily is a woman who chose to be selfless and
> >die for her son instead of save her own life. It is the choices
> >that their mothers made which make Harry and LV diametric
> >opposites.

> Orna:
> My understanding of what's going on there is that Voldermort is 
> driven by something deeper than he knows. When he says that his 
> mother couldn't be magic, I think he says, his mother couldn't
> have loved him. That's where Harry feels pity for him. Now what
> would he do? He can either tell himself, that something was wrong
> with him, not being able to elicit his mother's "magic". Or tell
> himself, that that's the way mothers are – selfish and not loving. 

Jen: I read Riddle's thoughts upon learning Merope died as somewhat 
removed from any personal connection. Instead of perhaps 
internalizing his mom's death as being his fault, or externalizing 
it and blaming her, he chose instead to focus on the power of magic, 
his obsession and downfall. His interpretation was that magic gives 
one the ultimate power to defeat even death, and therefore his mom 
could not be magical. Even if he was covering up for deep hurt (and 
by then I think his ability to feel such a thing was almost 
completely removed) it was buried quite far below any concious 
thought.

femmevitale:
> This is the first time in Tom's life where he equates dying with
> being anti-magical. Harry ponders the fact that Merope wouldn't
> even save herself for her son. This is the first time that Harry
> unwittingly feels pity for LV. 

Jen: Now this is a really interesting thought here, femmevitale. I 
wonder if there was an event that really cemented Harry's core-
strength of compassion, just as there was a pivotal event that 
shaped Riddle's obsession with immortality? Whether there was one 
event for Harry or not, the two boys certainly intepreted their 
mom's dying in extremely different ways.

Orna:
> When he tells Lily to step aside...<snipping> on some deeper
> level, he challenges his belief – because he puts it to a test. He
> sneers at her as a silly girl, and devaluates her act, but still –
> the scene is set. And when Lily acts like a real loving mother
> would act, I think, that's when his power brakes in some way – 
> something is shattered inside him. Not surprisingly, although he
> knows a lot of magic, he forgets that this love leaves a magic 
> protection. Voldermort being what he is, he plays it down, but the
> importance of it seems to have penetrated him in some way – that's
> why he tells Harry, that she didn't have to die. All MHO.

Jen: Oh, how I love this idea! Voldemort *would* have learned the 
power of love magic if it happened this way, a crack in his core 
belief that dark magic is always more powerful than love magic. And 
I take it you are saying there was a magical consequence for that as 
well? Perhaps some weakness that will help bring him down later on?

femmevitale:
> Or, LV could have had a special purpose for Lily (who we know was 
> immensely talented in charms & potions). Or, a truly evil LV 
> wanted Lily to watch her child being killed. Yet it struck me 
> that LV once said to Harry, "Your mother needn't have died." It's 
> almost as if he is saying it to himself. I think the answer to
> this will be the key to Harry's ability to destroy LV.

Jen: It was an interesting choice of words. Voldemort couldn't 
understand Lily's choice, it's the antithesis of everything he 
believes in to sacrifice yourself for love. Undoutedly he thought 
her a fool, but we don't *know* what happened at Godric's Hollow 
that night. I've often wondered about the moment right after 
Voldemort killed Lily--what did he do? Did he immediately AK Harry, 
did staring at an unarmed baby give him any pause at all or was it 
just 'whoosh' and the events transpired? It's so hard to fathom, but 
he probably didn't give it a second thought. Which makes it all the 
more interesting *why* he offered to spare Lily.

Jen