"Stand aside, girl!"

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 162202

> Jennifer:
> I'm new here, but I am reminded of the "unbreakable vow" spell
> that we are introduced to in HBP.  Could this vow somehow have
> been cast between LV and Snape (or maybe someone else), promising
> that LV would spare Lily's life?  And then when he did end up
> killing her instead, his breaking the vow caused the death curse
> to rebound back to him as a consequence.  It's just an idea, and
> I know that JKR's very brief introduction to the vow has to mean
> something more.
>
Carol responds:
Hi, Jennifer. Wouldn't such an arrangement take away from Lily's
self-sacrifice, which is what we've been told caused the AK to
rebound? That wouldn't necessarily eliminate some sort of arrangement
between Snape and dumbledore involving Lily (I don't subscribe to
LOLLIPOPS myself, but many people do).

Another possibility, suggested a long time ago on this list, is that
by offering to let Lily step aside and then accepting her offer of
herself in Harry's place, Voldemort was committing himself to an
unwritten but nevertheless binding magical contract, much as Harry was
bound to compete in the TWT after the Goblet of Fire chose him as a
contestant even though he never put his name in the goblet. By trying
to murder Harry after implicitly promising to spare him by killing
Lily "instead," Voldemort violated the terms of the contract and the
AK not only failed to kill Harry (as a result of Lily's sacrifice) but
rebounded on Voldemort as well (as a result of the broken contract)
but failed to kill him (as a result of the Horcruxes).

I can't remember who originally proposed the theory (I thought it was
Kneasy, but he attributes the theory to someone named
jodel_from_aol.com) and then argues against it:

"A much more interesting theory has been detailed by jodel_from_aol.
This is incorporated in his 'Changeling' essay (link below) that is
well worth reading. He theorises that "Take me, kill me instead.."
constitutes a binding magical contract when Voldy does just that. And
that by the implied terms Voldy is then considered in breach of
contract if he attempts to kill Harry *after* he has killed Lily.
Presumably the penalty for such an act would be proportionate to the
attempted breach, i.e. death. The spell rebounds on the caster." 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/108664

More recently, Amiable Dorsai posted a not very detailed version of
the contract theory:

"I'm begining to see it this way: Lily, in effect, offered
Voldemort a magical contract--kill me, let Harry live. That is, she
paid for Harry's life with her own. When Voldemort killed Lily, he
accepted the contract. When he then tried to kill Harry, he violated
his "agreement", and paid the penalty."

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/140414

but not, apparently, with any great conviction of its truth since he
immediately presents the objections to the theory. 

I originally argued against the contract theory because I believed
that Lily had cast some sort of protective charm on Harry that would
be activated by her self-sacrifice, but JKR shot down my theory. Now
that we've seen the Unbreakable Vow, symbolized by ropes of fire
binding him to Narcissa, I'm more willing to consider this particular
variation on the binding magical contract theme (as opposed to another
UV involving Snape). An unwittingly made and broken magical contract
would explain how Lily's sacrifice is different from that of so many
other parents, particularly mothers, who must have given their lives
to protect their children, all too often in vain, from Voldemort and
his Death Eaters. (JKR has said that the same circumstances might not
have occurred if Voldemort had gone after Neville first, but surely
Alice Longbottom would have tried to protect her son and would have
been as willing as Lily to die for him.)

If anyone has bookmarked and can link us to a detailed discussion of
the broken contract idea, I'd be grateful. 

Carol, not sure whether she believes the theory but interested in
exploring it further