Lily the popular girl

[julie]

No: HPFGUIDX 167919


>
> Bart: 
> Comments on a couple of your facts, first:
> 
> Julie:
> >5. Lily defended Severus in at least one incident in 5th year, 
until  he
> >called her a "mudblood" which seemed to startle her, as if it 
wasn't
> >something she'd ever heard or would expect from him. Then she left
> >him to the not-so-gentle mercies of James and Sirius.
> 
> Bart:
> Note that Sirius mentioned that the Levicorpus spell was being used 
heavily back and forth; Snape had been flipped numerous times, but, 
at least by implication, James and/or Sirius (and possibly even 
Lupin) was/were flipped by Snape, as well. Which makes us wonder why 
was this Levicorpus different from all other Levicorpi. Most of us, 
one way or another, have guessed at the reaction to Lily. Given that 
this was theoretically Snape's Worst Memory, at the very least, we 
must assume that there was SOME sort of relationship between Snape 
and Lily which this episode put a major, and probably permanent, 
crimp in. 

Julie now:
I'm not sure I actually buy that. It could be Snape's worst
memory had more to do with the Marauders (the media we must
not name's version seems to support this, but I won't say 
any more on that). We don't learn about Lily's Potions 
abilities until Harry's sixth year, and I think it will
be because the critical relationship between Snape and Lily 
happened *after* the fifth year pensieve incident. I also
suspect when Petunia referred to *that awful boy* she was
referring to a teenager/young man, given the subject matter.
It all leads me to think this was not the death knell of a
"relationship" between two fifteen year olds. (And while the
insult "Mudblood" is a grave one, given Lily's nonplussed
reaction it wasn't typical of Snape, so I don't see why it
couldn't be forgiven later if he sincerely regretted it.)

Of course I could be wrong ;-)

> 
> Julie:
> >9. Peter claims he betrayed the Potters out of fear for his life, 
but 
> >many unanswered questions (why he agreed to be the Potters' Secret
> >Keeper at all, why he pursued a vaporous Voldemort to Albania and
> >then helped the Dark Lord regain his physical body) don't support 
a  "fear
> >only" motivation for Peter's actions.
> 
> Bart: 
> Peter's fear was not just for his life; he was a basically fearful 
person. He felt unable to protect himself, so he attached himself to 
the biggest bullies on the block (kind of like the origins of 
feudalism). After the Maurauders had mended their ways (was the Prank 
a catalyst?), Peter still knew they would protect him. However, a 
bigger bully appeared (Voldy), and Peter realized that he would be a 
prime target for an idirect attack. So, he went to Voldy and switched 
sides, figuring that he had less to fear from his old friends than he 
had from Lordy V. Voldy, knowing an asset when he saw one (whenever 
Peter walked by, everybody said, "Look! There goes the big asset!"), 
told Peter to pretend to still be friends with the Maurauders, and 
pass along useful info. This was actually fine by Peter, because no 
matter who won, he would be on the winning side. He agreed to be the 
Potters' Secret Keeper because it would make Voldemort see him as 
more valuable, and be less likely to kill him. 

Julie now:
I find it hard to believe Peter was so completely cowardly,
given that there had to be *some* reason he was sorted into
Gryffindor. And Peter still kept making these choices to
ACTIVELY pursue his "cowardly" path--going to Voldemort (as
far as we know) rather than being cornered by him, choosing
to become the Secret Keeper rather than simply refusing the
position, choosing to go after Vapor!Mort in Albania rather
than disappearing permanently into some sewer, etc. I 
suppose it all makes Voldemort "less likely" to kill him
at some point, but talk about out-cowarding the cowardly!

Bart:
> Once he was exposed, what were his options? His ONLY hope was that 
Voldemort could gain a position to protect him, therefore, he went to 
Voldy. Voldy coming back to power was his only chance.

Julie now:
Here I agree. Peter did have an option to disappear into a
sewer as a rat, or find a Muggle household where he could
feed off scraps. But I do think Peter might have tired of
the rat life, and realized that he had an opportunity to
live as himself again, IF he resurrected Voldemort. Though
I have to wonder if he realized how painful that life would 
be, given the hunched and twisted wreck of a man he'd
become by HBP (though this may be just the impetus that will
inspire him to pay back his life debt to Harry even at the
risk of his own continued existence). 

> Julie:
> >10. Voldemort offered Lily the chance to live if she stepped 
aside  and
> >allowed him to kill her child. 
> 
> Bart:
> Anybody who believes that Voldy would have actualy let Lily live, 
raise their hand. What is both puzzling and possibly revealing is the 
question of why Voldemort made the offer in the first place. He 
certainly was/is a pyschopath, and shown to be VERY able at 
manipulating people. He SHOULD have known that Lily would not have 
accepted his offer, or even believed it to be genuine. So, why 
bother? 
> 

Julie:
::raises her hand:: I don't think Voldemort cares either way,
as long as he destroys the Prophecy child and never has to
deal with her again. Giving her to Peter is no real skin off
his nose (metaphorically speaking). Though it's clear he
wasn't going to expend any effort beyond the single casual
offer, what's it matter to him if he lets what he sees as
a powerless and broken woman survive?

As for whether he suspected Lily wouldn't accept his offer,
that could be. Voldemort doesn't understand love, but he does
know that other wizards value love. He no doubt considers
them pathetic idiots, but he can recognize and manipulate
the emotion. He just doesn't respect it at all, thus he
underestimates its true power, as he underestimated Lily's
sacrifice, and will probably underestimate it again in DH,
allowing Harry to defeat him by using love in some manner. 

Julie