[HPforGrownups] Re: very basic confusion

[k12listmomma]

No: HPFGUIDX 163753

I am starting this post assuming all have read all that Geoff posted that 
was canon, and the stuff that followed. I am snipping just this section for 
comment:

> What would have happened if he had attacked the Longbottom family first?
> Would Alice have had the same love for Neville as Lily had for Harry
> which would have enabled her to stand in the way and be killed to
> save Neville and would he now have the scar? Or would Neville have been
> killed and Voldemort's focus shifted to the Potters which might have
> produced the same end results but with the addtional loss of the
> Longbottom family?


Frankly, I think if Neville has been killed first, nothing out of the 
ordinary would have occurred that would have deterred Voldermort. Having yet 
another murder under his belt, he would have proceeded to Harry, and found 
the real subject of the prophesy. I don't think it would have mattered in 
the end just how much the Longbottoms loved their son, for I think they 
loved him every much as Harry's parents did, but what other factors were 
present. I often wonder if Lilly's sacrifice was merely of "pure motherly 
love", or if it was of something more than that- a preplanned spell or 
protection set in place. This spell could have been activated the moment the 
Potters knew of the Prophesy, and thought that Voldemort would come to kill 
their son. Like Hermione's charm on the "snitch" in the DA's group, the 
outcome it would be triggered based on the condition of something happening, 
regardless of when that something did happen. Alice would have had that same 
love, and maybe even heroic sacrifice for her son, but in the end, I think 
it was the difference of an additional spell that caused the AK to rebound 
back to Voldemort.

Dumbledore talks of Voldemort neglecting, over-looking and dismissing that 
ancient magic based on LOVE, but I think DD didn't, and pointed Lilly to 
this magic. She was bright enough to be able to use it. We can only 
speculate if he did the same for the Longbottoms. Maybe he did, and they 
also used it, but because Voldemort chose Harry first, we didn't get to see 
the outcome, unless for some reason Neville again stands in the way of 
Voldemort in the 7th book, and Voldemort tries to kill him then, finally 
releasing that spell protecting Neville. That would use yet another of 
Voldemort's lives, and in the end might pave the way for Harry to finish him 
off.

Shelley