Godric's Hollow Scene

[kiricat4001]

No: HPFGUIDX 177850

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" <stevejjen at ...> 
wrote:
> 
> 1)  James not picking up his wand:  That he wasn't armed seemed 
> strange to me at first - why, with all the danger for his family, 
> would he not grab his wand when he heard a loud noise such as the 
> door bursting open?!?  Like it or not, the explanation appears to 
be 
> given by Voldemort - James trusted his friends.  I ended up liking 
> that explanation, thinking it fit.  James reminded me of Harry by 
not 
> being prepared, by not believing his secret would be betrayed by a 
> friend.  Without knowing what was going through his head, my best 
> guess is James assumed whoever entered the house was a friend.


Marianne:

I thought that was weird for another reason entirely. It sticks in 
my mind that Voldemort told Harry at some point in the graveyard 
scene in GoF that James fought bravely before he was killed. I 
skimmed the scene briefly just now and all I found was Vmort saying 
that James died "straight-backed and proud."  Now, of course, 
anything an Evil Overlord says must be taken with a grain of salt - 
it's not like he'd be bound to tell the truth.  However, I still 
have the distinct impression from earlier books that James actually 
fought Voldemort, where here I got the impression all he had time to 
do was shout a warning to Lily and then he was killed. 

I don't have a problem with the explanation that James assumed it 
would be someone he trusted on the other side of the door. But, this 
seemed somehow to lessen James's death, in the sense that now it's 
revealed he didn't really have time or was armed sufficiently to put 
up a fight. Thus, once Vmort disposes of him like swatting a fly, 
then we get to the really important sacrifice, which is the mother's 
sacrifice for her child.

Jen:
> 2)  Lily barricading the door:  This one was a little harder to 
> decipher.  At first I thought it was simply meant to be a mother 
and 
> wife panicking, a young mother at that.  Now after a few readings 
I 
> see more.  I think both the Potters are meant to contrast with 
> Voldemort, how little value he places on human reactions and  
> emotions vs. magical skill, and how clear it was that the Potters  
> were humans first and magical beings second.  Both responded with 
> their humanity first.  Now I read the scene as in-character for 
both 
> of them, and it fits that Harry is more like them than different.

Marianne:

I confess I haven't reread any Potter book after OoP, so I do not 
have the level of detail in my head that most posters here have.  I 
think Jen's explanation makes sense in what we know of Voldemort and 
Lily. It doesn't completely work for me because I think James has 
remained something of a cipher. 

His one consistent trait seems to be loyalty to and trust in his 
friends, which fits with Jen's thoughts.  But, we never see him 
doing anything admirable, we hear about his good points in only a 
general manner and we hear it second-hand from people like 
McGonagall, Moody and Dumbledore, whose word we are supposed to 
trust. Lily's death and magical protection of Harry come up 
repeatedly throughtout the series, but James is basically the guard 
dog who gets fed the poisoned meat. 

Marianne