Dumbledore's Unspeakable Word.

[fritter_my_wig]

> "Had Frank or Alice thrown themselves in front of Neville, however, 
the 
> killing curse would have rebounded just as it did in Harry's case, 
and 
> Neville would have been the one who survived with the lightning 
scar." 
> (http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/faq_view.cfm?id=84)

Kneasy:
 > >Remember way back? When the more romantically inclined were 
positing
> >that Harry was saved at GH by the power of Lily's love?

GulPlum AKA Richard:
> Other than a small minority, the general consensus was that her 
willingness 
> to sacrifice herself is what saved him. A willingness born of love, 
> incidentally. So with one remove, yes, it was her love which saved 
him.

Kneasy:
> >Turned out not to be the  case, for it to work within the books it 
would 
> >imply that Lily loved more than any other mother in the WW. No, it 
was 
> >magic that saved Harry. I sense the same sorts of argument 
surfacing here 
> >- "Oh, it's love." Just show me how Harry loves more or has more 
love than 
> >say, Molly has for her family.  

<big snip>
 Nope, sorry, I just
> >don't see anything exceptional in Harry so far as love is 
concerned.

GulPlum:
> I agree that it's corny and I agree that it's bizarre (and perhaps 
even 
> patronising), but that's the explanation Herself gave. 

<snip>
> 
> You're forgetting about one detail, though. I don't think that JKR 
is 
> presenting Harry (or, indeed, Lily) as being more loving than most 
people. 

Eloise:

I was contemplating this subject in the bath this morning and then 
came down to find this post.

You know, I wonder if this isn't the crux. There *was* nothing 
inherently special about Lily's sacrifice. Yet something that in a 
way is ordinary and everyday is even more powerful than unblockable 
curse that the WW deems Unforgivable.

Omnia vincit amor may have come to be a cliche, but in this context, 
it's also empowering and, I think, moral. Something for which every 
person, every child, has the capacity is capable of overcoming 
everything. A child reading these books will never be in the position 
of battling a Dark wizard, but they are daily in situations where 
they can either act out of what some of us would term 'love' whether 
for family, friends or humanity, or they can simply look to their own 
interests.

In other words, these books are about imaginary magic, which is fun 
to read about, but in itself can teach us nothing. The *real* magic, 
which every child can access, lies within each of us.

Corny and cliched maybe, but I don't think we can discount it from 
JKR's thinking. Love does seem to be the theme of quite a lot of 
literature, there's no reason JKR should be exempt just because it's 
been done before. Whether the outcome of the series is a cliche 
depends on how it's written.

GulPlum:
A vast number 
> of the theories floating around the internet have been created by 
people 
> desperately trying to plug gaps in JKR's plotting or writing, 
adding levels 
> of complexity I'm sure she never planned. I know it's a facile 
argument, 
> but these books are, after all, marketed at kids (and despite 
anything JKR 
> says, her public appearances to date have always been to audiences 
of 
> children, and she has never acknowledged her adult fan base in 
terms of 
> event planning).

Eloise:

I agree totally (and got taken for task over on Main for even daring 
to suggest that there were inconsistencies in the books!)

I have to say, though, that it does seem very strange that no-one 
else in the WW ever threw themself in front of someone they wanted to 
save and that the protective power of such a sacrifice hadn't been 
noted before. I mean, James presumably essentially did the same 
thing, yet sacrificing himself didn't save Lily.

I wonder if this element of the plot reflects the fact that it was 
during writing PS/SS that JKR both lost her own mother and became one 
herself, encountering for the first time with wonderment that sudden 
*knowing* that there is another being in the world for whom you would 
unthinkingly give up your life.

BTW, are we assuming that we are going to *see* behind the door at 
some point? Because if we do, then we are going to have to see some 
kind of emodiment of whatever the power is and my betting is that 
cliche or not, it's going to have something to do with Lily.

~Eloise