im part of this other hp forums. the mods posted a thread. id like to share it with you. my answer is the one in caps.
"How touching..." it hissed. "I always value bravery... Yes, boy, your parents were brave.... I killed your father first; and he put up a courageous fight... but your mother needn't have died... she was trying to protect you.... Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain."
And thus we come to that nagging question: Why is it that Lily "needn't have died"? Is this connected with the Potters' mysterious occupation before they died? JKR has stressed this point in an interview:
ES: This is one of my burning questions since the third book - why did Voldemort offer Lily so many chances to live? Would he actually have let her live?
JKR: Mmhm.
ES: Why?
JKR: [silence] Can't tell you. But he did offer, you're absolutely right. Don't you want to ask me why James's death didn't protect Lily and Harry? There’s your answer, you've just answered your own question, because she could have lived and chose to die. James was going to be killed anyway. Do you see what I mean? I’m not saying James wasn't ready to; he died trying to protect his family but he was going to be murdered anyway. He had no - he wasn't given a choice, so he rushed into it in a kind of animal way, I think there are distinctions in courage. James was immensely brave. But the caliber of Lily's bravery was, I think in this instance, higher because she could have saved herself. Now any mother, any normal mother would have done what Lily did. So in that sense her courage too was of an animal quality but she was given time to choose. James wasn't. It's like an intruder entering your house, isn't it? You would instinctively rush them. But if in cold blood you were told, "Get out of the way," you know, what would you do? I mean, I don't think any mother would stand aside from their child. But does that answer it? She did very consciously lay down her life. She had a clear choice -
ES: And James didn't.
JKR: Did he clearly die to try and protect Harry specifically given a clear choice? No. It's a subtle distinction and there's slightly more to it than that but that's most of the answer.
MA: Did she know anything about the possible effect of standing in front of Harry?
JKR: No - because as I've tried to make clear in the series, it never happened before. No one ever survived before. And no one, therefore, knew that could happen.
MA: So no one - Voldemort or anyone using Avada Kedavra - ever gave someone a choice and then they took that option [to die] -
JKR: They may have been given a choice, but not in that particular way.
~*~*~*~
I DUNNO WHAT LILY DID TO HARRY, PERHAPS SOME COMPLEX BIT OF MAGIC NOBODY HAS EVER USED BEFORE. COZ IF ITS JUST A MATTER OF DYING FOR YOUR SON, ANY MOTHER WOULD HAVE DONE THAT. AND IF ANY MOTHER WOULD HAVE DONE THAT, THEN HARRY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THE ONLY PERSON TO HAVE SURVIVED A KILLING CURSE. THERE SHOULD BE HUNDREDS. AND ITS NOT PARTICULARLY UNUSUAL FOR SOMEONE TO WANT TO KILL ANOTHER, BUT NOT THAT PERSON’S MOTHER. SO THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN MANY INSTANCES WHEREIN A PERSON DID NOT WANT TO KILL HIS ENEMY’S MOM BUT THE ENEMY’S MOM STOOD IN THE WAY SO THAT THAT PERSON HAD TO KILL HIS ENEMY’S MOM TOO, THUS LEAVING THE CHILD WITH A PROTECTION. SO I THINK LILY DID A BIT OF EXPERMIMENTATION WITH MAGIC THAT LEFT HARRY WITH A PROTECTION. THIS LITTLE EXPERIMENT PROBABLY REQUIRED THAT VOLDIE TAKE HER LIFE FIRST. SO YEAH, HARRY WAS PROTECTED BY LOVE, BUT THE IMMEDIATE PROETCTION IS SOME KIND OF CHARM THAT LILY PUT ON HIM. PERHAPS THAT’S WHY LILY SAID, TAKE ME INSTEAD. SO SHE WAS TRYING TO GET VOLDIE KILL HER FIRST BEFORE HARRY, SO THAT HARRY COULD HAVE THE PRTOECTION.
AND IN ADDITION TO THAT, I THINK JKR MENTIONED THAT IT IS IMPORTANT THAT LILY’S WAND IS GOOD FOR CHARM WORK.
I'm wondering... was it an actual charm Lily placed... or just a result of the choice she made? JKR said that Lily had no idea what would happen... but it is a charm thatshe placed which is her wand's specialty... so could she perhaps inadvertantlyplaced a charm on Harry... or is it, like I also suggested, just a result of a huge sacrifice? _________________ ^made by Fiendfyre
i do think that it was a charm placed unconcsciously on harry. of course, that charm would require a sacrifice on the part of lily that could only be fueled by love. but nevertheless, it is still a charm. a magical charm.
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