Mulling over the thing that always bothered me in Harry Potter, plotwise ...
This is probably a theory hundreds of other people have already talked about but I'm re-listening to the audiobooks and wanted to get my thoughts down, however late :))
I’ve been thinking about Lily’s sacrificial protection. It has always felt a bit off to me that there were no other recorded moments in the whole of wizard history of someone surviving the killing curse, when the requirements for the counter curse seem so simple.
The idea that no other parent ever sacrificed themselves to save their child rings false. Some people say that it was the active CHOICE made by Lily to die even AFTER Voldemort offers her a change to step aside and live. But to me even this scenario doesn’t feel unique enough that it’s plausible to say it NEVER happened before.
Maybe it is this straightforward, and other previous examples of sacrificial protection simply went unrecorded as they didn’t involve the most infamous dark wizard of all time. However, I prefer the idea that Harry’s very specific circumstance produced a more unlikely, one-off situation.
My theory is that the seed for the counter-curse was planted further back than Voldemort entering the Potter’s house on Halloween. I think that one of the key moments in the set up of Lily’s sacrifice involves Snape. Let me explain.
Dumbledore mentions MANY times that it was Lily’s LOVE for Harry that saved him. In fact he talks about the power of love so much more than her sacrifice when you count all the times he discusses the subject with Harry. Now if we go way back to the very moment Voldemort decides that he has to kill Harry because of the prophecy, it is Snape who begs Voldemort to save lily. Even though he himself gave Voldemort the prophecy info, he does a full 180 when he realises it involves lily (he doesn’t care about James and the baby being murdered lol). It is Snape’s LOVE for Lily that causes Voldemort to even offer her mercy. So the already unique situation of Lily having to choose her love for Harry over her own life when she is offered it, is made even more potent by the reason Voldemort extends her that choice.
So when lily makes the decision to die, she has the strength of Snape’s love, her rejection of Voldemorts offer, and the sacrifice itself to power the counter curse. These layers of old magic all shield Harry from the killing curse and rebound on Voldemort who doesn’t feel or understand love (perhaps making it doubly effective?).
Anyway, that was just something I thought tied in nicely to the sacrifice thing which I have always found a bit of a weak explanation. The involvement of Snape’s unrequited love makes it all the more tragic and ironic seeing as he hates Harry so much lol.
jacobvanloon
janainaart
titsay
izzy806
origamiaround
