Re: Avada Kedavra and the prophecy..and neville

In article <43c6f9a9$0$3033$6d36acad@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "drusilla"
<drusilla1860@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

<snip>

>JKR marked a difference between Liliy's and james's deaths. The latter was
>coldly murdered when he tried to protect his family and he had no option.
>It's like LV entered his house and he jumped to fight him. LV didn't waist
>any time on saying 'move aside', just killed him to make his way. Yet, when
>LV reached harry, Lilly pleaded him to spare his life. If you recall. LV
>said something like 'there is no need for you to die, so stay aside'. In
>this case, Lily had a choice (unlike James): she could have chosen to stay
>aside and let LV to kill her son. But as she didn't (as no mother would!)
>and chose to die rather that abbandon her son, her sacrifice and death
>created a protection on Harry.
>
>Or is how I understand the whole thing.
>
<snip>

To be honest, the whole "as no mother would!" bit bothers me. You're not
the first to make such a statement. Most of us live in societies based
upon Christian principles and we understand exactly what you are saying.

However, there is something that I read, decades ago, that remains in my
mind. I wish my alzheimer's would allow me to recall the exact details,
but I believe it had to do with Thailand. Anyway, if a child were to fall
into a canal, even in a major city there, everybody would just keep on
walking. Nobody would give it a second thought. Not even the own parents.
It would be considered to be divine providence and any interference would
be perceived as acting against the will of the gods. As the protective
father of two daughters, I shudder at the thought and sincerely hope that
I am not doing the Thais (or was it the Japanese?) an injustice.

There are also those, in our societies, who subscribe to Bertrand Russel's
one word answer to the question of the meaning of life: reproduction. Such
a person, in Lily's hopeless situation, would indeed stand aside. A
suicidal offering would make no sense at all. She would survive to remarry
and pass on her genes. She would raise her next child to avenge the death
of his/her unknown brother. UNLESS she really had something up her sleeve,
like a piece of forgotten ancient magic or an untested original charm,
spell or curse which MIGHT save her son's life.
--
Chris
.

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