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Jun 24, 2015 · JK Rowling has finally shed light on exactly why Harry Potter’s uptight Privet Drive-dwelling aunt and uncle disliked him enough to leave him languishing in the cupboard under the stairs ...
- Overview
- Biography
- Physical description
- Personality and traits
Harry Potter: "I forgot. You liked her, didn't you?"
Horace Slughorn: "Liked her? I don't imagine anyone who met her wouldn't have liked her... Very brave...Very funny... It was the most horrible thing..."
— Horace Slughorn and Harry Potter discussing Lily
Lily J. Potter (née Evans) (30 January 1960 – 31 October 1981) was an English Muggle-born witch, the younger daughter of Mr and Mrs Evans, and the younger sister of Petunia Evans. She learned of her magical nature as a child, after Severus Snape recognised her as a witch and told her of the existence of magic. Lily attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1971 to 1978. She was Sorted into Gryffindor House and was a member of the Slug Club. In her seventh year she was made Head Girl and began dating James Potter.
After Hogwarts, Lily married James. Along with their friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, the couple joined the Order of the Phoenix during the First Wizarding War. She and her husband defied Lord Voldemort himself three times. Shortly afterwards, Lily and James had a son, Harry James Potter, of whom they made Sirius the godfather.
However, the family was forced to go into hiding after a prophecy was made concerning Lord Voldemort and their infant son. It referred to a boy who would be born at the end of July in 1980, who had the power to defeat Lord Voldemort. She and James were betrayed by Pettigrew and were murdered by Voldemort on Hallowe'en night in 1981, while trying to protect their son.
Early life (1960–1971)
Lily: "I'm not a freak. That's a horrible thing to say." Petunia Evans: "That's where you're going. A special school for freaks." — Petunia and Lily argue, before Lily departs for Hogwarts Lily J. Evans was born to Mr and Mrs Evans, two Muggles of the Evans family, on 30 January 1960. Her family lived in Cokeworth, England. She had an older sister Petunia, whom she was quite close to. At the age of nine, Lily became friends with Severus Snape, who lived down in Spinner's End, which was within walking distance of the Evans' house. However, her family was apparently better off, since Petunia sneered at Snape for coming from that poverty-stricken neighbourhood. Severus was the first person to tell Lily that she was a witch, and he went on to teach Lily a great deal about the wizarding world while the two eagerly awaited the time when they could attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry together. Lily's magical abilities and friendship with Severus caused problems between the two sisters. Envying her sister's abilities, Petunia wrote to Albus Dumbledore, asking if she could attend Hogwarts with Lily. However, the headmaster kindly refused her petition. The letter was later found by Lily and Severus. At the age of eleven, Lily bought her wand from Ollivanders in Diagon Alley. The wand was 10¼ inches, willow, "swishy", and according to Garrick Ollivander, good for charm work. Shortly before her depart to Hogwarts, Lily and Petunia argued about magic again. Her sister called her a "freak" for possess that power and said it was better that she went to that school so "normal people" would be safe.
Hogwarts years (1971–1978)
Severus Snape: "I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just —" Lily: "Slipped out? It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends... You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine." — The end of Lily's friendship with Severus Snape At the age of eleven, Lily started attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she was Sorted into Gryffindor house. She became quite skilled at Potions, attracting the attention of Professor Horace Slughorn, who made her a member of his Slug Club for the students that he considered talented and possibly successful in the future. In her fifth year, Lily stood up for her then best friend, Severus Snape, when he was being bullied by James Potter. Lily attempted to stop his bullying, addressing James only by his surname and vice versa in this moment. It is implied that such bullying had happened more than once. However, Snape lashed out at her in his humiliation, calling her a "filthy Mudblood." He then begged for Lily's forgiveness, but she asked him if he still intended to join the Death Eaters. When he didn't deny this, Lily realised that Snape wasn't willing to change for her and didn't understand what was wrong with the Death Eaters. This led to a parting of ways between Lily and Snape, as the former had already become dismayed by Snape's fascination with the Dark Arts and friendship with his Slytherin house-mates Mulciber and Avery, both of whom were aspiring Death Eaters. By Lily's fifth year, James had developed a crush on her, but she didn't reciprocate, calling him an "arrogant toerag" because he bullied other students, particularly her best friend. James's best friend, Sirius Black, later commented that James couldn't resist showing off and making a fool of himself whenever she was around. During their seventh year, James matured somewhat, proving himself to be responsible and brave. However, it is implied that he still had the desire to bully Snape, but was willing to stop actually doing it for Lily's sake. This led to her agreeing to go out with him; gaining genuine affection for him in the process. Due to their academic achievement, skill, and responsibility, the young couple eventually were chosen to be Head Boy and Head Girl. In late 1977, Lily and James had a disastrous first meeting with Petunia and her then-fiancé, Vernon Dursley, which presumably took place over Christmas break, as they were both still at Hogwarts. When Vernon tried to impress James with his car, the wizard in turn boasted of his own material wealth, and a row ensued. The evening ended with both Vernon and Petunia storming out of the restaurant and Lily bursting into tears, with an ashamed James promising he'd apologise and make it up (which, due to his and Lily's untimely deaths, never happened). Petunia was married by the end of 1977. Lily and James were invited to the wedding, her sister refused to have Lily as a bridesmaid, which upset her deeply. At the reception, Vernon wouldn't talk to James, but described him as "some magician" within his earshot.
First Wizarding War (1978–1981)
"He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down — kill them all —" — Snape warns Dumbledore of the danger to the Potters
Lily was a beautiful woman with thick, dark red hair that fell to her shoulders, and almond-shaped, bright green eyes. Apparently, her eyes were extremely distinctive, because every person who knew Lily would always see them in her son, Harry. When the aged Harry travelled back to the past, he commented that even in the face of death, she was still...
"Lily Evans... Vivacious, you know. Charming girl."
— Horace Slughorn describing Lily's personality
Lily was known for being a vivacious, talented, and popular student. She was a responsible student and leader to be Head Girl in her final year at Hogwarts. Horace Slughorn noted that Lily was witty and charming. Remus Lupin once described her as an uncommonly kind person with a habit of seeing the best in others, even when they could not see it themselves.
Lily was a woman of sound moral principles and would stand by them no matter what it cost her, though her actions sometimes were ineffective. On at least one occasion, she called out James Potter and Sirius Black for their bullying of her best friend, Severus Snape. When she realised Snape's devotion to Voldemort's genocidal cause (of which she was a target at the time) and increasingly deep fascination with the Dark Arts, she ended her friendship with him permanently.
Though she had a sharp tongue and had no problems in standing up to others when she was in a temper, Lily was still the type of person who would give others a second chance when they had proven themselves worthy of it. The most notable instance of this quality would be how she finally agreed to date James after he had matured out of his bullying ways despite the fact that she didn't have a good opinion of him during their early school years.
Lily's and her husband's most celebrated virtues were their courage and capacity for self-sacrifice, defying Voldemort three times as members of the Order of the Phoenix and even dying to protect their son Harry. It was noted by Dumbledore that Lily was very much like her son, especially in strength. Her strength is further commented on by her grandson Albus in that she would understand her fate and the fact that she would never see her son grow up.
Oct 12, 2023 · The Harry Potter movies simplified the explanation of Lily's sacrifice, leaving many unanswered questions about its magical process and reasoning. Lily's sacrifice was an extremely rare occurrence, with several chance occurrences leading up to her death for Harry's protection to be possible. Lily's sacrifice not only protected Harry from ...
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Feb 4, 2012 · 43. When Voldemort came to kill the Potter family James and Lily realize he is there with a little bit of time to spare. James provides a momentary buffer and Lily is in the room with Harry. Why did she not grab Harry and apparate away from Voldemort? harry-potter. Share. Improve this question.
- Besides for the debatable reason of not having a wand as mentioned in the accepted answer, there is a more basic reason why she could not have Appa...
- You can not easily (if at all) Apparate without a wand ( HP Wikia has a long list of examples and reasoning explaining why ). Side-along with an in...
- I'm going to say it's because she didn't have her wand. There is some debate as to whether a wand is strictly required, but I think it is. Plus,...
- Their house was under the Fidelius Charm. I am not sure if the Fidelius Charm itself comes with this additional bonus but almost all occurances se...
- It does strike me as a little foolish not to carry your wand with you when you know you're in mortal danger. The main reason for her not to simply...
- It states in Deathly Hallows when Ron and Harry were prisoners in the cellar of Malfoy Manor, "Ron was now trying to Disapparate without a wand," T...
- Well, Lily is a Gryffindor. It doesn't really seem her style to run and leave loved ones (James) behind. Voldemort gave Lily a choice to live or di...
- Voldemort tried to recruit them as Death Eaters. In Sybill Trelawney’s prophecy about Harry and Voldemort, the Chosen One will be “born to those who have thrice defied him.”
- Neither used their wands to defend themselves the night they were murdered. On the night they were murdered, James and Lily were caught by surprise in their home without their wands on them.
- J.K. Rowling’s mother died six months after she wrote James and Lily’s deaths. A little over six years ago, J.K. Rowling donated $10 million to The University of Edinburgh for a regenerative neurology clinic to fund research treatments for diseases like multiple sclerosis.
- They married at the age of eighteen. From conversations with various characters, it’s revealed that James and Lily got married pretty much right after Hogwarts.
Dec 1, 2001 · It's always been exciting to be a Harry Potter fan, but it was particularly fun then. That was before there were Harry Potter movies or coloring books or action figures or trading card games to confuse things. There were only books, and we were all giddy with the pleasure of discovering the amazing world Jo had created.
Dec 19, 2014 · Now, there is no doubt that both Potter's parents and Dumbledore were braver and had more courage than him and they all chose not to come back, so maybe the first keypoint is courage. Lily and James Potter's death is a major contributor in the plot of the books.
