Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing the Potter family, Lord Voldemort, and a question that I’m sure has struck
the minds of Potterheads worldwide at some point or another. That question is: Why didn’t
Lily Potter apparate away from Godric’s Hollow with Baby Harry during the attack from
Voldemort? The attack on the Potter residence, which occurred on October 31st 1981- claimed
the lives of both of Harry’s parents- James, who died protecting his family, and Lily-
who sacrificed herself to save Harry.
The attack came after Sybil Trelawney, who was interviewing for a position at Hogwarts,
had a vision of ‘the prophecy’ - the same prophecy that would uproot the wizarding world.
“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who
have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark
him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die
at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with
the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…”
Snape, who was a death eater at the time, overheard Trelawney’s prediction and relayed
the info to Voldemort. The prophecy threatened Voldemort’s position, and so he knew that
he would need to take action.
Upon realizing that they were in danger, the Potters went in to hiding, hoping to put in
place as many preventative measures as reasonably possible. They ended up finding sanctuary
in the town of Godric’s Hollow- and they were protected by the Fidelius Charm. The
Fidelius charm is an incredibly powerful piece of magic that conceals a secret inside of
a chosen secret keeper’s soul, and in this instance the secret was the Potters location.
The only hole in their plan was the man that they had chosen as secret keeper - Peter Pettigrew.
A sniveling excuse for man, Pettigrew ended up changing sides and gave up the location
of the Potters to Voldemort- leaving them wide open to his attack.
On one unassuming October day, Voldemort struck- and it was truly a day that would change the
course of history. When he entered their home James Potter was the first to get in his way-
the first line of defence protecting Lily & Harry. However- James had one very big problem:
He didn’t have his wand on him. The Potters were caught completely off guard because they
never suspected that their location would be revealed - and that they would be betrayed
by their secret keeper. Because he didn’t have his wand, he was no match for Voldemort-
though I suspect that even with it Voldemort would have made quick work of him. James was
a talented wizard- but not even close to the level of the dark lord. From there Voldemort
began making his way toward Lily and baby Harry- still dead set on his goal of killing
the boy. At this point, as far as the real story line goes, Voldemort then advances towards
the room containing both Lily and Baby Harry. When he entered the room, Voldemort did something
quite unexpected- offering Lily a chance to step aside. This was not a luxury that was
offered to James, but at the end of the day it was only really Harry that he wanted. He
explained that if she simply stepped away and let him have Harry, that he would spare
her life. This was at the request of Severus Snape who loved LIly and likely deeply regretted
relaying the prophecy to Voldemort. Unsurprisingly, however, Lily did not allow Voldemort to have
her son- and refused- this lead to Voldemort murdering her with the killing curse.
Voldemort then turned his wand on Harry and let out one more ‘avada kedavra’- hoping
to put an end to the Potter family once and for all. However, thanks to Lily’s loving
sacrifice, the curse rebounded- killing Voldemort (for a time), and saving baby Harry.
So- that’s how things ACTUALLY transpired, but what I want to look at is WHY Lily didn’t
just apparate with Harry- vacating the Potter residence entirely? When James told Lily to
take Harry and run, there was undoubtedly a sort of unspoken understanding that he would
die- so, why didn’t Lily take this opportunity to escape?
[Voldemort] was over the threshold as James came sprinting down the hall. It was easy,
too easy, he had not even picked up his wand ...
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off -"
Hold him off, without a wand in his hand! ... He laughed before casting the curse ...
"Avada Kedavra!"
For those unaware, apparition is of course a magical means of transportation, akin to
teleportation, where the user instantly travels from one location to another. It’s an advanced
magical ability, but Lily Potter was an advanced witch- and more than capable.
To begin to answer this question we can start by looking at the Deathly Hallows- when the
trio travel from Shell Cottage to Gringotts:
All three of them glanced back at Shell Cottage, lying dark and silent under the fading stars,
then turned and began to walk toward the point, just beyond the boundary wall, where the Fidelius
Charm stopped working and they would be able to Disapparate.
What we can derive from this passage is that apparition isn’t possible when the fidelius
charm is at play, a charm which of course WAS present at the Potter cottage. Furthermore,
in the Half Blood Prince Dumbledore explains to Harry that it’s quite common for wizarding
homes to be outfitted with an anti apparition charm in order to keep out unwanted guests:
"Professor, why couldn’t we just Apparate directly into your old colleague’s house?"
"Because it would be quite as rude as kicking down the front door," said Dumbledore. "Courtesy
dictates that we offer fellow wizards the opportunity of denying us entry. In any case,
most Wizarding dwellings are magically protected from unwanted Apparators. At Hogwarts, for
instance —"
"— you can't Apparate anywhere inside the buildings or grounds," said Harry quickly.
"Hermione Granger told me."
So, as we can see- Lily Potter didn’t apparate for a NUMBER of reasons. The fidelius charm
meant that apparition was entirely impossible, and the fact that most wizarding homes were
outfitted with anti-apparition charms made it entirely improbable. Living under the imminent
threat of Lord Voldemort approaching - I’m more than willing to bet that an anti-apparition
charm was placed on the Potter cottage. But wait- there’s one more HUGE reason that
Lily wasn’t able to apparate- she didn’t have her wand.
In the Deathly Hallows Voldemort recounts that neither James nor Lily had their wands
when he killed them;
“He was over the threshold as James came sprinting into the hall. It was easy, too
easy, he had not even picked up his wand... “Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go!
Run! I’ll hold him off!” Hold him off, without a wand in his hand!... He laughed
before casting the curse... “Avada Kedavra!” +
“He climbed the steps, listening with faint amusement to her attempts to barricade herself
in... She had no wand upon her either…”
In Harry Potter wandless magic is certainly possible, but the more complicated the spell,
the more likely it is that the witch or wizard will require a wand to channel said magic.
Apparition is no easy feat- in fact, most witches and wizards can’t do it at all,
so I’m willing to bet that Lily Potter not having her wand is just another contributing
factor as to why she would be unable to apparate.
So, as you can see, there are many reasons why Lily Potter didn’t apparate- and they
all seem to be pretty reasonable explanations. Did you guys ever think about this? Let me
know in the comment section below
Until next time
Remember
We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.