Lily Potter: Harry's Mother and the Spell That Saved Him

She died for a baby who barely knew the world, and her death changed the rules of magic. Lily Evans exists in the books only through memories, echoes and photographs, and she is still one of the characters who weighs most on the whole series.

Who she is

Lily Evans was born into a Muggle family, with an older sister, Petunia, who never forgave her for being a witch. At Hogwarts she was sorted into Gryffindor. She was good at Potions, so good that Slughorn remembers her fondly years later. Her wand was willow, ten and a quarter inches, "nice and swishy," ideal for Charms, according to Ollivander (Philosopher's Stone, ch. 5).

She married James Potter and joined the Order of the Phoenix. She died on October 31, 1981, when Harry was one. Her grave in Godric's Hollow gives her birth date: January 30, 1960 (Deathly Hallows, ch. 16).

Key moments

• Prisoner of Azkaban, ch. 5: when the Dementor boards the train, Harry hears his mother screaming for Voldemort to kill her instead of him.
• Goblet of Fire, ch. 34: her shadow comes out of Voldemort's wand and buys Harry a few seconds to escape.
• Order of the Phoenix, ch. 28: in Snape's worst memory, Lily defends him from James and Sirius. He calls her a Mudblood and she stops forgiving him.
• Deathly Hallows, ch. 33: in the memories Snape leaves behind, she appears as a girl in a park, showing Severus that she can make a flower bloom in her hand.
• Deathly Hallows, ch. 34: she walks beside Harry in the Forest with the Resurrection Stone and tells him he has been so brave.

Relationships

James was her husband and fellow Order member. With Snape she had a childhood friendship that broke by the lake at Hogwarts. With Petunia, things are painful: envy and fear on one side, and a relationship that never mends. Harry grows up in that house because of the very protection his mother gave him.

With Harry, her love works like a shield. Dumbledore explains it at the end of the first book: Quirrell can't touch Harry because where love that great has been given, a mark remains, even if the person who gave it is gone (Philosopher's Stone, ch. 17).

What almost nobody notices

When Voldemort uses Harry's blood to come back (Goblet of Fire, ch. 32), he carries part of Lily's protection inside him without knowing it. Dumbledore explains it to Harry at King's Cross (Deathly Hallows, ch. 35): that is why Harry survives the killing curse in the forest.

Lily's protection wasn't in a wand or an object. It was in a choice Voldemort never thought anyone would make.

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