That damn blood protection thing

[fishinginthemud.livejournal.com]

My sincere apologies if this has been addressed before, but I haven't found anything on it yet.

We are told that Harry survives the Killing Curse from Voldemort because Voldemort is now a "blood relative" and Harry can't be harmed in the presence of his "blood relatives." But at that point, hasn't the "blood protection" spell already ended, since Harry is now 17 and no longer lives with the Dursleys? Have I missed something?

Comments

Lily's Caustic Love Protection

[oneandthetruth.livejournal.com]

I think Lily's sacrifice acted as a force field against Voldemort's first AK...made Harry's skin caustic (because as we all know the best way to symbolise protective sacrificial love is as something that burns people alive)...

Considering the extremely negative opinion many HP fans have of "St. Lily," that actually makes a lot of sense. Her "love" for Snape certainly had a caustic effect on his life, making him eat his heart, soul, autonomy, and self-respect out with guilt and remorse, and burning away any chance he had of having even a decent life, let alone a satisfying one. Her "love" burned Petunia, too, when Lily used her magic to bully her older sister, thus turning Petunia against the magical world entirely. That set Harry up to be burned by Petunia with abuse when he got dumped on her doorstep.

The fact is, if Lily had used her magic to help Petunia rather than harm her, Petunia probably wouldn't have been hostile to magic, and Harry would probably have been treated pretty decently by the Dursleys. He might even have been treated well because he was the last remnant of Petunia's beloved sister, not a nasty reminder of that disgusting magical world that destroyed their relationship and made Petunia feel inferior.

Lily Potter: the woman whose love is a toxic, caustic substance that destroys everyone it touches.