Why didn't Lily apparate with Harry?

[Eir]

Originally Posted by Numenorian

Maby the spell only works in that way. People can't apparate in the house, but they also can't apparate out the house.

That could be true, but when Hermione is telling Harry and Ron about Hogwarts, she seems to emphasize that you can't apparate in OR out of Hogwarts, which to me indicates that maybe in some instances it would be possible to apparate out of a place but not in (or the opposite, but I don't see what the advantage of that would be). I mean, there's no hard evidence either way, but that's one point to take into consideration, anyway.

I'm leaning toward the theory that Voldemort used magic to prevent Lily from disapparating from the house. With all the precautions he took hiding his horcruxes, he's not one to overlook details, so he definitely would have taken measures to prevent the Potters' escape. I also think it's plausible that apparition takes a lot of concentration and that Lily just didn't have enough time for it, but apparition seems to me like it's parallel to learning how to drive. It's really daunting and requires a lot of concentration at first, but it gets a lot easier with practice. There's no canon evidence for that (well, except that Mr. Weasley and DD don't seem to have such a hard time with it), so I suppose it's just as likely.

[irmapince]

My guess is Voldemort put a "Dark Mark only" barrier around the Potter's house, just like the one Draco put up on the staircase in the Astronomy Tower. If it was simple enough for Draco to do, then definately Voldemort could have set it up in a few seconds. This way Voldemort and his DEs could come into the Potter's house, but the Potters would not be able to go out. The Potters would not have been able to physically cross the barrier and get out of the house (just like the Order members were not able to cross the barrier and get to the top of the Astronomy Tower). Also, I'm assuming the barrier would block anyone trying to Apperate through it if they didn't have the Dark Mark. This would be V's most effective way of trapping the Potters because the Potters can neither leave the house nor Apparate away while Voldemort and his DEs can enter and leave the house at will.

[Anemoi]

I still stubbornly contend that apparating a one year old child would end with the death of the child, thus why she did not apparate.

[sllagnire]

Whether or not Voldemort (or the Potters) put some type of anti-apparition spell on the house, I think the fact remains that in her state, Lily would not be able to apparate at all. I think it would be difficult for any wizard to apparate correctly when you have the darkest wizard of the ages in your house. You need to have a clear head becuase you need immence concentration. Obviously, Lily would not have had a clear head.

I will say, however, had it just been Lily, I think she may have been able to apparate herself. However, I think that having someone else that you love so much thrown into the equation clouds your head a bit more. I don't see Lily as one who would go beserk when danger came her way, but she was taking into consideration the life of her only child, who was only a year old. I think that this is what would have clouded her mind, and not trying to save herself.

[DarkDaysAhead]

Originally Posted by sllagnire

Whether or not Voldemort (or the Potters) put some type of anti-apparition spell on the house, I think the fact remains that in her state, Lily would not be able to apparate at all. I think it would be difficult for any wizard to apparate correctly when you have the darkest wizard of the ages in your house. You need to have a clear head becuase you need immence concentration. Obviously, Lily would not have had a clear head.

It's possible that that's why she didn't disapparate but we're not really sure she wouldn't have been able to do so. I definitely agree that she would have been frightened, to say the least, but we saw Snape disapparate after having killed Dumbledore and fled the school. Of course, Voldemort wasn't present but stress/fear/etc. is still stress/fear/etc., I think. And, obviously, capability differs from wizard to wizard but I'm not so sure it's "fact" that she simply wouldn't have been able to disapparate.

[troryfan]

i actually never considered the fact that she could have apparated, but where could she go?
As far as i understand it, the whole place was overrun with death eaters.
Besides, that would be a cowardly thing to do.

Jo

[DarkDaysAhead]

Originally Posted by troryfan

i actually never considered the fact that she could have apparated, but where could she go?

Anywhere would have been better than Godric's Hollow at that point in time.

Originally Posted by troryfan

Besides, that would be a cowardly thing to do.

I disagree. Wanting to protect yourself and your child isn't cowardly.

[req4adrm]

Originally Posted by DarkDaysAhead

Anywhere would have been better than Godric's Hollow at that point in time.

I disagree. Wanting to protect yourself and your child isn't cowardly.

EXACTLY. That's what I've been trying to say the whole time.

[dEAcsrOck430]

I think that Lily didn't apparate with Harry for the same reason that Jo said that James didn't switch bodies with Remus on 10/31/1981; she wouldn't have left her husband to die.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by dEAcsrOck430

I think that Lily didn't apparate with Harry for the same reason that Jo said that James didn't switch bodies with Remus on 10/31/1981; she wouldn't have left her husband to die.

Can you dig up that quote? I haven't heard that one before, that's an interesting one.

[Numenorian]

Originally Posted by DarkDaysAhead

Wasn't Luna's mother killed when one of her spells goofed? I seem to think she was tampering with them...

No. Though there are thousands of spells, that is still a small piece of the total magic. I believe Luna's mother was trying to discover new spells through manipulating the magic and then sell it to, i don't know, the ministry I think. It was her job.
But there are many sorts of magic. There is magic that can be used by everyone, there is magic that can be used in only one place, there is magic that only a specific person can use,...

[dEAcsrOck430]

Did James and Lupin switch bodies before James was killed?

An ingenious theory, but no; James would never have saved himself and left his wife and son to die.

[from FAQ on jkr.com]

[Numenorian]

Originally Posted by troryfan

i actually never considered the fact that she could have apparated, but where could she go?
As far as i understand it, the whole place was overrun with death eaters.
Besides, that would be a cowardly thing to do.

Jo

It is far from cowardly to want to save yourself and your son. Besides, Lily faced Voldemort three times already, so I think she proved not to be a coward already.

[req4adrm]

Originally Posted by dEAcsrOck430

I think that Lily didn't apparate with Harry for the same reason that Jo said that James didn't switch bodies with Remus on 10/31/1981; she wouldn't have left her husband to die.

He was already dead, and I'm sure James would have rather her apparate to safety with their baby than stay by his side and attempt to fight/plea with Voldemort.

[Nicole]

Originally Posted by chparadise

Can you dig up that quote?

JKR website, F.A.Q. Did James and Lupin switch bodies before James was killed? An ingenious theory, but no; James would never have saved himself and left his wife and son to die.

[ShadowAngel]

It's also possible that since they were in hiding,there was probably many protection spells on their house,one of those protection spells being an anti-apparition spell.Besides when you think about if you're in hiding would you really want the person trying to kill you to just pop in?

[Levicorpus827]

dont kids even read the thread they post in nowadays? geez. anyway i think most people here are in agreement that it was a combination of time, stress level, fear etc.

[teardrops17]

Originally Posted by req4adrm

I'm not sure if this question has been addressed here before, but why didn't Lily simply apparate with baby Harry after (or even before) she saw Voldemort kill James?

We've now been shown that it's possible to apparate someone who can't apparate themself (in HBP - DD apparates Harry twice, Harry then apparates DD because he is too weakened), so why wouldn't she have chosen what seems to be (at least to me) such an obvious solution.

if that is going to happen, then it would ruin the plot... if it hadn't been for the scar and Lily's death, we wouldn't be reading Harry's story right now...

as for the apparition... it would also ruin their world.. if anyone can apparate before being hit by a spell, then all of them (those who know how to apparate) can escape death... (except in Sirius' case and at Hogwarts)

[Chris]

We have seen apparition in battle - both Voldemort and Dumbledore used it in the Ministry in OoTP. And, I think that apparition in battle is probably quite common, when no anti-apparition charm exists. It probably serves as the primary means of escape, and I think the "thrice defied" refers to situations where James and Lily escaped somehow (or at least one of the thrice refers to this). DD and Voldemort used the apparition as both offense and defense - that might be more rare, though we've only seen a couple wizarding duels.

I too think that the Potters protected their house with an anti-apparition charm, and this is why they couldn't use it to escape.

[DarkDaysAhead]

Originally Posted by Numenorian

No. Though there are thousands of spells, that is still a small piece of the total magic. I believe Luna's mother was trying to discover new spells through manipulating the magic and then sell it to, i don't know, the ministry I think. It was her job.

You believe or you know?

I'd rather like a quote to straighten this all out.