Lily and James - Meddlers who thrice defied Voldemort?

[dobbysfriend]

Voldermort, like other megalomaniacs, had a plan to take over the world. The Potters, along with the rest of the Order, did what they could to disrupt those plans. Voldermort rules through fear, and intimidation, so the Order had the job of throwing a wrench into the Death Eaters plans, and probably making them look stupid in some cases. Or at least in preventing their plan from working. If their plan was to blow up a pub, then the Order would find a way to get the people out of the pub before the Death Eaters showed up so they could not be harmed.

[Wright1771]

Well, for one thing, they were both in 'The Order' weren't they! They got away with (?) it, three times.....how many times has Harry esaaped Voldemort? If anything, I'd say Harry's luck is about to change!

[Sile]

They meddled simply by being members of the order. They were trying to stop LV's plans for world domination. They could have defied him face to face but I think they would have been very very lucky to escape 3 times from him

[dill]

In order of the phoenix as dumbledore is ESPLAININ the prophesy to harry he says that harry defied the dark lord 4 times now which is more than his parents or the longbottoms (aurors) were able to do.


and Esplainin is explaining after your foolish scheme hasn't worked out exactly as you hoped. It must be said/read in your best ricky ricardo voice of Lucy you gots some Esplainin to do..

[hwyla]

I've mentioned this before (I think on the James thread?), but I think what Lucius said sounds almost 'personal' - this is 'out there on a thin branch of speculation, but I think James was doing for the Order what Lucius does for the purebloodists. Using money and family influence to attempt to convince people to his way of seeing.

I think Lucius' comments sound somewhat personal because James was actually thwarting Lucius' attempts. Anyways, I can certainly see convincing lawmakers to enact laws that are more protective of muggles or muggle-borns as defying Voldy.

And I think James - who seems rather charismatic and certainly well-able to entertain or sway a crowd would take great delight in ruining any of Voldy's more subtle plans.

As I said - this is based on very thin canon - so must be taken with a grain of salt. Mostly just a feeling.

Canon clues for it:

1) Molly's fear that the twins will be murdered in their beds for publically deriding Voldy - making his name that is never mentioned into a joke. Combine this with the way Hagrid suggested the Marauders were like the twins of their day and the fact that we get the Map thru them.

2) James came from 'money' - apparently enough that JKR said he didn't need a high-paying job. Enough that he owns an invisibility cloak while still a kid. Even Sirius, who also comes from a bit of money, didn't have his own cloak. Not even after he left home and inheritied money. I think it's possible that the Potter family MIGHT have been more along the lines of the Malfoys as far as wealth was concerned.

3) James was supposedly popular, even tho' he went around hexing people just for the heck of it. I think we can say he was charismatic enough that people might like him anyways, even if they weren't totally sure he wouldn't hex them. I hesitate to bring up SWM, but I think it also shows that James knew how to play a crowd. Not everyone in the crowd looked 'happy', but they certainly all watched. I think it's a clue that Minerva called him the Ringleader of his group - reminds me of the MC of circuses.

What's it add up to? I see James as capable of some rousing speeches or even something like the twins - making 'fun' of Voldy. I think he might also have used his money for 'donations' much like we see with Lucius. That would make some sense of Lucius seeing him as a meddler.

Not sure how I see Lily in this though - obviously, she had her own style of wit and command of attention. And she was known to be quite popular herself. I do at times wonder if Lily was actually the more well-known of the two - partially because we repeatedly see them referred to as 'Lily and James', but also because I just can't see her playing second-best.

[20ofdecember]

I am about to enter the realm of theory and mere guesswork now and talk about the first set of Horcrux Hunters. For those who like ramblings and interesting but plausible guesses, enjoy! The ramifications of the following concepts are numerous, so please be sure to throw in your own ideas and comments. Okay...

We know that DD and Harry have searched for Voldy's horcruxes, and before them, RAB searched for them. But there are two other people i suspect may have been Horcrux Hunters.

Lily and James Potter

We still dont know what their jobs were, and Rowling has hinted that this will be an important revelation when we find out what they did. This leads me to think they didn't work at the local Magic-Mart store. While we can only speculate as to the exact details, its seems like the Potters had a important job in the wizarding world.

Pro: They seemed to have been in on the fight against Voldemort as they were, if nothing else, members of the Order of the Phoenix.

Con: As best as I can tell, Dumbledore was the head of the Order at the time of Lily and James Potter. And since Dumbledore only found out about LV's horcruxes after the events of CoS, then it is likely that individual members of the order were not searching for horcruxes on their own.

If the Deathly Hallows have anything to do with the British children's cover, than are some of the Deathly Hallows in the pile of gold?

Theory: is it possible that Lily and James kept things other than gold in the Gringotts vault? E.G. the armour and things? Perhaps even a horcrux?

[powerpits]

I like the Idea of Lilly being an unspeakable. It would be great if Luna's mother and Lilly had worked together at MoM, then that would put Luna in the same boat with Harry a Nevelle. I think the object Luna's mother was working on when she was killed may have been a Horcrux that Lilly ask her to work on. Then all these kids would be tied together.

[hwyla]

Originally Posted by 20ofdecember

...Theory: is it possible that Lily and James kept things other than gold in the Gringotts vault? E.G. the armour and things? Perhaps even a horcrux?

Well, what was the description of what was in the vault when Harry went in? I remember piles of gold, but not much else - however it DOES stick in my mind that a vault has been described with something other than gold in it and the only other vaults we've seen had VERY little in them - the vault with the Philosophers Stone (only thing in it) and the Weasley's (only a few coins). Anyone have the book at hand for a quote?

I do remember that JKR has on her website that one of her original drafts had the Philosophers Stone in THEIR vault (instead of the vault Hagrid retrieved it from). So apparently, she did intend for the vaults to hold things other than money.

[moonarcher]

I'm curious about the word defy.

Does this mean in direct defiance, as in the Potters were personally warned, or indirectly though their involvement with Order?

In which case Lily defied LV by not allowing him to have Harry, and walking away to save herself - I never understood why he would give her the option. It almost implies respect for Lily to some degree, as killing her to get to Harry without a second thought seems more Voldie's style. Somethings not right here...

Perhaps not joining the DEs is defiance? And then actively working against them as part of the Order?

I agree with Eric_Cartman, the Snape connection may well be important (my view being based on the Lily/Snape/Dumbledore/ unbreakable vow theory). The idea of James' cloak has also captured my interest...