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The Significance of the Sacrifices of James and Lily Potter

In the Harry Potter series, one major event that takes place before the series begins is the deaths of James and Lily Potter. On the night that Voldemort comes to kill Harry, James and Lily sacrifice themselves in an attempt to protect their son. As we see throughout the book, Lily’s sacrifice and love are credited for Harry from Voldemort. Unfortunately, this is as far as J.K. Rowling takes it. The problem with leaving the topic there, however, is that it ignores the unique significance of their sacrifice. James and Lily Potter’s sacrifice deserves further attention and understanding because they sacrificed themselves without knowing if their deaths would make a difference.

Think of Voldemort like a nuclear bomb. When it’s coming for you, all you can do is bunker down and hope your safety measures are enough. But they weren’t. Voldemort found them despite all their best efforts. They knew they were going to die and they chose to protect Harry anyway.

When Voldemort first breaks down the door of the Potters’ home, James tells Lily to get Harry while he fights Voldemort. The main thing of note here is that he didn’t have his wand. People often joke that perhaps he forgot or lost it. However, James Potter was a pureblood wizard who spent his entire life with the knowledge of magic. There is little possibility that he would forget his only weapon against Voldemort. James did not retrieve his wand because he knew it wouldn’t make a difference; he was going to die. His only choice was how he would spend his last moments: pointlessly trying to get to his wand or standing between his wife and child and the one who sought to harm them. He chose to give Lily and Harry a chance, to buy them time to make it out. He never thought of himself, but, more than that, he didn’t know if his death would make a difference. He had no way of knowing whether his sacrifice would save his wife and child, but he willingly died for them anyway, because he loved them. Yet, strangely, people don’t mention his love protecting Harry.

The love we hear about protecting Harry is the love of his mother, Lily. After James told her to go, she could have abandoned Harry and saved herself. She might even have had time to run upstairs, grab Harry, and leave. Instead of fruitlessly fighting to live, she ran to Harry’s nursery and used precious time to tell him he was “so loved.” She knew that she would die that day, but she wanted to make sure her child knew someone loved him. When Voldemort got to them, he told her that if she surrendered her child, he would spare her life. She refused, despite knowing she would soon join her husband in death, despite knowing that it could all be in vain. Her last words weren’t begging for her life or despairing James’s death—they were pleading for her son’s life, knowing her pleas would go unanswered. She did not know that Voldemort would fail and that Harry would live. For her, it was worth it to die even if it only kept Harry alive for a little longer. In the end, she died not knowing if Harry would soon follow, yet she did it anyway.

Because of his parents’ sacrifices, Harry got to live. Unfortunately, his relatives, the Dursleys, hated magic and hated him. He spent the next ten years of his life being neglected and emotionally abused by the Dursleys, making it clear that he was unwanted and unloved. The Dursleys also told Harry that his parents died in a drunken car crash—with their one-year-old child in the car—only for Harry to learn the truth years later. J.K. Rowling completely glosses over how world-shattering this would be for Harry. In one night, his parents went from selfish, reckless drunks who didn’t care about him enough to keep him safe to people who loved him so much they died so that he would have even just seconds more to live. He went from a random, unloved orphan to a child wrapped in his parents’ love. In that moment, Lily’s last words became clear—became true—to Harry. He was so loved.

James and Lily Potter's sacrifices are significant because motivated sacrifice has a different impact than sacrifice even when you think it might not make a difference. They didn’t die knowing the outcome; they gave their lives out of love even when all hope was lost. Their deaths show the magnitude of their bravery and love because they were willing to lay down their lives for their child when it might have been in vain.

In conclusion, if they say "you can't write an essay about anything," they're lying.