Lily Evans and James Potter are the parents of Harry Potter. They were both twenty-one when Lord Voldemort killed them on October 31st 1981. Their deaths left their son orphaned and left to be raised by his only living family; the Dursleys, who were Lily’s sister, Petunia, brother-in-law Vernon and nephew Dudley.
His parent’s deaths helped shape Harry Potter into the individual he became. He would also name his eldest son, James, after his late father and his only daughter, Lily, after his mother. But who were Harry’s parents before they were married?
James Potter
James was born to Fleamont and Euphemia Potter much later in life. Given he was their only child and they were retired, he was pampered to the point of being spoilt. The Potter family was wealthy and had a vault at Gringotts Bank.
James started his first year at Hogwarts at eleven, where he was sorted into Gryffindor. He would befriend fellow housemates Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin. The group call themselves the Mauraders. They would create a map of Hogwarts that would eventually be taken by caretaker Argus Filch before ending up in the hands of Fred and George Weasley, who would hand the map to James’ son, Harry.
The teenagers would bully a young Severus Snape, who had a massive crush on Lily Evans, a classmate of James’s. Of all the people who had to stand up to James, Lily was the one who clashed with him the most.
Lily Evans Potter
The second daughter of muggles Mr and Mrs Evans, and the younger sister of Petunia, Lily grew up very differently to that of her future husband.
She was close to her sister, but when she learned she was a witch, the sisters became estranged as Petunia was overly jealous of Lily being special. Petunia also came to resent their parents, as they were so proud of their youngest daughter being magical.
Upon entering Hogwarts, Lily was sorted into Gryffindor. Before this, she became friends with her future classmate, Severus Snape, who became her best friend. Little did she realise he had developed a massive crush on her.
The pair’s friendship was vital for several years. Lily would often defend Snape from James and his friends. However, as time passed, Severus joined the Death Eaters and destroyed the friendship by calling Lily and Mudblood a slur used against Muggle-borns.
Lily And James Marry, Harry’s Birth And Voldemort’s Killing Spree
After their 7th year at Hogwarts, James and Lily married, and on July 31st 1980, Harry James Potter was born. However, two of the three Potters would die a little over a year later. Lord Voldemort, a dark wizard, had heard a prophecy mentioning a child born at the end of July [1980] who would bring about his future.
Harry was one of these children. The other was Neville Longbottom, born the day before Harry. Snape overheard part of the prophecy, which ended up getting back to Voldemort as Severus was a Death Eater at this time.
Voldemort decided to go after Harry rather than Neville. Longbottom and Potter both fit the requirements of the prophecy as their parents had thwarted the dark lord several times. However, Voldemort went after Harry, not Neville, because he was a half-blood with a pure-blooded father and a muggle-born mother. Nev
The Dark Lord was a half-blood; his father was a muggle, and his mother was a pure-blooded witch. He also saw himself in Harry, despite having not laid eyes on him.
After a year of searching, Voldemort showed up in Godric’s Hollow, where the Potters had been living, given the intel by their backstabbing secret keeper, Peter Pettigrew.
James is killed first as he tries to stop Voldemort from entering the house. Lily ran upstairs and did what she could to protect Harry. Voldemort ordered her to step aside, but when she refused, he killed her before turning his wand on the infant. The killing curse backfired, but it was unclear why at the time.
Snape Finds The Potters Dead
Having been told by Dumbledore that the Potters were now Voldemort’s targets, Severus begs him to save Lily. He reveals, via his patronus, that he has always loved her.
After the murders, Snape went to Godric’s Hollow and found Lily’s body in the nursery. Devastated, he silently vows to protect the Boy Who Lives, despite the child also being the son of his arch-rival.
