No. This is not about Harry. I'm talking about Voldy. If there is another thread on this, it's probably kinda old so just direct me to it if you find one. But why did Voldy live from that AK? It isn't called a killing curse for nothing. We know that Harry lived because of his mother's protection (Which I think has something to do with ancient magical contract as well as love), but why did Voldy live when the curse rebounded? And if it indeed was his AK, why wasn't it recorded with priori incantatem? This is a question that still needs to be answered, and JKR says it's more important than why Harry lived. Anyone have any ideas?

He lived because of the many steps he took towards immortality. Hagrid says in PS/SS that he wasn't human enough to die. Dumbledore mentions that his goal was to thwart death. There is a great theory on this over at ww.mugglenet.com in the Underground Lake editorial. It gets a bit deep for here, very complicated, but it's definitely well thought out and I agree with it.

That´s what he says. When he´s at the graveyard he tells the DE´s off for thinking he´d died, as they knew the steps he´d taken to inmortality. The thing is that we haven´t been told which steps those are. Maybe we´ll find out some say.

I beleive Voldemort lived because even though Avada-Kedavra is a killing course it could be that when it rebounded it may have lost some of it`s power. Also i always wandered what happened to the spell showing up in Priori incantatem thing. Maybe it never happened and it all went another way, and it could have all been covered up by someone(that could make an interesting turn in the story).

There are many intricate theories about Voldemort's transformation, most of which are complicated.
Maybe Voldemort partially altered some of his humanity into a serpentine state to defy death.
I think Priori Incantatem only echoes completed spells.
The killing curse is finished when it wipes life from the body, forcing the soul into death.
The same spell struck both Harry and Voldemort, but neither died meaning the charm is not complete.

Yes. We know that much already, but there has to be something more. Think about how Harry survived. He lived because his mother sacrificed herself for him, but don't you think that someone would have done the same thing already? It's been at least a decade since Voldy started his reign of terror and this is the first time someone died for someone else? What about before Voldy, like around the time of Grindlewald? That's why I think his survival had something to do with magical contract. Don't you see? It can't be as simple as the protection botched up the AK and he just took steps to live. There has to be something more! Why else would JKR emphasize this question?

Yeah, I recall Jk said something about that we should be wondering not why Harry lived but why Voldemort didn´t die. Well, I really can´t think of anything else now. Could it maybe have something to do with the idea of maybe someone else being at Godric´s Hollow that night?

The following is a post made by Nick in a thread that's now been closed.

I've also renamed this thread because firstly, there seems to be a lot of this type of thread turning up so I think it would be best to keep the discussions in one place and secondly, the search filters weren't picking it up as a thread about Voldemort.
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Anyway - Ive just be re-reading a discussion JK Rowling placed on her website, and she told a little girl that readers should be focusing on the question "Why didnt voldemort die?" - well i think i have an answer!

This is a long shot, but could it be possible that in the past, someone died to protect Voldemort?! Im not saying love, but we know protecting someone from avada kedavra leaves a "mark" - could it be, the reason voldemort didnt die, is because they BOTH had that mark?

We know voldemort put "measures" in place to stop himself dying - could this have been one of them?

Also - in OotP - we know Dumbledore had the opertunity to kill Voldemort, or at least attempt it! JK Rowling stated on her site that Dumbledore didnt try to kill him for a specific reason - could this be because he knows that a curse thrown at voldemort would rebound upon himself??

ifs a troubled theory, but if i find any more evidence, ill post it.

Do you mean one of his servants sacrificed their life for their master's?
But what about his appearance? Where does that fit?

I don't think so. I think if someone did die "for" Voldemort, it would be his dad and/or grandparents. You do remember that Tommy Boy killed his father and grandparents as shown to us in GoF. Perhaps a dark version of Lily's protection?

Well, Voldemort killed his father and grandparents, so obviously they didn´t die for him. But it could be some sort of curse or spell that made some protection from them appear, maybe using their souls... Who knows?? Even if he was so young when he killed them, he was a very inteligent student... With LV, and with JK, you never know...

Well in the end of Ootp doesnt Dumbledore (or harry i forget) say that in the end "one has to kill the other" so technically when it reflected off of harry he wouldnt die because technically harry isnt killing voldemort?

I don´t know. Harry wasn´t killing Voldemort, but Voldemort was killing Harry (or trying to)

When Voldy tried to kill Harry that first time, he was marking him, as if starting up the prophecy. Voldy believed that he would be killing Harry and ending it before it began, but instead, he made the first step in fulfilling the full contents of the prophecy. Any more ideas?

Maybe Voldemort's transformation has something to do with Grindelwald. The wizard card says Dumbledore vanguished Grindelwald, but what if he just witnessed the effects of what Tom Riddle could have done. Maybe a curse that transfers life-force into someone else (like a vampire).
I know its pulled out of the air, but hey, its an idea...

i believe that voldermort only believe that by using harrys blood, he would inherit the power that harry so greatly posseses, however what he does not know is how to use it. eg. when harry shook hands with prof. quirell. why diddnt quirell burn up at that instant? so whe voldermort touched harry for a few seconds in the graveyard there was no guarantee that he was supposed to get an effect. i believe that harry still has that edge on voldermort but he is yet to realize ithttp://www.veritaserum.com/forums/style_images/1/icon14.gif
http://www.veritaserum.com/forums/style_images/1/icon14.gif

Quirrell didn´t burn up at that moment because it was after that day that Voldemort possessed him. Therefore, he couldn't burn up as he wasn't sharing anything with LV yet.

At the beginning of the Gof, we found out Voldemort killed his grandparents and his dad,right?What about his mother?We don't know anything else about her except she had Salazar's blood in her veins. Obviously you'll find out Voldemort was, and probably still is, proud of her...isn't pride a way to love someone?I can't believe he didn't love her...everyone loves his or her mother.So, what happened to her?Why is he an orphan?

Perhaps i just don't remember...but i think JK never told us.In my opinion she did the same thing as lily...she gave her life for him, perhaps she died when she gave birth to him: this is a way to give her life for her son's.