Harry’s memory is false. Harry even notes that the memory is so old it should not even be there.
Q lied. To his ears her plea must have sounded something like “may I please lay down my wand?”.
Q never intended to kill Harry anyway, so he either doesn’t care about any protection, or maybe even prefers for it to keep Harry safe. (Especially if Q wants Harry to rule.)
Also, Lily was clever: maybe she tried to bluff Q into relaxing his guard by feigning surrender and thus attack him at his weakest. Possibly Q, playing at a higher level, realized this and accepted her offer of “surrender” out of amusement. So either Q saw through Lily’s feigned surrender or she realized that Q accepted her genuine surrender only because he thought she was trying to trick him and this triggered her into attacking him.
There are at least three plausible explanations:
Harry’s memory is false. Harry even notes that the memory is so old it should not even be there.
Q lied. To his ears her plea must have sounded something like “may I please lay down my wand?”.
Q never intended to kill Harry anyway, so he either doesn’t care about any protection, or maybe even prefers for it to keep Harry safe. (Especially if Q wants Harry to rule.)
Also, Lily was clever: maybe she tried to bluff Q into relaxing his guard by feigning surrender and thus attack him at his weakest. Possibly Q, playing at a higher level, realized this and accepted her offer of “surrender” out of amusement. So either Q saw through Lily’s feigned surrender or she realized that Q accepted her genuine surrender only because he thought she was trying to trick him and this triggered her into attacking him.
Oh, it was clearly sarcastic, from the context—but perhaps the ritual didn’t care.