How does harry live on when Voldemort kills him?

Answer 1

Harry lived because he was a Horcrux. You see, all Horcruxes are - things. When you destroy a Horcrux you are only destroying the trapped part of the soul hidden within. Example, take Tom Riddle's diary, it was stabbed with a basilisk fang destroying the Horcrux within the diary; while the book, itself, lived on. Think of it as an outer shell to an object, the matter hidden within dies before the corporeal (earthly) item. :D - Hope this helps - <3

Let me add to this answer, as there are actually several reasons as to why Harry survived.

1) Obviously, Lily's love shielded his blood.

2) The wand, mastered, not by Voldemort, but rather Harry only destroyed the part of Voldemort's soul within Harry. Harry being the Elder wand's master, rendered the Avada Kedavra spell useless against Harry's soul and his corporeal body. A crucial point (and remember, the answers to the questions to Potter universe lies within the movies, as well as the books) that no answer (not even answered in Yahoo Answers) has graced upon yet is that in Deathly Hallows Part 2 Dumbledore distinctly states, when Harry asks, "Professor, is this happening in my head," "of course this happening in your head." If this then is happening within his head, his corporeal body is still alive, and he's only been rendered unconscious - allowing his nerves to still be firing and cognitive processes to be functioning. It's almost a dream state. This is a crucial aspect that J.K. and Steve Kloves put in the movies, I believe, because a definitive answer to this will not come out until the Harry Potter Encyclopedia is published; as J.K. really doesn't answer this in the book satisfactorily. J.K. and Steve microscopically comb over and approve every detail and word to those movies, so every detail counts in the books and movies when explaining answers to the questions about the Harry Potter universe.

3) Harry, like Lily, by having the bravery and selflessness to sacrifice his life resulted in him casting his own protective enchantment. Harry though, didn't give his life for one person, like Lily for Harry, but for the greater world; as he knew Voldemort would enslave the populace to dominate the world. He gave his life for the world! A kid gave his life! If Lily can cast a protective enchantment for only soul, then sacrificing yourself for a global cause can cast an impenetrable shielding enchantment. You could even go as far as to say that Voldemort would have been rendered impotent in killing anyone else, lest he find another way around the protective enchantment, which is possible. I say this because another line from one of the movies, The Goblet of Fire. Voldemort says, "Shall I divulged how I truly lost my powers that night." "Yes, shall I." "It was love." "You see, when dear sweet Lily gave her life for her only son... she provided the ultimate protection." "I could not touch him (obviously, meaning Harry, while addressing his followers)." "It was old magic." "Something I should have foreseen." This last line suggest loads. Firstly, if this can even be something that's foreseeable, then does that mean that Voldemort could have countered the protective enchantment Lily cast with another spell. Secondly, rather does this mean that he needed to foresee that she would do this. That by killing Lily he would have needed to go about killing Harry another way. We don't even know the further comeuppances for Harry's personal sacrifice within the Harry Potter universe that J.K. has yet to reveal in the Encyclopedia.

Those are further reasons extrapolated from the books and movies that I can decipher. We shall definitively find out when the Encyclopedia is published.

Hope this helped further, beyond the first answer :)

Answer 2

Harry has obtained all of the Deathly Hallows, which allow him to 'put a stopper in death' as Professor Snape stated in Book 1. His spirit is separated from his body but the Hallows allow him to step back into his body.

Answer 3

When his mother gave her life to protect her son, the spell backfired on Voldermort and killed him instead. As Voldermort was now dead, harry lived.

Answer 4

Voldemort did not know that he had made Harry one of his Horcruxes, and unknowingly killed his own soul in Harry, making Harry still alive.