Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today we’re going to be discussing a theory surrounding a popular question that has been
posed by fans since the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in 2016: Why
didn’t Harry become an Obscurial?
Let’s start with why this question popped up in the first place.
Well, prior to the introduction of the Fantastic Beasts’ character, Credence Barebone, Obscurials
had never been mentioned in the wizarding world of Harry Potter before.
So – what exactly IS an Obscurial?
For those of you who may not know, an Obscurial is a young witch or wizard who is physically
or emotionally ab*used to the point that they feel the need to repress their magic and hide
their abilities.
This repression is directly related to tr*auma experienced as a result of their magic and
a development of hatred, fear or shame in regard to their powers.
These extremely negative emotions combined with their attempt to suppress their magic
then turns into a parasitical force, comprised of Dark Magic, known as an Obscurus.
Obscurials are often young children who usually don’t live past their preteen years.
Throughout the Harry Potter series, we only ever hear of one witch who could – retrospectively
– be labeled as an Obscurial: Ariana Dumbledore.
The explanation of her “ill*ness” fits the description of a witch who had developed
an Obscurus, so it is certainly possible – however, nothing has ever been confirmed by J.K.
Rowling or other Wizarding World sources.
In any case, Obscurials didn’t become canon until well after the Harry Potter series had
concluded.
So, I suppose a – rather lame – explanation certainly could be that Harry wasn’t an
Obscurial because the concept hadn’t been created yet.
However, that’s no fun, now is it?
So, instead, let’s put that thought aside, and give this theory a proper look, shall
we?
As I mentioned, this is a question that has been brought up by many a fan since Credence
made his Obscurial debut in the 2016 Fantastic Beasts film.
So, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that J.K.
Rowling has indeed provided reasoning as to why Harry never developed an Obscurus.
Directly on her website, jkrowling.com, she’s answered this very question under a FAQ section:
“An Obscurus is developed under very specific conditions: tr*auma associated with the use
of magic, internalized hatred of one’s own magic and a conscious attempt to suppress
it.
The Dursleys were too frightened of magic ever to acknowledge its existence to Harry.
While Vernon and Petunia had a confused hope that if they were nasty enough to Harry his
strange abilities might somehow evaporate, they never taught him to be ashamed or afraid
of magic.
Even when he was scolded for ‘making things happen’, he didn’t make any attempt to
suppress his true nature, nor did he ever imagine that he had the power to do so.”
Alright, so let’s unpack that.
In order to become an Obscurial, a witch or wizard must experience ab*use or tr*auma that
is ASSOCIATED with magic, and from there, suppress their magic for fear or hatred of
their power.
The big clue as to why Harry never developed an Obscurus then is in the MAGIC of it all.
To better understand, let’s first take a closer look at the circumstances of the witches
and wizards who we to know (or suspect) to be Obscurials:
Credence Barebone: Credence was adopted by an American No-Maj and Second Salemer named
Mary Lou Barebone.
She was a strict, unsympathetic woman who was fanatical about the eradication of magic
from the world.
Mary Lou openly despised magic and everything about it, hoping that her involvement in The
New Salem Philanthropic Society would help expose the wizarding world and, ultimately,
extinguish it.
This, of course, means that Credence would’ve grown up in a toxic, prejudice environment
in which he would’ve heard Mary Lou preach, at length, how despicable it was to be a witch
or wizard.
Being that Mary Lou was the only mother he’d ever known, it’s no wonder that his magic
brought him a sense of shame, which we see in the very way he carries himself in Fantastic
Beasts.
Combine this sense of shame with the physical ab*use Mary Lou would inflict on Credence,
beating him with his own belt whenever something “odd” would happen, you can imagine the
profound sense of humiliation and possible hatred Credence would’ve harboured towards
his magical abilities.
A Sudanese Girl: In the first Fantastic Beasts film, Newt Scamander talks of an Obscurial,
a young Sudanese girl of only 8 years old, whom he came across in his travels of the
African continent.
The girl’s Obscurus developed after she was persecuted by her entire village for demonstrating
magical abilities.
Again, this persecution would have, of course, been extremely tr*aumatic and the tr*auma
would’ve been directly associated with her magic.
It’s not hard to imagine that being rejected and mistreated by your entire community would
be enough to make anyone feel intense shame and hatred for the very thing that made you
different.
Ariana Dumbledore: As I mentioned earlier in the video, it has never been confirmed
that Ariana Dumbledore, younger sister of Albus, was in fact an Obscurial – BUT the
development of an Obscurus could certainly be explained by her tr*auma and ensuing “ill*ness.”
As you may recall, when she was a young girl, Ariana was viciously attacked by a group of
Muggles who witnessed her doing magic.
Again, this very disturbing event, which was the direct result of Ariana performing magic,
aligns with Rowling’s explanation of how an Obscurus develops.
So, it’s very possible that after the attack, Ariana could’ve been so tr*aumatised that
she became resentful of her abilities.
In an effort to never again be targeted, she may have tried to push her power away.
Because, of course, if she hadn’t been performing magic, those Muggles wouldn’t have known
that she was a witch and never would’ve attacked her…
Which brings us back ’round to our dear boy, Harry.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Harry WAS ab*used by the Dursleys.
But, for whatever reason, when it came to the Dursley’s incredibly unjust and almost
illogical mistreatment of Harry, he seemed to just “roll with the punches” – so
to speak.
Harry was repeatedly “punched on the nose” by his cousin, Dudley, and treated by his
aunt and uncle like a servant – the boy was even made to live in a cupboard, and yet,
he was a rather well-adjusted young person who had no trouble making social connections
when he arrived at Hogwarts.
So, while there certainly WAS both emotional and physical ab*use, Harry was quite resilient
to the point that he was never particularly tr*aumaTISED by any one event.
Sure, he wished he could have been raised in different circumstances – but the young
Harry that we meet in The Philosopher’s Stone doesn’t seem to be too ashamed of
who he is.
Far from it.
He actually seems quite sure of himself, aware that his relatives are silly and frivolous
people, making friends with Ron before he even arrives at Hogwarts, turning away alliances
with unkind wizards like Draco Malfoy, and asking the Sorting Hat not to place him in
Slytherin.
Yes, Harry Potter, despite never knowing who he truly was until the age of 11, seems to
know – and like – himself quite well.
What’s more, while Harry was aware that strange things would happen around him as
he grew up, he never admitted to himself that these occurrences were the workings of magic
– and certainly never acknowledged that HE could be the cause of these things.
In fact, Harry just muddled his way along each event, often thinking that he simply
had rotten luck.
After all, he was blamed for unfortunate “accidents” all the time.
In any case, without recognizing that these strange occurrences were his doing, he could
hardly be ashamed of them, could he?
How could he try to repress his abilities if he didn’t even realize they were HIS
abilities?
Well, he couldn’t, of course!
And so, if we put all those pieces together, we can see very clearly why Harry never became
an Obscurial:
There was no tr*aumatic event or ab*use towards Harry that was EXPLICITLY linked to his magic.
As Harry was never aware that it was his MAGIC that led to many punishments from the Dursleys,
he didn’t have the opportunity to become AFRAID or ASHAMED of his abilities.
Because Harry didn’t realize he could control the strange occurrences, he never tried to
SUPPRESS his power or hide who he was because, of course, he didn’t know himself!
Which brings us to the end of another video!
As always, I’d love to know what you think.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
And, as always, if you enjoyed this video, don’t forget to like it and subscribe to
the channel!
Until next time…
“THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS MAGIC!”
- Vernon Dursley