Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing- you guessed it- Harry Potter theories. However- they’re not my own theories-
they’re theories that have been floating around the internet for many years. And, what
do all of these theories have in common? Well- all of them were actually confirmed to be
true years later- either through JK Rowling or through Pottermore. Some of them might
be obvious to you NOW, but at one point, a lot less was known about the wizarding world-
and its only through extended lore that we’ve been able to find definitive proof to support
our theories. I make a lot of theories of my own, so I can only hope that my own theories
are confirmed one day. Anyway, without further ado- here are 10 Harry Potter Fan Theories
that actually turned out to be true.
Harry’s Children’s Names
In the epilogue we see Harry sending his children off to Hogwarts in a familiar scene at platform
9 ¾. At this stage of Harry and Ginny’s relationship they now have 3 children- James
Sirius, Lily Luna, and Albus Severus. However- what stuck out to some fans were the choices
that Harry had made for his children’s names. He named his kids after people that were important
to him, but there was a distinct absence of names of other notable figures in Harry’s
life- people like Arthur, Hagrid and- most related to THIS theory- Remus. The theory
on the internet was that Harry didn’t name his son after Remus because he thought that
Teddy Lupin, Remus’s son, might like to use the name for his own kids down the line.
It turns out, this was exactly right- and was actually confirmed by Rowling on Twitter.
Dudley Dursley
Dudley Dursley was the bane of Harry’s existence- tormenting him for a large portion of his
childhood- even when he would return home to little whinging solely for the summer holidays.
However, on one visit in the summer of 1995- Dudley would have quite a wake up call. After
bullying Harry with his group of friends, the pair begin walking home, and it’s at
this stage that they’re brutally attacked by dementors. Dudley is of course a target
of the attack, and afterwards, the book poses the following:
“Dementors caused a person to relive the worst moments of their life. What would spoiled,
pampered, bullying Dudley have been forced to hear?”
This caused much speculation among fans- but the prevailing theory actually ended up being
the right one, as it was confirmed in an interview with Rowling in 2004.
"My feeling is that he saw himself, exactly for what he was, and for a boy that spoiled,
it would be terrifying.
Magical Schools
Hogwarts is the most famous wizarding school in the Harry Potter story- I don’t think
you could argue that. It’s the school with the sorting hat, the hogwarts express and
the whomping willow. However, JK Rowling at one point revealed to fans that OTHER schools
existed in the wizarding world- with fans immediately jumping to all kinds of conclusions
about where these other schools might be. Just before the release of the Fantastic Beasts
film, Rowling took to Pottermore to reveal that there are eleven unique schools for witchcraft
and wizardry across the world. These schools include Ilvermorny (North America), Koldovstoretz
(Russia), Mahoutokoro (Japan), Beauxbatons (France), Hogwarts (UK), Castelobruxo (South
America), Durmstrang (Eastern Europe), and Uagadou (Africa), as well as a few others
that have yet to be named.
Hermione’s Amortentia Encounter
In the Half-Blood Prince, Horace Slughorn takes over as potions master, and it’s not
long after he accepts the position that he begins to expose students to all sorts of
powerful potions. The potion in question here, however, is Amortentia.
"Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world. It is distinctive for its mother-of-pearl
sheen, and steam rises from the potion in spirals. Amortentia smells different to each
person, according to what attracts them.”
In the Half-Blood Prince, Hermione herself takes a whiff of the amortentia, smelling
Freshly mown grass, new parchment and..one last thing which wasn’t explicitly stated.
Fans however strongly theorized that the missing smell, the one that Hermione wouldn’t reveal,
was in fact the smell of Ron Weasley’s hair. This turned out to be true, and the reason
it wasn’t revealed was because it would have spoiled the buildup of their mutual attraction.
The Death Eaters Are Based On the Naz*is
Blood status is one of the most controversial aspects of the wizarding world- a concept
in which wizarding families can be distinguished by the level of magically-endowed family members.
Generally speaking, people are slotted in to one of the following categories: Pure-blood,
half-blood or muggle, and the different classifications of blood purity in the wizarding world actually
act in a very similar fashion to race in the real world- which obviously leaves the door
open for things like prejudice. For this reason, many fans were quick to recognize similarities
between Voldemort and the Death Eaters with a certain German Leader and his own followers.
These similarities, as it turned out, were not an accident- as the depressingly realistic
depiction of comparable regimes was later confirmed by Rowling:
“I wanted Harry to leave our world and find exactly the same problems in the wizarding
world. So you have the intent to impose a hierarchy, you have bigotry, and this notion
of purity, which is this great fallacy, but it crops up all over the world. People like
to think themselves superior and that if they can pride themselves in nothing else they
can pride themselves on perceived purity. So yeah that follows a parallel [to Naz*ism].”
6.The Baby in Limbo
When Harry travels to the Forbidden Forest in the Deathly Hallows, it’s not long before
he’s struck down by Voldemort. The next thing we know, Harry is beginning to regain
consciousness- and from here he quickly realizes that he’s no longer in the Forbidden Forest.
In fact, entirely disoriented, he didn’t know WHERE he was, all he knew was that it
was unlike any other place that he had been before. This place, as it turned out, was
a sort of ‘limbo’. One of the most interesting aspects of Harry’s visit to ‘limbo’
was the ominous presence of a sort of ‘baby’ (I use that term loosely) lying on the ground.
It’s never actually explained properly what this thing was, which obviously caused fans
to speculate and theorize. The prevailing theory was that this ‘thing’ was Voldemort-
and fans turned out to be correct.
“I’ve been asked this a LOT. It is the last piece of soul Voldemort possesses. When
Voldemort attacks Harry, they both fall temporarily unconscious, and both their souls - Harry's
undamaged and healthy, Voldemort’s stunted and maimed - appear in the limbo where Harry
meets Dumbledore.”
7. Flying without a broom
In the wizarding world, we’re basically taught to believe that flight is only capable
with the use of a broomstick. However, in the seventh book, fans were thrown off- as
Voldemort was suddenly described as being able to ‘fly’ through the sky. This caused
many fans to speculate and theorize as to why and how this was possible. The prevailing
theory was that using a broom is just like using a wand: not always entirely necessary.
As we know, using a wand allows a witch or wizard to channel their magic, HOWEVER, if
the witch or wizard is powerful enough- they don’t always have a need for a wand- this
is called wandless magic. I can only imagine that flying follows the same principles, with
most witches/wizards requiring a broom to ‘channel’ flight. JK Rowling later states
that ALL wizards have the power of flight innately, but that the vast vast majority
need a broom to achieve it.
8. Voldemort Made Even More Horcruxes Than We Knew Of
A horcrux is an object in which a dark witch or wizard has imbued part of their soul. The
ultimate purpose of creating a horcrux is to achieve immortality. There are only two
known wizards who have created a Horcrux, the first being Herpo the Foul and the second
being Voldemort, who produced numerous. Voldemort is widely known to have created 7 horcruxes-
Tom Riddle’s Diary, Marvolo Gaunt’s Ring, Salazar Slytherin’s Locket, Helga Hufflepuff’s
Cup, Rowena Ravenclaw’s Diadem, Nagini, and lastly- Harry Potter. However, what many
fans have speculated over the years is that Voldemort made even more horcruxes than we
(and Dumbledore) were aware of.
This theory was later confirmed on Pottermore, where it was revealed that Professor Quirrell
was in fact a temporary Horcrux and that Voldemort's presence in his body was corrupting him from
the inside out.
9. Magic is Genetic
Very little is revealed in the Harry Potter story about the origins of magic. It’s an
enigmatic ‘presence’ that seems to sort of choose some and not others. However, despite
the lack of information on the topic, fans began to theorize what makes someone magical-
could it be..Genetic?
As it turns out, that’s actually true- and it was confirmed by Rowling- people who can
practice magic have a magical ‘gene’. However, that certainly doesn’t mean that
the magical gene is restricted to those who already have it in their bloodline- as it
can suddenly appear in both squibs and muggles.
10. The Cost of Hogwarts
For centuries the children of the magical world have been receiving their Hogwarts acceptance
letters. The moment they come of age- they can expect a letter at their door, and the
letter is symbolic in that it represents a new chapter in their lives. This letter, in
essence, means that they will be able to attend Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry-
the world’s finest wizarding school. However, after the series ended, many fans were still
scratching their heads and wondering: how much does Hogwarts COST?
There were many fan theories about this- ranging from scholarships to secret donors, but one
of the prevailing theories was that the school was in fact free. This theory, as it turns
out, was later confirmed by Rowling, who tweeted the following:
“There’s no tuition fee! The Ministry of Magic covers the cost of all magical education!”
And that’s it for this video! Were you guys in agreeance with these theories before they
were eventually confirmed through Twitter and Pottermore? Comment down below
Also- if you guys are interested, I’ve been posting a fair bit on my Mythology channel.
Link in the description.
Until next time
Remember
"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on
the light."