Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today we’re going to be discussing how Hogwarts Legacy may have just given us
an entirely new perspective on the death of beloved Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
Hogwarts Legacy takes place in the late 1800s- supposedly 1890- which means that
during the course of the game Dumbledore is just a mere 9 years old. However,
the thing that Hogwarts legacy exposes has nothing to do with Dumbledore in that timeline,
but rather, it emphasizes an aspect of the lore that impacts Dumbledore many
many years later. The wizarding world in the 1800s was still the wizarding world,
and the rules of this world are very much the same as the rules in the Harry Potter time period.
First we’ll discuss his death, then we’ll segue in to how Hogwarts Legacy changes it.
In Chapter 27 of the Half-Blood Prince - the chapter dramatically named ‘The
Lightning Struck Tower’, Dumbledore meets his demise at the hands of Severus Snape:
“'Severus ... please ..."
Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore.
'Avada Kedavra!'
A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore
squarely in the chest. Harry's scream of horror never left him;
silent and unmoving, he was forced to watch as Dumbledore was blasted into the air:
for a split second he seemed to hang suspended beneath the shining skull,
and then he fell slowly backwards, like a great rag doll, over the battlements and out of sight.”
The passage above references Dumbledore’s death at the hands of Severus Snape on the 30th of June
1997- a pivotal moment in the series that shocked the wizarding world to its core.
Dumbledore’s death was a BIG DEAL- he was 115 years old, and had made a profound impact on
the wizarding world over the course of his life. His death also raised a lot
of questions- how could the WISE and POWERFUL Dumbledore be defeated in such an paltry manner?
The first thing that we need to dig in to deeper is HOW he died,
as this bears immense significance with regards to how Hogwarts Legacy may have
impacted it. Typically, it’s inferred that Snape’s killing curse- Avada Kedavra- was
more than enough to finish him off, but one overlooked component is his FALL.
After being struck by Snape’s curse, Dumbledore fell ‘over the battlements and out of sight’,
but one detail of significance is that his origin was the Astronomy
Tower- the tallest tower at Hogwarts Castle.
Since Hogwarts Legacy came out, player’s all over the world have been trying their
best to connect the dots between the in-game canon and the existing series,
and one such activity that has become particularly popular is visiting the place where Dumbledore met
his demise. Atop the Astronomy Tower, hope was at one time entirely lost for the wizarding world,
but in the 1800s I doubt this tower possessed such an ominous connection.
Players all over Reddit have chimed in on this matter,
and they also seem to have noticed an ISSUE with the spot where Dumbledore fell:
One Reddit user tipped off players: "You can go visit the spot where Dumbledore
fell off the tower, except that theres no way to fall on the ground from there”
"So," they continued to explain, "we can only assume that canonically this is what happened."
The Redditor then included a diagram of the Hogwarts tower with an illustration
showing the most likely route of the late headmaster's fall.
And let’s just say- Dumbledore’s fall would not have been pleasant-
a far from linear drop that would have had Dumbledore bouncing around like a rag doll.
However, others were quick to chime in with their own feedback, offering counter-arguments for why
this illustration of Hogwarts may not be entirely accurate- at least, at the time of his death.
"It's already been established that Hogwarts has an ever changing floor
pattern," commented one Reddit user.
"There’s a throwaway line in the game that the castle changes periodically."
And while is this true, I’m not entirely convinced
that the exterior of the castle would have changed in such dramatic fashion.
Others added that perhaps the weather would have played a role in influencing Dumbledore’s fall:
"maybe it was a windy night? Bodies don't drop straight down, especially if there was wind."
Others, however, had a different reaction: "Man that old man was bouncy."
Whichever way you look at it, Dumbledore’s fall would not have been pleasant. Even
if he did fall straight down, and even if he had been killed
by the killing curse PRIOR to falling, it’s not exactly a graceful way to go.
But here’s where I’ve got a glimpse of hope for some of you,
at least the ones that are open to theories.
I don’t think that Dumbledore died from Snape’s curse- I think that the only way
he could have died was if he had succumbed to the fall. The reason that I say this
is that the curse used to kill Dumbledore was none other than Avada Kedavra- which,
as we know, requires great INTENT in order to be used successfully. Even though it was
part of their plan, I’m not entirely convinced that Snape would have been
able to muster the true ‘intent’ in order to effectively strike down the headmaster.
But this still leaves us with Dumbledore being blown off the side of Hogwarts- a fate which,
entirely by itself, would have been enough to bring the headmaster to his demise.
There are actually quite a few ways that he could have..
Survived the fall & Faked his death
First I’ll discuss the potential ways that
Dumbledore could have stopped his fall mid-air and escaped.
The first possibility surrounds a spell that we actually see Dumbledore use in an
earlier film- Arresto Momentum- which is used to slow the velocity of an object.
The next possibility is that Dumbledore had a broom stashed
somewhere, and used ‘accio’ to summon it mid fall.
The next possibility is that Dumbledore simply APPARATED. We see Dumbledore
apparating constantly, and he seems to be one of the only people NOT bound by the restriction
of no apparating within Hogwarts. Dumbledore placed many of the enchantments on Hogwarts,
so it’s not unreasonable to assume that he would also be able to lift them.
The NEXT possibility ties in to an old theory of mine which suggests that Dumbledore is in fact
an unregistered Animagus. We know for a fact that one’s patronus form generally provides insight in
to what one’s ‘animagus’ form would be. We also know that Dumbledore’s patronus is a phoenix. So
I’m suggesting this: after being thrown over the battlements- Dumbledore simply turned in
to his ‘phoenix’ animagus form, flying away. Everyone would have thought it was just Fawkes.
And on that note, my final explanation for how Dumbledore could have prevented his fall
is that he was simply saved by Fawkes- caught mid air and brought to safety.
Dumbledore surviving the fall is a lovely thought,
but one big issue that we still have to consider is his BODY. Doesn’t Dumbledore have an entire
funeral? If he survived, then how can his motionless corpse be reasonably explained?
Well, I don’t think it’s entirely impossible to deduce that Snape- a potions expert- could have
created some sort of concoction for Dumbledore to drink upon his safe landing. A ‘concoction’ that
would ‘bewitch the mind’, ‘ensnare the senses’ and-in a roundabout way- ‘put a stopper in death’.
It’s also entirely possible that Dumbledore and Snape had used Polyjuice on an unnamed
but deceased Death Eater, leaving the body of THAT wizard behind while Dumbledore escaped.
It should also be mentioned that Dumbledore surviving doesn’t impact the plot that
follows his death. Before his death, while still in possession of the Elder Wand,
Dumbledore was disarmed by Draco, and it’s been proven that ownership can be
gained simply through ‘disarming’- and does not necessarily require death. Therefore,
Dumbledore surviving does not disrupt the path of ownership that the wand eventually follows.
These theories may be a bit farfetched, but I do like a good theory,
and I certainly don’t like to imagine that Dumbledore fell brutally to his death.
What do you guys think? Have you noticed any aspects of canon that
coincide with events in Hogwarts Legacy? Leave a comment down below.
And until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live