Hey everyone,
Welcome back to Harry Potter Theory.
Harry Potter didn’t win the Second Wizarding War all on his own.
He needed allies.
And the two most powerful members of his team throughout this entire fight against Voldemort
were undoubtedly Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
But what if one of them turned…
What if one of them betrayed Harry Potter, and aligned themselves with the Death Eaters.
Today, we’re going to answer that question, and more, when we take a look at an alternate
future, as we ask…
What if Hermione was a Death Eater?
WHAT DID SHE BRING TO THE TABLE
Before we talk about just how much having Hermione on Voldemort’s side would have
changed the game, let’s talk about what the young witch brings to the table.
After all, Hermione was much more than just another one of Harry’s friends.
For all intents and purposes, she was the brains in Dumbledore’s Army… and one of
the best strategists that Harry had in his fight against Lord Voldemort.
From their earliest days at Hogwarts, Harry and Ron owed much of their success against
the dark wizard to Hermione’s help.
From her perfect brewing of Polyjuice Potion during the Chamber of Secrets, to her successful
hunt for Voldemort’s horcruxes…
Without Hermione on his side, many of Harry’s missions might have never succeeded.
But the idea of young Ms. Granger joining the Death Eaters is far scarier than that.
Because she would bring all those skills, and more, to the Death Eaters.
Among her fellow witches and wizards, Hermione was leaps and bounds ahead of the class in
almost every subject.
When she was only 12 years old, she could brew a potion that most seventh year students
would fear to attempt.
And she earned better marks than Harry Potter in almost every single subject, besides defense
against the dark arts.
She also held a boatload of inside information about Harry, Ron, Dumbledore, and the rest
of Voldemort’s opponents.
If you think about it, she wouldn’t have joined the Death Eaters in her first three
years at Hogwarts.
Voldemort himself didn’t signal his Death Eaters until the end of the Triwizard Tournament.
That meant, Hermione would have at least 4 years of intel by the time she joined the
cult group of dark wizards.
WHY WOULD SHE CHANGE SIDES
Of course, the Death Eaters wouldn’t just allow a former Harry Potter ally to join their
ranks without question.
And that makes you wonder…
What could have made Hermione cross over?
Hermione always kept an even head.
Even when she became jealous of all the girls who suddenly showed Ron Weasley attention,
she never once thought about dipping into the Dark Arts.
And if a broken heart isn’t enough to push Hermione down the path of becoming a Death
Eater, what could?
Of all the likely scenarios, the most probable one is… a threat to her parents.
During the final months before the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione went out of her way
to cast a memory charm on her parents, to make them forget about her, and move as far
away from England as possible.
She did so to keep them out of Voldemort’s clutches.
But what if Voldemort got his hands on them first?
What if Lord Voldemort leveraged Hermione’s parents, and forced the young witch to join
the Death Eaters?
Considering how fiercely loyal Hermione was to her friends, and to Dumbledore’s cause,
she would never abandon them without good reason.
And protecting the lives of her parents was certainly the right call.
HOW WOULD VOLDEMORT USE HER
So, if we follow this thought a bit further, we have to figure out how exactly Lord Voldemort
might utilize Hermione.
And based on the Dark Lord’s previous converts, I think we have more than a few ideas.
Let’s just go ahead and assume that some of our previous theories are right.
For starters, Hermione became a Death Eater shortly after the end of the TriWizard Tournament.
And also, that she was initially turned because her parents were ki*dnapped, but perhaps…
eventually…
She also grew to believe Voldemort’s ideology.
Would Voldemort really just recruit someone like Hermione, and use her in his day to day
attacks against the ministry of magic?
I don’t think so.
After all, during his second rise to power, Voldemort used the three unforgivable curses
to secretly gain control of the Ministry’s staff.
And through them, he created new laws, and policies, that favored his Death Eaters.
There was nothing about Voldemort’s second rise that was as obvious, and risky, as his
first.
One of the only, brazen displays of power, occurred during the final battle at Hogwarts.
There, Voldemort had his back against the wall, as he desperately tried to defeat Harry
Potter once and for all, before the young wizard could destroy all of his Horcruxes.
And with this new, more subtle approach, Voldemort would have used Hermione as a secret agent.
Just like Peter Pettigrew secretly betrayed the Potters, wouldn’t Voldemort use Hermione
to betray Harry in the very same way?
HOW THINGS WOULD HAVE TURNED OUT
In fact, if Hermione ever became a Death Eater, I don’t think that Harry Potter would have
survived his fifth year at Hogwarts.
During the events of the Order of the Phoenix, Lord Voldemort worked tirelessly to manipulate
Harry Potter.
Using their strange connection, Voldemort allowed Harry to see visions of the future.
Whenever Harry received these visions, he had no idea that Voldemort might have fabricated
them.
Even though Albus Dumbledore wisely foresaw that issue, and instructed Severus Snape to
help Harry defend against it, the young Gryffindor student couldn’t quite grasp the full picture.
Eventually, after witnessing a vision of his godfather, Sirius Black, at the mercy of Lord
Voldemort…
Harry decided to act.
He rang the alarm, banded together with a few members of Dumbledore’s Army, and descended
onto the Ministry of Magic.
But once he was there, he learned that the vision had been planted in his mind.
Voldemort had tricked Harry into racing into the heart of the Ministry of Magic, hoping
that the boy would track down the Prophecy that the Dark Lord desperately needed.
Harry survived, of course.
Thanks to his friends, like Hermione, and the sudden arrival of the Order of the Phoenix,
Harry lived to see another day.
But if Hermione had been a Death Eater, then that night would have passed much differently.
Throughout the entire year, Hermione would have encouraged Harry’s belief that the
visions were real.
And with Voldemort’s help, she would have isolated Harry from Dumbledore’s Army.
It would have been easy, too.
In that fifth year, Albus Dumbledore strangely tried to cut ties with Harry.
Of course, later on we would discover that Dumbledore did that to try and protect Harry.
But at the time, Harry couldn’t help but be hurt.
Voldemort would have used that to his advantage, and through Hermione, would have pushed Harry
to lose faith in the headmaster.
By the end, Harry's lack of conviction would have reflected in Dumbledore’s Army.
And they would have disbanded, not because they were discovered by Dolores Umbridge,
but because they just didn’t believe in the cause anymore.
So, when Voldemort laid his final trap, and lured Harry Potter to the ministry of Magic…
Harry wouldn’t come along with his Army.
And Hermione would have made sure that Harry never uttered his coded message to Severus
Snape, “‘They had padfoot at the place where the thing is hidden'.
In the end, Hermione would play Voldemort’s hand perfectly, and sneak Harry into the Ministry
all by himself.
When Harry reached for the prophecy, it would have been just him, and Hermione.
And once he held the orb in his hand, the Death Eaters would arrive.
And in that moment, Hermione would reveal her true colors, and switch sides.
All alone, and without anyone around to help him, what could Harry have done?
If Hermione truly became a Death Eater, she would have realized that Harry…
like any true Gryffindor… was a leader.
But without his fellow wizards and witches by his side, Harry would be powerless against
so many Death Eaters.
And by the time Voldemort arrived, to finally slay Harry, the Dark Lord might have learned
the complex truth about killing Harry Potter.
Especially if he ever allowed Hermione to study the ancient magical texts that he had
acquired.
Voldemort couldn’t directly kill Harry, not with the Killing Curse it seemed, because
of the potion he used to recreate his new body.
Hermione would have discovered that, during her transition to the dark arts.
And after she informed Voldemort, the dark wizard would have created a brand new method
for ending Harry’s life, that night, within the Ministry of Magic.
And with Harry’s death, there wouldn’t be much hope for the rest of the wizarding
world.
Albus Dumbledore was the only other person who could surpass Voldemort in magical ability.
But his fate would have likely been the same.
Whenever Dumbledore would eventually try to acquire all of Voldemort’s horcruxes, he
would have temporarily lost his senses, and attempted to use the resurrection stone on
Marvolo Gaunt’s ring in an attempt to bring back the spirit of his deceased sister.
Without Harry, and without Albus Dumbledore, the entire wizarding world would be doomed
to fall to Voldemort’s influence for decades… or centuries… to come.
What do YOU think would have happened if Hermione switched sides?
Would Voldemort have even ALLOWED IT?
A MUGGLE-BORN?
Given that Voldemort allowed Fenrir Greyback to serve him (while not making him an official
death eater) I think it’s possible that he would have given Hermione the same treatment.
And that’s it for this video!
Are there any other what-if scenarios you want explored?
Leave a comment down below
Until next time
Remember
Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself