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Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. For today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing a theory that I can’t take credit for creating. It’s a theory that
has been floating around the internet for years- a theory that directly effects Harry
Potter’s character, and threatens the very existence of the entire wizarding world. I
am course talking about the theory that- Hogwarts, witches, wizards, magic, wands and broomsticks
are purely a figment of Harry’s Imagination. This theory is based around the idea that
Harry, an abused and downtrodden young boy, had to imagine and create his own reality-
a world that he could escape to when his own world became too much to handle.
If we go by this theory, the only REAL aspects of the Harry Potter universe are:
That Harry lives with the Dursleys
And
That Harry’s parents are in fact dead
However, if the magical world never actually existed, then it would of course mean that
Harry’s parents weren’t killed by the powerful Lord Voldemort- they really did just
die in a car crash as the Dursleys always told him. One thing is for certain: in both
realities- the Dursleys are awful to Harry- and according to the theory- it’s their
abusive nature that pushes him to the point of creating his own, imaginary world.
In the Harry Potter books and films, Harry is only left with the Dursleys because by
staying with them it meant that he was safe from Voldemort- the result of Lily’s loving
sacrifice. The only logical explanation for Harry staying with them in this other circumstance
is that Harry simply didn’t have other family- he had nowhere else to go. Orphaned by a horrible
car crash that claimed the lives of both of his parents- Harry was forced to go and live
with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. Oh, and we can’t forget the awful Dudley.
The Dursleys were truly awful to harry, and I have no doubt in my mind that their abuse
could push a young man- who had already lost his parents- to the point of..well, insanity-
to the point of creating his own reality. The following passage from the book confirms
that a. Harry had no other family, and that b. He dreamed and dreamed of his life changing
for the better.
"When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming
to take him away, but it had never happened; The Dursleys were his only family."
Over the course of the books/films, The Dursleys, particularly Vernon Dursley, did a LOT of
horrible things to Harry. Including but not limited to:
-Putting bars on Harry’s window in The Chamber of Secrets
-Shutting Harry’s owl, Hedwig, in a locked cage in order to prevent Harry from having
any source of happiness while at Privet drive.
-Keeping Harry from reading his mail
-Forcing Harry to live in a cupboard under the stairs.
While all of these are awful, with some more cruel than the others, it’s important to
remember that if the magical world never existed- then Hedwig, his Hogwarts letters, and the
necessity to place bars on Harry’s windows would have never existed. The only thing that
would remain, is perhaps the cruellest aspect of his existence at #4 Privet Drive, and that
is his tiny bedroom under the stairs. A world without magic would also mean that the Dursleys
never hated Harry Potter for his associations with magic- it would just mean that they were
truly awful people. It would also mean that Petunia hated her sister Lily for other reasons
altogether. Or maybe she never hated Lily at all- she was only bitter and awful to Harry
because she was resentful of the fact that she was stuck raising another persons child.
When Harry turned 11 years old his entire world changed and his adventures at Hogwarts
began- a wonderful period of his life that finally provided him with the long-awaited
escape from the reality that he so hated. However, a grim thought is that, if Harry
never left that cupboard under the stairs, if he never left 4 Privet drive, it may have
just meant that his 11th birthday was the beginning of the deterioration of Harry’s
mental health. It was a point at which he had suffered so much that he could endure
his own reality no more. The same way that an obscurus is manifested inside of a child
after years of abuse, Harry’s harsh reality manifested itself in the form of a mental
escape - a place that he could go ...to just cope.
If the theory doesn’t sound plausible to you at all, then I think that this line from
the books/movies may influence the way that you think about it. In the Deathly Hallows,
a confused Harry asks a ghost Dumbledore if everything that’s happening is simply ‘inside
of his head’, to which Dumbledore replies: “Of course it is happening inside your head,
Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”
This is another powerful and well-delivered quote from wise old Dumbledore, and whether
this quote has underlying meaning or not is up to reader interpretation. I am of the impression
that this line certainly HELPS the argument that the magical world- the land of magic-
was always a figment of Harry’s imagination. Our conception of what appears to be ‘reality’
is merely the product of our own imperfect senses forming an idea around cognitive biases,
and filling in gaps where it can. What Dumbledore is getting at here is that- ‘reality’
is simply a mental construct formed in an abstract manner- and that there is no black
and white, no right and wrong. The pursuit of determining what ‘reality’ actually
is stems from insecurities surrounding our own morality- but does satisfying our insecurities
make it any more real?
One of the most interesting aspects of this theory is that it is quite difficult to refute
entirely- it depicts a world very much unlike the magical world that we have become accustomed
to, and it’s not something that I like to imagine, but I can’t argue that- it is plausible.
I hate to imagine that Hagrid, Dumbledore, The Weasleys, Diagon Alley and Harry’s kindred
friendships with Hermione and Ron are well...Imaginary. I kind of like and hate this theory at the
same time- it’s mind bending and forces you to look at an already established narrative
in a completely different way, but I also don’t like that it serves as an affront
to the magical world that I’ve loved for so many years.
There’s also an even more twisted version of this same theory- a theory in which the
chosen one, Harry Potter, has completely and utterly lost his mind. The general theme of
the theory is that for the entire time that Harry was under the impression that he was
attending Hogwarts, he was actually at a mental hospital. Not only that, but he isn’t Harry
Potter anymore- he’s Harry Dursley, and he always was - the son of his mean uncle
vernon and aunt petunia.
Everything that occurs over the course of the books/films were really just a highly
over-exaggerated / hallucinated version of his life inside of this mental hospital- a
fabrication of the mentally ill Harry Dursley. When his 11th birthday came, and his abusive
parents Vernon and Petunia (I shudder thinking about that) completely forgot, it caused a
mental breakdown in Harry. On this day, Harry SNAPS, injuring his imaginary ‘brother’
Dudley, at which point a wizard breaks in to their home and takes him away to a ‘wizarding
school’ which of course was, in reality, just a mental institute.
This theory, though disturbing and not something that I want to accept for myself, makes the
story of the Harry Potter universe an almost allegory for mental illness. Under abuse,
stress and other circumstances- the brain can be pushed to do extraordinary things.
What do you guys think of this theory? Personally, even though it bears some merit, I am of the
opinion that Harry really did attend Hogwarts.
Let me know in the comment section below
Until next time
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live