Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
As you may recall, I recently released a video on the WORST fan theories that I came across
in 2022.
Well, in today’s video, we’re going to be taking a look at the opposite end of the
spectrum, discussing the BEST Harry Potter theories to have surfaced or been discussed
within the last year.
From good to ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, I’ll be taking you through these theories, some of
which were indeed proven with the newest Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore film released
earlier in 2022.
Others, I either found fascinating or simply brilliant.
#10 Hermione and Ron were character foils for Lily and James Potter
To get things started, the first fan theory that I’d like to discuss is the idea that
Hermione and Ron were character foils for Lily and James Potter.
What exactly does this mean?
Well, I’m so glad you asked!
Let’s start with the backgrounds of Harry’s parents, Lily and James Potter.
Lily was a Muggle-born witch, who – from what we know about her relationship with Severus
Snape – was compassionate and kind.
She was also rather brave and intelligent, as supported by her placement in Gryffindor
House at Hogwarts – not to say anything of how she sacrificed her own life in her
effort to protect her infant son from Lord Voldemort’s killing curse.
James, on the other hand, was a pureblood wizard, descended from a long line of magical
ancestors.
He was known to be somewhat hot-tempered and not always the kindest in his youth – again,
these are things we’ve picked up from how he interacted with, or rather, how he bullied
Severus Snape.
But James was also incredibly brave and loyal to his friends, the Marauders.
So, what’s the theory?
Well, it doesn’t take much to see the glaring similarities between Lily and Hermione Granger,
the Muggle-born, extremely compassionate – remember her Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare?
– and fiercely intelligent witch and best friend to Harry.
There are also many similarities between James and Ron.
As you may know, Mr. Weasley also came from a long line of purebloods, lost his temper
quite easily and was one of the most loyal people Harry had ever met.
Are these similarities merely coincidences?
Perhaps.
But I think it’s more likely that J.K.
Rowling saw them as character foils for Harry’s parents, and used them to guide Harry through
his years at Hogwarts in ways that his late mum and dad were never able to do.
#9 Aberforth and his “thing” for goats
Next up: Aberforth and his “thing” for goats.
Now, before the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, it had been mentioned
that Aberforth – Albus’ much gruffer younger brother – had been charged with performing
inappropriate charms on goats.
Theories and speculations ran rampant on what exactly this meant.
How inappropriate were these charms?
Does that mean what we THINK it means?
Couldn’t be…could it?
Well, it has, in fact, been confirmed by J.K.
Rowling that these inappropriate charms which got Aberforth arrested were EXACTLY what we
thought they were.
What’s more, Aberforth’s odd obsession with the creatures is further supported by
what we see of him in The Secrets of Dumbledore.
Surely, you noticed his keen interest in the Qilin…?
#8 Snape’s opening lines to Harry are a coded statement about Lily Potter
There’s been some debate back and forth between fans FOR YEARS on this topic, so it’s
hardly a new theory.
But it’s just so bloody brilliant, that I had to at least acknowledge it here.
There was a fan, Tomhiddles, whose theory blew up in many publications back in 2016,
around the same time as the death of Alan Rickman, the actor who famously played Severus
Snape in the Harry Potter films.
Tomhiddles’ theory is as follows:
The first thing Snape asks Harry is "Potter!
What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
According to Victorian Flower Language, asphodel is a type of lily meaning 'My regrets follow
you to the grave' and wormwood means 'absence' and also typically symbolised bitter sorrow.
If you combined that, it meant 'I bitterly regret Lily's death'.
However, I’ve also come across the following argument that challenges the interpretation
of Snape’s first words to Harry.
Reddit user by the name of TedTheGreek_Atheos claims:
Asphodel is a type of lily which was associated with death and graves in ancient Greece.
Wormwood is also called Artemisia absinthium which was commonly burned as a protective
offering by the Greeks to their gods.
What he was saying was:
"On Lilly's grave, I promise to protect you."
I go into this theory in more depth in my video on the topic of 5 Severus Snape Theories
(GOOD and BAD).
I recommend you check it out if you’d like to learn more.
#7 Azkaban was a way to contain prisoners AND the Dementors
After the introduction of Dementors in The Prisoner of Azkaban, many fans ruminated on
the idea that the magical jailhouse was as much a prison for the Dementors as it was
for the criminals being held there.
Dementors were meant to be Azkaban’s guards, however, it seemed like the perfect set up
to keep these soul sucking beings from wreaking havoc on the Wizarding World.
Well, J.K.
Rowling has indeed confirmed this theory as being true.
#6 The Dementors were more interested in Harry than other wizards
On the topic of Dementors, did it ever seem strange to you that these creepy ghoul-like
creatures appeared to be a heck of a lot more interested in Harry Potter than any other
witch or wizard?
Well, the theory here is that that’s because they WERE more interested in him.
As a horcrux, Harry actually had more than just his one soul inside his body…he had
his soul, plus a piece of Voldemort’s.
Of course, this would mean that any Dementor who got to suck out his soul would get more
than it bargained for, and it’s likely that the Dementors could sense this.
#5 Ariana Dumbledore was an obscurial
As you may remember, earlier in 2022, I speculated that Ariana Dumbledore, Albus’ ill-fated
sister, was an obscurial in my video Who KILLED Dumbledore's Sister Ariana?
What Happened to Her?
This theory cropped up as a result of what we had come to learn about Credence Barebone,
the wizard-turned-obscurial in the Fantastic Beasts series.
It was extremely exciting to have this theory confirmed in The Secrets of Dumbledore film,
which came out just a short while later!
#4 Dumbledore had more than one hidden agenda
It’s well known that Dumbledore was a wizard of many secrets.
One in particular that nobody was very happy to learn about was that Albus had been hiding
his agenda of raising Harry up all those years, only to have him confront Voldemort and die
– even Snape was furious!
But the real question is…what else was he hiding?
Were there other plots and strategies that he was secretly masterminding behind the scenes?
What else was Albus Dumbledore doing in the shadows in the name of the “greater good”?
Well, there are a couple theories that touch on this.
The first one is that Dumbledore knew that a life with the Dursleys might make Harry
become an obscurial.
Of course, because Albus’ sister, Ariana, had been one, he would’ve known all too
well that this would’ve been a possibility.
The theory goes that he took the risk, figuring that if it were to occur, at the very least,
Harry would’ve been able to take on Voldemort with more intensity of power.
There’s also the idea that Dumbledore had secretly put a protective spell on Hogwarts
so none of the students would die while he was Headmaster.
So many perilous dangers came to Hogwarts during the series, and yet, Dumbledore never
seemed particularly worried.
What’s more, none of the students that I can think of actually died while he was Headmaster.
The final theory within this theory is that Dumbledore intended for Harry to fail in his
Occlumency lessons with Snape in order to provoke Voldemort into misguided action.
He was obviously quite aware of the tension – and history – between Severus and Harry,
which makes it hard for me to believe he thought putting these two together for these lessons
was a sensible idea.
But the notion that he may have done this on purpose fits much better into what we know
about Dumbledore and his willingness to put Harry and others in harm's way in the name
of the “greater good”.
#3 Credence is a Dumbledore…and a Prince?
The heritage of Credence Barebone has been a topic of discussion since the release of
the first Fantastic Beasts movie.
With the answer of who his father was released in the latest film, the question of his mother’s
identity still remains a mystery.
Well, it is my belief that Credence could be a relation of none other than Severus Snape,
for he could have been Eileen Prince – Snape’s mother’s – father’s cousin, or, put
more plainly, a secret son of one of Eileen’s grandfather’s sisters.
I explore this theory in more depth in my video Who Is Credence's Mother?
You should definitely check it out if you’d like to learn more!
#2 Why Voldemort looks only half human
This is one of the more gruesome theories on the list but it’s one that makes complete
sense to me.
The theory goes that Voldemort had to give up pieces of his OWN body in order to bind
his soul to each physical horcrux.
As he created more horcruxes and gave up more pieces of his body, his looks deteriorated.
As you may recall, upon his “rebirth”, he had no nose, red slits for eyes, and pale
grey skin…who knows what else he was missing?!
#1 Harry was the Master of Death
Our final theory of today, and my top pick for the BEST theory of the list is that Harry
was the unnamed Master of Death.
Many fans were completely outraged when Harry simply snapped the Elder Wand in half in the
final movie.
This was meant to be the greatest weapon in the Wizarding World!
He shouldn’t have been able to just break it with his hands like that.
BUT Harry had mastery of the Elder Wand, AND the Invisibility Cloak…AND the Resurrection
Stone – the three items named in the fable of the Three Brothers that, when held by one
witch or wizard, would make that person the Master of Death.
It’s actually pretty straightforward if you think about it.
An interesting note to make from this revelation is the idea that Harry may have only been
able to return to the land of the living after Voldemort hit him with the killing curse BECAUSE
he was the Master of Death.
This challenges the idea that he was able to return because Voldemort’s curse only
killed the horcrux inside him, which I always took issue with.
And, with that, we’ve come to the end of another video!
What did you think?
Did I miss any theories from the past year that you thought were better?
Please share 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…
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live