Hey everyone,
Welcome to another instalment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today, we’ll be discussing the fan theory that Rubeus Hagrid was a DEATH EATER.
Since the original release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 1997, theories
based on the wizarding world of Harry Potter have abounded.
There are theories out there that Professor Severus Snape was a vampire and that Hermione
and Harry were actually siblings.
Some of these theories are more popular and widespread than others—such as the idea
that Neville Longbottom was actually the Chosen One Professor Trelawney spoke of in her prophecy
about the downfall of Lord Voldemort.
There are also outlandish speculations that barely deserve any discussion.
Today, however, I’ll be taking you through a fan theory that has gained some massive
traction online—the idea that Rubeus Hagrid was in fact a Death Eater.
The majority of this theory has been presented by a Reddit user by the name of Whoofph, who
shared his theory on the sub-Reddit “FanTheories”.
Upon first learning of this theory, I must admit—I was skeptical.
How could the blundering, yet lovable half-giant, who rescued Harry from the Dursleys, secretly
be a dark wizard in DIRECT conflict with those he was supposed to be allied with?
But after reading it, I must admit, the theory is compelling and filled with some incredibly
plausible evidence.
It is worth noting, however, that the author of the theory has conceded that much of “the
evidence” against Hagrid can likely be chalked up to plot holes, especially earlier on in
the series—but it’s still fascinating to see how it all fits so well together to
support the idea that Hagrid could have actually been a double agent, and follower of Lord
Voldemort.
As another fan pointed out, the idea that this could be true also provides a really
interesting balance to Severus Snape being a double agent for Dumbledore.
In any case, let’s take a look at some of the most valid points—at least in my opinion—that
support the idea that Hagrid was a Death Eater from this popular fan theory…
To begin with, Hagrid—a half-giant working the grounds at Hogwarts without a proper magical
education due to his expulsion from the same school—had many suspiciously high-ranking
associates and friends.
He was a trusted confidant of Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
He was also on a first-name basis with one of the Ministers for Magic during Harry’s
tenure at school, Cornelius Fudge.
Not to mention the numerous connections he had through the Order of the Phoenix.
Then, of course, there was Harry—the famous Boy Who Lived—who throughout the series
seemed to feel forever indebted to Hagrid due to his constant presence during monumental
moments in Harry’s life, such as retrieving him from Potter Cottage after Voldemort killed
his parents, and offering a listening ear throughout his years at school.
Certainly, much of this could be chalked up to Hagrid’s perceived affable nature and
good timing.
But it does seem rather suspicious that a lowly Groundskeeper who didn’t finish school
would have such close ties with so many powerful witches and wizards who opposed Voldemort…unless,
of course, he had cultivated those ties in an effort to serve the Dark Lord.
How is it then, you may ask, that Hagrid would have come into the service of Voldemort—and
WHEN?
Well, as presented by this fan theory, it seems that he could’ve become entangled
with the Dark Lord as early as the 1940s, when he was a student at Hogwarts.
For those who don’t remember, it was Hagrid’s fellow classmate Tom Riddle—who would go
on to become Lord Voldemort—who “framed” Hagrid for reopening the Chamber of Secrets.
At this point in time, we know that the two wizards knew each other and even referred
to one another by their first names.
This is particularly worth noting as Dumbledore shared with Harry that, “Very few people
know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle."
But, of course, Hagrid did.
So, what if they were already working together?
And Hagrid intentionally took the fall for reopening the Chamber of Secrets in order
to protect Tom, knowing that he could later clear his name and gain Dumbledore’s trust
by proving he was “innocent”.
From there Dumbledore would’ve taken pity on Hagrid, taken him under his wing, and given
him the Groundskeeper job at Hogwarts.
Hagrid would have then been perfectly placed to keep an eye on Dumbledore for Tom, as the
future Dark Lord went out into the world to recruit more followers.
Further ingraining himself into Dumbledore’s inner circle, Hagrid would’ve then joined
the Order of the Phoenix and been able to keep Voldemort informed of their biggest missions—including
the effort to conceal the Potter family’s location.
In looking at Hagrid’s involvement in retrieving baby Harry from Potter Cottage on that fateful
night of October 31, 1981, there seem to be quite a few details that don’t add up.
To begin with, how did Hagrid know where to go to retrieve Harry?
Potter Cottage had been magically concealed by the Fidelius Charm, meaning only the Secret
Keeper—fellow Death Eater Peter “Wormtail” Pettigrew—could have told Hagrid where Harry
would be.
Even though Dumbledore knew the location, he couldn’t have shared it with Hagrid until
Lily and James were dead, as Dumbledore was not the Secret Keeper—and yet, Hagrid shows
up on the scene almost immediately after James and Lily were murdered and BEFORE neighbouring
Muggles were able to respond to what was presumably not a small explosion.
Hagrid also mentions that the only other wizard he encountered at the scene was Sirius Black,
which suggests that Hagrid even beat most other magical folks to the scene.
He could only have managed to get there before anyone else if he was either nearby or told
the location in advance—neither of which can easily be accounted for, since he was
living up at Hogwarts Castle in the Scottish Highlands at the time.
And because he didn’t graduate from school, he was prohibited from using magic—nevermind
the fact that he shouldn’t have even known how to perform more complicated magic that
would have allowed him to travel that fast.
Take apparating, for example.
Apparition is only taught to fifth years at Hogwarts, and as we’ve already established,
Hagrid was expelled in his third year.
Not to mention that apparating requires a Ministry-issued licence, which, of course,
Hagrid wouldn’t have had because he wasn’t allowed to practise magic at all.
In addition to all that, he admits to Harry years later that he was too heavy to ride
either a broom or a thestral.
This means one of two things: Wormtail shared the location with him before the Potters’
deaths because they were both Death Eaters, or he was capable of much more complex magic
than he was letting on.
Now in regards to that last point, there are several pieces of evidence to support this
part of the theory.
First of all, he gets to the Potters’ house faster than he should have been able to, suggesting
he’s capable of magic he technically shouldn’t be able to do.
Then, when he comes to collect Harry from the remote isle on the boy’s eleventh birthday,
he demonstrates twice that he’s capable of performing advanced magic.
To begin with, he tells Harry that he flew to the island from the mainland.
As we’ve already covered that Hagrid was too heavy to fly a thestral or broom and there’s
no evidence of something like a flying motorbike or even another boat on the tiny rocky isle,
that begs the question: HOW did he fly there?
Well, without any other reasonable explanation, the conclusion that we can draw here is that
he flew all on his own—something we only ever see TWO other wizards do in the series,
both of whom are incredibly powerful—Voldemort and Snape.
If Hagrid was kicked out of school in only his third year, who else would he have learned
this rare and difficult skill from if not the Dark Lord?
During this initial encounter with Harry on the small island, Hagrid also used advanced
transfiguration magic to give Dudley a pig’s tail.
In this instance, Hagrid was not only able to perform this rather difficult magic, but
he was able to do it without verbally using an incantation—a practice which is known
to make a spell even harder to cast.
Add to that the fact that he cast this difficult spell, non-verbally with his BROKEN wand that
had been snapped in half when he was expelled from school, and it seems to support the idea
that Hagrid was actually quite an accomplished wizard indeed.
Not to mention the fact that in performing that last spell on Dudley, Hagrid was not
only blatantly breaking the law in doing magic, he was also ignoring the International Statute
of Secrecy by performing magic in front of Muggles.
Almost the most disturbing aspect of this scene, though, was how little Hagrid seemed
to care about what he did to Dudley, whose only crime at the time was stealing some of
Harry’s birthday cake, and who later had to get the tail surgically removed.
This seems to suggest that Hagrid shared an open hatred and distrust towards Muggles with
Voldemort, as he never even attempted to remove the tail or ensure that Dudley was okay.
And while this course of action was more than okay with Harry, who had been abused by Dudley
and the Dursleys for years, it’s actually rather dark when you think about how Hagrid’s
actions basically just fulfilled the revenge fantasy of an eleven year old.
Kind of seems like something only a dark wizard would be into…wouldn’t you agree?
In any case, this interaction also showcases the first of many examples of Hagrid manipulating
Harry into having an unusually close relationship with him.
He brought him his first-ever birthday cake, physically disfigured his childhood bully,
and then brought him to a magical alley and bought him an owl—which, as it turned out
was a bright, white owl that, as the theory points out, was incredibly easy to spot…not
a bad characteristic if you’re hoping to track all communications and whereabouts of
someone.
Then, later in the series, when Hagrid felt like he was less involved with Harry and his
friends, he even went so far as to act passive aggressively towards these three TEENAGERS
until they began to pay attention to him again—another manipulation to keep Harry close.
In Harry’s first year at Hogwarts we also witness one of my favourite points of the
entire “Hagrid Was a Death Eater” theory: the fact that Hagrid basically hand-delivered
Harry to Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest.
Despite the name of these dark woods literally being the FORBIDDEN FOREST, Hagrid suggested
chores after dark in the woods as a form of detention for Harry, Hermione, Neville and
Draco—a group of untrained, eleven-year old witches and wizards.
After splitting the group in two and sending Harry and Draco off on their own, they almost
immediately bumped into—you guessed it!—Lord Voldemort.
And if it wasn’t for the centaur, Firenze, who happened across the scene, Harry very
likely could’ve died right then and there.
It was also Hagrid that peaked Harry’s interest in the Philosopher’s Stone that same year.
Over the months, he let multiple things slip to Harry and his friends about the Stone and
where it was located in the castle.
He even gave him a flute, the key to getting past the first layer of protection for the
Stone: Hagrid’s three-headed guard dog, Fluffy.
It also seemed rather convenient that the last few bits of information he gave Harry,
Ron and Hermione about the Philosopher’s Stone before they ran off to go protect it
was at a time when Dumbledore was conspicuously absent from the school.
The next time that Hagrid so blatantly put Harry’s life in danger was in his fourth
year when he was selected as a champion for the Triwizard Tournament.
As the theory states, there were multiple times that Hagrid pressured Harry into sticking
with the tasks, convincing him that he could win.
Hagrid even cheated to help Harry overcome the challenges throughout the tournament by
doing things like showing him the dragons and the arena ahead of the first task.
He even had a secret meeting with Professor Mad-Eye Moody, who was actually Death Eater
Barty Crouch Jr. in disguise.
The two were seen conspiring, which makes a lot less sense if they weren’t two Death
Eaters planning the downfall of Harry Potter—for why would an accomplished Auror and Professor
be meeting for a clandestine drink with the school’s Gameskeeper?
At the end of the Triwizard Tournament, we’re also left with the question of how in Merlin’s
Beard Voldemort got his original wand back?
He was vanquished to the shadows for over a decade and, yet, upon his return to his
body, he somehow had his old wand.
As the theory describes, the Priori Incantatem spell showcased that the wand hadn’t cast
a spell since his Killing Curses at Potter Cottage.
So, who had been holding onto it for all these years?
Well, considering Hagrid was the first to arrive on the scene, it’s quite possible
that he took it.
For if the Muggles had found it, someone from the wizarding world would’ve confiscated
it and it either would’ve been destroyed or kept under lock and key at the Ministry
of Magic.
If any Ministry officials had found it, the same outcome likely would’ve occurred.
If Sirius Black had picked it up, the Ministry would’ve taken it from him when he was arrested.
We know that Peter Pettigrew didn’t take it with him, as he lived the next ten years
as a rat.
This leaves Hagrid.
And since we know that, as the Groundskeeper, Hagrid would’ve had a hand in building the
maze for the final challenge of the Triwizard Tournament, and presumably he was old pals
with Wormtail, he could’ve used the Portkey to hand the wand over to Peter, who then gave
it to Voldemort once he had regained his body back—all before Harry and Cedric used the
same portkey at the end of the task.
The next opportunity that Hagrid had to put Harry in danger was on the eve of his seventeenth
birthday.
During the Battle of the Seven Potters, Hagrid was conveniently partnered with Harry.
And despite his immense size, Hagrid the enormous half-giant was not hit even once by a stray
spell—all of which were being cast to severely injure or kill by other Death Eaters and Voldemort
himself.
This seems particularly suspicious to me, especially considering that Harry was the
target, and Hagrid and Harry were riding together.
Even one of the wizarding world’s most skilled Aurors, Mad-Eye Moody, was killed in the fray—but
not the enormous, magically uneducated Hagrid.
Equally as suspicious was the choice that Hagrid made to yell Harry’s name out more
than ten times during a mission that was meant to conceal Harry’s identity—almost as
if he was trying to get the Death Eaters attention…Hagrid then jumped out of the flying motorbike, abandoning
Harry to face Voldemort alone.
And, finally, one of the most solid pieces of evidence from this fan theory that supports
that Hagrid could have been an agent of the Dark Lord?
The fact that the Death Eaters and Voldemort didn’t immediately kill him upon “capturing
him” during the Battle of Hogwarts.
In fact, sparing Hagrid’s life in this scene went directly against what the Dark Lord had
ordered his followers to do: "My instructions to my Death Eaters have been perfectly clear.
Capture Potter.
Kill his friends — the more, the better — but do not kill him."
So, if Hagrid was indeed Harry’s friend, wouldn’t they have immediately—and gleefully—murdered
him as soon as they caught him?
As we’ve discussed, he was not a small being, and the knowledge of his relationship with
Harry was well known.
The Death Eaters who captured him would’ve known right away that he was the half-giant
friend of the Boy Who Lived.
So, if he wasn’t a devoted Death Eater himself, why wouldn’t they have killed him on sight?
Hagrid then, unquestioningly carried Harry back towards the castle when Voldemort ordered
him to.
Harry believed that he was under the influence of the Imperius Curse but Hagrid was able
to speak of his own accord, suggesting that he was not actually cursed.
While you may have counter arguments or pieces of evidence that contradict some of this fan
theory, I think that as a whole it is quite an interesting one!
Do I personally think that Rubeus Hagrid was a Death Eater?
No.
In fact, I don’t even think Reddit user Whoofph thinks that.
But it’s fascinating how many scenes and plot points support the idea that Hagrid COULD
HAVE been one!
And, with that, we’ve come to the end of another video!
What did you think?
Do you think Hagrid was a Death Eater?
Were you surprised by how much of this theory actually made sense?
Or do you think it’s totally unfounded?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Until next time…remember…
“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”